Getting creative to deliver an important message . . .
In these strange days of Coronavirus maybe we could focus on something happy for a little while? Why not pay tribute to The Mr Men in an affectionate parody cartoon? The Mr Men have always been able to deal with the big problems of life in a simple way, so we thought we’d get creative and use them to explain government advice and help people to stay safe.
Our fun yet informative Mr Men-themed Coronavirus film.
What does a tickle look like?
That’s the question that inspired the creation of The Mr Men. A young Adam Hargreaves could never have imagined asking his Dad such a thing would lead to a best-selling series of children’s books. It started with Mr Tickle and led to a series of simple stories featuring characters that personified a single human emotion or characteristic. Who could forget Mr Happy, Mr Bump or Mr Strong?
As children of the 70s, these characters hold a special place in our memories, especially watching them brought to life in the BBC cartoons, narrated in the comforting tones of Arthur Lowe.
Spoon Jar Films Director, Matt Holt started his career on local BBC radio and has been used to recording voice overs, characters and impressions since he was a kid. In fact his favourite toy was his tape recorder. So it was a great opportunity to dust off his Arthur Lowe impersonation to give the film that perfect nostalgic feel.
The Doctor Will See You Now . . .
After launching the video at the beginning of April, we had so many nice messages we thought we’d follow this up by bringing one of Adam Hargreaves’ Doctor Who story books to the screen. A lot of teachers have been recording themselves reading stories to their pupils as they stay home, and video is a great way of helping sustain a bit of normality despite us all being separated.
Our voice over booth in the office is housed in a TARDIS so it seemed like it was meant to be. We found a fun and friendly version of the Doctor Who Theme on Marimba played by William Francis and his teacher Michael Charles Smith. The Dr Fourth book is based on Tom Baker’s incarnation which was also a big hit at the time of the Mr Men cartoons. He seemed like the obvious choice but would Matt be able to do a convincing Tom?
You’ll have to watch and see . . .
Our film version of Adam Hargreaves classic Dr Fourth book.
You can buy the set of Mr Men books by Roger Hargreaves and the Doctor Who series by Adam Hargreaves on Amazon.
We hope these little homages to the Mr Men have educated, entertained and informed or just helped pass the time during lockdown. Stay safe, keep creative, let us know in the comments what you’ve been working on and we’re sure there’ll be a happy ending sometime soon.