Als die Tiere den Wald verließen

When you look at kids shows today you can't believe the things you watched when you were a kid. Today no one would make a show like this because now it's politically incorrect. And if they did it would be marketed for older teenagers. This show had violence, complexity, depth, realism, moralistic debates and good wry humour. Today's show's for the same age group by comparison are childish, shallow and plain silly which don't get me wrong they have a place in our TV viewing habits but when it is the only thing you can give your kids to watch, well it's rather sad.

This was a show were they didn't shy from the fact that predators eat prey, the characters had real personality clashes and there was no fully good or fully bad character they all had a bit of both. They even dealt with the issues of death, loss and grief. We have become so afraid of children getting hurt our TV shows treat our kids like idiots. I was 7 to 8 when I watched this show and I understood all the themes and moral dilemmas moreover I wanted to know about them and since parents aren't going discuss things like that with a 7 yr old kid I really got to thank shows like this for helping me build a moral character.

Come on TV land be daring make kids shows like this again. Kids need stimulation not constant mindless candy floss.

*CONTAINS SPOILERS*

I watched the Animals of Farthing Wood a lot when I was growing up, and while admittedly I've forgotten a lot of the story lines and such, much of it has stuck with me.

One of things I enjoyed most about the show were the characters. There was a huge range of woodland creatures, all of which had their own personality, little background stories and theire own relationships with certain other characters in the group. The smaller animals were always very timid and would always try and protect their families. Adder (who had a darkside to her, always ready to eat the rodents) had a grudging, but quite close friendship with Owl, and Badger played as adviser to the lead role, Fox. And of course there was the close bond between Badger and Mole.

The other thing that strikes you about the show however, is the way the characters develop, sometimes get killed and eventually grow old and die, something which you don't see a lot in children's TV. I remember being pretty traumatised when Moley died as it was totally unexpected. And after that, you could see his close friend Badger slowly delapidate and die of old age, another truly sad moment. But then there were also the fantastic moments, like when the group at last reach White Deer Park and it seems as if they have come to a happy ending and when Fox and Vixen finally have their litter of fox cubs, who we in turn watch grow into adolescent foxes.

It is a truly great show and is reminiscent of Watership Down. The varying story lines, character development and relationships and decent animation make this more than just a kids cartoon.

I was obsessed with it. It got me interested in wildlife and I loved every minute of it. Very dark but entertaining.

I grew up with the animals of farthing wood I don't know how i would have turned out if i hadn't had the ultimate joy of experiencing it.

I have all 3 series on video as well all the original books and all the magazines too.

I still watch them now and again and they still have that same wonderful effect on me. I love the characters so much. There's so much you can relate to in the story; you have the fear of something, courage to stand up, forbidden love, rebelling against your parents and most especially friendship and looking after others.

I thing i didn't like about the series is that in series 2 and more noticeably in series 3 the animals movement became more cartoon like and less animal like, so you have fox giving a big over dramatic yawn, then noticing that owls there suddenly sits up with big shocked eyes, it's just very unanimal-like. I think that because of this some of the animals like mosey lost their adroability when they became more cartoon like.

Either way though it was a fantastic show and i want the complete set to come out on DVD - it would be soooooo much handier than video.

"The Animals Of Farthing Wood" is a real classic and wont be forgotten. It's animation is unique and people of all ages can relate to the characters. The program was watched by thousands of youngsters all over the country and everyone of my generation will remember it forever.