GET THAT FESTIVE FELINE!
Mog the cat causes Christmas chaos in a purr-fect new film
MOG’S CHRISTMAS
Christmas Eve, 7.45pm, Ch4
If ever a voiceover part felt fated, it’s surely Tacy Kneale’s recent role. For Tacy was tasked with providing the on-screen miaows and purrs of a cat that was a much-loved part of her childhood — and thanks to her mother Judith Kerr, many other children’s too.
That cat’s name was
Mog, and she inspired the 18 storybooks written by Judith since
1970 that have sold over four million copies worldwide. ‘The original Mog actually didn’t miaow much, but when she did she meant it,’ Tacy recalls. ‘And she purred a lot.’
Half a century on, Mog’s yuletide capers, captured in the 1976 book Mog’s Christmas, have now been adapted into a charming half-hour animation by the team who brought us previous festive offerings The Tiger Who Came To Tea and We’re Going On A Bear Hunt.
The fictional Mog (right) lives with Mr and Mrs Thomas and their children Debbie and Nicky, and her speciality is causing gentle chaos. It’s no different at Christmas, when Mr Thomas and the children arrive home with an enormous tree. This scares Mog so much she scrambles onto the roof for safety and refuses to come down. Despite everyone’s fears, Mog has a magical night in the snow before, on Christmas Day, falling down the chimney after hearing talk of breakfast and arriving in the kitchen to the surprise and relief of all the family.
The animated version, painstakingly created over many months (inset) and composed of more than 16,000 hand-drawn pictures, has a starry voice cast, with Benedict Cumberbatch and Claire Foy as Mr and Mrs Thomas, and Miriam Margolyes and Maggie Steed as the permanently bewildered visiting aunts. Former Fast Show comedian Charlie Higson is the voice of the ‘jolly uncle’, and overall narration is provided by Bridgerton star Adjoa Andoh, who also feels she was destined for the job.
She raised her children with Judith’s stories and also recently provided the voice of Judith’s mother in the radio dramatisation of When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit, Judith’s semi-autobiographical story of a Jewish family escaping Germany before the Second World War. ‘There’s also a primary school named after Judith near me in London, so I feel very embedded,’ says Adjoa.
Viewers will undoubtedly find themselves delighted by the 70s details drawn out by the animation team, among them the face of veteran sports commentator Des Lynam appearing on a TV screen in a local store. ‘All generations can get things from it,’ says Adjoa.
Charlie Higson adds that Judith also ensured the books worked on different levels. ‘She showed the world through a cat’s-eye view, but we’re also seeing it from the view of small children.’
Judith passed away in 2019 at the age of 95, and Tacy and her brother Matthew are delighted with the way their mother’s work has been brought to life. ‘It’s been done so beautifully, it’s a masterpiece,’ says Matthew.