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The Foxbusters was a British animation very loosely
based on the Dick King-Smith book The Fox
Busters. It was made by Cosgrove Hall and
consisted of two series of thirteen 11-minute episodes each, made
between 1999 and 2000. The show was co-written by the animation
partnership of David Freedman and Alan Gilbey, and
occasionally with Joel Jessup as a third writer. It was directed by
Jon Doyle.
The show is primarily set on Foxearth Farm, a fictional farm
based in the English
countryside which is dominated by a variety of animals,
particularly the chickens. The Foxbusters are three chickens,
Ransome, Sims and Jeffries, who have the unlikely ability to fly.
Each has a different personality; Ransome is the best flyer, Sims
is the smartest and Jeffries is the comic relief. The Foxbusters
also have the ability to spit grit like machine guns, and drop
hard-boiled eggs like they were bombs - and these are used to
effect among other methods to keep the hungry pack of foxes in
Foxearth Forest at bay.
The arguments and conversations between the chickens makes an
effective comedy. The foxes' attempts to get the better of the
chickens are often unsuccessful, but they add a lot of humour to
the show. The show itself is laden with gags and action, and is of
a quality which led to its receiving two major awards in 2000. One
was a BAFTA
for 'Best Animated Series' and the other was from the British
Animation Awards for 'Best Children's Series'.
Despite being a critical success, the show did not enjoy the
same level of commercial success as some of its competitors and
ended in 2000 after just two series. In spite of this, the series
is still fondly remembered by fans.
List of
main characters
The
Foxbusters
- Ransome - The best flyer of the Foxbusters,
Ransome is cocky and arrogant; she has the biggest fanbase on the
farmyard and is often looking for new ways to impress the other
farm animals. She is often seen arguing with her sister Sims, and
has a big ego. Voiced by Whoopi Goldberg.
- Sims - The oldest, thinnest and smartest of
the three sisters, Sims organises the ways the Foxbusters
co-ordinate their defences on the farmyard against the foxes, and
is often conniving new and inventive ways of deferring the foxes
from the farm. She is the most serious of the sisters. Voiced by Joanna Lumley.
- Jeffries - Jeffries, being the least capable
flyer, makes her mark as the comedian of the trio. She is typically
on the outside and doesn't want to seriously harm the foxes, but
still defends the farm with the same vigour as her sisters when she
has to. She is even friendly with Todd, one of the foxes (who is
also ironically on the outside) as shown in Winging It.
Voiced by Jane
Horrocks.
The Foxes
- King Voracious - The leader of the foxes,
Voracious is a large, handsome and charismatic fox who is a
somewhat unstable character. He sometimes appears to lose authority
in the pack of foxes, but at the same time still leads them into
constantly (and unsuccessfully) trying to get the better of the
chickens. Voiced by Jimmy Hibbert.
- Attila - A young and ragged fox who notably
only has one eye (how he lost his other eye is never explained),
Attila is devious and cunning, but is also rather volatile,
especially whenever his plans go wrong (as they often do). He is
also the most likely of all the other foxes to succeed King
Voracious, should Voracious lose influence. He has occasionally
shown a more lighthearted and more playful side despite all this.
He is usually scheming with his sister, Evita.
- Evita - A young vixen who is Attila's sister
and as such they are often seen working together. She is typically
humourless and practical like Attila, but has too the occasional
scenes of comic relief. She is in a relationship with a fox called
Vlad.
- Todd - Often working together with Attila and
Evita, Todd is nothing like most of the other foxes. He is not very
smart and is often accident prone. He also does not seem to
understand why the other foxes are trying to capture the chickens
and thus acts neutrally, but often is seen helping out in the
foxes' plans, and often is the undoing of them.
- Voracity - Voracious' mate. She is pompous,
arrogant and she does not get on with Voracious very well (although
the feeling is mutual).
- Ghengis - A fox cub who is Voracious' and
Voracity's son. He rarely speaks, and instead appears to be more
interested in biting any living thing that comes near him. Thus the
other foxes are very reluctant to babysit him, as he is also very
hard to entertain.
- Volpone - One of the oldest foxes in the
forest. Is occasionally left with the unpopular task of babysitting
Ghengis.
Other
Recurring Characters
- Rotter - A devious otter who is a recurring
character in some of the episodes, serving as a middle man between
the foxes and the farmyard animals. Rotter believes he is a master
egg thief, who has often plotted in turning the foxes and chickens
against each other for his own benefit, but is often found out
before he can fulfil his plans. He also has a romantic interest in
a female otter, named Carlotta, who occasionally has even
outsmarted him.
- Icky - Ransome, Sims and Jeffries' older
brother. Icky is constantly envious of his sisters taking all of
the glory for tackling the fox problem on the farm. He is rather
clumsy and easily gets carried away. This lead to him into getting
into a fight with King Voracious, only for his sisters to rescue
him.
- Dog - The farmer's sheepdog who has a good
relationship with all of the farmyard animals, and as such is in
command of the farmer's sheep. He is usually seen with the farmer.
He was elected to be leader of the farm by a landslide (his
opponents were Ransome and Sims respectively), but soon resigned
when he realised he could not fulfil the promises he made, and
subsequently handed the role of leader back to the Foxbusters.
- Farmer Farmer - The constantly cheerful owner
of Foxearth Farm, Farmer Farmer is totally oblivious to the fox
problem in the nearby forest and the fact that three of his
chickens can fly. He spends most of his time with his dog, lazing
about and eating picnics in the nearby fields, but is occasionally
seen doing farmwork.
List of
Voice actors
List Of
Episodes
Complete list
of episodes in Series 1 (1999)
- Hen Night
- Where Egos Dare
- Winging It
- Icky's Sticky Situation
- A Fete Worse Than Death
- Follow My Leader
- The Ring Cycle
- The Trojan Chicken
- Going Underground
- See The Dog, See The Dog Run
- The Long Walk Home
- Three Hens And A Baby
- Passing The Buck
Partial list
of episodes in Series 2 (2000)
- Ackluckalypse Now
- Big Trouble
- Fear Of Flying
- The Not So Great Escape
- Love Bites
- Eggs, Lies And Videotape
- Of Mice And Hen
- Some Like It Otter
- The Prishener
- Peace
DVD
Release
In 2003 the first series was released in the UK on DVD. The second series has currently
not been released.
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