The Secret of Moonacre (2008)

Director:

Gabor Csupo

Writers:

Lucy Shuttleworth (screenplay) &
Graham Alborough (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

6 February 2009 (Ireland)

Genre:

Adventure | Family | Fantasy | Romance

Tagline:

A Magical Journey Begins.

Plot:

When 13 year old Maria Merryweather's father dies, leaving her orphaned and homeless, she is forced...

Plot Keywords:

Horse | Lion | Unicorn | Costume | Castle

Cast

Dakota Blue Richards	...	Maria Merryweather
Juliet Stevenson	...	Miss Heliotrope
Tim Curry	...	Coeur De Noir
Tamás Tóth	...	Vicar
Augustus Prew	...	Robin De Noir
György Szathmári	...	Lawyer (as György Szatmari)
Natascha McElhone	...	Loveday
Ioan Gruffudd	...	Sir Benjamin Merryweather / Sir Wrolf Merryweather
George Mendel	...	Priest (as György Mendel)
Michael Webber	...	Digweed
Szabolcs Csák	...	Henry
Lurko	...	Wrolf the Dog
Zoltán Markovits	...	David
Marcell Tóth	...	Richard
Zoltán Barabás Kis	...	Dulac (as Zoltán Barabás Kiss)
Andy Linden	...	Marmaduke Scarlet
Csador	...	The Little White Horse
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Sandor Istvan Nagy	...	Coeur De Noir's Man (uncredited)
Oliver Simor	...	Wedding Guest (uncredited)
Ferenc Vizes	...	English Worker (uncredited)

Directed by
Gabor Csupo

Writing credits
Lucy Shuttleworth		screenplay &
Graham Alborough		screenplay and
Elizabeth Goudge		book "The Little White Horse"

Produced by
David Brown	....	executive producer
Michael Cowan	....	producer
Simon Crowe	....	executive producer
Jim Davey	....	associate producer
Brian Donovan	....	line producer
Simon Fawcett	....	executive producer
Meredith Garlick	....	producer
Samuel Hadida	....	producer
Victor Hadida	....	executive producer
Matthew Joynes	....	executive producer
Alex Marshall	....	executive producer
Péter Miskolczi	....	co-producer
Monica Penders	....	producer
Jason Piette	....	producer
Lucy Shuttleworth	....	associate producer
Jennifer Smith	....	executive producer
Kaspar Strandskov	....	executive producer
Gábor Váradi	....	co-producer

Original Music by
Christian Henson

Cinematography by
David Eggby

Film Editing by
Julian Rodd

Casting by
Celestia Fox

Production Design by
Sophie Becher

Art Direction by
Bill Crutcher		(supervising art director)
Mónika Esztán
Gary Jopling
Gabriella Simon

Set Decoration by
Zoltán Horváth
Kay McGlone

Costume Design by
Beatrix Aruna Pasztor

Makeup Department
Lynda Armstrong	....	hair designer
Lynda Armstrong	....	makeup designer
Amy Byrne	....	makeup artist
Nana Fischer	....	key hair stylist
Katalin Jakots	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Meg Clark	....	post-production supervisor
István Király	....	unit production manager
Maria Ungor	....	production manager
Márton Váradi	....	unit manager: second unit

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Will Cummins	....	third assistant director
Alison Goring	....	second assistant director
Charlie Watson	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Daniel Alexandru	....	sculptor: All Deco International
Roxana Alexandru	....	draughtperson
István Bártfai	....	set dresser
Douglas Ingram	....	storyboard artist
Bela Kerek	....	visual concept artist
József Kiss	....	construction manager
Magdi Kondorosi	....	buyer
Péter Koronghy	....	set dresser
Moni Kovacs	....	prop master assistant
Warren Lever	....	construction manager: UK
Csaba Lodi	....	sculptor
Liviu Marcu	....	sculptor: All Deco International
Dora Nagy	....	art production assistant
Cenay Oekmen	....	matte painter
Antony Parnell	....	props
Steve Parnell	....	property master
Szilvia Ritter	....	assistant art director
Kinga Szabó	....	art department production assistant
Marton Szalay	....	set dresser
Villõ Turcsány	....	sculptor
István Váradi	....	set dresser
Philip Clark	....	picture researcher (uncredited)

Sound Department
Philip Alton	....	dialogue adr editor
Paul Apted	....	sound effects editor
Sam Auguste	....	sound editor
Paula Boram	....	foley artist
Nick Foley	....	adr mixer
Peter Gleaves	....	adr mixer
Rick Gould	....	adr recorder
Craig Irving	....	sound re-recording mixer
Hugo Jeffreys	....	adr recordist
Mark Lafbery	....	foley recordist
Michael Miller	....	adr mixer
Nigel Mills	....	sound designer
Nigel Mills	....	supervising sound editor
Steve Single	....	sound re-recording mixer
Chris Sturmer	....	sound consultant: dolby
Ruth Sullivan	....	foley artist

Special Effects by
Gergely Glovotz	....	assistant pyrotechnician
Gyula Krasnyánszky	....	pyro supervisor
Norbert Orosz	....	pyrotechnician
David Payne	....	special effects supervisor: underwater unit
Attila Varsányi	....	pyrotechnician

Visual Effects by
Nick Bedford	....	digital effects coordinator: Peerless Camera Co
Chris Bentley	....	digital lab operator
Martin Body	....	lead rotoscope artist: Peerless camera Co. Ltd.
Adam Buckner	....	visual effects producer
Alberto Buron	....	digital lab operator
Francesco Canonico	....	character setup and animation
Tim Chauncey	....	visual effects artist
James Clarke	....	DI supervisor
Tom Collier	....	visual effects supervisor: LipSync Post
Neil Culley	....	digital compositor: LipSync Post
Martin R. Davison	....	digital compositor: Baseblack
Catherine de Viana	....	visual effects assistant
Max Dennison	....	matte painting supervisor: Matte Painting UK Ltd
Gavin Digby	....	lead compositor: Peerless
John Paul Docherty	....	digital visual effects supervisor: Peerless
Ditch Doy	....	head of CG: Peerless
Stefan Drury	....	head of visual effects: LipSync Post
Yasmine El-Ghamrawy	....	digital compositor
Erik Ellefsen	....	digital artist
Stephen Elson	....	visual effects producer: Baseblack
Sean Farrow	....	visual effects supervisor
Laura Fitzpatrick	....	visual effects production assistant: Peerless
Joss Flores	....	digital compositor
Adam Gefen	....	digital compositor
David Gibbons	....	digital matte artist
Yanni Goudetsidis	....	systems engineer: LipSync Post
Scott Goulding	....	assistant colourist
Elysia Greening	....	digital compositor: Baseblack
Crystal Hadcroft	....	roto/paint artist: Peerless
Alexis Haggar	....	title supervisor
Ed Hall	....	digital effects coordinator: Peerless Camera Company
Ian Holland	....	inferno artist: Peerless Camera Company
Katja Hollmann	....	digital lab producer: Lipsync Post (as Katja Lazare)
Garrett Honn	....	digital compositor: Baseblack
Nathan Kerry	....	visual effects coordinator
Andrew Kingston	....	systems admistrator
Duncan Kinnaird	....	digital effects artist
Patrick Ledda	....	lead technical director
Adrian Lee	....	animator: Peerless Camera Company
Fabio Leporelli	....	lead technical director
Richard Little	....	supervisor
Vaibhav Marathe	....	digital compositor
David Margolis	....	digital compositor: LipSync Post
Aileen McIntosh	....	digital lab operator
Oliver Minchin	....	digital compositor: opening titles: DEAD
Thomas Müller	....	technical director: Peerless
John O'Lone	....	compositor: Peerless
Cenay Oekmen	....	concept artist
Kevin Phelan	....	head of post-production: Lip Sync Post
Ed Plant	....	senior compositor: Peerless
Tim Pruce	....	digital compositor: Peerless
Edward Randolph	....	visual effects coordinator: Baseblack
Matthew Redding	....	digital compositor: opening titles: DEAD
Paul Round	....	head of 2D: Peerless
Mark Sanger	....	visual effects editor
Petra Schwane	....	compositing artist: Baseblack
Deepa Sebastian	....	visual effects administrator: Peerless Camera Company
Mark Spevick	....	senior visual effects artist
Angela Stanley	....	digital compositor: LipSync Post (as Angela Rose)
Jon Stanley	....	senior systems engineer: LipSync Post
Paul Venn Stirling	....	digital compositor: LipSync Post
John Swinnerton	....	senior compositor(Peerless Camera Company )
Emeline Tedder	....	compositor: Peerless
Daniel Tomlinson	....	digital lab operator
Samantha Tracey	....	visual effects coordinator: LipSync Post
Jamie Tremelling	....	visual effects artist: Peerless
Thomas Urbye	....	promo colourist: The Look
Val Wardlaw	....	cg supervisor
Blake Winder	....	digital compositor: LipSync Post
Pat Wong	....	senior compositor
Benjamin Müller	....	vfx intern (uncredited)
Christopher T. Page	....	vfx runner (uncredited)

Stunts
László Kósa	....	stunt double
Zoltan Papp	....	stunt performer
Gábor Pesta	....	stunt performer
Gáspár Szabó	....	stunts
Ildikó Szücs	....	stunt performer (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Botond Aszalós	....	camera operator
Tim Battersby	....	first assistant camera: "a" camera
Attila Bogyai	....	electrician: second unit
Gábor Bánrévi	....	electrician
Zsolt Büti	....	gaffer
Zoltán Dzsupin	....	second assistant camera
Mark Goellnicht	....	Steadicam operator
Mark Goellnicht	....	camera operator: "a" camera
István Gottmann	....	first assistant camera: "b" camera
'Kis Gromek' László Molnár	....	electrician
András Pozsár	....	grip
Bálint Seress	....	assistant camera
Tamás Takács	....	video assist operator
Ádám Turbuk	....	camera trainee

Casting Department
Cara Beckinsale	....	casting assistant
Tamás Kertész	....	extras casting
Sheryl Lynn	....	casting associate

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Péter Palotás	....	dresser
Peter Paul	....	costume supervisor
Zsuzsa Stenger	....	costume supervisor
Katalin Ujvari	....	wardrobe assistant

Editorial Department
Ameenah Ayub Allen	....	post-production coordinator (as Ameenah Ayub)
Ian Cunningham	....	assistant editor
Janó Fekete	....	colorist: dailies
Stuart Fyvie	....	colorist
Adam Gough	....	assistant editor: avid
Ruari McLeod	....	trailer editor
Mark Sanger	....	supervising first assistant editor
James Winnifrith	....	first assistant editor
Verity Wislocki	....	post-production coordinator

Music Department
Adam Balazs	....	composer: theme music
Samuel Karl Bohn	....	additional music arranger
Mikael Carlsson	....	soundtrack producer
Peter Clarke	....	music editor
Ben Foskett	....	orchestrator
Joe Henson	....	music programmer
Gerard McCann	....	supervising music editor
Hilary Skewes	....	musician contractor
Artem Vassiliev	....	additional orchestrator
Nick Wollage	....	score engineer
Alison Wright	....	music supervisor: Air-Edel

Other crew
Andrea Balogh	....	assistant accountant
Csaba Benedek	....	facilities coordinator
Shirine Best	....	development associate
Imre Bodo	....	location manager
James Collie	....	e.p.k. editor
Matt Curtis	....	title designer
John Eng	....	conceptual artwork
Mel Hider	....	business affairs associate
Zoltan Horkai	....	head animal wrangler
Márton Ivanov	....	production assistant
Peter Ivanyi	....	animal coordinator
Vera Janisch	....	additional set runner
Adrienn Kamarás	....	production secretary
Zsuzsanna Kõhegyi	....	assistant to producers
Natalie Lindwall	....	assistant to producers
Nóra Miskolczi	....	production assistant
Rita Mányai	....	production accountant
Lajos Nagy	....	assistant accountant
János Papp	....	health and safety advisor
Caroline Sax	....	script supervisor
Mariah Sayer	....	assistant: Michael Cowan and Jason Piette
Suzie Shearer	....	production coordinator
Richard Szabó	....	facilities manager
András Tóth	....	location manager
Ferenc Tóth	....	stand-in: Mr. Curry
Béla Vaszary	....	medical coordinator
Thomas Walters	....	producer: making-of

Production Companies

• Forgan-Smith Entertainment
• Australian Film Commission, The
• Eurofilm Stúdió
• Grand Allure Entertainment
• Metropolitan Filmexport
• Sensible Films
• South Pacific Pictures
• Spice Factory
• UK Film Council

Distributors

• Intersonic (2009) (Czech Republic) (theatrical)
• Londra Films P&D (2011) (Bolivia) (theatrical)
• Metropolitan Filmexport (2009) (France) (theatrical)
• RCV Film Distribution (2009) (Belgium) (theatrical)
• RCV Film Distribution (2009) (Luxembourg) (theatrical)
• RCV Film Distribution (2009) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (2009) (UK) (theatrical)
• Cinestar (2009) (Philippines) (all media)
• E1 Entertainment
• Hungaricom Kft (2009) (Hungary) (all media)
• IPA Asia Pacific (2012) (Taiwan) (all media)
• Imagem Filmes (2009) (Brazil) (all media)
• Quality Films (2009) (Mexico) (all media)
• RCV Home Entertainment (2009) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Scanbox Entertainment (2009) (Finland) (all media)
• Seven 7 / Metropolitan Filmexport (2009) (France) (DVD)
• Seven 7 / Metropolitan Filmexport (2009) (France) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Showtime (2009) (South Korea) (all media)
• Top Film (2009) (Russia) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2009) (UK) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2009) (UK) (DVD) (Blu-ray)

Special Effects

• Baseblack
• Lipsync Post (visual effects)
• Matte Painting (visual effects)
• Peerless Camera Company (visual effects)

Other Companies

• Sparks  camera equipment provided by
• Sparks  grip and lighting equipment
• Abacus Consult  accounting: audit
• All Deco International  sculptures
• Aramid Capital Partners  funding
• Bonded Services  production storage
• Dead  post-production
• Gearbox Sound and Vision  additional ProTools systems supplied by
• Lipsync Post  film scanning and digital intermediate
• Look, The  post-production facilities
• Milk Publicity  publicity
• MovieScore Media  soundtrack
• Sapex Scripts  post-production script services
• Technicolor  release printing

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated PG for some mild peril and language

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

Hungary | UK | France | Australia | USA | New Zealand

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Certification:

UK:U | Ireland:G | South Korea:All | Netherlands:6 | Philippines:G (MTRCB) | France:U | Sweden:Btl (DVD rating) | USA:PG (certificate #44417) | Australia:PG | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Budapest, Hungary

Company:

Forgan-Smith Entertainment

Trivia:

Dakota Blue Richards was 13 when she got cast in The Secret of Moonacre (2008). The auditions only lasted a day. By the time The Golden Compass (2007) premiered, which was her previous film, The Secret of Moonacre (2008) had already been filmed.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Miss Heliotrope is saying goodbye to Maria Merryweather as she sets off for the forest on her horse with the rabbit in her lap, in three successive shots the rabbit changes position each time in her lap as she leaves.

Quotes:

Coeur De Noir:She's back in the forest. And this time she won't be leaving.

Movie Connections:

Version of "Moonacre" (1994)

Must-watch for any fairy tale and fantasy maniac!

Firstly, I haven't read the book. In a way it works for my advantage allowing me to criticize the movie solely based on what was presented there and not be distracted by what was left out compared to book etc. I can think of two kinds of fairy tales: one is the kind you love when you're 7 but think it utterly stupid and childish when you're 30; the other type is the kind you find magical no matter how old you are. This movie here could've easily belonged to the first group but turned out to be something more valuable. The bicycle has been invented and now it's all about how you do it, not what you do. The whole movie in its being is one big cliché, BUT they have successfully managed to turn that weakness into a strong point. This could've easily been a cheesy Raspberry candidate and I am very picky about my fairy tales and fantasy and I was not disappointed. Several aspects made the story believable, starting from the level of acting and ending with props. When it comes to acting, the weakest link in the bunch was Natascha McElhone, who didn't always seem to be in it as much as the others (e.g the cursing part, people seem to agree on that part mostly). I was thoroughly impressed by Ioan Gruffudd, going from cold to heartbroken definitely moved my cruel heart. The milieu and the special effects were outstanding. No Lord of the Rings, don't get me wrong, but there was no half-hearted effort in that area. The Moonacre Manor and the many other scenes were picturesque and the costumes far-enough-out-of-the-box creative, mixing the traditional with a modern touch in perfect balance. All in all, I was left feeling satisfied and enriched and I reckon this movie deserves a rating above 7 of 10 the least, for it certainly wasn't a mediocre experience.