The not-so Famous Five

I love animation - when I’m daydreaming about being a published author I like to imagine one day there’ll be a Pixar or Aardman version of my Dr Midas books.
Of course there’s a long history of animators turning to children’s books for inspiration - ranging from classic fairy tales to comic books.

Noddy, Spot, Mr Men, Charlie and Lola, Spider-Man, Batman, Fantastic Four, then there’s Peter Pan, 101 Dalmations, The Wind in theWillows, Watership Down, I’m sure you can think of others.
Now Enid Blyton’s Famous Five is about to hit our TV screens (appropriately on Five) in animated form - but hang on a minute, something’s not quite right.
Juilan, Anne, Dick and George have been given the heave-ho in favour of their hip offspring.
Meet Jo - short for Jyoti (Hindi for “light�), George’s Anglo-Indian daughter, boss of the gang. Luckily she’s a tomboy like mum.
Then there’s Max, 13, (Julian’s son), he likes mountain biking and skating.
12-year-old Allie, is Anne’s daughter. She loves shopping and text messaging. She sounds as interesting as I remember her mum being!

Dick’s son is Dylan, 11, the son of Dick, is the modern-day gadget geek - check out the laptop in the picture- and wannabe business tycoon.
Timmy? Well Timmy remains a dog - and I’m guessing he still likes digging and bones.
In their first adventure they uncover a DVD bootlegging operation.
Laura Clunie, the series producer, said: “Like the original Famous Five the new characters are smart kids who love to get down and dirty in the outdoors. They are savvy, engaging, love to get stuck into a good mystery. But they also enjoy modern technology like iPods, computers and mobile phones.�
Some people will be horrified at this makeover especially as the old stories are so loved. I wasn’t keen at first but at least these are new characters set in the 21st century rather than a modernised version of the old set in the 40s/50s.
Let me know what you think.

I remember putting up a real fight when my mum first suggested I try the Famous Five books because ‘your dad loved them as a kid’. She made me try just the first page of number 15 - Five on a Secret Trail. I knew I was going to hate it - that 70s photo cover probably didn’t help. Of course I was instantly hooked and was soon demanding the rest of the 21-strong series.
I wasn’t bothered that the language - gosh - was a bit dated I just loved the stories. I wanted to go on an adventure - and of course I wanted to be George. She was my favourite - along with Timmy. It may be over 60 years since her creation but she is still a great female character and whenever I’m writing about a girl in my books and slip into making them wimpy and pathetic in the face of adversity I tell myself make them like George not Anne!

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