'Magic Faraway Tree' Sequel Greenlit After UK Beat Pixar Film — SkimNews
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- Ben Gregor's 'The Magic Faraway Tree,' based on Enid Blyton's fairy-folk fantasy series and scripted by Simon Farnaby, outgrossed Pixar's 'Hoppers' on UK screens in March and has already had two sequels greenlit before its US debut this weekend.
- Andrew Garfield and Claire Foy star as London parents Tim and Polly Thompson, whose financial ruin after Foy's character quits her job forces the family to relocate to a derelict countryside barn where Garfield's character tries to revive a tomato-farming dream.
- Billie Gadsdon plays the youngest child Fran, whose recent muteness and openness to the natural world lead her to discover the title tree and befriend fairies played by Nicola Coughlan, Nonso Anozie, Jessica Gunning, and Dustin Demri-Burns; Rebecca Ferguson appears as a villain in one of the film's fantasy realms.
- Simon Farnaby, who also wrote 2023's 'Wonka,' shares a screenwriter credit with the 'Paddington' films; the review says the movie's creative DNA jumbles elements from those films alongside recent 'Secret Garden' and 'Narnia' adaptations.
- The review praises the cast's commitment and gilded production design but criticizes the film as sweet yet surprisingly unfunny, with low stakes and a sunny mood that keeps it from approaching classic status — though it may still comfort certain repeat-watchers.
Why it matters: The film's UK commercial success over a Pixar title validates a commercial path for rehabilitating Enid Blyton's catalog — long shelved for its racism and regressive gender politics — through family-friendly adaptation, with two follow-ups already greenlit before American audiences have weighed in.
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