Redwall (TV series)

"Redwall" is a television series made by Canada-based Nelvana and France-based Alphanim and is based on the "Redwall" novels by Brian Jacques. The series currently spans three seasons, the first based on the first book "Redwall", the second on "Mattimeo" and the third on "Martin the Warrior". The series airs on some PBS channels in the USA, and used to air on Teletoon in Canada on Saturday. It has been dubbed into the Māori and Hebrew language and currently airs on Māori Television in New Zealand and on Arutz Ha'Yladim (The Kids Channel) in Israel.

The Plot Thickens

Redwall

A young mouse named Matthias is living at redwall abbey. He trips over his robe and falls, and remembers his strange history. He lives a poor life with his family. Suddenly, his life changed, when the Rats, lead by Cluny the Scourge, attack his village. Matthias, separated from his family, saw Cluny before he left the mouse to perish in flames. Matthias is rescued by his sister and, with advice from voles, travel to Redwall abbey. They barely escape Asmodeus, the giant snake. When they reach the abbey, his sister collapses. The fathers of the abbey later inform him that his sister didn't survive. Matthias is then raised in the abbey as a novice, yet now he dreamed of becoming a great warrior like Martin, the mouse that created Redwall. When he joins Constance the Badger on bringing more woodlanders to the abbey, they notice Cluny and his rats marching onto Redwall, taking a church as their main base. They come onto Redwall, claiming to be travelers until inside, Cluny make his demands until he sees Matthias and the tapestry of Martin. When he was forced outside, Cluny instructs his only climber, Shadow to steal the tapestry of Martin to reduce Redwall's morale. However, it causes him nightmares from later on until the tapestry was recovered.

After a number of battles, Matthias was busily looking for Martin's sword. With old Methuselah and Cornflower, they discover that he is Martin's heir. They located Martin's tomb below Redwall and found his shield and belt. Next, Matthias found Martin's sheath in the Sparrow's roost. However, the sword was taken by Asmodeus and hidden in the old quarry, as told by Captain Snow, a giant white owl. Matthias, who had made allies with the shrews, set off on an expedition to find it. There, he used the sword to kill Asmodeus. When he returned, Cornflower had discovered Martin's armour in an attic room of the abbey.

When Matthias was away again, Cluny with his more powerful army, sneaked into Redwall and captured it. However, Matthias comes back, dressed in Martin's armour, alongside with shrews and sparrows. He went to Cornflower's rescue when she boldly tried to attack Cluny. He manages to kill his adversary by dropping the abbey bell on him.

Mattimeo

Several seasons after the death of Cluny, Matthias and Cornflower had a son, Mattimeo. But one night, as the Redwallers were celebrating, they were interrupted by a the masked fox, Slagar the Cruel, who was previously known as Chickenhound the Fox, who drugs everyone and kidnaps all children. Matthias, Basil Stag Hare and Jess head out to save them, gaining new and old allies along the way, such as Orlando the Axe, the Guosim shrews, and the "sparra".

Meanwhile, in their absence, Redwall was under attack by ravens, led by General Ironbeak. The ravens take all of their food and the dormitories, leaving Cavern Hole as the only free location. However, the Redwallers strike back by using Martin's armor as a ghost to scare the raven. They later save a mountain bird named Stryke, who was being harassed and later hurt by the ravens. Eventually, Ironbeak figures out their little trick after seeing Constance the badger going to put away Martin's armour. He locks her in a shed and had his troops take cavern hole. Constance is able to break out and save the Redwallers as a newly recovered Stryke kills Ironbeak. The other ravens leave Redwall.

Matthias and company are able to locate Slagar's trail to an old buried abbey, where a cult of rats who worshiped Malkariss, were enslaving others. They fight ended up with the loss of Log-a-Log, the leader of the shrews. Yet, the slaves stone Malkariss to death and Matthias sets them free. Eventually, they win with the abbey practically exploding. At the surface, Slagar tries to get back at Matthias for the death of his mother but ends up falling into the hole from which he escaped.

Company returns to Redwall with the young ones and slaves. After seven seasons, things were going peacefully at Redwall. The slaves of Malkariss and Matthias' companions settled in Redwall. Matthias, Basil and Orlando began training Redwall's next generation of defenders.

Martin the Warrior

At the same seventh season after Matthias returned, the Redwallers listen to Tim Churchmouse, who tells the tale of how their hero, Martin, became the warrior he is today. In the lands of the Marshank coast, the terrible Badrang the Tyrant was increasing his piracy attacks, forcing Luke the Warrior, Martin's father, to go out to sea to combat the sea rats. He leaves his son his sword and tells him to never let another creature take it. Unfortunately, a few years later, Martin was captured by Badrang and his sword taken. The young mouse served many years in the fortress of Marshank as a slave. When he defends an old squirrel named Barkjon, Badrang had him hung outside in the rain with hungry gulls to peck at him and is later put in the prison pit with Felldoh and Brome. Meanwhile, Badrang's old shipmate, Tramun Clogg, arrives to take Marshank. Brome's sister, Laterose and her friend Grumm, also arrive and began digging their way into the prison pit while Clogg begins his siege. The five make it to Clogg's boats and managed to commandeer one. However, the boat had a hole, flooding it and a raging storm and a fish separated the group. Martin, Rose and Grumm end up captured by pygmy shrews and meet a hedgehog by the name of Pallum. After saving Queen Amballa's son, Dinjer, they were free to go to Noonvale, Rose's home.

Meanwhile, Brome and Felldoh wash up somewhere else, meeting the Rosehip Players, a traveling circus who agree to help them free the slaves of Marshank. Managing to win Clogg's amusement, they get inside Marshank and free most of the slaves. A few days later, Brome disguises himself as one of the rats to get inside and get the other slaves through the prison pit's tunnel.

En route to Noonvale, the company make many friends, such as the Warden of Marshwood Hill and Boldred the owl and enemies like the uncivilized cannibalistic lizards and the rogue Gawtrybe. With help of the shrews, they make it to Noonvale but it has not an army to defeat Marshank. However, many are drawn to his cause, including the Gawtrybe as Martin makes his way to Marshank.

Clogg takes his opportunity to capture Marshank while Badrang was out. However, Badrang knew of the tunnel in the prison pit. He has Clogg's soldiers swear allegiance to him while Clogg became Marshank's one man slave operation. Felldoh became obsessed with Marshank's fall that he began solo attacks against it. When he faced Badrang head-to-head, but was beaten to death by his minions. It wasn't until Martin arrived with his army that he forced Badrang into a corner. Rose, astounded that Martin was such a great warrior that she kissed him on the cheek. Martin's army burned down Marshank's gate, and began their attack. In the confusion, Martin retrieved his father's sword and slew Badrang with it. Unfortunately, Badrang had stabbed and killed Rose during the battle. The freedom fighter return to Noonvale, where it will remain a secret, while Martin continues on his own path.

Principal Cast

"Redwall"
*Matthias - Tyrone Savage
*Cornflower - Alison Pill
*Constance - Janet Wright
*Abbot Mortimer - Chris Wiggins
*Basil Stag Hare - Richard Binsley
*Cluny the Scourge - Diego Matamoros

"Mattimeo"
*Slagar the Cruel - Tim Curry
*Mattimeo - Michael Seater
*Matthias - Tyrone Savage
*Cornflower - Melissa McIntyre
*Constance Janet Wright
*Abbot Mordalfus - John Stocker
*Basil Stag Hare - Richard Binsley

"Martin the Warrior"
*Martin - Amos Crawley
*Rose - Lindsey Connell
*Badrang - Diego Matamoros
*Clogg - John Stocker
*Grumm - Graham Haley
*Felldoh - Ali Mukaddam
*Brome - Luca Perlman

Episodes

"Redwall"
*Cluny the Scourge, Part OneThe searat Cluny the Scourge comes to Mossflower woods with his horde of rats, young Matthias remembers him from his childhood days, the rat who murdered his family
*Cluny the Scourge, Part TwoCluny sends Shadow over the wall to get the tapestry of Martin the Warrior, the rats plan to attack and uses their forces as decoys so they can climb across from a tree into Redwall, Matthias and Basil Stag Hare go to set the vole family free. Asmodeus the snake is introduced, so is Basil Stag Hare
*TreacheryCluny gets the fox Sela and her son, Chickenhound, to heal his leg. And uses her as a way to make the Redwallers think an attack is coming from straight on, when really it is coming from the ground. Cheesethief and Killconey are introduced.
*Sparra's KingdomMatthias goes up onto the roof with the sparrow Warbeak to see if the sword is up in the Sparrow's domain. Matthias learns that the snake has the sword.
*Cluny's ClownsA circus comes to Mossflower and Cluny sneaks two of his rats, Redtooth and Fangburn, into it so they can take over Redwall from the inside. Methuselah dies
*High StandardsBasil Stag Hare, Jess Squirrel, and Matthias go to get the tapestry of Martin the Warrior from Cluny. No food can get into the Abbey because of Cluny's blockade
*Captain SnowNot knowing where the Asmodeus's home is, Matthias goes to ask the snow owl Captain Snow if he knows where Asmodeus lives. Squire Julian the cat and the shrews are introduced
*Battle PlansCluny moves his camp right outside Redwall, Basil and Constance the badger build a giant crossbow to kill Cluny. Killconey the ferret, however, hears about it, and Cheesethief is used as a decoy
*The VisitorThe dormouse Furlo the Spicer comes to Redwall and kidnaps Cornflower because Cluny has his wife. Matthias, being Redwall's defender, goes to save her with Foremole
*A Favor Returned A tribe of dormice are killed off by Asmodeus. Cluny starts to 'go off his rocker' as Fangburn says. Matthias goes to get the sword but turns around because Warbeak tells him the rats are making plans. Warbeak and another sparrow go to count the number of rats but Warbeak is captured and put on Asmodeus's trail. Darkclaw, Killconey, and Fangburn think about taking over with Cluny 'out of service'.
*AsmodeusMatthias finally is able to go get the sword from the adder Asmodeus Poisonteeth. With the help of the Guosim shrews he finds Asmodeus's lair. Cluny makes 'any creature big enough to lift sword' join him. Asmodeus is killed by Matthias in the end but he and the shrews are stuck in the underground. Log-a-Log is introduced
*UndergroundMatthias and the shrew try to get out of the Earth. Meanwhile Cluny prepares an attack. Killconey tells Cluny and Fangburn about what Matthias is doing. Cornflower and silent Sam the squirrel find the armor of Martin the Warrior
*The Final ConflictCluny uses the dormouse, Plumpin, to let him into the Abbey. Matthias and the shrews get back from Mossflower woods. Matthias is away at the time to get the 'Shrewvian Reinforcements' as Log-a-Log says. Once Matthias is back the final battle begins. Cluny is killed in the end, so is the rest of Cluny's rat, stoat (weasels are mentioned but are never seen), and ferret horde.

"Mattimeo"

*Slagar The Slaver The Hooded fox Slagar the Cruel takes Auma the badger away from her father, Orlando the Ax. He then gets into Redwall, makes everyone fall asleep and takes the children. Cursing Matthias's name
*The Magician Revealed Mattimeo, Sam, Cynthia, Auma, and others from Redwall find out that Slagar is the fox Chickenhound who was believed to be dead.
*Where the Little Folk GoMatthias, Jess, and Basil Stag Hare find the young otter Cheek. Jube the hedgehog is taken captive by Slagar. A newt Frill cheats the slaves out of everything they have. Matthias, Jess, Basil, and Cheek meet Jabez Stump and Orlando the Ax. The people of Redwall begin to figure clues from Martin the Warrior
*Found...And Lost Matthias finds Mattimeo but Slagar crushes him and the others under a pile of rocks. The Guosim know that something is going on. The Redwallers find more clues to where Slagar is headed
*To Be a Warrior The Guosim have freed Matthias and the others. Slagar and the slaves keep on moving. More clues are found by the Redwallers.
*Ironbeak The raven Ironbeak with his army of rooks, crows, and magpies comes to Mossflower and they begin to attack Redwall.
*Peril in the Toplands Slagar moves the slaves up to the top of a plateau where the rat Stonefleck is waiting for them. They then have to travel threw the forest of the 'Painted Ones' which resemble lemurs. They then have to cross a river where a giant horde of rats is waiting. With the help of an owl, Sir Harry the Muse, Matthias and the others get onto the plateau, face the 'Painted Ones' and begin to cross the river, the rats however try to stop them send a lot of them into the water, full of carnivorous fish.
*Feathered Friends and Foes Ironbeak and his armies take over parts of Redwall, the sparrows who have been told where Slagar is heading find Matthias fighting the rats on the plateau. Matthias wins with the help of the sparrows but Warbeak is killed
*The Abyss Mattimeo and the other slaves are forced to walk across a desert they then must cross a rickety bridge across a giant abyss. Matthias and the others begin to cross the desert but Slagar has burned the bridge. The owl, Sir Harry, comes to their rescue when vultures attack them. He also helps them cross the abyss.
*MalkarissThe battle against Ironbeak gets even fiercer. The slaves are taken by black-robed rats from Malkariss. Matthias and the others are warned by a crazy old rabbit that danger lies ahead. They also run into Slagar's stranded weasel, stoat, and ferret henchmen.
*BattleMattimeo and the others are introduced to the underground empire of Malkariss by the rat Nadaz. Matthias and the others figure out that Malkariss is what once was Loamhedge Abbey. A battle against the black-robbed rats begins. A red kite crashes at Redwall and Constance and Cornflower begin to take care of it. Ironbeak has control of almost the entire Abbey
*ReunitedMatthias faces the monster, the Wererat, and the battle underground gets worse. Log-a-log is killed. The slaves are freed. Matthias is presumed dead when he falls off of a cliff and learns that Malkariss is an old, pathetic ferret
*Return to Redwall The kingdom of Malkariss is destroyed, the red kite, Stryke, kills Ironbeak. Orlando and Matthias chase Slagar down but he falls down a well and is killed. They then all return safely home to Redwall Abbey

"Martin the Warrior"

*CapturedYoung Martin fights off the weasel Hisk and remembers how he was captured and how much he hates the stoat Lord Badrang. Meanwhile Rose and Grum come up upon Marshank. Clogg also sees Marshank in the distance
*The Return of Clogg The stoat pirate, Joshua Cuttlefish Clogg, comes ashore and meet up his old "pal" Lord Badrang
*Escape from Marshank Martin, Brome, and Felldoh escape from Marshank with the help of Rose and Grum
*New Friends and Old Enemies Brom, Felldoh, Martin, Rose, and Grum are all split up at sea. Brom and Felldoh wind up not far away and are taken in by some performs lead by the hare Ballaw de Quinchwald and a badger. Martin, Rose, and Grum are forced to be slaves of a pygmy shrew colony where they meet the hedgehog, Pallum.
*The Play's the Thing To help the other slaves who are in Marshank Felldoh, Brom, and Ballaw along with the rest of the Players plan to put on a performance at Marshank and help the slaves escape during it all
*Freedom and Monsters Rose, Grum, Martin, and Pallum head toward Rose's home of Noonvale. While Felldoh and Brom try to free the slaves
*The Great Escapes Rose, Grum, Martin, and Pallum are captured by cannibal lizards but luckily are saved by the heron named Warden. Felldoh, Brom, and the escaped slaves fight against Clogg and his pirates
*From Marshes to Mountain Heights Martin and his friends leave the marshes and go into the mountain land where they run into the savage squirrels the Gawtrybe.
*Heroes and Fools Martin fights, Wakk, leader of the Gawtrybe and then must climb a mountain with the Gawtrybe following them.
*Tunnel Vision Martin and his friends are saved by the owl Boldred. Felldoh begins attacking Marshank every night
*Felldoh's RevengeFelldoh is driven crazy and later killed outside Marshank's gate. Martin and the others reach Noonvale
*Battlefield MarshankMartin leaves Noonvale with an army to attack Marshank, the performers and escaped slaves do as well. Boldred the owl has gathered an army of the pygmy shrews, the Gawtrybe, the water shrews, the Warden, and other creatures to join Martin's army
*Rose of Noonvale The final battle takes place inside Marshank, in the end Badrang is killed and so is Martin's love, Rose.

Differences From The Books

Redwall

*During the final battle, Cluny uses Cornflower as a hostage instead of Friar Hugo.
*Basil, Jess and Matthias all go to rescue the tapestry. In the book, only Basil and Jess are involved. Matthias, in the meantime, was trapped in the Sparra's loft.
*Constance kills Fangburn by biting him, in the book she smashes him against a wall several times.
*The events of two episodes weren't present in the book: Cluny's Clowns and The Visitor.
*John Churchmouse is Cornflower's father in the TV series, in the book her father is Mr. Fieldmouse. This complicates the family tree later on, when Mattimeo marries Tess Churchmouse, who in the show, is his aunt. In the Television adaptation of "Mattimeo" (see below), no mention of this was ever made, and the change in the relationship between John Churchmouse and Cornflower was apparently ignored. It is possible that, in the second season, that the relationship between Mr. Churchmouse and Cornflower was retconned out of the series.
*Scragg the Weasel was a rat in the TV series. Cluny later mentions his name as a weasel.
*Sela and Chickenhound enter the Abbey, and Methuselah is "knocked out" with a candlestick and dies a few episodes later. In the book, Chickenhound smashed Methuselah over the head with a sack of stolen goods while fleeing the Abbey, killing him instantly. In both the book and the TV series, Sela is killed by Cluny, while Chickenhound escapes and is attacked by Asmodeus.
*In the book, Matthias knows the direct route to Redwall Abbey and wastes no time in arrival. In the cartoon, however, he must ask a shrewlet for the quickest route to the Abbey, who answers him by leading him over a waterfall.
*In the animated series, Cornflower and Silent Sam find Martin the Warrior's armor in the Abbey's attic. This deeply contrasts Matthias' and Methuselah's discovery of the armor below the Abbey staircase.

Mattimeo

*Slagar tells Mattimeo directly that he is Chickenhound, but in the book, Sam Squirrel figures it out from the other information.
*The painted ones resemble lemurs, but it is revealed in a later book that they are tree rats.
*It is Sister May that rescues Rollo from General Ironbeak in the book, not Cornflower.
*When Stryk Redkite attacks General Ironbeak, General Ironbeak's rooks suppress her before she breaks free and kills him. In the book, she killed him directly without any interruption.
*The badger Orlando the Axe's warcry, Eulalia, is changed to Eulia.
*In Redwall it is told that John Churchmouse was Cornflower's father, but in Mattimeo, Cornflower isn't a Churchmouse.

Martin The Warrior

*Rose's death in the TV series is caused by Badrang running her through, however, she was thrown against a wall in the book.
*Pallum was male in the book, but was female in the series.
*Keyla was pronounced Key-La, and not Kay-La.
*Skalrag was tickle-tortured, which lead to his death when dangling above Marshank's gates. In the book Skalrag was tortured by stretching and killed above the gates by arrows in the book. This was done to prevent kids from seeing too much violence.
*In "Battlefield Marshank", Martin and Rose confess their love for one another, this never happens in the book though they show signs of their relationship.
*Pallum went with Rose and Martin to rescue Grumm from the bees, in the book he stayed behind.
*In the book, Celandine was pronounced sel-and-ine, in the series it was kel-and-ine.

Fourth Season

The series, while never officially canceled, has believed to have finished production of new episodes. However, on February 27, 2003, one of supervising directors of the show; Jocelyn Hamilton, was contacted by fans of the show in regards to a possible fourth season. Ms. Hamilton replied that they (the producers) are prepared to produce a fourth season, as the show itself is very popular, especially well-accepted by fans of the book series, but only if it is "financially feasible", and at the moment, no American broadcasters are helping to finance a fourth season.

Fans of the show are circulating petition to continue the series, with its fourth season assumed to be based on "Mossflower".Fact|date=March 2008

There has been some fan speculation that the series will continue, as adaptions of the more recent books, however the sources for this information are unofficial and nothing is certain at the moment.

External links

* [http://redwall.wikia.com/wiki/Redwall_TV_Series Redwall TV series @ the Redwall Wiki]
*imdb title|id=0200369|title=Redwall
*imdb title|id=0264274|title=Mattimeo
*imdb title|id=0302139|title=Martin the Warrior
* [http://rwtv.longpatrolclub.com/]