Magic Adventures of Mumfie (full on-screen title: Britt Allcroft's Magic Adventures of Mumfie) is a British animated children's television series and movie, inspired by the Mumfie books written and illustrated by Katharine Tozer (1907–1943). The initial 1994 season of the series, spanning one continuous storyline, has a music score containing more than 20 songs. The series was created by Britt Allcroft (the creator of Thomas & Friends and its US debut, Shining Time Station), produced by The Britt Allcroft Company, narrated by American actor Patrick Breen and directed by John Laurence Collins. Mumfie was first seen in the United States on the Fox Kids Network from 1995 to 1996, as part of The Fox Cubhouse. The second and third seasons debuted on the Fox Family Channel. 79 episodes were produced. The worldwide rights have reverted to Britt Allcroft.

Episodes

Characters

Production

Katharine Tozer's original Mumfie novels are: The books were first adapted for television as Here Comes Mumfie, a series using live-action puppetry, between 1975 and 1976 and broadcast on Independent Television (ITV) in the United Kingdom. Allcroft's newly created version, with an original musical score featuring 26 Broadway style songs, was broadcast on the Children's ITV block of UK's ITV network in 1994 and has since been broadcast in other countries, including the United States (on Fox Kids and the Fox Family Channel), Canada, Australia, France, Scandinavia, Finland, Germany, Japan, and Israel. The screen library consists of Series 1 (originally a 13x10 minute serial, later edited into the movie length epic story Mumfie's Quest), the Holiday Special Mumfie's White Christmas and Series 2 totaling 62 individual story episodes. In 1999, the show was placed under the Bridgefilms joint venture with Sooty International Limited. and remained as such as The Britt Allcroft Company rebranded as Gullane Entertainment in 2000 and the purchase by HIT Entertainment in 2002. HIT placed Bridgefilms up for sale in October 2007 and Britt Allcroft re-acquired the series in March 2008, Her family-owned business, Britt Allcroft Productions LLV, recently announced a home entertainment distribution deal for the Mumfie screen library with Lionsgate for the U.S., U.K, and many other parts of the world. They also had a partnership with United Talent Agency to handle all licensing for the Mumfie brand worldwide.

Reboot

In May 2014, Britt Allcroft stated that she had begun production on a reboot of Mumfie. In July 2015, it was revealed that the kids' division of Zodiak Entertainment, which was behind shows such as Zack & Quack and Totally Spies!, had begun development of the show, with Britt Allcroft Productions. In 2020, the series was announced to premiere in 2021, and would be animated by Italian animation studio Animoka. The series, which is now set on an island named Flutterstone, has new designs for pre-existing characters from the original series, giving them a more toy-like look as was the intention of the books (including Mumfie being shorter, with a smaller trunk and ears and actual hands and Pinky now having a flower near her left ear), as well as new characters such as a jellyfish named Jelly Bean (who, due to the new setting, replaces Scarecrow as a central character), a crocodile named King Kaleb (to whom the Black Cat is now the advisor of) and Boo Whale (a re-imagined version of Whale). In 2022, it was announced that the series had been pre-sold to many networks overseas, including the original broadcaster, ITV.

Home media

VHS releases

DVD releases

Critical reception

During its original run, Britt Allcroft's Magic Adventures of Mumfie received positive reviews from critics. The Chicago Tribune called the show "a moving work of art", while the New York Daily News described the show as "gentle, smart and beautifully animated".

Video game

An edutainment game based on animated series of same name, was released for the Konami Picno in 1995 and was developed and published by Konami.