The Animals of Farthing Wood Do America: Part 5

Happy 4th of July to all of my readers in the US!  I can think of no better way to mark the occasion than by posting the concluding chapter to my five-part analysis of Journey Home, the American direct-to-video feature edit of Europe's much-loved series The Animals of Farthing Wood.

We're now into the final twenty minutes of Journey Home, and the film still has five episodes' worth of story to cram in, so...expect an awful lot to have been excised.  As it turns out, very little of Episode 9 makes it into Journey Home, beyond the very necessary task of introducing Whistler to the main cast (although so little of what he does in those remaining few episodes has been preserved in Journey Home that viewers possibly questioned why he was added at all), the events of Episode 11 (in which the animals travel through pesticide-heavy farmland) get skipped over entirely, and hardly any of Episode 13 survives beyond the concluding scene.  As for Episodes 10 and 12, they've been rearranged in order, so that the hi-jinks at the church precede the tragedy on the motorway.

As we rejoin the animals we find them making their way toward the quarry, where they will shortly encounter Whistler the heron.

1.00.58 - Toad remarks that, "My instinct's pulling me to White Deer Park now, instead of home to Farthing Wood.  I'm over the hump, I am. [Laughs] I'll not have any trouble getting us to White Deer Park now."

This is another statement which isn't given any context in Journey Home, where Toad's issues with temporarily forgetting the way to White Deer Park (which took place during the portion of the journey in which Badger had stepped up as the animals' leader) were entirely omitted.  In Journey Home, Toad triumphantly indicates that he's overcome a crisis of self-doubt which, as far as the viewer is concerned, he'd never experienced in the first place.

1.01.05 - In the original series, the larger animals had some difficulty getting through the fence surrounding the quarry and had to tunnel under, but Journey Home bypasses this and immediately fades into scenes of the animals unwinding at the quarry.

1.01.18 - We meet Whistler, who introduces himself to the Farthing animals, and explains the origin of his peculiar moniker - namely, the gunshot-inflicted hole in his wing that "whistles" whenever he flies.  We then cut straight to Badger introducing "Live and let live" as the motto of the Farthing animals, which Whistler admits "makes a change", before adding that he finds them rather intriguing.  Journey Home has just skipped over a number of key scenes from this episode, so naturally the proper context of this particular exchange is no longer there.  In the original series, it was in reference to Toad's unexpected display of compassion toward a carp which mere moments ago had been attempting to devour him.  To me, this was one of the defining moments of the series, as it demonstrated just how deeply the animals had been affected by the Oath, so I'm sorry to see it skipped altogether, but obviously they were really determined to keep this cut down to around 80 minutes.

As Whistler begins to muse over joining the Farthing animals, Adder insists that "it'sss nice here", in reference his present home at the quarry.  In Journey Home this comes across as an entirely sincere statement, but in the original series was part of a running gag based upon the implication that Adder is somewhat afraid of Whistler (who, in fairness, has a tendency to crash-land on her) and isn't overly keen on having him along.

Whistler indicates that he's interested in going to White Deer Park in the hope that he might meet a female heron there.  Toad confirms that there are herons at White Deer Park but admits that he can't tell the difference between a male and a female, prompting laughter from the Farthing animals, at which point in Journey Home the scene fades out.  In the original series, the actual punchline to that scene comes from an exasperated Adder, who remarks, "And he's guiding ussss?  Ridiculoussss."  Also missing from Journey Home is a scene with Whistler and Vixen being formally initiated into the Farthing band by taking the Oath, and Fox and Vixen stressing to Toad how important it is that he not put himself at further risk (in reference to the carp attack).

1.02.46 - We fade back in and find the animals on the move once again.  Adder announces that she is exhausted and wants to stop, but Fox insists that they are safer moving.  Journey Home removes Adder's churlish response - that the sounds of Whistler flying will inevitably attract unwanted attention.

Baby Rabbit's death has been excised from Journey Home (as we established with the Field-Mice, this edit blatantly isn't keen on having the infants die) and after leaving the quarry, the animals head directly to the town, where they end up spending the night in a church and get locked in.  One of the odder editing decisions made by Journey Home was to rearrange the order of events toward the end of the animals' journey, so that the motorway crossing occurs AFTER the incident in which the animals inadvertently crash a wedding.   My guess would be that this was so as to have more of a dramatic final obstacle immediately before the animals reach White Deer Park.  Also, as noted, Episode 11 has been skipped over entirely.  In fairness, Episode 11 was easily the most "fillerish" of the first series - nothing much happens that directly impacts on events in subsequent episodes, other than the animals expressly deciding to go through the town in order to avoid the poisoned fields.  It's quite easy to accept the town as just another obstacle that stands in their way, however, so its absence doesn't hurt the overall story too much.

1.03.04 - Cut to the opening scene of Episode 12, with the animals arriving outside the town at nightfall.  Their trek through the town is disrupted by heavy rainfall, prompting the animals to seek shelter at a nearby church.  Journey Home removes a number of scenes of the animals struggling to traverse the streets in the rain, along with Fox's reason for thinking that the church would be a good bet (he assumed there would be a porch, but it transpires that this church is in rather a derelict state and has had its porch taken out).  We instead cut directly to Mole finding a hole in the wall, which enables the animals access.

1.06.09 - After the animals awake to find themselves trapped inside the church, Journey Home cuts directly to the humans entering, whereas the original series includes additional scenes with Owl and Kestrel looking for another exit and Toad keeping the other animals occupied by telling them more about White Deer Park.

1.07.51 - As some of the animals begin to panic and blow their cover, Owl remarks that humans have a proverb: "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em."  Fox takes her point and orders all of the animals to make a bolt for it.  And with that we move into Journey Home's third song, "Animal Power", a very jaunty, hoedown-y number which really hams up the sequence's comedic elements for all they're worth.  Some of the lyrics:

We can do it, yes we can, we will never cower!
We can do most anything, we've got animal power!

All for one and one for all, now's our finest hour!
We're the team that can't be beat, we've got animal power!

Animals squeeze, animals slide, humans better step aside!
In the air, on patrol, ready get set, here we go!

True, one never senses that the animals are in that much danger with this particular bunch of humans, who presumably want to get them out of the church as much as the animals themselves want to leave.  This sequence also contains some of the silliest sight gags in all the series (namely, Weasel catching the bride's bouquet, which with hindsight neatly foreshadows her impending union with Measly).  All the same, sticking that frothy, ultra-lighthearted song on top does make the entire incident seem like one big exhilarating lark for the animals, when the fall-out in the original series was quite disastrous, at least in the short-term.

Side-note, but I never really got why Owl steals the bride's veil, other than to be a total arse.

1.10.32 - Adder's line, "I don't know what all the fusssss is about", becomes the final punchline of the sequence in Journey Home, which fades things out with her slithering off down the churchyard path.  In the original series, Adder actually lingers around the churchyard for long enough to observe the humans resuming the wedding, making the Shakespearean quip that "Allssss well that endsss well, I sssuppossse."

Despite the confusion, the animals appear to have had no difficulty staying together in Journey Home.  In the original series, the animals wound up getting separated into various splinter groups upon fleeing the church, and Episode 13 dealt with the task of getting everyone back together before they completed the last leg of their journey to White Deer Park.  Overall, it was quite a subdued, reflective episode, short on any really major drama, and as noted, I suspect that Journey Home favoured using the motorway crossing from Episode 10 as the final obstacle in order to provide a dramatic climax that would better suit the needs of a feature film.

1.10.41 - Fade in with Kestrel announcing that a big road lies ahead, whereupon the animals come face to face with the motorway.  In the original series this sparked an outpouring of anger among the party, as Toad had not warned them that such a gargantuan obstacle lay ahead (the road was still under construction when he had crossed it previously), and many of them wanted now to abandon the journey and turn back the way they'd come.  Upon hearing the ominous sound of the hunters' horn in the distance, Fox insisted that the only way was forward.  Some of the other animals accused him of being selfish, but Badger fiercely defended Fox, pointing out how fantastically loyal he had always been to the other Farthing animals.  Realising that the hunt was on their scent, the animals then all fled together in the direction of the motorway.  All of this is skipped in Journey Home.

1.11.15 - Vixen notes that the cars on one side of the motorway have come to a total standstill, and so the animals begin to cross while they have the chance.  Journey Home trims down this sequence so that the emphasis is very much on The Hedgehogs, along with Mr. Field-Mouse getting his tail caught under one of the wheels.  Omitted are bits with the Squirrels jumping across the car bonnets and Weasel tricking Mole into thinking that she's been crushed by one of the moving vehicles.

1.11.57 - Sharp-eyed Journey Home viewers might have noticed that Mr Rabbit has a visibly red paw all of a sudden, and perhaps wondered why.  This is originated in an earlier scene from Episode 10, not featured in Journey Home, in which Mr. Rabbit sprained his paw while fleeing from the hunt.

  
1.13.49 - Once the Hedgehogs have made it across the first side of the motorway, we cut directly to them crossing the other side, and then that whole terrible tragedy plays out.  Journey Home does not focus upon any of the other animals' efforts to make it across.  Here, Whistler is not called upon to carry the smaller creatures (as stated, his character is rendered a bit pointless in Journey Home's version of events), and all of the other animals apparently make it across without difficulty or incident.

The Hedgehogs' onscreen death under the wheels of a lorry occurs exactly as it did in the original series, as is every bit as shocking and nasty in Journey Home as it was there.  Bravo.  Journey Home retains the scene with the surviving animals mourning the Hedgehogs, along with Toad remarking that, "Instinct can be very strong.  I should know."  This is another reference to Toad's homing instinct causing him to forget the route to White Deer Park, which in Journey Home is orphaned of its context.

Also, something quite peculiar happens here:

Mr. Hare: What happened?

Mrs. Hare: Why didn't they run?

In Journey Home we get an audio error, in that both hares are heard speaking with the exact same voice (Rupert Farley, who ordinarily would only voice Mr. Hare).  No such error occurs in the original series, making me wonder if this was spotted and fixed before the UK broadcast, but the Journey Home team were sent an older copy of the episode.  Hmm.

1.14.43 - Cut to Fox stating that the Hedgehogs didn't stand a chance, and feeling that he let them down as a leader.  Vixen points out that the Hedgehogs would certainly not have survived if they had remained in Farthing Wood and that it was far better that they tried.  Badger's remark, "I'll second that," is a deliberate echo of Mr. Hedgehog's long-running catchphrase, although Journey Home had edited out every single instance in which the recently deceased critter had actually used it, so it doesn't have quite the same impact here.

1.15.09 - Badger points out how remarkable it was that the other animals all made it across the motorway safely, which he states was all thanks to Fox's leadership, and the other animals agree that they are all behind him.  At this, we get a reprise of the song "Follow Your Heart", with most of the clips from the accompanying montage being from scenes previously featured in Journey Home.

In the original series, Badger's assurance that the other animals were all behind Fox served as a reaffirmation of their trust in him following the near-mutiny that occurred earlier on the episode.  That scene didn't make it into Journey Home, of course, but I think that it still serves an important purpose here, acting both as a culmination of Fox's character arc in having to prove himself a worthy leader, and also as a small reflective moment before we move on to the final scene.  In a sense it has to substitute for the penultimate scene of Episode 13, in which the animals reflect upon how much the Oath has changed them and we get a particularly - and surprisingly - eloquent speech on the matter from Mrs. Vole.  Badger's words here don't have quite the same effect (for one, Journey Home never addresses the matter of whether or not the animals will continue to live by the Oath once they reach their destination), but it is nevertheless a poignant observation upon how far the animals were able to come by sticking together.

1.15.51 - The scene with Toad triumphantly crying, "Not far now!" was taken from the end of Episode 12 when, unbeknownst to him, a huge number of the party were no longer following.  As Fox and Vixen race along beside him, Kestrel can be heard saying, "Slow down!", which, originally, was alerting Fox to the fact that so many of the animals had become separated.

1.16.03 - We're at the final scene!  Toad jumps through the fence and into White Deer Park, to be greeted by the silhouette of the Great White Stag emerging from the distance. Overall, this scene isn't radically different to how it plays out in the original series, but when the animals all wander over to the edge of the hilltop to gaze upon the splendor of White Deer Park, the subsequent shot of them all standing upon a hill together comes not from this sequence, but from Episode 10, when the animals were looking upon the motorway, of all things (notice that the Hedgehogs are suddenly back from the dead).

There's also this final piece of voice-over narration from Fox: "So at last our journey was over, and our new adventure was about to begin.  At last, we were home."

By "new adventure", Fox is, presumably, referring to the events of Series 2, in which the animals had Scarface, winter and the poachers to contend with, although none of this received the Journey Home treatment.  For US viewers in the late 1990s, the Farthing Wood adventure would indeed have ended here, although you could always have checked out the books if you were really eager to know what happened next.