Nickelodeon Talks About Their Brand New Adaptation Of "Peter Rabbit"; To Fully Premiere On Nickelodeon USA In March 2013; To Be Supported With Merchandise; "Peter Rabbit's Christmas Tale" To Air In The UK Christmas Eve On BBC1

From The New York Times:

Bet Your Camomile Tea, Peter, You're a TV Star Now

Nickelodeon approached “Peter Rabbit” with the hopes that the series would have built-in appeal to parents who grew up with the blue-coated anthropomorphic bunny.

[Above image courtesy] Nickelodeon;
Lily Bobtail, Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny in the holiday special “Peter Rabbit’s Christmas Tale,” appearing Dec. 14 on Nickelodeon. A series begins in March.
In Beatrix Potter’s first version of “The Tale of Peter Rabbit,” a menacing Mrs. McGregor leans over a kitchen table and presented a steaming-hot pie to Mr. McGregor, who holds a knife and fork at the ready. The pie, of course, is stuffed with the remains of Peter’s father.

An original illustration of Peter Rabbit from 1902.
Potter’s publisher, Frederick Warne & Company, said the image was too horrific for young children. She protested, and the publisher decided to keep the story line but remove the illustration from the 1902 edition.

You might think young viewers today would be much harder to shock. But Nickelodeon, which is remaking Potter’s books as a “Peter Rabbit” animated series, concluded that the death by pie was still too horrific for children even 110 years later. But executives did want the story to be set up around a single mother, which appealed to test audiences.

“Here’s a single mom raising four bunnies,” said Teri Weiss, executive vice president of production and development for Nickelodeon preschool. “That’s an important element we thought kids could connect with.”

Nickelodeon embarked on “Peter Rabbit” with the hopes that the series, regular episodes of which are to go on the air in March, would have built-in appeal to parents who grew up with the blue-coated anthropomorphic bunny. The network, which has seen its ratings decline recently, took a similar approach with older viewers in September when it introduced an updated “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.”

But redoing “Peter Rabbit,” one of the most popular and beloved children’s properties, comes with potential pitfalls. Change too much, and audiences who loved the original will cringe. Don’t change enough, and it could come off looking like a stale imitation of the idyllic original.

“You can’t fundamentally mess with something that has been around for that long,” Cyma Zarghami, president of Viacom’s Nickelodeon Group, said. “It was about freshening up his look.”

The new “Peter Rabbit” features computer-animated imagery in soft pastel hues. Peter and his friends get into the same type of outdoorsy adventures as they used to, set against the backdrop of the sweeping landscapes of the Lake District in England, which Potter devoted her later life to preserving. Animators visited the district and took more than 3,000 photos before embarking on recreating the scenery.

[Above image courtesy:] Nickelodeon; The newer [Peter] rabbit.
A team of animators worked exclusively on the fur of the bunnies, foxes and badgers. They made sure it blew in the wind realistically as the characters slid down a frozen lake or looked sufficiently damp after a snowball fight. “Capturing that warmth in CGI is really important,” Ms. Weiss said. “You want to feel like you’re holding a furry bunny in your hands.”

But showing Peter’s father’s death didn’t seem so warm and fuzzy. “That would scare a 4-year-old witless, and it wouldn’t get past standards and practices these days,” said Waheed Alli, the British media mogul whose Silvergate Media bought the rights to “The World of Beatrix Potter,” which includes Potter’s library of animals, and is a co-producer of the Nickelodeon version.

The series instead portrays a fatherless Peter and a cruel Mr. McGregor but doesn’t go into gory detail. In “Peter Rabbit’s Christmas Tale,” a holiday special having its premiere Dec. 14 on Nickelodeon, Peter’s mother passes down his father’s journal, filled with chronicles of adventures, and several empty pages for Peter to fill in.

Peter and his risk-averse buddy Benjamin get into outdoor mischief similar to what was in the books. The only rule the Potter estate insisted on was that Peter wear his royal-blue coat, a hand-me-down from his father, in the television series. Nickelodeon added a character, Lily Bobtail.

Lily, a city rabbit whose doctor father recently moved the family to the rural Lake District, has a pet ladybug and a “just-in-time” pouch that stores an array of helpful items that get the bunnies out of problematic situations. “We wanted a strong female lead and that was Lily,” Lord Alli said.

In the British edition, which will be broadcast on Christmas Eve [Monday 24th December 2012] on BBC1, the bunnies will have English accents. (Mr. McGregor is English in both versions.) Lord Alli said the timing was fortuitous given the recent news that the duchess of Cambridge, the wife of Prince William, is pregnant. “Princess Diana was a huge fan, and William grew up with Peter Rabbit,” he said. “We’re really keen to have a royal baby with Peter Rabbit.”

Potter initially wrote and illustrated stories about a troublemaking rabbit named Peter in the 1890s to entertain the ailing 5-year-old son of her former governess. After several publishers rejected the book, she published “The Tale of Peter Rabbit” herself in 1901. Frederick Warne & Company put out a commercial edition a year later. “The Tale of Peter Rabbit” became one of the best-selling books of all time and, along with the next five titles in the series, sold more than 150 million copies in 36 languages.

Shortly after the first 28,000 copies of “The Tales of Peter Rabbit” hit bookshelves in Britain in 1902, knockoffs began to appear in the United States. With no United States copyright, unlicensed issues of “Peter Rabbit” started to emerge, and Potter and her publisher could not stop them.

“Nickelodeon’s series is just one of a long run of spinoffs going back to the original first edition,” said John Bidwell, the curator of an exhibition on Potter’s illustrated letters currently on display at the Morgan Library & Museum in New York.

And like the Nickelodeon series, in most of those spinoffs publishers and animators took out Potter’s scarier story lines. “I think it’s a just criticism of the modern Beatrix Potters is that they lack the sardonic humor that makes Beatrix Potter so much fun for kids and grown-ups,” Mr. Bidwell said.

Of course the Nickelodeon version is not a knockoff. Penguin Group, which now owns the “Peter Rabbit” publisher Frederick Warne & Company, is much more vehement about copyright. Warne retains underlying ownership and has global rights to all publishing based on the classic books and the new series. Lord Alli’s Silvergate owns merchandising, licensing and animation rights to “The World of Beatrix Potter.” Viacom partnered with both companies to bring “Peter Rabbit” to Nickelodeon.

In addition to the “Peter Rabbit” television series, a line of plush bunny toys, books and related accessories will arrive in stores soon. Nickelodeon already sells products to go with its aging “SpongeBob SquarePants” and “Dora the Explorer” series. The company said “Peter Rabbit” clothing and stuffed animals could help it make inroads with babies and their parents, a group that a competitor, Disney, already appeals to.

That may initially sound like a big United States media conglomerate turning an artistic classic into a commercial cash cow, but it’s not far from what Potter herself did after she realized she had a hit. She had Peter-inspired dolls, wallpaper, tea sets and porcelain dishes, which she called her “side shows,” Mr. Bidwell said.

Lord Alli added, “She was the first person to do licensing and merchandising.”

Nickelodeon Brazil Preps New Teen Telenovela

Television news website C21Media has announced the Nickelodeon News that Nickelodeon Brazil is developing a brand new daily telenovela series following the success of its locally produced live-action teen drama "Julie & the Phantoms". Roberto Martha, director of production at Viacom Networks Brasil, told C21 that the as-yet unnamed series will feature 70 episodes 60 minutes long and will air on Nickelodeon Latin America. You can read the Nick News article, titled "Nick Brazil preps teen novela", in full here on the official C21Media website, c21media.net (paid subscription required).

"Ben And Holly's Little Kingdom" Producer Phil Davies Confirms The Preschool Shows New Mayor Is Not Based On The Mayor Of London, Boris Johnson

According to the following news article from Express.co.uk, Phil Davies, the producer of the popular Nick Jr. Channel UK and Ireland animated preschool series "Ben & Holly's Little Kingdom", has confirmed to journalists that the new Mayor of the shows enchanted magical kingdom is not based on the current (2012) Mayor of London, Boris Johnson (also known as Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson):

BORIS JOHNSON HAS NEW ROLE IN BEN AND HOLLY'S LITTLE KINGDOM

The cartoon mayor in Ben and Holly’s Little Kingdom
THE thatch of white-blond hair seems familiar and the plummy voice is unmistakable.

The new mayor in the imaginary land of the hit children’s programme Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom looks an awful lot like Boris Johnson.

The fairyland town hall chief, whose upper-crust charms mimic the style of London mayor Boris, appears in the premiere of the new series of Ben and Holly on the Nickelodeon channel.

The hit show for pre-school children is screened in 43 countries across Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Latin America. The enchanted magic kingdom home of elf Ben and fairy Princess Holly is also a favourite on Channel 5.

Last night show co-producer Phil Davies insisted: “Any resemblance to real persons, either living or dead is purely coincidental.”

Boris would not be the first politician to be celebrated in cartoon form. Tony Blair was animated for The Simpsons.

"Any resemblance to real persons, either living or dead is purely coincidental"

Phil Davies

Below is a photograph of Mayor of London, Boris Johnson:

US Mobile Network Operator Verizon Wireless Announces Plans To Close Down Their V CAST Service; To Focus On Viewdini

From Phones Review:

Farewell Verizon Vcast, so download focused viewdini

If you happen to be over in the USA and a Verizon customer that uses the Big Red's Vcast service, unfortunately as of the 15th of this month you will no longer be able to take advantage of what Verizon Vcast has to offer. This is because the Big Red has stated that they are to shut down the 7-year old Vcast service as of the 15th of this month.

Once the Big Red shuts down Vcast, the number one carrier in the USA will switch their focus towards a free video service known as viewdini, which is available as a mobile app for both Android and iOS devices. However Verizon customers should be made aware that the closure of Vcast will not affect current data or calling plans.

The viewdini mobile application for both iOS and Android devices have been available for both platforms for a while, and is a free application that enables users to search for and browse TV shows, web videos, and movies on their smartphone or tablet.

The viewdini app offers such services as Netflix, Xfinity, mSpot, Hulu Plus and more, whilst when is comes to NFL content, Verizon has stated that users will need to download and subscribe to NFL Mobile.

Verizon Vcast was introduced way back in 2005, and then came to the Android platform back in 2010, and offered such things as live sporting content along with TV shows from such networks as CBS, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, and NBC. However it appears that the Big Red feels the service is now getting on in years and has decided to shut it down.

The reason for the closure is apparently so that Verizon can better serve the demands of their customers, and the closure of Vcast will allow the carrier to focus on delivering the best video experience in wireless, namely viewdini, which they say is a new video service for 4G enabled Apple and Android devices.

For those Verizon user that will be downloading the viewdini app to their chosen device either from iTunes or Google Play, but would like to know a bit more about how the app works, we have a viewdini for iPhone review video for your viewing consideration below. So hit that play button to check out the footage.

However some users are not too happy with veiwdini, as some iOS users are saying the only carrier listed is Comcast, whilst some Android users are not too happy with Verizon taking away the free movie sites, and some have even found that the app stops and doesn’t play videos or even take them to where they can watch the content.

Thus is would appear that the viewdini app has some problems, so we’d like to hear from any of our reader that use the viewdini app to let us know their opinions by dropping us a line to our comments area [here on the official Phones Review website, phonesreview.co.uk].

Review Of Norwegian Cruise's Norwegian Epic – A Lifetime Of Entertainment In One Trip

From This is Grimsby:

Review of the Norwegian Epic

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Norwegian Epic – A Lifetime of Entertainment in One Trip

One of the many benefits of choosing cruise deals aboard Norwegian Epic is that you can pack so much into your holiday. Not only can you visit a range of fabulous destinations, but you can also experience some of the best entertainment, dining and activities that cruise holidays have to offer on board this palatial ship.

Entertainment highlights include the out of this world Blue Man Group, Cirque dreams and Legends in concert, whilst kids will adore the messy fun of Nickelodeon Slime Time Live.

With more than 20 places to eat you can enjoy a different dining experience every day of the week. Indulge in an Italian feast at the friendly and informal Pizza 24/7, get traditional fare for all the family at O’Sheehan’s Neighbourhood Bar & Grill or sample the finest in French cuisine at Le Bistro.

Enjoy an after dinner drink at one of the many bars on board. Sip elegant cocktails at Shaker’s Martini Bar, enjoy the super cool atmosphere of the SVEDKA Ice Bar or relax with a post-show tipple at the glamorous Epic Theatre Bar.

At the end of each evening you can retire to relax and recuperate in a choice of top notch accommodation including suites, family villas and even a Penthouse complete with balcony. There’s plenty of smart and serviceable accommodation for everyone to enjoy.

On Board Facilities

When you’re not enjoying excursions on one of Norwegian Epic's Caribbean or Mediterranean cruises, you can make the most of on board facilities including a great kids pool complete with three multi-storey water slides, two adult pools for sedate sunbathing, a sports centre, jogging track, casino and even a market place where you can shop till you drop. So whether you want to relax and unwind or fill your vacation with non-stop activity and excitement, you’ll find what you need onboard this incredible ship.