They've been popular with children ever since they first leapt
into junior crime-solving action in 1942.
But even their creator might be hard-pressed to recognise the
latest version of the Famous Five.
Enid Blyton's terribly British young adventurers have been given
a modern makeover by Disney for an animated series.
Modernised:
New names for the kids and a new look for Timmy the dog
The company has succeeded where a host of baddies failed and
done away with Julian, Anne, Dick and George. In their place come
their descendants, Jo, Max, Dylan and Allie. Only Timmy the dog
gets to keep his name.
Rather than tackling smugglers and crawling through secret
tunnels, the Five will use webphones and laptops to take on
villains, including sellers of pirate DVDs.
Half-Indian Jo is the daughter of original tomboy George. Her
real name is Jyoti, a Hindi word meaning light.
Allie is the Californian daughter of Anne, who supposedly moved
to the U.S. after college.
Dylan is the wannabe business tycoon son of Dick, while Max is
the adventure-loving son of Julian.
The
way they were: Enid Blyton's original line-up set off on another
'gay' adventure
Fun times are no longer "gay", and also gone are expressions
such as "gosh", "golly" and "jolly nice". Instead, the characters
will judge things to be "cool".
One of the episodes is called The Case Of The Thief That Drinks
From The Toilet and another The Case Of The Impolite, Snarly
Thing.
Disney said: "The new characters are smart kids that love to get
down and dirty in the outdoors."
But some Blyton devotees are not happy with the changes made for
the 26-part series, which starts on the Disney Channel in May and
is called Famous 5: On The Case.
Blyton's biographer, Barbara Stoney, said: "I am not in favour.
How can you say it is Enid Blyton when it is nothing like her
original stories and the characters are not the same?
"I don't think Enid Blyton would have appreciated too much the
mucking around with her stuff."
Tony Summerfield, of the Enid Blyton Society, said: "The only
loose connection is that they are the Famous Five's offspring.
"Inevitably, anything that is brought up to date is likely to be
different, shall we say."
Disney made the series after striking a deal with Chorion, the
British firm that owns the film and TV rights to the Blyton
catalogue.
The first book, Five On A Treasure Island, was published in 1942
and the 21st and final instalment, Five Are Together Again, in
1963.
In excess of 100million books have been sold, and they still
sell more than a million copies a year.
Source: Daily Mail UK, Mar. 20, 2008
