The Toy Castle

The Toy Castle (French: Le Château magique) is a Canadian children's television show that aired on Treehouse TV, TFO and Télé-Québec. It was produced from 3 January 2000 to 26 December 2003 by Sound Venture Productions. It was inspired by Sound Venture Productions' 1992 Christmas ballet special The Tin Soldier, which starred Frank Augustyn and was based on Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale.[1][2] It is now shown during the Christmas season on Treehouse, TFO and Tele-Quebec. 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".[3]

The Toy Castle / Le Château magique
Genre	Supernatural Fantasy
Created by	Katherine Jeans
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
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
Distributor	American Public Television (United States) France Télévisions and Groupe Canal+ (Worldwide)
Release
Original network	Treehouse TV and PBS Kids (English) TFO, Télé-Québec, France 3 and Piwi+ (French)
Original release	1992 (pilot) 3 January 2000 – 26 December 2003

Plot

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.[4]

Characters

• The Soldier (Jorden Morris) - Soldier 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) - Ballerina 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) - China Doll enjoys dancing and tea. She is shy and prefers quiet activities. She is best friends with Ballerina and Rag Doll.
• The Clown (Keir Knight) - Clown is a loud and wild toy. He likes joking around and playing. His best friends are Goblin and Rag Doll.
• The Goblin (Yosuke Mino) - Goblin enjoys playing pranks on people and teasing. His best friends are Rag Doll and Clown.
• The Rag Doll (Sayaka Karasugi) - Rag Doll 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) - Sailor likes to tell tales and sail the seven seas. His favorite dance is the jig.
• The Strong Man (David Lucas) - Strong Man 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) - Freida enjoys dancing the frog-a-doddle-five and playing with her twin brother, Fredrick. She speaks with a Southern accent.
• Fredrick (Sofia Costantini) - Frederick enjoys dancing the frog-a-doddle-five and playing with his twin sister, Freida. He speaks with a Southern accent.
• Mama Mouse (Andrea Mistan) - Mama Mouse is shy. She is married to Papa Mouse, and has three children.
• Papa Mouse (Micheal Flynn) - Papa Mouse is a caring man. He and his wife have three children.
• Little Mouse (Corinne Vessey) - Little Mouse 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 - 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) - The Little Boy 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) - The Little Girl 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	Rick Jones and Marc Charbonneau	December 1992	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" "Duck, Duck, Goose"	Katherine Jeans	Rick Jones	January 3, 2000	TBA	101	N/A
2	"Cake Walk" "A Ragdoll's Gift"	Katherine Jeans	Rick Jones Nancy Trites-Botkin	January 10, 2000	TBA	102	N/A
3	"A Party for One" "I'm the Boss"	Katherine Jeans	Nancy Trites-Botkin	January 17, 2000	TBA	103	N/A
4	"A Frog is a Frog Sailor's Delight"	Katherine Jeans	Nancy Trites-Botkin	January 24, 2000	TBA	104	N/A
5	"Goldilocks" "London Bridge's Falling Down"	Katherine Jeans	Nancy Trites-Botkin	January 31, 2000	TBA	105	N/A
6	"Pirate Pshaw" "Bubble Ballet"	Katherine Jeans	Nancy Trites-Botkin	March 6, 2000	TBA	106	N/A
7	"Itsy Bitsy Spider" "Bluebird"	Katherine Jeans	Timothy Spain	March 13, 2000	TBA	107	N/A
8	"Strong Not Strong" "Spring Junk Band"	Katherine Jeans	Timothy Spain Rick Jones	March 20, 2000	TBA	108	N/A
9	"Funny Man" "Camp Out"	Katherine Jeans	Rick Jones	March 27, 2000	TBA	109	N/A
10	"Poor Invisible Me" "Cricklecrack Thoozelah"	Katherine Jeans	Timothy Spain	April 3, 2000	TBA	110	N/A
11	"Mary Had a Little Lamb" "Private Rag Doll"	Katherine Jeans	Timothy Spain Nancy Trites-Botkin	April 10, 2000	TBA	111	N/A
12	"Cirque de Ballet" "Lost My Head"	Katherine Jeans	Nancy Trites-Botkin	April 17, 2000	TBA	112	N/A
13	"Be My Valentine" "Best Friend Ballet"	Katherine Jeans	Nancy Trites-Botkin	April 24, 2000	TBA	113	N/A
14	"Perhaps Forever" "Angel Wings"	Katherine Jeans	Nancy Trites-Botkin	May 6, 2000	TBA	114	N/A
15	"Copy Cat" "Three Cool Pigs"	Katherine Jeans	Nancy Trites-Botkin	May 13, 2000	TBA	115	N/A
16	"Blunder Bluff" "Sugar Plums Fairly"	Katherine Jeans	Timothy Spain	May 20, 2000	TBA	116	N/A
17	"Alone Not Lonely" "Bo Bo's"	Katherine Jeans	Timothy Spain	May 27, 2000	TBA	117	N/A
18	"Little Miss Muffett" "Dance With Me"	Katherine Jeans	Rick Jones Timothy Spain	June 3, 2000	TBA	118	N/A
19	"Hide and Seek" "Little Frog"	Katherine Jeans	Timothy Spain Rick Jones	June 10, 2000	TBA	119	N/A
20	"Musical Chairs" "Perfectly Perfect Party"	Katherine Jeans	Rick Jones Mike Laewen	June 17, 2000	TBA	120	N/A
21	"Tea Calamity" "Pick a Picnic"	Katherine Jeans	Mike Laewen	June 24, 2000	TBA	121	N/A
22	"Tea Party" "Waltz for Three"	Katherine Jeans	Nancy Trites-Botkin	July 1, 2000	TBA	122	N/A
23	"Phish Phobia" "Twinkle Twinkle"	Katherine Jeans	Nancy Trites-Botkin	July 8, 2000	TBA	123	N/A
24	"She Shoots She Scores" "Just Say No"	Katherine Jeans	Nancy Trites-Botkin	July 15, 2000	TBA	124	N/A
25	"The Pied Piper of Glum" "Anything You Can Do..."	Katherine Jeans	Timothy Spain	July 22, 2000	TBA	125	N/A
26	"Giggle Girl" "Nutcracker Sweet"	Katherine Jeans	Timothy Spain	July 29, 2000	TBA	126	N/A

References

1. Swedko, Pamela (June 14, 1999). "Hatzis turns to classifieds to get Spice of Life off the ground". playbackmag.com. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
2. Armstrong, Dennis (August 4, 2000). "Theatrical child's play".
3. http://katherinejeans.com/?page_id=80
4. http://www.soundventure.com/ourportfolio/broadcast.asp

External links

• The Toy Castle at IMDb
• The Toy Castle website archived by the Wayback Machine