The Toy Castle

*The Toy Castle*
The Toy Castle
	Le Château magique
Genre	Supernatural; Fantasy; Slice of life
Created by	Katherine Jeans and David Langer
Based on	The Steadfast Tin Soldier by Hans Christian Andersen
Developed by	Sound Venture Productions
Written by	Nancy Trites-Botkin; Rick Jones; Timothy Spain; Mike Laewen; Marc Charbonneau
Directed by	Katherine Jeans and David Langer
Narrated by	Rick Jones and Marc Charbonneau
Composer	Andrew Huggett
Country of origin	Canada
Original languages	English; French
No. of seasons	3 + 1 pilot
No. of episodes	65 + 1 pilot
Production
Producer	Neil Bregman
Production locations	Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Editors	Cheryl Gadoury; Kevin Kocvar
Running time	22 minutes
Production company	Sound Venture Productions
Original release
Network	Treehouse TV (Canada English); SCN (Canada English); Access (Canada English seasons 2-3); Knowledge Network (Canada English seasons 2-3); TVOntario (Canada English season 3); TFO (Canada French); TQS (Canada French);
Release	1992
Release	4 September 2000 –; 26 December 2003

The Toy Castle (French: Le Château magique) is a Canadian children's television show that aired on Treehouse TV, SCN, Access, Knowledge Network, TVOntario and TFO.^[1] It was aired from September 4, 2000 to December 26, 2003 and produced by Sound Venture Productions. It was inspired by Sound Venture's 1992 Christmas ballet special The Steadfast Tin Soldier, which starred Frank Augustyn and was based on Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale.^[2]^[3] It is now shown during the Christmas season on Treehouse, TFO and Noovo. Told through ballet and narration, the stories are about a group of toys in a toy castle that magically come to life when the children are asleep. This series won a Gemini Award in 2003 for "Best Preschool Series".^[4]

The series also aired on public television stations in the United States,^[5] JimJam in Italy, TF1, France 3, M6 and Piwi+ in France and was rerun in French on TQS. It was distributed worldwide by France Télévisions.^[6]

Premise

The Toy Castle is a show about a group of toys that magically come to life when their children are asleep. When the children are about to wake up, the toys dash around fast until they are back in their former positions. Each episode consists of three story lines, in which the toys all dance around the castle and get into situations which the viewer may relate to.^[7]

Characters

The Soldier (Jorden Morris) enjoys marching and dancing, and loves the lovely Ballerina. Judging by his accent, he is of British nationality (French nationality in the French-language version).
The Ballerina (Elizabeth Olds) enjoys dancing and loves the soldier. Judging by her accent, she is of French nationality (British nationality in the French-language version). She is best friends with China Doll and Rag Doll.
The China Doll (Jennifer Welsman) enjoys dancing and tea. She is shy and prefers quiet activities. She is best friends with Ballerina and Rag Doll.
The Clown (Keir Knight) is a loud and wild toy. He likes joking around and playing. His best friends are Goblin and Rag Doll.
The Goblin (Yosuke Mino) enjoys playing pranks on people and teasing. His best friends are Rag Doll and Clown.
The Rag Doll (Sayaka Karasugi) enjoys twirling and playing. She dreams of being a pretty lady like Ballerina and China Doll. Her best friends are Goblin, Clown, Ballerina and China Doll.
The Sailor (Raven S. Wilder) likes to tell tales and sail the seven seas. His favorite dance is the jig.
The Strong Man (David Lucas) likes lifting weights and his stuffed cat, Meow Meow. He may be in love with China Doll, as they dated in one episode, but that was the only time it was shown.
Freida (Andrea Mislan) enjoys dancing the frog-a-doddle-five and playing with her twin brother, Fredrick. She speaks with a Southern accent (Meridional accent in the French version).
Fredrick (Sofia Costantini) enjoys dancing the frog-a-doddle-five and playing with his twin sister, Freida. He speaks with a Southern accent (Meridional accent in the French version).
Mama Mouse (Daiva Preston, Andrea Mistan) is shy. She is married to Papa Mouse, and has three children.
Papa Mouse (Micheal Flynn) is a caring man. He and his wife have three children.
Little Mouse (Corinne Vessey) likes playing and imagining he is riding a horse. He was named Baby Mouse in the first season, but with two new siblings coming, they quietly changed his name to Little Mouse.
The Mouse Twins - They are twins who both cry often. They enjoy quiet things and swinging. They have never been given official names, being referred to simply as 'The Mouse Twins'.
The Dolly Bird wears extravagant make-up and loves dancing for people. She tends to be insecure about her dancing. She has appeared in the fewest episodes and is never mentioned on the official site.
The Little Boy (Billy Jeans) sleeps in his bed while the toys are dancing and in motion, but when he turns his head around sleeping, the toys return to their former poses as regular figures. He is only shown in the series' opening, in the ending part of an episode, and in the credits background.
The Little Girl (Ivy Bregman) sleeps in her bed while the toys are dancing and in motion, but when she turns her head around sleeping, the toys return to their former poses as regular figures. She is only shown in the series' opening, in the ending part of an episode, and in the credits background.

Episodes

Pilot (1992)

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	French airdate	Prod. code	French viewers (millions)
Pilot	"The Tin Soldier"	Katherine Jeans and David Langer	Rick Jones and Marc Charbonneau	December 1992 (1992-12)	December 1992	100	TBD

Season 1 (2000)

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	French airdate	Prod. code	French viewers (millions)
1	"Cinderella"	Katherine Jeans	Rick Jones	September 4, 2000 (2000-09-04)	TBA	101	N/A
	"Duck, Duck, Goose"
	"Cake Walk"
2	"A Ragdoll's Gift"	Katherine Jeans	Nancy Trites-Botkin	September 9, 2000 (2000-09-09)	TBA	102	N/A
	"A Party for One"
	"I'm the Boss"
3	"A Frog is a Frog"	Katherine Jeans	Nancy Trites-Botkin	September 10, 2000 (2000-09-10)	TBA	103	N/A
	"Sailor's Delight"
	"Goldilocks"
4	"London Bridge's Falling Down"	Katherine Jeans	Nancy Trites-Botkin	September 11, 2000 (2000-09-11)	TBA	104	N/A
	"Pirate Pshaw"
	"Bubble Ballet"
5	"Itsy Bitsy Spider"	Katherine Jeans	Timothy Spain	September 16, 2000 (2000-09-16)	TBA	105	N/A
	"Bluebird"
	"Strong Not Strong"
6	"Spring Junk Band"	Katherine Jeans	Rick Jones	September 17, 2000 (2000-09-17)	TBA	106	N/A
	"Funny Man"
	"Camp Out"
7	"Poor Invisible Me"	Katherine Jeans	Timothy Spain	September 18, 2000 (2000-09-18)	TBA	107	N/A
	"Cricklecrack Thoozelah"
	"Mary Had a Little Lamb"
8	"Private Rag Doll"	Katherine Jeans	Nancy Trites-Botkin	September 23, 2000 (2000-09-23)	TBA	108	N/A
	"Cirque de Ballet"
	"Lost My Head"
9	"Be My Valentine"	Katherine Jeans	Nancy Trites-Botkin	2001 (2001)	TBA	109	TBD
	"Best Friend Ballet"
	"Perhaps Forever"
10	"Angel Wings"	Katherine Jeans	Nancy Trites-Botkin	September 25, 2000 (2000-09-25)	TBA	110	N/A
	"Copy Cat"
	"Three Cool Pigs"
11	"Sugar Plums Fairly"	Katherine Jeans	Timothy Spain	September 30, 2000 (2000-09-30)	TBA	111	N/A
	"Alone Not Lonely"
	"Blunder Bluff"
12	"Bo Bo's"	Katherine Jeans	Timothy Spain	2001 (2001)	TBA	112	TBD
	"Dance With Me"
	"Hide and Seek"
13	"Little Miss Muffett"	Katherine Jeans	Rick Jones	2001 (2001)	TBA	113	TBD
	"Little Frog"
	"Musical Chairs"
14	"Perfectly Perfect Party"	Katherine Jeans	Mike Laewen	2001 (2001)	TBA	114	TBD
	"Tea Calamity"
	"Pick a Picnic"
15	"Tea Party"	Katherine Jeans	Nancy Trites-Botkin	2001 (2001)	TBA	115	TBD
	"Waltz for Three"
	"Phish Phobia"
16	"Twinkle Twinkle"	Katherine Jeans	Nancy Trites-Botkin	2001 (2001)	TBA	116	TBD
	"She Shoots She Scores"
	"Just Say No"
17	"The Pied Piper of Glum"	Katherine Jeans	Timothy Spain	2001 (2001)	TBA	117	TBD
	"Anything You Can Do..."
	"Giggle Girl"
18	"Nutcracker Sweet"	Katherine Jeans	Timothy Spain	2001 (2001)	TBA	118	TBD
	"Twelve Days of Christmas"
	"Season of Lights"

References

^ "Le Château magique". TQS. Archived from the original on 2004-04-11.
^ Swedko, Pamela (June 14, 1999). "Hatzis turns to classifieds to get Spice of Life off the ground". Playback Magazine. playbackmag.com. Archived from the original on August 10, 2017. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
^ Armstrong, Dennis (August 4, 2000). "Theatrical child's play". Archived from the original on 11 November 2016.
^ "Art: katherine jeans,Original,Prints;Decor,tote's, home,flowers,beauty". The Art of Katherine Jeans. Archived from the original on 2021-05-19. Retrieved 2021-05-19.
^ ""The Toy Castle™" New DVD Series Presents Imaginative Ballet Stories and Encourages Creative Play". PRweb.^{[dead link‍]}
^ "THE TOY CASTLE". Repubblica. 25 May 2022. Archived from the original on 21 January 2023. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
^ "Sound Venture Productions". www.soundventure.com. Archived from the original on 2018-12-03. Retrieved 2019-01-24.

External links

[1] "Le Château magique". TQS. Archived from the original on 2004-04-11.

[2] Swedko, Pamela (June 14, 1999). "Hatzis turns to classifieds to get Spice of Life off the ground". Playback Magazine. playbackmag.com. Archived from the original on August 10, 2017. Retrieved December 29, 2015.

[3] Armstrong, Dennis (August 4, 2000). "Theatrical child's play". Archived from the original on 11 November 2016.

[4] "Art: katherine jeans,Original,Prints;Decor,tote's, home,flowers,beauty". The Art of Katherine Jeans. Archived from the original on 2021-05-19. Retrieved 2021-05-19.

[5] ""The Toy Castle™" New DVD Series Presents Imaginative Ballet Stories and Encourages Creative Play". PRweb.^{[dead link‍]}

[6] "THE TOY CASTLE". Repubblica. 25 May 2022. Archived from the original on 21 January 2023. Retrieved 21 January 2023.

[7] "Sound Venture Productions". www.soundventure.com. Archived from the original on 2018-12-03. Retrieved 2019-01-24.

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