Maisy - Birthday And Other Stories

**Maisy - Birthday And Other Stories** is a UK VHS release by Universal on 24th July 2000. It got re-released on DVD by Universal on 4th April 2005 and 23rd October 2006.

## Description

Maisy the cartoon mouse celebrates her birthday with her friends Cyril the squirrel, Tallulah the chick and Charley the crocodile. Other episodes featured include: 'Party'; 'Playhouse'; 'Treasure'; 'Lemonade'; 'Parade'; 'Balloons'; 'Fair'; 'Band'; and 'Tummy Ache'. Neil Morrissey narrates.

Maisy, the epony-mouse from Lucy Cousins' hugely popular books, has been brought to the small screen in a series of beautifully produced animated tales now collected together on video. Each episode focuses on a central theme such as "Bedtime" or "Birthday", and features Maisy's band of friends: Tallulah the effervescent chick, Eddie the elephant, Cyril the Squirrel, and the stomach-obsessed crocodile Charley. The animation reproduces the bright, block colours of the books, but adds a new dimension of playful characterisation and sound effects. The characters' voices are very much in the Teletubbies and Pingu mode, offering few discernible words but perfectly evoking the individual characters and appealing to very young children. Neil Morrissey's voice-over offers a gentle, questioning cue for Maisy and her friends' activities, and further brings out the stories' educational emphasis. The Maisy videos combine simple presentation with charming characterisation to great effect and each tale is constructed with an underlying intelligence and humour that repays repeat viewings. For those in occasional need of a Teletubbles-free zone, these are the perfect videos for pre-school children.

Starting with Maisy's own birthday party, the episodes in Birthday and Other Stories focus on many different types of fun and games, including "Parade", "Balloons" and "Playground". Maisy and her friends visit the fair, make lemonade, don costumes for Tallulah's fancy-dress party and even help distract Cyril from his discomfort when eating too many cakes leads to a tummy-ache. A pirate treasure hunt and playhouse tea-party ensure the celebrations are complete.

## Episode info

1. Party
2. Playhouse
3. Treasure
4. Lemonade
5. Parade
6. Balloons
7. Fair
8. Playground
9. Tummy Aache

## Opening (Original 2000 Release)

1. PolyGram Warning Screen (1997-2002)
2. Universal Pictures Video logo (1997-2012)
3. Maisy trailer with clips "Bedtime" and "Animal Stories" [announced by Enn Reitel]
4. Maisy Colours and Counting UK TV Advert [announced by Ringo Starr]
5. Barney video cassettes 2000 (For Further Details Call 020 8910 5219) [announced by Harry Hill]
6. Universal Pictures Children's Trailer from 2000 [Long Version] [announced by Roger Blake]
7. Universal Pictures Video logo (1997-2012) (again)
8. Maisy Birthday and other Stories title card
9. Maisy intro (Long Version)
10. Start of Birthday (1999)

## Closing (Original 2000 Release)

1. End of Tummy Aache (1999)
2. Maisy closing credits (Long Version)
3. PolyGram Warning Screen (1997-2002)
4. Universal Pictures Video logo (1997-2012)

## Trailers and info

1. Maisy trailer with clips "Bedtime" and "Animal Stories"
2. Maisy Colours and Counting (UK TV Advert)
3. Barney video cassettes (For Further Details Call 020 8910 5219)
4. Universal Pictures Video children's trailer from 2000 with clips of "Barney", "Fun Song Factory", "Bagpuss", "Clangers", "Babe: Pig in the City", "Maisy", "Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet Frankenstein", "Woody Woodpecker", "The Land Before Time" and "An American Tail: The Mystery of the Night Monster".