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Roald Dahl's Esio Trot, or simply Esio Trot, is a British comedy drama television film directed by Dearbhla Walsh and written by Richard Curtis and Paul Mayhew-Archer, based on the 1990 novel, Esio Trot, by Roald Dahl. In the film, a retired bachelor (Dustin Hoffman) falls in love with his neighbour, a widow (Judi Dench) who keeps a tortoise as a companion after the death of her husband.[1][2]
| Esio Trot | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover | |
| Based on | Esio Trot by Roald Dahl |
| Written by | |
| Directed by | Dearbhla Walsh |
| Starring | |
| Composer | Tim Phillips |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
|
| Producer | Hilary Bevan Jones |
| Cinematography | Ben Smithard |
| Editor | Tim Murrell |
| Running time | 90 minutes |
| Production company | Endor Productions |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC One |
| Release | 1 January 2015 |
Roald Dahl's Esio Trot debuted in the United Kingdom on 1 January 2015, on BBC One.[3] It was seen by 7.86 million viewers, making it the ninth-most watched programme on BBC One and across all United Kingdom TV channels for the week ending 4 January 2015.[4]
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- Judi Dench as Mrs. Lavinia Silver
- Dustin Hoffman as Mr. Henry Hoppy
- James Corden as The Narrator
- Richard Cordery as Mr. Pringle
- Pixie Davies as Roberta
- Geoffrey McGivern as the Pet Shop Owner
- Jimmy Akingbola as the keen Pet Shop Owner
- Lisa Hammond as Mrs. Desmond
- Anna Cannings as Mrs. Court
- Joseph West as Philip
- Katie Lyons as Philip's Mother
- Polly Kemp as the woman on Bus
- Pik-Sen Lim as Mrs. Wu
- Salo Gardner as Mr. Mavrokoukoudopolous
- Emily Ralph as the Little Girl
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The musical score is by composer Tim Phillips. All the commercial music used in the show is that of New Orleans jazz singer and trumpeter Louis Armstrong and his All-Stars, which includes Edmond Hall, Trummy Young, Billy Kyle, Arvell Shaw and Barrett Deems.
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- Mr. Pringle (Hoppy's rival for the affections of Mrs Silver) does not appear in the novel.
- In the novel, Mr. Hoppy's ruse of switching tortoises to fool Mrs. Silver into thinking that hers is growing is successful, and she never discovers the truth. In the movie, she discovers Mr. Hoppy's plan, but eventually marries him anyway.
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Charlotte Moore announced the television film at the Edinburgh International Television Festival on 22 August 2013.[1][5] It was produced by Hilary Bevan Jones and directed by Dearbhla Walsh.[1][5] Bevan Jones said, "To bring together two of the world's favourite actors in Dame Judi and Dustin is a dream come true. Richard and Paul have captured the magic of Roald Dahl’s wonderful tale and I am thrilled that Dearbhla is to direct it."[1][6] It was adapted by Richard Curtis and Paul Mayhew-Archer, and filming took place in May 2014 in London.[1][6][7] The apartment block featured in the film is Adelaide Wharf in Haggerston.
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The adaptation received praise, with Lucy Mangan in The Guardian writing, "An utterly, completely, inescapably beguiling adaptation of Roald Dahl's book by Richard Curtis and Paul Mayhew-Archer, directed by Dearbhla Walsh, narrated by James Corden and starring Dustin Hoffman and Judi Dench. You could argue that with a pedigree like that nothing could have gone wrong, but it doesn’t work like that. Although you can maximise your chances of being able to conjure it, charm is ineffable, alchemical. You can't measure it out by the yard and cut it off when you've got enough. You can't splash it on to a scene and then stopper it to make sure you've got enough for the next take. It just … appears, if you're careful and if you're lucky. And then it ripples through your film, or your play or your book, animating all and subtly transforming everything from a prosaic good – or even great – into a thing of wonder."[8]
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| Year | Award | Category | Nominated | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 44th International Emmy Awards | Best Performance by an Actor[9] | Dustin Hoffman | Won |
| Best Performance by an Actress | Judi Dench | Nominated | ||
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