Quentin Blake: ‘I haven’t received a penny for BFG blockbuster’
WITH his wispy hair, huge ears, pointed nose and brown waistcoat, the image of Roald Dahl’s Big Friendly Giant is just as distinctive as the story from which he springs.
And yet it appears the work of the artist who first brought The BFG to life, Quentin Blake, remains startlingly underappreciated – if not by his readers then by the Hollywood studios and theatre producers who have earned millions with successful interpretations of Dahl’s work.
Blake, who illustrated all of Dahl’s children’s books, claimed yesterday that the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), the company behind the hugely popular stage version of Dahl’s Matilda, had not been obliged to pay him any royalties.
And asked about his involvement in the film version of The BFG, Blake revealed not only that he was not involved, but that he was not offered a penny, despite the fact the film giant is remarkably similar to his original vision. The film, in which the behemoth is voiced by Oscar-winner Mark Rylance, topped the UK box office last July on its way to earning director Steven Spielberg’s Dreamworks company and its partners more than £43 million.
“I don’t take any money and run. I’m not offered any, in fact,” he told The Mail on Sunday. “I don’t know why. I know Mark Rylance is very good and probably he did it very well, but I didn’t see it.”
Asked if he really had not received a single penny, Blake suggested the film may be based on the text alone so that, while Roald Dahl’s estate was compensated “hugely”, “I’ve no connection with the film whatsoever”.
A similar situation obtains with the RSC, he said, echoing Dahl’s own view that Blake does not get the credit he deserves. “That’s what Roald said, ‘When they read the book, they see Quentin’s pictures’. I think that’s true. No, it’s fine. I mean I get my share,” Blake said.
Blake began working with Dahl in 1978 on The Enormous Crocodile and he is admits that, despite not enjoying a huge share of the royalties on his former collaborator’s works, “they sell so many copies that I’ve done well out of it”. Yet with a portfolio that includes paintings and drawings which grace scores of hospitals, mental-health centres and care homes, and despite insisting he is far from the caricature of the tortured artist, it is his gloomier, more adult work that currently gives him the most satisfaction. A selection of these works, which include strange, disfigured creatures and men on crutches, can currently be seen at the Jerwood Gallery, Hastings.
Some bear striking references to contemporary events, not least an image of a boat which recalls the plight of migrants crossing the Mediterranean. Blake said: “Don’t forget about these people. We won’t forget them”.
Dreamworks, Disney and the RSC did not respond to requests for comment.