''The Tale of Mr. Tod'' is a book written and illustrated by

Beatrix Potter Helen Beatrix Heelis (; 28 July 186622 December 1943), usually known as Beatrix Potter ( ), was an English writer, illustrator, natural scientist, and conservationist. She is best known for her children's books featuring animals, such as '' ...

and was first published by Frederick Warne & Co. in

1912 This year is notable for Sinking of the Titanic, the sinking of the ''Titanic'', which occurred on April 15. In Albania, this leap year runs with only 353 days as the country achieved switching from the Julian to Gregorian Calendar by skippin ...

. It features

Peter Rabbit Peter Rabbit is a fictional animal character in various children's stories by English author Beatrix Potter. A mischievous, adventurous young rabbit who wears a blue jacket, he first appeared in ''The Tale of Peter Rabbit'' in 1902, and subseq ...

and Benjamin Bunny along with several other characters from Potter's previous books. An animated film adaptation of the tale was featured on the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

television

anthology series An anthology series is a written series, radio, television, film, or video game series that presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a different ca ...

The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends ''The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends'' is a British animated anthology television series based on the works of Beatrix Potter, featuring Peter Rabbit and other anthropomorphic animal characters created by Potter. 14 of Potter's stories were a ...

'' in 1995.

Plot

Mr. Tod, a fox, and Tommy Brock, a badger, are both troublesome neighbours and "disagreeable people". Mr. Tod owns a number of homes around the wood. Whenever he moves from one house to another, Tommy Brock moves in to the vacated premises, without permission. Tommy Brock visits a rabbit friend, Mr. Bouncer Bunny, and then steals his grandchildren, the Flopsy Bunnies, in order to cook and eat them. Their father, Benjamin Bunny, sets off in pursuit and he and his cousin

track them down to one of Mr. Tod's homes. Mr. Tod himself soon appears and is furious to find that Tommy Brock has made himself at home and is asleep in his bed. After setting a trap that fails to have any effect — Tommy Brock is only pretending to be asleep and thus avoids it — the fox and the badger fight it out. Benjamin and Peter take advantage to escape with Benjamin's children.

Background

The book is dedicated to Francis William Clark who owned

Ulva Ulva (; ) is a small island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland, off the west coast of Mull. It is separated from Mull by a narrow strait, and connected to the neighbouring island of Gometra by a bridge. Much of the island is formed from Cen ...

, a small island off

Mull Mull may refer to: Places *Isle of Mull, a Scottish island in the Inner Hebrides ** Sound of Mull, between the Isle of Mull and the rest of Scotland * Mount Mull, Antarctica * Mull Hill, Isle of Man * Mull, Arkansas, a place along Arkansas Highwa ...

, in the

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

Inner Hebrides The Inner Hebrides ( ; ) is an archipelago off the west coast of mainland Scotland, to the south east of the Outer Hebrides. Together these two island chains form the Hebrides, which experience a mild oceanic climate. The Inner Hebrides compri ...

. Potter was a relative of his, and visited the island occasionally.Howard, J. & Jones, A., ''The Isle of Ulva: A Visitor's Guide'', published by Ulva Estate, (2004) "Brock" and "Tod" are Lowland Scots and Northern English

dialect A dialect is a Variety (linguistics), variety of language spoken by a particular group of people. This may include dominant and standard language, standardized varieties as well as Vernacular language, vernacular, unwritten, or non-standardize ...

words for "badger" and "fox" respectively.

Book connections

The story features

, who first appeared in ''

The Tale of Peter Rabbit ''The Tale of Peter Rabbit'' is a children's book written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter that follows mischievous and disobedient young Peter Rabbit as he gets into, and is chased around, the garden of Mr. McGregor. He escapes and returns h ...

'', and Benjamin Bunny and his father Mr. Bouncer Bunny from ''

The Tale of Benjamin Bunny ''The Tale of Benjamin Bunny'' is a children's book written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter, and first published by Frederick Warne & Co. in September 1904. The book is a sequel to ''The Tale of Peter Rabbit'' (1902), and tells of Peter's retur ...

'', as well as Flopsy and the bunnies from ''

The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies ''The Tale of The Flopsy Bunnies'' is a children's book written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter, and first published by Frederick Warne & Co. in July 1909. After two full-length tales about rabbits, Potter had grown weary of the subject and w ...

''. Peter's sister Cottontail, who first appeared in ''

'', also appears in a minor role, now married as well.

In other media

It is generally supposed (though this is never explicitly stated) that the "foxy whiskered gentleman" who appeared in ''

The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck ''The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck'' is a children's book written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter and first published by Frederick Warne & Co. in 1908. The protagonist Jemima Puddle-Duck first appeared in '' The Tale of Tom Kitten''. Origins ...

'' is in fact Mr. Tod, whose residence matches the description of that character's house. In the

TV animated

'', broadcast between 1992 and 1995, they are both voiced by

Dinsdale Landen Dinsdale James Landen (4 September 1932 – 29 December 2003) was an English actor. His television appearances included starring in the shows ''Devenish'' (1977) and ''Pig in the Middle'' (1980). ''The Independent'' named him an "outstanding ac ...

Don Henderson Donald Francis Henderson (10 November 1931 – 22 June 1997) was an English actor. He was known for playing both "tough guy" roles and authority figures, and is remembered for his portrayal of detective George Bulman between 1976 and 1987 in ...

voiced Tommy Brock.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tale Of Mr. Tod. The 1912 books Mr. Tod, The Tale of