{"id":25950,"date":"2023-10-03T10:06:07","date_gmt":"2023-10-03T14:06:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev2.worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/magic-light-pictures-celebrates-gruffalos-25th-birthday\/"},"modified":"2023-10-03T10:06:07","modified_gmt":"2023-10-03T14:06:07","slug":"magic-light-pictures-celebrates-the-gruffalos-25th-birthday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/magic-light-pictures-celebrates-the-gruffalos-25th-birthday\/","title":{"rendered":"Magic Light Pictures Celebrates The Gruffalo\u2019s 25th Birthday"},"content":{"rendered":"

Magic Light Pictures and Macmillan Children\u2019s Books have teamed up to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler\u2019s The Gruffalo<\/em>\u00a0next year.<\/p>\n

Magic Light has plans to celebrate the anniversary with existing partners such as Forestry England and Chessington World of Adventures Resort, as well as a slew of new partners.<\/p>\n

The Gruffalo and Friends Clubhouse in Blackpool will host celebration events throughout the year, and cinema partners will screen the award-winning The Gruffalo<\/em> film at special screenings across the U.K.<\/p>\n

Celebration publishing will begin in January, with a new gold-foiled anniversary edition of The Gruffalo<\/em> paperback. The new design will contain never-before-seen new content, including a downloadable recording of The Gruffalo<\/em> song that is sung by Donaldson herself.<\/p>\n

Macmillan Children\u2019s Books is also publishing new titles to introduce the youngest readers to The Gruffalo<\/em>\u2019s Deep Dark Wood, including a new pop-up book and a new easy-to-use sticker book, publishing in April and January, respectively.<\/p>\n

A range of licensed merchandise will be available throughout the year, including apparel from John Lewis, Sainsbury\u2019s and MORI; celebration table party ware from Smiffy\u2019s; birthday cards and gifting from Danilo; and luxury wooden toys.<\/p>\n

There will be more activity later in 2024, when The Gruffalo\u2019s Child<\/em>\u2019s 20th anniversary will be celebrated.<\/p>\n

Donaldson said: \u201cIt\u2019s hard to believe that the Gruffalo is a quarter of a century old. Nowadays, it\u2019s not all that unusual for parents to tell me that they remember the book being read to them. Although that makes me feel rather old, it\u2019s actually great to know that families all over the world are sharing the story, and that grown-ups reading aloud are putting on different voices to entertain their children. (I\u2019ve been assured that the Gruffalo is a Brummie and Australian, and that the Mouse is from Edinburgh and Sweden.) I never tire of acting the Mouse myself, and over the years have recited the lines in French, German, Italian and Spanish. Last year at the Edinburgh Fringe, I learnt to tell the story in British Sign Language, and it was lovely after the show when parents told me their deaf children had enjoyed the performance. So I wish not just the Gruffalo and the Mouse but the three predators \u2014the Fox, Owl and Snake\u2014a very happy birthday.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scheffler commented: \u201cThe Gruffalo and the Mouse have come a long way in the last 25 years, and it is hard for me to imagine all the children and families around the world who regularly read the story, often in their own language. When I first read Julia\u2019s story and did the first sketches, we had no idea what The Gruffalo<\/em> would become and how many young readers would read and love the picture book in the following years. It is always a great pleasure for me to meet children at my signings and to hear how much they love the Gruffalo and his world. In one form or another, The Gruffalo<\/em> is a large part of their day, as the characters have moved from the books and onto the TV, stage and with various merchandise. The Gruffalo is a big part of their daily lives, as he is in mine!\u201d<\/p>\n

Belinda Ioni Rasmussen, managing director of Macmillan Children\u2019s Books, said: \u201cIt is a privilege to be the home of The Gruffalo<\/em>, the nation’s favorite bedtime story, and we are very proud to be celebrating this milestone anniversary with Julia and Axel. The Gruffalo wouldn\u2019t be the modern phenomenon he is today without Julia\u2019s brilliantly clever rhyming story and Axel\u2019s warm and witty illustrations. Their joint talents have created the perfect contemporary fairy tale that appeals to both young and old. With a David and Goliath story at its heart, The Gruffalo<\/em> has now introduced a generation of children to the joys of stories and reading for pleasure. We look forward to building many more young readers over the next 25 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Michael Rose, managing director of Magic Light Pictures, added, \u201cThe Gruffalo<\/em> film premiered on BBC One on Christmas Day 2009 and has been a family favorite ever since. Martin Pope and I were inspired to produce the film after reading the book to our own children night after night. We wanted to do justice to Julia\u2019s wildly imaginative story and to place the viewer inside the world of Axel\u2019s iconic illustrations. At the time, we also launched a licensing program, which has since grown into a successful evergreen property with a huge range of products, live experiences and attractions. We are delighted at how the brand has flourished and reached so many millions of families the world over, and we\u2019re proud to be part of this most wonderful 25-year classic story.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Magic Light Pictures and Macmillan Children\u2019s Books have teamed up to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler\u2019s The Gruffalo\u00a0next year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1412,"featured_media":25951,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[7707,8465,6713,105,4189,7903,8466],"class_list":["post-25950","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-top-stories","tag-axel-scheffler","tag-belinda-ioni-rasmussen","tag-julia-donaldson","tag-macmillan-childrens-books","tag-magic-light-pictures","tag-michael-rose","tag-the-gruffalo","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\nMagic Light Pictures Celebrates The Gruffalo\u2019s 25th Birthday - TVKIDS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/magic-light-pictures-celebrates-the-gruffalos-25th-birthday\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Magic Light Pictures Celebrates The Gruffalo\u2019s 25th Birthday - TVKIDS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Magic Light Pictures and Macmillan Children\u2019s Books have teamed up to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler\u2019s The Gruffalo\u00a0next year.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/magic-light-pictures-celebrates-the-gruffalos-25th-birthday\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TVKIDS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-10-03T14:06:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2017\/07\/MagicLightPictures-TheGruffalo25Years-1023.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"320\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jamie Stalcup\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jamie Stalcup\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/magic-light-pictures-celebrates-the-gruffalos-25th-birthday\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/magic-light-pictures-celebrates-the-gruffalos-25th-birthday\/\",\"name\":\"Magic Light Pictures Celebrates The Gruffalo\u2019s 25th Birthday - TVKIDS\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-10-03T14:06:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-10-03T14:06:07+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#\/schema\/person\/0da12602224807cc7b179b8405018deb\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/magic-light-pictures-celebrates-the-gruffalos-25th-birthday\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/magic-light-pictures-celebrates-the-gruffalos-25th-birthday\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/magic-light-pictures-celebrates-the-gruffalos-25th-birthday\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Magic Light Pictures Celebrates The Gruffalo\u2019s 25th Birthday\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/\",\"name\":\"TVKIDS\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#\/schema\/person\/0da12602224807cc7b179b8405018deb\",\"name\":\"Jamie Stalcup\",\"description\":\"Jamie Stalcup is the executive editor of World Screen. 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