The Magic Store/Trivia

Trivia

 * According to Chris Randall, when Ronald Davis saw his first screening of the film in Odeon Leicester Square, when it ended and the lights went up, Davis stood up and clapped.
 * The film was first shown on television on Christmas Day 1991 on ITV in the UK, 2 years after it was released in cinemas.
 * The film premiered on ITV in the UK on 25 December 1991.
 * Completed in 1989.
 * The book, which the film is based on, was published in 1984.
 * When production began on the film, the key animators used rotoscoped images on all the characters, including Major Doctor Joanna. But it was then discovered that Clinton J. Priest, Tony Garth and Meryl Edge could draw realistic movements without a reference.
 * Pre-production work on the film began in 1986, with Andy Roper, Chris Randall and three others working in a Portakabin on a plot of land which is now the Charles Hill Films car park.
 * This was the second animated movie to use the APT (Animation Photo Transfer) process, the first one being The Black Cobwebs (1985).
 * Martin Jarvis was not considered for a BAFTA nomination for his voice work and performance on the film.
 * Paige O'Hara and Angela Lansbury both starred in the Disney film Beauty and the Beast.
 * The vortex effect was done by Philip O'Loro, Ben Turner and Carlos Alfonso, who bought a fish tank from a local pet shop and then bled paint in it while filming with an over cranked 35mm film camera.
 * The boy who dreams that he becomes invisible has a Danger Meerkat (1980) poster above his bed, which also starred Martin Jarvis and animated by Charles Hill Films.
 * When the film was released in cinemas, it was released by Orion Pictures.
 * When the film was released in cinemas, it was distributed by Thames International.