The Talking Parcel

The Talking Parcel (also published as The Battle for Castle Cockatrice) is a 1974 book by Gerald Durrell in which children are transported to the fantasy land of Mythologia to save it from cockatrices.  They are aided by a talking parrot and encounter many other magical creatures, including a mooncalf.

The book has been translated into a number of languages, including Czech, Estonian, Italian, Russian, Spanish and Ukrainian.

Film adaptation

It was made into an animated feature for television by Cosgrove Hall Films in 1978, debuting on ITV. However, the film differs from the book mainly by introducing only one human protagonist, the girl Penelope.

Voice cast
Lisa Norris ...  Penelope 
Freddie Jones ...  Parrot 
Mollie Sugden ...  Hortense, the Flying Train 
Roy Kinnear ...  Ethelred 
Edward Kelsey ...  H.H. Junketbury 
Windsor Davies ...  Chief Cockatrice
Michael Hordern ...  Oswald, the Sea Serpent
Peter Woodthorpe ...  Werewolf 
Harvey Ashby ...  Duke Wensleydale
Raymond Mason
Daphne Oxenford

References

External links
 ''The Talking Parcel (1978) at IMDb.
 The Talking Parcel on Youtube Part 1

Category:1974 British novels
Category:1978 films
Category:1978 animated films
Category:Children's fantasy novels
Category:British children's novels
Category:Books by Gerald Durrell
Category:British animated films
Category:British novels adapted into films
Category:1974 children's books
Category:Films directed by Brian Cosgrove
Category:Cosgrove Hall Films films