No-one tells a story like Jackanory Starts on Ö÷²¥´óÐã One at end of November
Introduction
CÖ÷²¥´óÐã has unveiled the new-look Jackanory, which is set to burst on to screens at the end of November.
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Academy and Bafta-winning actor Sir Ben Kingsley narrates The Magician Of Samarkand, a thrilling adventure set in the exotic location of the Orient, while John Sessions reads Muddle Earth, a hilarious, tongue-in-cheek homage to the Lord Of The Rings.
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Stunning new CGI techniques allow the storytellers to enter a magical animated world and interact with the characters.
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"The original idea was to bring a picture book to life literally in and around its storyteller," says producer/director Nick Willing, who is best known for his work directing feature films Photographing Fairies, in 1997, and the Emmy award-winning Alice In Wonderland in 2000.
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"I had a lot of fun involving the storyteller in the story in different ways, constantly trying to surprise the audience, popping in and out of the scene," says Nick.
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"The narrator is sometimes like a puppet master and even argues with his own characters."
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The visuals for both stories are being produced by a new CÖ÷²¥´óÐã animation team that has been brought in especially to develop one of CÖ÷²¥´óÐã's most ambitious projects to date.
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The Magician Of Samarkand is a lavish mixture of beautiful animation and hand-painted illustrations, inspired by Victorian illustrators.
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With a totally different look and feel, Muddle Earth is brought to life with CGI animation and live action.
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Both stories, which will be broadcast simultaneously on Ö÷²¥´óÐã One, use actors and animated characters.
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Muddle Earth by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell
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Life is about to change beyond recognition for an ordinary schoolboy on ordinary earth –
Joe Jefferson –
and his dog, Henry.
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Viewers enter a world of ogres and goblins, batbirds and pink stinky hogs, a floating lake and exploding gas frogs.
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Joe has been summoned to Muddle Earth by a wizard, Randalf the Wise, who thinks he is a warrior-hero.
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Muddle Earth is also home to an ogre, Norbert the Not-Very-Big and Veronica, a sarcastic budgie.
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The Magician Of Samarkand by Alan Temperley
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Anahita is the beautiful daughter of the town's shoemaker and she spurns the advances of the evil magician Zohak Ali.
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Stung by her rejection, Zohak Ali casts a spell on Anahita and she is driven from the city.
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Determined to fight back, will Anahita be brave enough to overcome the dark powers of the Magician of Samarkand?
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"When I started out as a director, I always dreamt that there would come a day when we could literally draw an imaginary world and have an actor move about in it –
that's where we are now, it's amazing isn't it?" adds Nick.
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