Star Hill Ponies

Star Hill Ponies is a British children's stop-motion animation series produced by Bumper Films and co-produced by Mike Young Productions for S4C.^[1] It was the last production by Bumper Films before they shut down in February 2002. The voice actors are Josie Lawrence and Andrew Sachs.^[2]

Star Hill Ponies
Developed by	Mike Young Liz Young
Written by	Maria Jones Pamela Hickey Dennys McCoy
Directed by	John Walker
Voices of	Josie Lawrence Andrew Sachs
Country of origin	United States United Kingdom
Original languages	English Welsh
No. of series	2
No. of episodes	26
Production
Executive producers	Meirion Davies Theresa Plummer-Andrews (series 1) Anne Miles (series 2)
Producers	Liz Young Ian Frampton
Editor	Wil Oswald
Running time	10 minutes
Production companies	Mike Young Productions Bumper Films
Original release
Network	CBeebies (United Kingdom) S4C (Wales)
Release	1998 (1998) – 2002 (2002)

Plot

The series follows a young girl named Baz who dreams of nothing more than finding a best friend. Her wish comes true when two roaming Welsh Mountain ponies Molly and Dylan, show up at her farm with Shetland pony Scruffy. Their playful frolics change her life forever.

Production

Starhill Ponies is co-produced by Mike Young Productions in Los Angeles, California, United States and Bumper Films in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, United Kingdom for S4C and BBC. It is Bumper Films' only TV series co-produced in the United Kingdom and North America. The series is distributed in the United Kingdom by S4C International and BBC Worldwide and worldwide by Taffy Entertainment.

Characters

Ponies

• Dylan - the big brown Welsh Mountain pony, with a black mane.
• Molly - the dapple grey Mountain pony, with a grey mane.
• Scruffy - is the podgy brown Shetland, with a long straw-coloured mane. His hobbies are eating and being naughty.

Humans

• Beatrice "Baz" Watkins -
• Will Watkins - Baz's father.
• Kath Watkins - Baz's mother.
• Thomas - Baz's best friend.
• Mrs Horace Morris - the snobbish landlady who can't stand ponies.
• Jim -
• Ambrose Higgins - the half-witted beach shop owner.
• Lottie - the mobile shop owner. Only appears in Series 2.
• Nick - the blacksmith. Only appears in Series 2.

Episodes

Series 1 (1998-99)

#	Title	Summary	Recording Date	Broadcast Date
1	Birthday Tea		2 November 1998	7 April 1999
2	Scruffy Pays the Price		9 November 1998	14 April 1999
3	The Outing		16 November 1998	21 April 1999
4	Nicked Knickers		23 November 1998	28 April 1999
5	Kidnapped		30 November 1998	5 May 1999
6	Scruffy Helps Out		7 December 1999	11 May 1999
7	Art for Scruffy's Sake		14 December 1998	19 May 1999
8	Circus Tricks		21 December 1998	26 May 1999
9	Surfin' Sea Horse		28 December 1998	2 June 1999
10	High Tea, High Jinks		4 January 1999	11 August 1999
11	Dylan for the Cup		11 January 1999	14 July 1999
12	Lost		18 January 1999	21 July 1999
13	Bugged		25 January 1999	4 August 1999

Series 2 (2002)

1. Just Desserts
2. Apple Pie
3. Hide and Seek
4. Nothing to be Afraid Of
5. Mrs. HM's Parade
6. Tall Tales
7. The Mystery of Missing Ethel
8. A Fine Mess
9. Scarypony Scarecrow
10. Thomas Riding High
11. The Unlucky Horseshoe
12. The Way Home
13. All I Want for Christmas

Home media

VHS Releases

In 1999, one single video of the show was by BBC Worldwide Ltd with five episodes from the first series on it.

VHS video title	Year of release	Episodes
Star Hill Ponies: Nicked Knickers and Other Stories (BBCV 6772)	4 May 1999	"Nicked Knickers" "The Outing" "Art for Scruffy's Sake" "Surfin' Sea Horse" "Kidnapped"

DVD Releases

In 2006, the series was released on three DVDs by Blackhorse Entertainment.

DVD video title	Year of release	Episodes
Star Hill Ponies: Scruffy Helps Out and Seven Other Fantastic Episodes (S4C)	10 April 2006	"Scruffy Helps Out" "Art for Scruffy's Sake" "The Outing" "Birthday Tea" "Circus Tricks" "Scruffy Pays the Price" "High Tea, High-Jinks" "Nicked Knickers"
Star Hill Ponies: Mrs HM's Parade and Seven Other Fantasic Episodes (S4C004)	5 June 2006	"Mrs HM's Parade" "Tall Tales" "The Mystery of the Missing Ethel" "Nothing to be Afraid of" "Scarepony Scarecrow" "Just Desserts" "Apple Pie" "Hide 'n' Seek"
Star Hill Ponies: Dylan for the Cup and Other Great Stories (S4C)	11 September 2006	"Dylan for the Cup" "Kidnapped" "Surfin' Sea Horse" "Lost" "Bugged" "A Fine Mess" "Thomas Riding High" "The Unlucky Horseshoe" "The Way Home" "All I Want for Christmas"

References

1. "S4C commissioning editor for children's programmes Meirion Davies has given Bumper Films and LA-based Mike Young Productions the green light for a second series of Star Hill Ponies, a stop-frame puppe". Broadcast.
2. "Star Hill Ponies (1998)". www.toonhound.com.