The Saddle Club
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The Saddle Club is an Australian television show that is written by Jason Abelson and Kate Barris, and directed by Arnie Custo and Stephen Mann. The Crawfords production house produces the series in conjunction with Protocol of Canada. The series is based on a popular series children's books written by Bonnie Bryant.
The show, which began to be showcased in 2001, centered around the lives of three girls who take care of horses. Within the next years, new characters have been added to the show. It is a pre-teen to teenager comedy; nevertheless, it has enjoyed international success and attracted viewers of other age groups as well. In the United States, it is shown on the Discovery Channel's Discovery Kids station. The program is shown on the ABC and FOX8 in Australia and on YTV network in Canada.
The stars of The Saddle Club have recorded four albums since 2002, all of which have made the Australian charts. Heli Simpson, who plays Veronica diAngelo on the program has released a solo album in 2003 called Princess Veronica which also charted in Australia. A number of singles have also been released by The Saddle Club group as a whole and also solo singles by Heli Simpson and Melanie & Ashley.
The popularity of The Saddle Club in Australia was shown at the 2004 Sydney Royal Easter Show with live performances on horses by the cast members sold out each day at the Sydney SuperDome with crowds of 7000 to 8000 and many fans unable to get in. Pony clubs have also become more popular in Australia as a result of the success of the series.
Cast
- Sophie Bennett as "Stephanie Lake"
- Keenan MacWilliam as "Carole Hanson"
- Lara Jean Marshall as "Lisa Atwood"
- Heli Simpson as "Veronica di Angelo"
- Brett Tucker as "Max Regenery"
- Catherine Wilkin as "Mrs Reg"
- Glenn Meldrum as "Phil Marsten"
Series
Two series of twenty-six episodes each have been shot. They last 30 minutes each. Due to the popularity of the program, several videos have been released in 2003 and 2004. The series is shot in Yarra Valley outside Melbourne.
The series is set mainly at the Pine Hollow Stables in the small community of Willow Creek about 20 kilometres outside a major city. In the first series, the characters are dealing with the transition from childhood to youth. The second series sees the girls facing the challenges of teenagers.
Discography
There have been a number of albums released in Australia featuring the actors/actresses in the series. The second album On Top Of The World was nominated for an ARIA Award for "Best Original Soundtrack" in 2003. Each of the albums has made the top 50 of the Australian album charts and the first three records have achieved gold record status including:
- Fun For Everyone (2002)
- On Top Of The World (2003)
- Friends Forever (2003)
- Princess Veronica by cast member Heli Simpson (2003)
- Secrets & Dreams (2004)
Videos
Due to the program's success, a number of videos have been released in Australia and other markets including the US. These include:
- Saddle Club: The 1st Adventure (2003)
- Saddle Club: Horse Crazy (2003)
- Saddle Club: The Mane Event (2003)
- Saddle Club: Adventure At Pine Hollow (2003)
- Saddle Club: Storm (2004)
See also
External links
- The Saddle Club Home Page (http://www.saddleclubtv.com/home.htm/)
- ABC TV Saddle Club Home Page (http://www.abc.net.au/rollercoaster/saddle/about.htm/)
- The Internet Movie Database The Saddle Club entry (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0278876/)