50 Years of Grasshopper Island

 

2021 marks the 50th anniversary of Grasshopper Island!

It was this grand milestone that led us to put together our brand new little blog - Grasshopper Island News.  It seems appropriate to mark the occasion and remember fondly the adventures of Smarty, Toughy and Mouse. We hope our blog will bring back happy memories for 'elderly boys' and girls wherever you may be. And moreover, we hope our blog can introduce curious new potential fans to this wonderful tale.

The blog has been created by Uli and Chris after we realised that we shared a great fondness for the show, and indeed for times long since passed. And we think Grasshopper Island is deserving of a digital home on the internet. We hope that you will join us in celebrating the occasion and follow our blog, where over time we will share some wonderful - never seen publicly before -  facts, tidbits, photos and footage from the production all those years ago!

We are honoured and fortunate indeed to have the support of the shows producer and author Joy Whitby who has been very kind and provided us with her suggestions and insights. Joy recalls:

We were filming on location in Corsica.  The sun was blazing down and I remember watching the crew prepare for the next shot.  There had been moments of stress and panic.  Sometimes I only finished a script the night before shooting and all the time I wondered if the boys would be able to sustain the challenge.  They had never acted before (and would never act again) but that morning I had a sudden burst of optimism.  I felt we were producing something unusual and I said to our production assistant, who was wilting after a long morning in the heat: “One day you’ll be pleased to have been part of this production.”
 
I never thought that fifty years later, fans in Germany would set up a website to commemorate Grasshopper Island.   Many thanks, Uli and Chris.  And every good wish for success with your enterprise.

Joy Whitby 22.5.20 
 
It is our distinct privilege to share clips and quotations, memories and recollections, writings from fans of the book and TV series and some delightful surprises. So without further delay - let's begin !

 

Comments

  1. AnonymousJune 30, 2021 at 9:09 AM

    Very pleased to see you have created this site. I was in awe of the show as a very small boy and remember the imagination in the show resonated brilliantly in my little world and the idea of freedom and escape it courted. I'll be heading down memory lane shortly to watch all episodes and see what I can recall. All I can remember is I loved the show, wondered why it never came back on tv and Lupus' curly scratchy voice, and that sense of heat they conveyed so well with the slow pans on the dry coastal landscapes. Thanks Steven Australia

    ReplyDelete
  2. Chris and UliJune 30, 2021 at 2:55 PM

    Thank you for your lovely comment Steven !

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousMay 2, 2022 at 11:29 AM

    This sounds like an amazing show, does anyone have a date for when it was first broadcast in 1971? Thank you. Martin

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousMay 15, 2022 at 10:57 AM

    Rediscovered an old childhood TV series

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousOctober 23, 2022 at 8:29 AM

    The theme music from Grasshopper Island is one of my best memories of this time. As a little girl music always created such strong emotions in me. It would be a dream come true if the sheet became available and I could play it on my piano and be transported back in time to my childhood.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Chris and UliOctober 28, 2022 at 6:56 PM

      Unfortunately we can't find any sheet music for the show either. But the theme tune is wonderful indeed!

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

1. Finding our first location .. and clues to the next

Image
The pier at  L'Île-Rousse in April 2024 © Grasshopperisland.net So where to start on our quest for filming locations? Luckily some years ago Uli had asked the author of Grasshopper Island - Joy Whitby - if she recalled where the filming had taken place all those years ago. Joy explained how the island of Corsica came to be selected. Frank Muir was a friend of hers and had suggested Corsica as the ideal location. Its sunny climate and the happy fact that he owned a holiday home there was instrumental in bringing the Grasshopper Island production to Corsica. Frank Muir would play the part of rival grasshopper expert Dr. Hopper and the cast and crew would stay in rented accommodation in the locality. Joy was able to recall that Franks home was in a village high above the idyllic French seaside town of L'Île-Rousse. Although she could not recall the exact name of the village, she did remember that the beach scenes took place close to L'Île-Rousse. The s...
Read more

3. Lupus goes shopping

Image
The search for our next filming location took us high up the steep mountainside to the picturesque village of Monticello - or Monticellu - as it is in Corsican. We had noted this place name from our conversation with Jean (the owner of Café des Platanes ) and with Hilaire, Toussant and Pierre. They had given us a name: "Jo Jo" and probably a lot more detail which had become lost in translation. They had mentioned these details initially as we spoke at the pier of L'Île-Rousse. Now just an hour or two later, having shown the footage of Place Pascal Pauli , we finished our coffees and reviewed the notes that I had written in my notebook. We needed to visit this new place – Monticello . But how to get there? We thanked our new acquaintances at Café des Platanes for the coffee and for their help with our mission to find our next location and bade them farewell. We had noticed a street sign that advertised the location of a tourist office nearby. We decided to visit and t...
Read more