Famous 5: On the Case

Famous 5: On the Case
The characters, from top left: Jothi, Max, Allie, Dylan, and Timmy the dog
Created by	Enid Blyton (original books)
Written by	Tim Maile Douglas Tuber[1]
Starring	Justin Fletcher Ciara Janson Jon Lee Kelly Metzger Skandar Keynes
Country of origin	United Kingdom France
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	26
Production
Producer(s)	David Michel, Laura Clunie[2]
Running time	approx. 22 minutes (per episode)
Production company(s)	Marathon Media Group Chorion Disney Europe France 3
Release
Original network	Disney Channel (UK) France 3 (France) Qubo (United States)
Original release	5 April – 27 September 2008

Famous 5: On The Case is a British/French animated television series which is currently broadcast in the United Kingdom, on the Disney Channel, and in the United States, on Qubo. It is a British and French television co-production,^[3] loosely based on The Famous Five series of books created by Enid Blyton. At least some of the episodes have been developed for television by Douglas Tuber and Tim Maile, the writers of the former Disney Channel series Lizzie McGuire.^[1] On 21 June 2008 the show debuted in Italy and Australia on Disney Channel.

The central characters, children of the original Famous Five, embark on a new series of adventures. During these adventures the new Famous Five are able to make use of newer technology such as laptop computers and mobile phones which had not been invented in their parents' day.^[4]

Characters

• Jo Misra - Short for Jothi, a Hindi word meaning light.^[4] She is the daughter of George Kirrin, and like her mother before her is a tomboy and prefers to shorten her name to a more masculine form. She is of Anglo-Indian descent; her father is a man named Ravi whom George met in the Himalayas.^[4] She is voiced by Ciara Janson.
• Max Kirrin - Son of Julian Kirrin. He is a 13-year-old adrenaline junkie, who enjoys sports such as mountain biking and skateboarding. He is voiced by Jon Lee.
• Allie Campbell - Daughter of Anne Kirrin, who moved to California after university and is now a successful art dealer.^[4] Allie, who was born in California before moving to Falcongate, is a happy shopaholic and uses her cellphone to stay in contact with America. She is voiced by Kelly Metzger.
• Dylan Kirrin - Son of Dick Kirrin. He is an 11-year-old fan of gadgets and aspiring entrepreneur who likes to look for ways to make money. He is voiced by Lizzie Waterworth in Series 1-2 and Skandar Keynes in Series 3-5.
• Timmy the Dog - The Famous Five's trusty pet dog. He is voiced by Justin Fletcher.
• Dane and Blaine Dunston - they are neighbors of the Famous Five, who are the same age as them, but are spoiled, pampered and arrogant due to their father's wealth. They typically have their comeuppance whenever they appear, but have been shown to team up with the five on occasion.

Criticism

The show has attracted some criticism from some Blyton fans. Vivienne Endecott, a member of the Enid Blyton Society, has said she was "wary" of the show, telling The Daily Telegraph "I don't really see how you can take the Famous Five out of their era, which is 1940s Britain; anybody can write about four children and a dog, and my concern is that modern kids who watch this will think that the Famous Five is all about gadgets and multi-culturalism."^[2] Blyton's biographer, Barbara Stoney told the Daily Mail, "I am not in favour. How can you say it is Enid Blyton when it is nothing like her original stories and the characters are not the same? I don't think Enid Blyton would have appreciated too much the mucking around with her stuff."^[5]

Tony Summerfield, also of the Enid Blyton Society, stated "The only loose connection is that they are the Famous Five's offspring. Inevitably, anything that is brought up to date is likely to be different, shall we say."^[5] Steve Aranguren, the vice president of global original programming at the Disney Channel stated that "We wanted to bring the sense of adventure in the original books to a new generation of Famous Five fans, however, we needed to give the characters a contemporary voice."^[2] Jeff Norton, of Chorion Limited, the company that owns the television rights to Enid Blyton's works, told the Press Association "We tried to imagine where the original Famous Five would go in their lives."^[4] He also stated "we spoke to Enid Blyton's daughter and she thought her mother would love what we have done".^[4]

Episodes

There are 26 episodes and each episode is 22 minutes long.

Series 1: 2008

1. The Case of the Fudgie Fry Pirates- 5 April 2008
2. The Case of the Plant That Could Eat Your House- 12 April 2008
3. The Case of the Impolite and Snarly Thing- 19 April 2008 (Note: Dylan wears brown shorts at the beginning of this episode)
4. The Case of the Sticks and Their Tricks- 26 April 2008
5. The Case of the Plot to Pull the Plug- 3 May 2008 (Note: this is the first episode to have snow in Falcongate)
6. The Case of the Thief Who Drinks From the Toilet- 10 May 2008
7. The Case of the Hot Air BA-BOOM!- 17 May 2008
8. The Case of the Stinky Smell- 24 May 2008
9. The Case of the Defective Detective- 31 May 2008
10. The Case of Allies Really Bad Singing- 7 June 2008
11. The Case of the Medieval Meathead- 14 June 2008
12. The Case of the Messy Mucked up Masterpiece- 21 June 2008
13. The Case of the Guy Who Makes You Act Like A Chicken- 28 June 2008
14. The Case of the Felon with Frosty Fingers- 5 July 2008
15. The Case of the Bogus Banknotes- 12 July 2008
16. The Case of 8 Arms and No Fingerprints- 19 July 2008
17. The Case of the Flowers That Make Your Body Go All Wobbly- 26 July 2008
18. The Case of the Guy Who Looks Very Good For A 2000 Year Old- 2 August 2008 (Note: Max wears a blue sleeveless shirt in this episode)
19. The Case of the Gobbling Goop- 9 August 2008
20. The Case of the Surfer Dude Who is Truly Rude- 16 August 2008
21. The Case of the Cactus, The Coot and The Cowboy Boot- 23 August 2008
22. The Case of the Seal Who Gets All Up In Your Face- 30 August 2008
23. The Case of the Snow, The Glow and The OH-NO!- 6 September 2008
24. The Case of the Fish That Flew The Coop- 13 September 2008
25. The Case of the Smashed and Tangled Muesem- 20 September 2008
26. The Case of the Golden Medal and the Horse of Steel- 27 September 2008

Merchandise

Along with the series, Hodder Books has produced a "flipper" novel of some of the 130 episodes. Each book contains two of the stories and are now available in all good bookstores in the UK. It has not yet been confirmed on whether other merchandise will be released. The books are:

1. Case Files 1 & 2: The Case of the Fudgie Fry Pirates & The Case of the Plant that Could Eat Your House
2. Case Files 3 & 4: The Case of the Impolite Snarly Thing & The Case of the Sticks and Their Tricks
3. Case Files 5 & 6: The Case of the Plot to Pull the Plug & The Case of the Thief Who Drinks from the Toilet
4. Case Files 7 & 8: The Case of the Hot-Air Ba-Boom! & The Case of the Stinky Smell
5. Case Files 9 & 10: The Case of the Defective Detective & The Case of Allie's Really Very Bad Singing
6. Case Files 11 & 12: The Case of the Medieval Meathead & The Case of the Messy Mucked Up Masterpiece
7. Case Files 13 & 14: The Case of the Guy Who Makes You Act Like A Chicken & The Case of the Felon with Frosty Fingers
8. Case Files 15 & 16: The Case of the Bogus Banknotes & The Case of Eight Arms and No Fingerprints
9. Case Files 17 & 18: The Case of the Flowers That Make Your Body All Wobbly & The Case of the Guy Who Looks Pretty Good for a 2000 Year-Old
10. Case Files 19 & 20: The Case of the Gobbling Goop & The Case of the Surfer Dude Who's Truly Rude
11. Case Files 21 & 22: The Case of the Cactus, the Coot, and the Cowboy Boot & The Case of the Seal Who Gets All Up In Your Face
12. Case Files 23 & 24: The Case of the Snow, the Glow and the Oh, No! & The Case of the Fish That Flew the Coop

International sales

According to the online magazine License! Global the series has been sold to several international broadcasters.^[3] These are Super RTL (Germany), RTBF (Belgium), the Netherlands version of Jetix, and LNK (Lithuania); along with Disney France, Disney Africa, Disney Middle-East and Disney Asia and Australia.^[3]

International release

Region	Network(s)	Series premiere
Asia	Disney Channel Asia	October 2008
United Kingdom	Disney Channel	5 April 2008 (now it is shown every day at 11.35pm; repeats only)
Poland	Disney Channel	14 June 2008
Germany	Disney Channel, Toon Disney Germany & Super RTL	19 June 2009
Sweden	Disney Channel	14 June 2008
Finland	Disney Channel	21 May 2008
Italy	Disney Channel & Rai Due	21 June 2008
Turkey	Disney Channel Turkey & GO Minika	14 June 2008
Portugal	Disney Channel, RTP2, Disney Cinemagic & Canal Panda	28 June 2008
Australia	Disney Channel	11 July 2008
Ireland	RTÉ Two	2011
Spain	Disney Channel	October, 2008
France	Disney Channel & France 3	November, 2008
India	Disney Channel	17 November 2008-January 2010 (Stopped)
The Netherlands	Jetix & Disney Channel	January, 2009
Belgium	Ketnet & Disney Channel	January, 2009
Israel	Kids Channel	1 September 2009
United States	Qubo [6]	3 March 2014
Russian Federation	Bibigon, Karusel, Gulli, Gulli Girl	2 October 2010 (many-voice), 17 February 2014 (dubbing)
Serbia	Minimax Serbia	Fall 2012-TBA (only Season 1 (repeats))

References

External links

• Official site Disney Channel UK
• Famous 5: On the Case at the Internet Movie Database