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Ivor the Engine Movie


Keith Addenbrooke
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There’s a feature in the ipaper today (Friday Dec 18th 2020) about a forthcoming ‘live action’ Ivor the Engine movie.  It is noted that Smallfilms are involved, as is the son of Oliver Postgate.  A number of prominent Welsh actors are listed as behind the project too.

 

I didn’t notice any indication of production dates (fair enough at the moment), but the plot suggested frames it as something of an ‘origins story.’  A series of Audio books is also mentioned.

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59 minutes ago, Harlequin said:

Related topic here:

 

So there is something good happening in the world!

 

:smile_mini:


Ooh, thanks for joining this up for people to follow - I did wonder why I couldn’t see it in the Media section, but hadn’t thought to look in Wheeltappers.  I definitely agree it’s some nice news for a change.

Edited by Keith Addenbrooke
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Cue  "Ivor the Engine" weekekends at every preserved railway and Hornby or  Bachmann or Heljan competing for rights to produce  "Ivor the Engine" in gauges from N to G.  Make a nice change from Thomas.

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That's cheating,   Ivor is an inside cylinder 0-4-0 with distinctive 6 spoke driving wheels about 5ft diameter, its time for a new build "Ivor,"   I wonder if I could break away every other spoke from 12 spoke 19 or 20mm wheels for my own 4mm Ivor project.

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54 minutes ago, Steamport Southport said:

Been done.

 

spacer.png

 

 

Jason

 

That loco had been on the market for a year or two  (which included the rights to use it as Ivor), but only sold towards the end of 2019.

I believe the intention is to convert it back to its original "normal" Peckett condition !

 

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5 hours ago, Keith Addenbrooke said:

a forthcoming ‘live action’ Ivor the Engine movie.

 

Interesting. I wonder if Ivor himself will be ‘live action’ or whether it will be more in the style of other live action remakes seen recently, some of which have combined live actors with CGI. I would have thought they would be keen to keep some element of the original illustration style.

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18 minutes ago, 009 micro modeller said:

 

Interesting. I wonder if Ivor himself will be ‘live action’ or whether it will be more in the style of other live action remakes seen recently, some of which have combined live actors with CGI. I would have thought they would be keen to keep some element of the original illustration style.

 

I have no further information other than what I saw in the newspaper this morning, but it was good to see that people with connections to the original Ivor stories are heading up the project.

 

There may be more on the related thread that @PaulRhBhas in Wheeltappers (@Harlequin has provided a direct link above).

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5 hours ago, Johann Marsbar said:

 

That loco had been on the market for a year or two  (which included the rights to use it as Ivor), but only sold towards the end of 2019.

I believe the intention is to convert it back to its original "normal" Peckett condition !

 

 

It "lived" on the Cholsey & Wallingford Railway for several years after bookings dried up on other railways, until its certificate expired.  It certainly seemed to be popular both with Railway volunteers and visitors. Although it only ran officially as 'Ivor' on one weekend a year, it could find itself pressed into service (unadvertised and sans whistles) on other occasions.

 

My model of it uses the Dapol/Hornby L&Y pug as the starting point.

 

It would be a shame to convert it back if a film is on the way.

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I’ve had a look to see if I can find out any more about the movie:
It appears a new creative arts / production company has been set up this year: Quintet Pictures, with Daniel Postgate (son of Oliver) as one of the Directors.
They are currently promoting downloadable audio books of Ivor stories read by prominent Welsh actors, with funds raised to go to a Welsh Children’s Cancer charity.
Reference is also made to the planned film - including a brief précis of the plot (‘how Ivor got his musical pipes’).  While no timescales are given, the biographies of those involved reveal quite extensive experience in the film / creative industries.

 

The only other thing I could note at this point would be to recognise the obvious current difficulties involved in film production, especially for an English production company planning a film based in Wales (that’s just my own observation).

Edited by Keith Addenbrooke
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Hello everyone

 

Ivor fans will be able to vote for him in the forthcoming Quirky Poll 2020 - due out over Christmas.

 

He was second in the 2019 Poll - not far behind Rocket (which has now been produced).

 

Brian (on behalf of The Quirky Poll Team)

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1 hour ago, Keith Addenbrooke said:

I’ve had a look to see if I can find out any more about the movie:
It appears a new creative arts / production company has been set up this year: Quintet Pictures, with Daniel Postgate (son of Oliver) as one of the Directors.
They are currently promoting downloadable audio books of Ivor stories read by prominent Welsh actors, with funds raised to go to a Welsh Children’s Cancer charity.
Reference is also made to the planned film - including a brief précis of the plot (‘how Ivor got his musical pipes’).  While no timescales are given, the biographies of those involved reveal quite extensive experience in the film / creative industries.

 

The only other thing I could note at this point would be to recognise the obvious current difficulties involved in film production, especially for an English production company planning a film based in Wales (that’s just my own observation).

 

I wouldn't read too much into what's happening with the audio books being related to the film.

 

I believe the film is something totally different. Expect it to be more in line with the recent remakes of things like Worzel Gummidge and Watership Down. Probably a TV movie made for the Christmas slot than a cinema release.

 

Film production of other things is still going ahead. They were filming Batman in Liverpool the other week. This was in Tier Three.

 

https://www.explore-liverpool.com/the-batman-continued-filming-in-liverpool-as-it-became-gotham-city/#:~:text=October 17%2C 2020,the iconic Royal Liver Building.

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36 minutes ago, Steamport Southport said:

 

I wouldn't read too much into what's happening with the audio books being related to the film.

 

I believe the film is something totally different. Expect it to be more in line with the recent remakes of things like Worzel Gummidge and Watership Down. Probably a TV movie made for the Christmas slot than a cinema release.

 

Film production of other things is still going ahead. They were filming Batman in Liverpool the other week. This was in Tier Three.

 

https://www.explore-liverpool.com/the-batman-continued-filming-in-liverpool-as-it-became-gotham-city/#:~:text=October 17%2C 2020,the iconic Royal Liver Building.

At risk of accusations of cityism, I just had a flash mental image of the Batmobile propped up on four piles of breeze blocks. 

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11 minutes ago, ManofKent said:

The unanswered question - what gauge is the Merioneth and Llantisilly Railway Traction Co.  ? It always looked somewhere between metre gauge and standard gauge

 

It was based on the Talyllyn after Oliver Postgate had visited it in the mid 1950s. But how much of that was carried over to the original animated series is debatable.

 

Apparently he just wanted to do a "railway" based thing after meeting a friend. The details are in his autobiography, but I've not read it.

 

Quote

Ivor the Engine was Smallfilms' first production, and drew inspiration from Postgate's World War II encounter with Welshman Denzyl Ellis, a former railway locomotive fireman with the Royal Scot train,[2] who described how steam engines came to life when you spent time steaming them up in the morning. Postgate decided to locate the story to North Wales, as it was more inspirational than the flat terrain of the English Midlands.[2] The story lines drew heavily on, and were influenced by, the works of South Wales poet Dylan Thomas.[3]

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivor_the_Engine

 

 

 

Jason

 

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19 minutes ago, ManofKent said:

The unanswered question - what gauge is the Merioneth and Llantisilly Railway Traction Co.  ? It always looked somewhere between metre gauge and standard gauge

 

In one episode, Ivor was sent down to Pontypool Road and 'met' a Western diesel hydraulic, so I'd say standard.

 

Which limits the filming opportunities in Wales to:

 

Gwili Railway

Llangollen

Pontypool & Blaenavon

Barry Tourist Railway

 

None of which are in the "top left corner"

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1 hour ago, RJS1977 said:

 

In one episode, Ivor was sent down to Pontypool Road and 'met' a Western diesel hydraulic, so I'd say standard...

 

Must be standard then, although I think if I was modelling it I'd go narrow gauge to get the people and locomotive proportions more in sync.

 

There is a free kit available from SmallFilms: http://www.smallfilms.co.uk/ivor/makeivor.htm :D

 

The SmallFilms Studio was an old barn, at Blean, just outside Canterbury.

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