From page to screen

This is the biography of a production company specialising in the adaption of children’s picture books onto the screen. Morton Schindel was a pioneer in his field when he set up in Weston Woods, Connecticut. His idea was to take the age old tradition of telling children stories and transfer it to film. In the 1950’s, when he began, picture books were not in schools as aids in teaching reading. “Dick and Jane” were relied on, but were not especially successful. Schindel consulted specialists and publishers in the children’s field to find books that met the criteria for adaption: Is the story meaningful to children? Do the illustrations reflect the text? Is the message universal? Will it stand the test of time? Initial choices, such as Ping and Mike Mulligan and his steam shovel, were produced, often with the help of the original illustrator. There was a strong response from children. They inspired children to look at the original book and were found to encourage reading. Children’s TV and schools were quick to take them up. Schindel named his company after the beautiful location of his studio and home, going on to produce many more high quality films of outstanding children’s books. This documentary tells the story and shows how the animations were done. Note: there are 126 Weston Woods titles in the Access Collection.