I’m ready for a trip to Nowhere Land
January 23rd, 2008
It has been a long time since my children and I last visited Nowhere Land, at least four or five years I’d say, and we have truly missed our friends Maggie, Ferocious Beast, and Hamilton. If you’re not familiar with Maggie and the Ferocious Beast then you’re missing one of the best animated adventures ever!
For those who love the Maggie and the Ferocious Beast series you’ll be as excited as I was to hear Maggie’s adventures are now available on DVD. And if you’ve never visited Nowhere Land you’ll want to pick up one or two (or all) of the DVDs, they’re that fun. I hovered over our mailbox waiting for advance copies of the two newest DVDs, Maggie and the Ferocious Beast: Rain Showers & Spring Flowers and Maggie and the Ferocious Beast: Recipes for Trouble. (These titles won’t be available until February 5th, but you can pre-order them now!) We’ve had ours for less than a week and I swear we’ve already worn the DVDs out—and Mom’s watched them as much as the kids! My favorite episodes are “The Push-Me-Popper” (maybe because I’m glad my kids no longer own one) and “Louder! Louder!”
Who is Maggie? She’s a red-haired, imaginative, spunky five-year-old who’s created a whole world (Nowhere Land) for her two favorite stuffed animals—and best friends—to explore. The characters are based on the popular children’s books created by Michael and Betty Paraskevas. I was able to ask Michael Paraskevas a few questions for our Daily Dish readers. Here are his answers in his own words:
1. Where did you get the inspiration to create Maggie (e.g., did you create monsters or other imaginary creatures when you were a kid?)
Maggie was originally a book that Betty wrote called simply The Ferocious Beast with the Polka-dot Hide… Maggie wasn’t in the book. It was a story about how Hamilton, a pig, meets a Ferocious Beast and convinces him not to eat a pig…it’s pretty funny and we always get asked about it. It has a much harder edginess to it than the series itself. Also we always like Winnie the Pooh so the map from the show is a direct link to that idea. Maps were always special to me as a child.
2. Why do you think Maggie appeals to children?
The simple stories allow a child to understand what’s actually going on… the pace is less frantic than most shows..and the bold colors have a way of holding the attention. The pace allows the child to think about what’s going on instead of being catapulted along at a frantic pace that most cartoon shows use now.
3. What was it like to adapt your books for the small screen?
It was quite satisfying… we enjoyed the process… animation is made or broken in the script process… bad script, bad show.. you can’t dress up a bad script with great animation ..many try but they learn a lesson that the show is just awful without a solid script..and Betty unlike most children’s authors today.. got to write most of the scripts for this show…so that in itself helps keep her vision.
Take your own trip (via DVD) to Nowhere Land with Maggie and her Ferocious Beast. I promise you’ll visit often!—Emily
* Giveaway Shout! Factory is giving away one set of the Maggie and the Ferocious Beast DVDs mentioned above! Please leave a comment with a valid email address for our drawing. We’ll draw the winner from the comments and contact her via email. Deadline: January 31, 2008 (midnight). The winner will have 24 hours to claim her prize or a new winner will be chosen.
* Congratulations! Taryn Scarfone is the winner of our Maggie and the Ferocious Beast giveaway! Thank you to everyone who took the time to read the review and add a comment. Keep reading the Daily Dish for your chance to participate in more giveaways!
January 24th, 2008 at 7:37 am
my kids love this show. would love to win
January 24th, 2008 at 11:01 am
oh we LOVE nowhere land in our house! I’d love to win!
January 24th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
we’d love to try these!
January 24th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
Great googly moogly, my daughter LOVES Maggie!
January 24th, 2008 at 12:55 pm
My kids still love Beast! Count me in.
bebemiqui82 (at) yahoo (dot) com
January 24th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
My daughter would love this!
January 24th, 2008 at 2:28 pm
Oh how very fun!
Mary
January 24th, 2008 at 7:55 pm
We love Maggie and the Ferocious Beast at our house. I’d love to introduce them to my newest two year old daughter!
browntown6[at]comcast[.]net
January 24th, 2008 at 8:56 pm
My daughter loves to cuddle and watch movies. Thanks
January 24th, 2008 at 10:12 pm
Hello! How cute these DVDS are. I would love to win them for my young great-niece and great-
nephew. They would really enjoy Maggie! Please enter me in your contest. Thanks,Cindi
January 25th, 2008 at 9:31 am
my son would love this!
January 25th, 2008 at 9:32 am
This is a favorite in our house!
January 25th, 2008 at 9:43 am
We’ve never seen this – would be fun to check it out!
January 25th, 2008 at 9:48 am
I would love my daughter to see these!
January 25th, 2008 at 9:59 am
My twins would love this!
January 25th, 2008 at 9:59 am
Would love to check out this DVD. Thanks!
January 25th, 2008 at 10:01 am
My daughter loves this show!
January 25th, 2008 at 10:30 am
My son loves this show. Thanks for the contest!
January 25th, 2008 at 10:32 am
Looks like a lot of fun! I’d love to check it out!
January 25th, 2008 at 10:35 am
We are always looking for something new to entertain the kids.
January 25th, 2008 at 10:50 am
thanks for the entry
January 25th, 2008 at 10:59 am
Anything that keeps my 3 yr old STILL for 25 minutes is a winner around here.
January 25th, 2008 at 11:04 am
My DD loves this show!
January 25th, 2008 at 11:10 am
We love Maggie in our house!
January 25th, 2008 at 11:26 am
how fun! fingers crossed…
January 25th, 2008 at 11:28 am
My kids would love to see this.
January 25th, 2008 at 12:10 pm
Maggie is such a cute show. My kids would love the dvd!
January 25th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
My girls would love this!
January 25th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
I would be so excited to win this prize!
January 25th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
My kids would love that.
January 25th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
DD is a huge fan of Maggie, she makes me DVR the show if we won’t be home for her to see it.
January 25th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
my girls would be so excited to get maggie in the mail
January 25th, 2008 at 5:19 pm
Oh wow! I…errr…my kids love that show
January 25th, 2008 at 8:27 pm
My daughter would LOVE this!
January 25th, 2008 at 9:04 pm
I bet my kids would love to watch this!
January 25th, 2008 at 9:25 pm
How fun!! Thanks
January 25th, 2008 at 10:01 pm
How much fun!!
January 26th, 2008 at 2:51 am
My daughter would love this!
January 26th, 2008 at 7:18 am
I know some little ones who would love this!
January 26th, 2008 at 7:56 am
I love this show and appreciate the “less frantic pace”!
January 26th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
for my grandson
January 26th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
Fab giveaway
Count me in please!
January 26th, 2008 at 7:16 pm
Sounds like a very kid-friendly video! Hope I win!
January 26th, 2008 at 8:10 pm
My little girl would love this!
January 26th, 2008 at 8:12 pm
My daughter loves Maggie, this would be great!
January 26th, 2008 at 8:38 pm
I hdan’t heard of these DVDs before, so thanks for the tip. My daughter is still a little young for them, but maybe in a year…
January 26th, 2008 at 9:48 pm
I blogged this in my post:
http://laurawilliamsmusings.blogspot.com/2008/01/thursday-edition-of-contests-galore_24.html
January 26th, 2008 at 11:55 pm
Connor would love this DVD!
I blogged you too :
http://www.prizeatron.com
January 27th, 2008 at 1:10 am
please, count me in. thank you.
January 27th, 2008 at 1:41 am
I actually really like this show! Thanks for the opportunity!
January 27th, 2008 at 7:33 am
I love Maggie! Please count me in.
January 27th, 2008 at 8:46 am
Wow- Im going to have to check out the books at the library- thanks for the tip!
January 27th, 2008 at 8:49 am
My kiddos love this show on Noggin. Count me in! {sj1026 at gmail dot com}
January 27th, 2008 at 10:05 am
[...] Feb 1st. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Boutique Cafe < - one set of the Maggie and the Ferocious Beast DVDs from Shout! Factory. Deadline: Midnight, [...]
January 27th, 2008 at 11:27 am
I would love to win this!
January 27th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
I’d love to win, so please count me in! Thanks for the chance! Happy Sunday!
Jennifer
January 27th, 2008 at 7:11 pm
My niece is named Maggie and she loves this video.
taowyn (at) gmail (dot) com
January 27th, 2008 at 8:38 pm
This would be super! I think this would be fun to add to our collection! Thanks~
sharvey at connections-etc dot net
January 27th, 2008 at 9:45 pm
oh cool! enter me!
January 27th, 2008 at 9:46 pm
count me in to win.
January 27th, 2008 at 10:25 pm
please add me in to the hoopla!
dansan826 at yahoo.com
January 28th, 2008 at 12:45 am
My boys would love this, thanks!
January 28th, 2008 at 7:58 am
My daughter would love it, we used to watch this show all the time and don’t see it on Noggin anymore!
notsoanonymousmichelle at gmail dot com
January 28th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
My daughter adores Maggie! Thanks for the giveaway!
ksrutledge at hotmail.com
January 28th, 2008 at 5:15 pm
Cute. Would love to get one.
January 29th, 2008 at 6:32 am
I think my daughter would really like this!
January 30th, 2008 at 8:55 am
My little guy would love this – it looks super cute and imaginative!
January 31st, 2008 at 6:11 am
My daughter would actually flip if I won this. Super cute!
January 31st, 2008 at 8:04 am
This is a wonderful program – and thank you for the chance to win!
January 31st, 2008 at 3:34 pm
I enjoyed watching this show with my grandchildren
February 3rd, 2008 at 6:55 am
Count me in