The BFG (1989 film) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids The BFG
Directed by	Brian Cosgrove
Produced by	Brian Cosgrove Mark Hall
Screenplay by	John Hambley
Starring	David Jason Amanda Root Angela Thorne Ballard Berkeley Michael Knowles Don Henderson Mollie Sugden Jimmy Hibbert Frank Thornton
Music by	Keith Hopwood (music and score) Malcolm Rowe (lyrics and score)
Editing by	Nigel Rutter
Studio	Cosgrove Hall Films
Distributed by	ITV
Release date(s)	25 December 1989 (1989-12-25)
Running time	91 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Budget	£3,000,000

The BFG is a 1989 British animated film produced by Cosgrove Hall Films, based on the 1982 novel of the same name by Roald Dahl. It was directed by Brian Cosgrove and written by John Hambley. The film was first shown on 25 December 1989 on ITV in the UK.

The film was dedicated to animator George Jackson, who had worked on numerous Cosgrove Hall productions prior to his death in 1986. This film is also the last and posthumous role of Ballard Berkeley (voice of the Head of the Army), who died in 1988.

Plot

Sophie is a young orphaned girl living in the orphanage of the cantankerous and abusive Mrs. Clonkers. One night, Sophie wakes up and goes to look through the window but sees a cloaked giant blowing something through a trumpet into a bedroom window down the street; whereupon the giant notices her and snatches her to the realm of Giant Country.

In his cave, the giant identifies himself as the Big Friendly Giant (or BFG for short) who blows dreams into the bedrooms of children at night, while all the other 9 giants are vicious, child-eating beasts. Because the BFG refuses to eat people or steal food from humans, he subsists on a revolting vegetable known as a "Snozzcumber", which is all that grows in Giant Country. He explains that he took her so she couldn't tell anyone that she had seen him and start a giant hunt. Sophie and the BFG quickly become friends; but Sophie is soon put in danger by the sudden arrival of the Bloodbottler Giant, who suspects the BFG of harbouring a human after hearing him talking. The BFG tricks the Bloodbottler into eating the Snozzcumber to repel him from his cave, during which Sophie is almost eaten. The BFG makes her a new dress out of her blanket to replace her heavily soiled nightgown. When Sophie announces she is thirsty, the BFG treats her to a delicious fizzy drink called "Frobscottle", which features bubbles that go downwards rather than upwards, which causes the drinker to flatulate; this is known as "whizzpopping" to giants, and causes the drinker to soar and shoot around the place.

The next morning, the BFG takes Sophie to Dream Country to catch more dreams, but they are first tormented by the other giants along the way; notably by the Fleshlumpeater Giant, who is the largest and most fearsome and hideous. In Dream Country, the BFG demonstrates his dream-catching skills to Sophie and teaches her to fly; but the BFG mistakenly captures the worst kind of nightmare. Upon arriving at his Dream Cave, the BFG shows Sophie all the dreams he has captured already and locks away the nightmare in his cavern of lava in a tiny chest, and takes Sophie to watch him on his dream-blowing duties; but this is cut short when they spot the Fleshlumpeater about to eat a little boy whom the BFG had previously given a pleasant dream. When Sophie tries to intervene, the BFG flees with her and escapes to save her from the Fleshlumpeater. Afterwards, the grief-stricken Sophie tries to persuade the BFG to stop the evil giants.

At first, the BFG is reluctant to do so out of cowardliness and low trust in humans; but Sophie develops a plan to expose the evil giants to the Queen of the United Kingdom. Using dreams from his collection, the BFG creates a nightmare, blows it into the Queen's bedroom, leaves Sophie on the Queen's windowsill to confirm the dream and retreats into the palace gardens when Sophie calls him. Because the dream included foreknowledge of Sophie's presence, the Queen believes her story, and speaks with the BFG. After considerable effort by the palace staff, the BFG is given a copious breakfast.

Once ready, the army and the airforce, in a fleet of RAF Chinook helicopters, follow the BFG to Giant Country to the 9 giants' homeland, where the giants are tied up and taken prisoner. The only one that is not there is the Fleshlumpeater, who immediately attacks the BFG for his betrayal and later pursues Sophie when she intervenes; but after a long chase he is stopped when the BFG subdues him with the nightmare he had captured earlier, which he later reveals was a nightmare about Jack and the Beanstalk, both of which all giants, including the BFG himself, fear.

The tethered giants are then all transported by the helicopters to London, where they are imprisoned in a deep metal pit and forced to eat Snozzcumbers for the rest of their lives. The orphanage is closed down and sold to become a teacherage so the children move into the palace and Mrs. Clonkers is given the job of feeding the giants. Contrary to the book's ending, the BFG stays in Giant Country instead of moving to England, and Sophie becomes his assistant at the distribution of dreams. People think they will visit Buckingham Palace sometimes.

Cast

• David Jason as the BFG
• Amanda Root as Sophie
• Angela Thorne as Queen Elizabeth II
• Don Henderson as the Bloodbottler, the Fleshlumpeater and the Sergeant
• Frank Thornton as Mr. Tibbs
• Mollie Sugden as Mary
• Michael Knowles as Head of Air Force
• Ballard Berkeley as Head of Army
• Myfanwy Talog as Mrs. Clonkers
• Jimmy Hibbert as Additional voices

Soundtrack

Keith Hopwood's and Malcolm Rowe's original score to The BFG was completed by Pluto Music Limited and released on 11 July 2016 by Pluto Music Limited and FremantleMedia. The album contains the entire score as heard in the film in chronological order. Keith Hopwood gave an interview in June 2016 in which he told the story on how the score was composed and stylized:

"Early in 1986 Malcolm Rowe and I were asked by Cosgrove Hall to compose the score for Roald Dahl’s The BFG, which they were about to produce as an animated feature. We had a good relationship with Mark Hall and Brian Cosgrove, having just completed the feature and several series of The Wind in the Willows. This was an exciting, 2 year project, scoring the world of Giant Country, home of frobscottle, snozzcumbers and whizzpoppers, with of course the Big Friendly Giant and his new friend Sophie. The score production was an intentional mix of very synthesized pieces, and large orchestral sections for the action sequences."

Track listing

Awards and nominations