Watership Down & Trains Fan idea-Any Interested?

[Hickory]

Hello there. Being a newcomer from up North, are there many fans of the series here who’d be up for a big project?

My idea is to help the tv series get a bit more attention by using the 39 stories in a fanmade version of a show that helped a different series featuring some famous talking Trains cross over it’d be a big collaboration between fans worldwide and I do have some ideas for titles, plots and dialogue

Anyone interested? Please respond soon

[florapaw]

Ah, I would, but I'm hopeless at anything overly artistic.

I hope you find the right kind of people!

[Chipster-roo]

I could possibly help with this project

I'm hopeless at anything overly artistic.

Your fanfics are great, and so are the drawings you posted of Strawberry and Nildro-Hain

[CockatielPony]

I'll help. Could you tells us more about it?

[Hickory]

Sure chipster roo and cocktail pony, you 2 can help. Flora paw, you could join in or recommend this idea to maybe some friends of yours if you’re unsure.

Basically, have any of you and anyone else reading this heard of a show called Shining Time Station? It was created by Britt Allcroft and Rick Siggelkow that was made to bring Thomas & Friends over to North America, another popular British property. The show takes place in the fictional Station named Shining Time where a miniature magic conductor named Mr Conductor would often tell stories of the Island Of Sodor to the main kid characters that would often connect with whatever plot was happening in Shining Time that could teach them lessons. There were quite a few cool celebrities on the show including Ringo Starr, Didi Conn (Frenchy from Grease) and even George Carlin.

My idea is to gather a bunch of fans of the series and we all work together  to create a fanmade unofficial 4th Season that follows the same format as the original Shining Time but uses all 39 episodes of Watership Down in the same way it used Thomas the tank engine to help draw attention to the show more plus incorporate more mature life lessons that could be useful.  

Does that help anyone? Anyone can respond soon

[Chipster-roo]

This could be a really interesting idea

How would the Shining Time segments be handled though?  They appear to have been live-action in the original series.

[Hickory]

Ah chipster, this is where the big creative process comes in  

Now being that the liveaction process was easier for a full half hour television program, I’m open to easier methods for the human segments. We could have stop motion, hand drawn, flash animation or claymation for the Shining Time segments since building a giant human sized station set would be too costly and since the show featured a workshop sometimes in the episode too, constructing one out of legos, cardboard or animating one in flash even would be a simpler method. I’m not saying the human segments need to not be liveaction but the alternative methods would likely be easier. Though I don’t know if it’s possible to include the jukebox gang. Anyone here comfortable with those alternatives?

I’ve gotten a few WIP ideas for stories:

Taking Shortcuts:

A carnival rolls into town and the kids try taking Shortcuts to finish their chores quickly. Mr Conductor warns them of how Shortcuts aren’t always the solution to life with the story of how Bigwig almost paid the price that way at Cowslips Warren

Hey, Can You Believe It’s Christmas At Shining Time Again? Part 1: Christmas Time is in the air at Shining Time Again. Stacy is trying to find a big act for the festivities, the kids are decorating and a famous composer is passing through (a stand in for Mike Batt). While preparing for a Christmas feast and more, Mr Conductor tells the kids the 1st half of how Watership Down celebrates the winter holidays

Hey, Can You Believe It’s Christmas At Shining Time Again? Part 2: Stacy thankfully finds her Christmas act with the famous composer after asking him and getting him to agree to put on a mini show and Schemer of course has no luck trying to convince the famous composer to charge people to see the show to make a profit. After Mr Conductor tells the kids the second half of the Watership winter holidays, a big crowd gathers for the festivities. Note: the crowd would include previous visitors introduced in previous episodes that would be stand ins for cast members of the show like Jane Horracks, Richard Briers and Stephen Gately to be like the animal gathering on Watership Down. Song performed would be the Winter Song by Paul Cerrack that was never used in the series

Interesting enough?

[Hickory]

This could be a really interesting idea

How would the Shining Time segments be handled though?  They appear to have been live-action in the original series.

Well I’ve laid out options chipster and a few WIP story ideas. Those good enough

Anyone else, feel free to respond

[Chipster-roo]

You make some interesting plot suggestions

I used to make some stop-motion-style animation a few years ago; I could possibly work on this.  The other possibilities you mention are also interesting

[Hickory]

You make some interesting plot suggestions

I used to make some stop-motion-style animation a few years ago; I could possibly work on this.  The other possibilities you mention are also interesting

Thanks chipster. I’ll even try slapping together a quick trailer on YouTube to help gain more interest. Are you familiar with Shining Time at all?

For a better idea of how this works as an unofficial 4th Season, it would utilize one Watership story per episode and would feature the cast from the Carlin run. Shining Time could use up to Thomas 2 stories (sometimes they only used 1 starting with the episode He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not) because they’re under 5 minutes (that’s also from cutting out the 30 seconds of intro and end credits for the Thomas stories). With Watership Down the series, each episode runs for at least 21 minutes so it’d be told in two parts like Mr Conductor would tell 2 Thomas stories. Here’s an example:

Sample of WIP Episode Taking Shortcuts:

Mr Conductor: Hey Kara! Why are you, Dan and Becky in such a rush?
Kara: We’ve heard the carnival is coming into town and there are some new rides being brought out!
Becky: We’re trying to think of some Shortcuts to finish our chores as quickly as possible to go there!
Mr Conductor: Taking Shortcuts isn’t always the recommended way in life. That can sometimes be a dangerous choice. Remember the time Bigwig nearly paid the price trying that method at Cowslip’s Warren?
Kara: Cowslip, who’s Cowslip? I don’t think any of us heard of him
Mr Conductor: Oh Cowslip, he’s a strange fellow. A rabbit with a messed up scruffy fur coat and a creepy stare that could make even the toughest guys shiver!   Perhaps I should show you how Bigwig tried a shortcut at his place that showed the dangers of an easy way out *blows whistle and we transition into part 1 Of The Easy Life*

As for the cast, it includes Stacy Jones, JB King and Schemer but also the new characters introduced in the George Carlin run. Those being Dan, Kara, Becky, Schemer’s nephew Schemee and Billy Twofeathers who were introduced in Season 2 and remained on the show up until the last episode titled How The Station Got Its Name. Plus George Carlin took on the Mr Conductor role in Season 2 so we’re using his version. The show had some other characters like gossiper Midge Smoot, Mayor Osgood And Farmer Ginny who’d been on the show since Season 1 that can be used too.

Anyone here more interested now?

[CockatielPony]

Will we be using trains or rabbits for this project? If you are needing help with animation or drawings I can do that.
CockatielPony's youtube channel

[Hickory]

Will we be using trains or rabbits for this project? If you are needing help with animation or drawings I can do that.
CockatielPony's youtube channel

Hmm. Well cocktail pony, rabbits would be involved in a way.

See I haven’t fully figured out some of the episode’s concepts but some of the episodes would have mysterious visitors visit Shining Time as stand ins for the voice actors and actresses with pets of the same species of their characters. Basically stand ins for Stephen Mangan, Richard Briers, Phil Jupitus and Stephen Gately etc would have rabbits and the stand in and/or pet would behave similar and look alike to their cartoon counterpart Eg Brier’s stand in would be old like his rabbit and enjoy storytelling while the stand in for Gately could be a WIP singer with a very scared rabbit (because Blackavar feared for his life in Efrafa a lot)

Maybe you could try some concept art for the rabbits?

[Hickory]

You make some interesting plot suggestions

I used to make some stop-motion-style animation a few years ago; I could possibly work on this.  The other possibilities you mention are also interesting

Stop motion animation is encouraged chipster. Heck any of the alternate options I suggested can be used too since it’s likely to complicated to hire many people and build a quick set for the human scenes.

Would you be able to do maybe do a quick test stop motion video? Let me know soon.

Anyone else interested and have a method of how they’d like to film? I’m all ears  

[Chipster-roo]

Would you be able to do maybe do a quick test stop motion video? Let me know soon.

I'll try to make something soon to show you; it might take a few weeks though, as real life has been very busy for me recently

Also I haven't seen Shining Time; I will have to watch some episodes on YouTube.

[Hickory]

Would you be able to do maybe do a quick test stop motion video? Let me know soon.

I'll try to make something soon to show you; it might take a few weeks though, as real life has been very busy for me recently

Also I haven't seen Shining Time; I will have to watch some episodes on YouTube.

Stop motion takes awhile, just use what you can for characters and a temporary set for the test footage. Just remember that a lot of British shows that do it like Postman Pat, Fireman Sam and Thomas the tank engine of course required lots of patience and work for their stop motion to function. Work on it when you have free time to spare :calohki

For Shining Time, I’d recommend starting from Season 1 here with the first episode:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WlEu7eQbPcs

It works best to start from the beginning in Season 1 if you need to check out a few episodes like most shows. Also, I’ve thought of this plot line in a quick snap though I’ll likely need help:

WIP EPISODE TITLE AND IDEA: New Beginnings:

Plot: Its a new beginning at Shining Time. Stacy Jones has a shiny bright new cord phone, the kids are planning to be in a mini track and field day and Mr Conductor has brand new stories of a place called Watership Down beginning with the first tale of how a group of rabbits journeyed to it for their new home. A few passengers (stand ins for Stephen Mangan, Phil Jupitus and Lee Ross) who have just picked up pet rabbits and entertainnthe kids in between their training

Is that more helpful