The Adventures of Edward and Henrietta Part 1

A spectacular new web series has recently been brought to my attention. It is called The Adventures of Edward and Henrietta, and it is so much wonderful fun. Six episodes have thus far been released, and they can all be viewed at EdandHen.com.

From first click I was immediately taken by the intelligent charm and humor of The Adventures of Edward and Henrietta, to say nothing of the beautiful toys used as actors in the drama. I love the innocent and lighthearted nature of the story and the simplistic way it is presented. It reminds me so much of my own childhood, when a pile of random toys meant endless hours of back-yard adventures.


The series was created (and narrated) by Gavin Scott, whose large body of work is not easily summed up but toy-loving geeks will most easily recognize him as the writer of the action-figures come-to-life film Small Soldiers, as well as writer for a number of episodes of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (read Gavin Scott's IMDB entry by clicking HERE.)

Not only is he a creative, talented and intelligent guy, but he's also a very nice person, so when I asked Mr. Scott if he would be willing to do an interview for Toyriffic he graciously agreed.

Wow, what a guy!

I have broken the interview up into three parts, and will embed episodes of the series in each part. You can also go to EdandHen.com and watch all six currently available episodes. If you are like me, you won't be able to stop at just one!


So without further ado, here is Part 1 of my interview with Gavin Scott…

TR: The Adventures of Edward and Henrietta is presented in a deceivingly simple, yet deeply witty and intelligent manner. What compelled you to tell a story in such a way?

GS: The narrative style of Edward and Henrietta comes from children's radio programmes I used to listen to as a child in England, where the storytellers always sounded wise and comforting and reasonable. I liked the idea of a very measured approach, combined with increasingly wild and crazy storylines. A bedtime story told by a slightly crazed uncle!


TR: Which came first, the toys in Edward and Henrietta or their adventure? For instance, did you think of Edward, Henrietta, William etc. first, then seek out toys to match their characters? Or did the toys you had come across as you randomly collected them together, in a manner, tell their stories to you?

GS: The toys came first. When I put Edward against the backdrop of model Victorian houses (from a tourist shop near the British Museum) I had no idea who he was or what he was doing: and that's what the story-teller says about him! Then I put the small-girl figure down beside him and decided she was his sister and her name came to me - so that's in the narration too. Queen Victoria appeared because I happened to have this terrific little figurine of her - and she went off in a balloon because I had one. I'd had the figure I call Yellow Nose William for years and he always made me laugh because he looked so goofy, so I made up a story around him. I've built up a large toy collection as raw material for my sculptures and the stories are inspired by rootling around in it.



TR: Your bio reads like the back cover of an adventure novel. From England to New Zealand to the jungles of Borneo and back again. Did any of your early life experiences influence The Adventures of Edward and Henrietta or any of your other work?

GS: I think it did. Being uprooted from your home and sailing off 12,000 miles around the world at age ten definitely gives you a taste for adventure (if you happen to have fun doing it, which I did). And I found myself, at the same age as my parents were when they left England, bringing my family to America. So extraordinary things have happened to me in my life and I guess they happen to Ed and Hen too.


TR:Did your love for toys begin in childhood, or was it something that developed later in life? If it began early, was there ever a time where you set toys aside as, for lack of a better word, childish; only to return to their wonder in later adulthood? If you had a relatively toy-free childhood, what drew you to them as an adult?

GS: I always loved toys as a kid but we were fairly poor and I never had many. There were plenty I lusted after, though! My first toy phase was probably over by age 10, and then in my 30's I came across a wonderful sculpture by British pop artist Peter Blake (who did the cover for Sergeant Pepper) called Toy Shop II, which he filled with junk toys from the 50's. I loved it and began to make my own versions, which led to collecting toys for new sculptures, and I've been accumulating them ever since.

(an example of one of Gavin's sculptures - Bat themed of course!)

TR: Everyone from Jules Verne to Davy Crockett to Queen Victoria appear as characters in Edward and Henrietta. When did you discover your passion for history and literature? When did you decide that you not only wanted to read these stories, but you wanted to tell them as well?

GS: I began reading Jules Verne at about ten, after seeing Walt Disney's wonderful 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and then went on to Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories. Next came P.G. Wodehouse and the Jeeves books, and I was away.


My passion for history began with an excellent high school teacher in New Zealand called Ken Shadbolt, who brought Oliver Cromwell and the 17th century to life, and later the French Revolution, and my fascination with the past grew from there and spread into archeology and the study of evolution. Being conscious of the past gives life a whole extra dimension for me.

As far as writing is concerned, I've always written plays and stories, and began getting them on the air on local radio in Hawkes Bay when I was 12. And even as a journalist, which I was for the first part of my career, the pleasure was not so much "scoops" as "writing stories". One way or another I've been writing novels, movies and stories all my life.


TR: Join us tomorrow for Part 2 of Toyriffic's interview with Gavin, watch Episode 1 of The Adventures of Edward and Henrietta below, and click HERE to see more!


The Adventures of Edward and Henrietta, Episode 1 from edandhen.com on Vimeo.