A Tall Long Faced Tale

In this documentary, children's author Margaret Mahy is interviewed at her Governors Bay home by friend and fellow author Elizabeth Knox. Many of Mahy's beloved storybook characters also appear, to put her on the spot about where they came from. In this excerpt, the famous lion from A Lion in the Meadow thanks Mahy for making him yellow, and Mahy talks about eating porridge three times a day as a young solo mum. Yvonne Mackay directed this seamless mix of real life and animation (courtesy of Euan Frizzell). Read more about the documentary here.

It's a shame if the Mother never ever made up a story again, because stories are good to make up and it would be a pity to stop that ... so I think she changed that [the original ending to Lion in the Meadow] for the better.

– Margaret Mahy's illustrator Jenny Williams

Key Cast & Crew

Yvonne Mackay

Director, Producer, Original Concept

Paul Sutorius

Editor

David Paul

Cinematographer

Euan Frizzell

Animator, Visual Effects Supervisor

Elizabeth Knox

Interviewer, Writer

Margaret Mahy

Subject