In Vertical’s upcoming The Magic Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton’s 1940s children’s novels get a modern makeover, and one that director Ben Gregor, as well as stars Andrew Garfield and Claire Foy, say brings the author’s messages around adventure and family to a modern audience.
“Simon [Farnaby] made it really relevant. He made it about kids of today, but with all the values and excitement of the adventures of Enid Blyton. He brought the two worlds together in this amazing, tender, warm, funny way,” Gregor told The Hollywood Reporter while discussing the work of the film’s screenwriter at the New York premiere on Wednesday night. “It’s not a preachy thing, but it does say go outside and climb a tree and have some fun. Get off the screens. And Simon, he’s a master of warmth. It’s like having a big hug watching this movie.”
The second story in the Faraway trilogy, the film and book follow three siblings who move to the English countryside and discover a magical tree and its fantastical inhabitants. All are able to visit various lands in the sky, including one known as the Land of Goodies. “It’s kind of like a candy land,” Gregor explained about what audiences will see adapted for the film. “We made an edible set. The kids came and just ate it. I really wanted them to do this in the old school way of making films where things are really there and things they can see, feel and touch. That’s how we made this.”
