The Box of Delights
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 Mammoth paperback edition |
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| Author | John Masefield |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Liz Pyle |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Fantasy novel |
| Publisher | Heinemann |
| Released | 1935 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 309 pp |
| ISBN | NA |
The Box of Delights is a children's fantasy novel by John Masefield. It is a sequel to The Midnight Folk, and was first published in 1935.
Contents |
[edit] Plot summary
The central character is Kay Harker who, on returning from boarding school, finds himself mixed up in a battle to possess a magical box, which allows the owner to go small (shrink) and go swift (fly). The owner of the box is an old Punch and Judy man called Cole Hawlings, whom Kay meets on a railway station. They have an instant rapport, and this leads Cole to confide that he is being chased by a man called Abner Brown and his gang. For safety, Cole entrusts the box to Kay, who then goes on to have many adventures.
[edit] BBC adaptation
The Box of Delights was adapted for television by the BBC in 1984, featuring Patrick Troughton and Robert Stephens. It was broadcast November–December, in six parts, with the last episode transmitted on Christmas Eve. Starring Devin Stanfield as Kay and directed by Renny Rye, it used an innovative mixture of live action and animation, with Quantel Paintbox and chroma key effects to bring the adventure alive. Noted for its yuletide atmosphere (it is set during Christmas), the series has become something of a nostalgic treat for followers of cult TV. The seasonal theme music is Victor Hely-Hutchinson's orchestral arrangement of "The First Noël" from his Carol Symphony.
The episodes are:
- "When the Wolves Were Running"
- "Where Shall the 'Nighted Showman Go?"
- "In the Darkest Cellars Underneath"
- "The Spider in the Web"
- "Beware of Yesterday"
- "Leave Us Not Little, Nor Yet Dark"
There was an earlier adaptation for BBC radio, being staple Christmas fare on the programme Children's Hour in the early 1950s. The television version was shown by PBS in the USA for some three years in the late 1980s. BBC Worldwide released the serial on DVD in 2004. It is not available in the US on Region 1 DVD or NTSC VHS tape.
[edit] Trivia
- When Kay meets mouse behind the skirtingboard they encounter pirate rats. One of the rats in the tunnel was played by Nick Berry, later of EastEnders and Heartbeat.
- As an adult, Devin Stanfield went on to do behind-the-scenes work in the theatre.
- The outdoor snow scenes were filmed near Aberdeen, Scotland in January 1984.
- The scene with Kay inside Arthur's Camp fighting the wolves was filmed in June 1984, near Reading, Berkshire. There was pressure on the production to get all the shots finished because they were filming on one of the shortest nights of the year.
- The police inspector is played by James Grout who went on to play Chief Superintendent Strange in Inspector Morse
- Robert Stephens, who played Abner Brown, was later married to Patricia Quinn, who played Sylvia Daisy Pouncer. They married in 1995, shortly before Stephens' death.
[edit] Opera
John Masefield adapted an opera libretto from his book, also incorporating elements of The Midnight Folk, which was eventually set to music in the late 1980s by British composer Robert Steadman.
[edit] Reissue
The New York Review Children's Collection will be reissuing a hardcover edition of The Box of Delights in the autumn of 2007.
