''Windfalls'' is a British

stop motion Stop-motion (also known as stop frame animation) is an animated filmmaking and special effects technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exh ...

-animated

children's television series Children's television series (or children's television shows) are Television show, television programs designed specifically for Child, children. They are typically characterised by easy-going content devoid of sensitive or adult themes and are ...

created, written, and directed by Jenny Kenna. The ''Windfalls'' stories teach children about reading signs in nature,

herbal medicine Herbal medicine (also called herbalism, phytomedicine or phytotherapy) is the study of pharmacognosy and the use of medicinal plants, which are a basis of traditional medicine. Scientific evidence for the effectiveness of many herbal treatments ...

, and the plants of the British countryside. All of the animated characters are real leaves, grasses, and

pressed flowers is the art of using pressed flowers and other botanical materials to create an entire picture from these natural elements. Such pressed flower art consists of drying flower petals and leaves in a flower press to flatten them, exclude light an ...

Plot and plant-based characters

The stories follow three friends: Berry, Butterbur, and Rosebay. They are Windfalls, and they live in Windfall Land. They meet many other Windfalls on their adventures. The programme features a cast of 21 supporting characters, each designed from a different plant: Daisy, Evening Primrose, Pampas, Fern Polypody, Thistle, Cowslip, Delphinium, Uncle Onion, Cornflower, Lucky Four Leaf Clover, Vi, Ola, Pansy, Bella Donna, Twitch Grass, Couch Grass, Holly, Ivy, Nettle, Dock, and Daffodil.

Production

''Windfalls'' was produced by

FilmFair FilmFair was a British production company and animation studio that produced children's television series, animated television series, educational films, and television advertisements. The company made numerous stop motion films using puppets, cl ...

and

Central Independent Television ITV Central, previously known as Central Independent Television, Carlton Central, ITV1 for Central England and commonly referred to as simply Central, is the ITV (TV network), Independent Television franchisee in Midlands, the English Midlands ...

for ITV; it premiered on 14 April 1989, and ran for 26 episodes. Two episodes were transmitted back-to-back for each broadcast. When the series was syndicated on other networks, such as the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is ...

in Australia,

Knowledge Network Knowledge Network, also branded as British Columbia's Knowledge Network and K:, is a Canadian publicly funded educational cable television network serving the province of British Columbia. It is owned by the Knowledge Network Corporation, a Crow ...

and

TVO TVO (stylized in all lowercase as tvo), formerly known as TVOntario, is a Canadian publicly funded English-language educational television network and media organization serving the Canadian province of Ontario. It operates flagship station CI ...

in Canada, Channel 5 in Singapore and

TVNZ Television New Zealand (, "Te Reo Tātaki" meaning "The Leading Voice"), more commonly referred to as TVNZ, is a New Zealand state-owned media company and Crown entity. The company operates a television network, streaming service, and news se ...

's Channel 2 in New Zealand, the episodes were broadcast singly. The series was also broadcast on the military channel

BFBS The British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS) provides radio and television programmes for His Majesty's Armed Forces, and their dependents worldwide. Editorial control is independent of the Ministry of Defence and the armed forces themselv ...

in Germany as well as in several countries including

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

and the

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; ), commonly referred to as The Falklands, is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and from Cape Dub ...

but with the series transmitted back to back with two episodes just like its original UK television airings. The programme was animated by Isabelle Perrichon, who later worked on the FilmFair

animated series An animated series, or a cartoon series, is a set of Animation, animated films with a common title, usually related to one another. These episodes typically share the same main heroes, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series ...

'' Rod 'n' Emu'' (1991).

Episodes

*Fine Weather Friend *Bella Donna *An Evening with Primrose *Rosebay Needs a Home *The Wild Ones *Nettle and Dock *Pampas *Weather Signs *Springtime *Flying Flowers *Green with Envy *Creatures of the Night *Cowslip Needs Protection *The String *Light and Shade *Honey Day *Lucky Scarecrows *Country Cousins *The Oak Tree *Butterbur's Marsh *Brumble Shrub *The Red Toadstool *Autumn Changes *The Invader *Winter in Windfall Land

Home releases

Little Croft Studios distributed 18 of the 26 episodes of the series on three

VHS VHS (Video Home System) is a discontinued standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes, introduced in 1976 by JVC. It was the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period of the 1980s and 1990s. Ma ...

videotape Videotape is magnetic tape used for storing video and usually Sound recording and reproduction, sound in addition. Information stored can be in the form of either an analog signal, analog or Digital signal (signal processing), digital signal. V ...

s, sold separately. Each volume has six stories: ;''Learn to Love Nature with the Windfalls'' :"Light and Shade", "The Oak Tree", "The Red Toadstool", "Autumn in Windfall Land", "The Invaders", "Winter in Windfall Land" ;''Learn to Love the Countryside with the Windfalls'' :"Country Cousins", "Weather Signs", "Lucky", "Flying Flowers", "Bramble Shrub", "Nettle and Dock" ;''Learn to Love the Flowers and the Trees with the Windfalls'' :"Fine Weather Friend", "Bella Donna", "An Evening with Primrose", "Butterbur's Marsh", "Cowslip Needs Protection", "Honey Day"

Notes

References

''Windfalls''
at the

BFI Film & TV Database The BFI Film & TV Database (ftvdb) is an online database created by the British Film Institute containing information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual ...

. Retrieved 4 January 2013. . Retrieved 4 January 2013. *. Retrieved 4 January 2013.

External links

''Windfalls''
an episode guide at Toonarific. Retrieved 6 January 2013. {{FilmFair 1989 British television series debuts 1989 British television series endings 1980s British children's television series British children's animated adventure television series ITV children's television shows British English-language television shows British stop-motion animated television series Television series by FilmFair Television series by WildBrain Television series by ITV Studios Television shows produced by Central Independent Television 1980s British animated television series ITV animated television series Herbalism