Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} Muddle Earth (Muddle Earth #1-#3) by Paul Stewart Muddle Earth (Muddle Earth #1-#3) by Paul Stewart. TV TOONS animated series TOON MAKERS animation studios & people. COMICS characters, strips & comic books. TOON GODS British animators & illustrators. "Come to a world of great wonder and merriment, Borne out of magic, its' name Muddle Earth . " You'll find monsters and mayhem and more in this animated series based upon Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell's bestselling fantasy book. Muddle Earth is a twisted version of Tolkein's Middle Earth, from "Lord of the Rings", and it's inhabited by a host of daft wizards, trolls, faeries, dragons and characters that have become a staple of the High Fantasy genre. Thus we have Randalf the defuddled Wizard and his young asistant Newt, Horned Baron Smink and his Head Gardener-turned-Manservant Benson, a friendly troll-being known as Not-Very-Big Norbert (who really is quite big), and so on. Ruling over this daft domain is the evil blue teddy bear that is - gulp - Dr. Cuddles. The original book featured one singular story told in three parts, in keeping with its Tolkeinesque parody. It tells of an ordinary boy called Joe, who is summoned to Muddle Earth to become a warrior-hero, whereupon his adventures bring him into contact with the denizens of this magical realm. But this animated series dismisses Joe and his quest, and instead tells singular, standalone, Muddle Earth stories, usually with Randalf the Wizard, Newt and Norbert at the heart of them. Tim Harper and Vincent James (Philbert Frog ) were drafted in to direct, with Phil Chalk producing. And topping the voice cast is that old animation stalwart David Jason (DangerMouse, Toad, etc.), who plays Randalf. He's got a soft-spot for wizards, having also played Rincewind in the live-action adaptation of Terry Pratchett's "The Colour of Magic". The series broke new ground with the BBC, being the company's very first in-house long-form animation series . In addition, the m usical score was performed by the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra - which was another BBC first . .. The BBC have meddled with "Muddle Earth" before. In November 2006 they aired a 3x15mins telling for their relaunched "Jackanory" series. The production featured a mixture of live-action and CG animation, with John Sessions on storytelling duties. In the news. Broadcast info. "Footwear of Doom" premiered on BBC1, on 15th March 2010 at 15.50pm, with a same-day repeat on BBC HD at 17.45pm. Series Two premiered with on CBBC, on 18th October 2010 at 15.50pm. based on the book "Muddle Earth" by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell. animation studio manager: animators: background artists: colour design: animatic editor: lead compositor: storyboard artist: music composed by: conductor: concert master: series script editor: voice director: senior production assistant: production assistant for the BBC: dubbing editor: dubbing mixer: editor: online editor: animation & post-production facilities: Phil Chalk Sarah Muller Rob Sprackling, John Smith Rebecca Stevens, Rob Sprackling, John Smith, Gerard Harris, Kay Stonham, Richard Preddy, Dave Ingham, Gary Parker, Claire Poulson. Chris Wayles Prashant Patel, Maya Kurasawa, Michael Whaite, Alan Moult, Stephen Whittle, Andrew Gubba, Clinton J Priest, Andy Wilson, Anne Wilkins Chris Coady, Maggie Riley Brandon Burrows Ryan James Gary Noden Vincent James Maurizio Malagnini Jeff Armajian Marcia Crayford Melanie Halsall Tim Harper. Claire Poulson Matthew Holt Alasdair Saunders Claire Richardson Danny Brown. Hullabaloo Studios BBC Philharmonic David Jason (Randalf) Tim Whitnall (Norbert Benson) Jonathan Keeble (Dr Cuddles) Buzz Hawkins (Horned Baron Smink) Melissa Sinden (Ingrid Margot Spellbook) Janet James (Veronica Pesticide) Paul Leyshon (Newt) Freakish Kid They meddled with the series, early in its development. Muddle Earth (Muddle Earth #1-#3) by Paul Stewart. All of the other wizards have mysteriously disappeared, leaving Randalf, Veronica - who is his �familiar� or helper - the talking blue budgie, and a three-eyed troll named Norbert to save Muddle Earth from the evil plans of Dr. Cuddles. Muddle Earth is the latest novel by the writing team of Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell, who are perhaps best known for writing �The Edge Chronicles.� It follows the adventures of Joe, aka �Joe the Barbarian,� and his dog, Henry, in the magical world of Muddle Earth, and is really three books in one: Englebert the Enormous, Here Be Dragons, and Doctor Cuddles of Giggle Glade. Randalf the Wise�s first attempts at summoning a warrior-hero didn�t go very well, as the wise-cracking Veronica likes to remind him. For instance, there�s this exchange of words, when the three Muddle Earthers have mistaken Joe�s dog for the warrior-hero Randalf has called up to help them. Norbert is referred to as the �knobbly one,� and Randalf as the �portly one�: �He doesn�t say much, sir,� the hefty, knobbly one was saying. . �Obviously the strong, silent type, Norbert,� the portly figure replied. . �Unlike Quentin the Cake-Decorator,� said the budgie. The first warrior-hero was, as Veronica mentions, �Quentin the Cake-Decorator,� and his side-kick was his pet poodle, Mary. Left to his own devices when Randalf unceremoniously turns tail and runs away when the going gets tough, by the third book he�s joined forces with Dr. Cuddles. They rightly figure that Joe and Henry may not be the sort of warrior-heroes Randalf was trying to summon, but the two would have to be better than Quentin and Mary. The Horned Baron, who is the ruler of Muddle Earth, plays a large part in each of the three books. He is the person who hires Randalf to accomplish different tasks for him, which also necessitates the services of a warrior-hero such as Joe. He is married to Ingrid, an overbearing, overweight sort of woman who expects The Horned Baron to be at her constant beck and call. His hobbies include �Ruling, and doing whatever Ingrid tells him.� Over the course of the three volumes that make up Muddle Earth , Joe has to face goblins, trolls, dragons, and last but not least, the scheming evil mastermind Dr. Cuddles, who lives in Giggle Glade. There�s a lot of action and adventure, geared to kids probably twelve and younger, with plenty of silliness and very mild violence that shouldn�t offend the most delicate of sensibilities. The novels that I�ve read that are the closest to comparing with Muddle Earth are the �Myth Adventures� series by Robert Aspirin. Both are fun, entertaining reads filled with magical creatures and situations. If you like tales of wizards, trolls, talking parakeets with an attitude, and adventure, you should love Muddle Earth . It�s perfect for kids who are perhaps too young for the �Harry Potter� series, though there is a fair chance many Potter fans will also enjoy this collaboration, as I did. It�s a silly and action-packed read that kids of all ages will get a kick out of, and it�s a good introduction to Stewart and Riddel�s other books, like �The Edge Chronicles� and another of their series, �Far-Flung Adventures.� Muddle Earth Too. Invention after invention propels this witty new Muddle Earth story by best-selling duo Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell. Joe turns up in Muddle Earth entirely by accident when he falls through a portal while trying to build a flat-pack wardrobe. But he arrives just in the nick of time as Muddle Earth badly needs a hero. How Joe sets about trying to find and rescue the Goblet of Porridge which has been so cruelly stolen is a delightfully unlikely and utterly hilarious story of some most unexpected events. Chris Riddell’s stunning illustrations bring the strange world vividly to light. Click here to see the first book, Muddle Earth ! Muddle Earth Too Synopsis. The eagerly waited, brilliantly bonkers, ingeniously inventive and utterly fantastic sequel to MUDDLE EARTH . has landed! Get prepared for another epic battle between the forces of good, evil and everything in between. Once upon a time, a spell went very wrong - and Joe Jefferson found himself transported to Muddle Earth, where the wizards are mad, the pink stinky hogs are stinky, and the jokes are truly terrible. Now, two years later, Muddle Earth needs him back. But even with his Wellies of Power, Woolly Gloves of Determination and a saucepan on his head, can Joe Jefferson really defeat the terrifying spectre of evil that threatens to destroy Muddle Earth? Literature / Muddle Earth Stewart. An ordinary Earth boy, Joe Jefferson, is suddenly transported into Muddle Earth by Randalf the Wise. Summoned for the sole purpose of being a warrior hero, Joe must face formidable opponents such as sheep-squeezing ogres and treasure-hoarding dragons. He soon finds that the only way to get to the home he once loved is to defeat the evil Mr Cuddles, who has stolen all of the spell books. Not to be confused with the SF novel Muddle Earth by John Brunner. Was followed by a sequel titled Muddle Earth Too , which extends the parody beyond Tolkien. Joe returns to Muddle Earth through a wardrobe, enrols in Randalf's new magic school and discovers his sister now has a crush on a vampire called Edward. Part of the first book was read on Jackanory , and led to an Animated Adaptation on CBBC. There was also briefly an MMORPG called Muddle Earth World . The Steel Review. Reviews and musings on pretty much anything that takes my fancy. Muddle Earth by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell. Muddle Earth is a charming fantasy story for children by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell, the dream team responsible for The Edge Chronicles which was (and actually still is) one of my favourite children’s series. Muddle Earth is aimed at a slightly younger audience and so the fantasy world is not as well developed and the story isn’t as complex, but there’s still a lot there for all ages to enjoy. The fun thing about Muddle Earth which younger readers might not appreciate is that it’s a bit of a piss-take of Middle Earth. There are stale smelling Musty Mountains and of course the noisy Mount Boom, but the story also ventures into bonafide world building of its own. There are all kinds of weird and wonderful creatures from stiltmice and pink stinky hogs to lazybirds, who sit beneath the enchanted floating lake with their mouths open, waiting for stray fish to fall through. There are elves, but they are more of the ‘Elves and the Shoemaker’ variety than anything Tolkien dreamt up. They tend to do all of the manual work, deliver post, and live inside clocks where they serve as the elf version of the cuckoo and stick their heads out of a little door to tell the time. There are also dragons, three-eyed ogres, and a horde of animate cutlery. The story is divided into three separate ‘books’, again like The Lord of the Rings . It revolves around Joe, who was just a normal boy taking his dog Henry for a walk, when they are both transported to Muddle Earth by the wizard Randalf and his motley crew (ha!), a budgerigar named Veronica and Norbert-The-Not-Very-Big ogre. (The amount of time it took me to twig that Randalf is a joke on Gandalf was really quite embarrassing, I’d nearly finished the whole book when I realised!). Randalf had attempted to summon a warrior hero to solve the problems of Muddle Earth, but unfortunately that is the only spell he possesses and all of the other wizards are missing so he is unable to send Joe and Henry back home again. The book of spells was stolen by Dr Cuddles of Giggle Glade, who is a constantly laughing and rather sinister ‘something’ (he always wears a cloak with a hood so no one really knows who or what he is). Joe, in his persona as ‘Joe the Barbarian’, needs to try and retrieve the spell book, after first defeating an ogre and a dragon called Margot. This is a really fun book, although the writing is more childish than The Edge Chronicles , but then it’s meant to be more comic and is aimed at a younger audience. As Chris Riddell was involved, it also has a lot of great illustrations, and there are cute pictures of elves and teaspoons acting as scene breaks. It did feel a bit that the book was longer than the story could sustain though. It did drag a little in places and the plot seemed a bit longwinded at times. I think it could have benefitted from being tightened up, as it felt like there were a few aspects (such as the cutlery) which were included purely as a nod to The Lord of the Rings , but which didn’t necessarily add much to the plot except for dragging it out a bit longer . I really enjoyed the fun reveal at the end of the book and how everything came together though. I couldn’t remember the story at all, so I’m now doubting whether I actually read it as a child even though I’ve owned it for years and years. It was all good fun, and I know a sequel has since been released ( Muddle Earth Too ), although I’m not sure whether I’ll get around to reading it or not. I did enjoy Muddle Earth , but now I think I’d rather spend my time rereading The Edge Chronicles (which I loved SO much) instead of dipping back into the world of Muddle Earth. It was fine, especially for the age of audience it was tailored for, but I know that Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell can, and have, done better. I was a little disappointed that they seemed to have limited their imaginations in this book in the sense that there weren’t as many unique, fantastical creatures. The world building also fell a little short for me, but I’m perhaps expecting too much from a book for younger children.