Postman Pat Plays for Greendale (Postman Pat - easy reader)

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John Cunliffe had never expected to be rich or famous. Even though he had succeeded in publishing several little stories about Farmer Barnes, he had never earned any real money from it and simply enjoyed it for the pleasure it gave him. But from the beginning, he was excited about Postman Pat. He had actually been asked to write it by the BBC who had told him to come up with a series set in the countryside and, within two minutes of being asked, he had thought of the idea. When he showed them his 13 stories, the BBC said they liked them and, several months later, when they showed them to the best animator in the country, Ivor Wood, he said he liked them, too. An audio cassette of the book with narration and voices by Ken Barrie was originally released in 1988. It was then renarrated by Ken Barrie with Carole Boyd in 1993. And when he told Cunliffe that he needed to buy the rights to his creation before he could sink all this money into the production, Cunliffe thought that sounded sensible enough. He agreed that Woodland Animations could make films and produce merchandise, while he would still have the right to produce books providing they included illustrations based on Wood’s puppets. Cunliffe felt a little odd to think that he wouldn’t own Pat any more, but he had created him. No one could take that away from him. At least, that was what he thought then.

It was so badly written. It made him feel quite awkward that people might think he had written it. And in one story, Pat did something particularly stupid. The radiator in his little red van boiled over, and he hopped straight out and pulled the radiator cap off. He’d have burned his face off if he’d have done that. Cunliffe was sure he would never have let Pat do anything so silly. He felt so upset that he sent off a letter, asking how this could happen. Apart from anything else, Cunliffe was under the impression that he was supposed to be the only author of books about Pat. John Cunliffe didn’t really mind everybody else making much more money out of his creation than he did. He had signed away his rights. He got nothing for the films when they were repeated over and over again. He got only 10% of the income from the annuals and the comics and the other little spin-offs that Woodland and the BBC were beginning to produce, but it really didn’t worry him. He was earning a handsome living. And when he wrote more books, he was happy enough to give 50% of the royalties to Ivor Wood. That was what the contract said. And anyway, Ivor was brilliant, the way he had brought Cunliffe’s characters to life on the screen. Pat went round the world: Australasia, South Africa, Eastern Europe. In Norway, he was so popular that their Post Office adopted him as a Christmas mascot. In Japan, children loved Pato San. In China, the little red van took over where the little red book had failed. Only the Americans were difficult. CBS Television didn’t believe Greendale was in the real world, they complained that there were no ethnic minorities and they wanted to re-voice the videos with a mid Atlantic accent. Woodland kept selling.Rose, Sarah; Lamont, Alexandra; Reyland, Nicholas (2021). "Watching television in a home environment: effects on children's attention, problem solving and comprehension". Media Psychology. 25: 1–26 – via ResearchGate. Postman Pat is a British stop-motion animated children's television series first produced by Woodland Animations. The series follows the adventures of Pat Clifton, a postman who works for Royal Mail postal service in the fictional village of Greendale (inspired by the real valley of Longsleddale near Kendal). [2]

In the second series of the show, which aired in 1996, the village at the centre of the series was briefly referred to as Garner Bridge, while Greendale was the name of the valley in which Garner Bridge was situated. In the episode Postman Pat and the Suit of Armour, Greendale Post Office is referred to as "Garner Bridge Post Office". In October 2023, Norwegian singer Leo Moracchioli released a heavy metal cover version of the theme song. [14] Books [ edit ] John Cunliffe felt terribly upset, but there was next to nothing he could do, so he tried to concentrate on new ideas, while behind him, Greendale became an enterprise zone. Bulletins from Woodland Animations told the story of the postman’s latest adventures: “Major developments abroad… the character breaking into influential markets… a programme of retail promotions… new high-calibre licences… a very strong presence in a competitive marketplace.”Cunliffe, interviewed about the series, has said that he chose the character of a postman since he needed a character who could visit the countryside and interact with many different people. [5] [6] [7] Ocr tesseract 4.1.1 Ocr_detected_lang en Ocr_detected_lang_conf 1.0000 Ocr_detected_script Latin Ocr_detected_script_conf 1.0000 Ocr_module_version 0.0.10 Ocr_parameters -l eng Old_pallet IA-NS-1300147 Openlibrary_edition The inspiration for the post office itself comes from one located on the street in Kendal where Cunliffe lived when he was writing the original treatment. The post office, at 10 Greenside, closed in 2003. [8] While no further classic series releases were seen in the UK until 2011, Universal and Classic Media issued all four specials from 1991 to 1994 on the DVD Happy Birthday Postman Pat. On 3 February 2014, the first and second series were made available in their entirety for the first time in the UK, However, the titles are both season 2 with the season 3 theme which came under scrutiny from classic fans and also credits Carole Boyd as doing voices in series 1, despite it being only Ken Barrie at the time. [17] [18] International [ edit ]

VHS and Betamax releases of Series 1 were originally released by Longman Video in the early-80s, before BBC Enterprises/Worldwide secured them, and later released the four TV specials and Series 2 on VHS. For Series 1, the original opening titles which featured Pat driving in the original version of his van with a crown logo (which Pat used until Pat's Thirsty Day) was replaced with an edited version of the shot for shot remake of the original intro (which had Pat driving the Royal Mail Van) as used when the show aired in countries like France and Australia. The edits made to the intro on the DVD involved some shots being replaced by scenes from "Pat's Difficult Day", "Pat Takes A Message", and "Pat's Foggy Day". This edited intro was also used when CBeebies and BritBox reran the show.Kulvinder Ghir as Bill Thompson (series 3-8), Tom Pottage (series 3–5), Ajay Bains, Bessie Thompson, Michael Lam, Robot 2, Grizzly, Shopper-Bot 3000 Postman Pat 's first 13-episode series was screened on BBC1 in 1981. [3] John Cunliffe wrote the original treatment and scripts for the series, which was directed by animator Ivor Wood, who also worked on The Magic Roundabout, The Wombles, Paddington, and The Herbs. Following the success of the first series, four TV specials and a second series of 13 episodes were produced during the 1990s. In this series, Pat had a family shown on screen for the first time (though his wife had been mentioned in a number of episodes [4]). From time to time, he protested quietly and was told to face commercial realities. His publishers complained that there were too many sub-standard books in the shops. Cunliffe’s literary agent talked to Woodland to try to define the difference between books and merchandise. But Cunliffe still walked into bookshops and found his creation in some strange new home. Recently, he found Pat in a set of six miniature books, written in doggerel verse. Cunliffe thought they were dreadful. But Pat no longer belonged to him.

The theme song has undergone several adaptations; from 1994 to 2006, the theme tune had additional instruments such as synthesised strings and a tambourine. A similar edit had already been made to the 1993 album version, which was an edit of the original 1982 album version. DVD releases of classic Postman Pat were limited in availability in various regions, although the revival series is more common. A CGI spin-off to the series was made called Guess with Jess which follows Pat's cat Jess now with the ability to talk and his adventures with the farm animals. The series debuted on 9 November 2009 and ended in 2013.As of 2009, over 12 million books, including storybooks, integrated learning books, colouring books, and multi-character magazines, have been sold worldwide. [15] Advertising [ edit ] Cunliffe didn't retain rights to the character and was critical of some of the tie-in media later released. He wrote the stories to the series Rosie and Jim, which he also presented, as a show which he could have more creative control over. [7] The theme tune and songs for Postman Pat Special Delivery Service (including "Special Delivery Service, What's It Going to Be Today?"), was recorded by Simon Woodgate at Echobass Studios. It was so perfect that it was a natural target for every businessman who wanted to make a profit out of children’s play. Fifteen years later, Postman Pat has become a multi-million pound marketing operation with limbs in almost every country in the world, guarded by accountants and lawyers and agents and even a private detective. And John Cunliffe has been left behind, removed to the side lines, from where he has watched in sadness as his characters have been exploited and Greendale has succumbed to the commercialisation of just about everything.