The never ending adventures of Pinocchio

The original tale of Pinocchio, the wooden boy whose adventures are familiar from the Walt Disney film, was censored in the same way as translations of Grimm’s Fairy Tales. Today’s audiences are less sensitive, so can we look forward to a no-holds-barred portrayal of the badly behaved puppet?

Les Misérables on the silver screen

In 1985 Les Misérables revolutionised music theatre in the same way that Jerome Kern’s Show Boat did in 1927. Usually film versions of musicals cannot compete, but there are exceptions that prove the rule.

Time future contained in time past

According to BBC News (12 September 2012) the world’s first colour moving pictures dating from 1902 have been found in Bradford after lying forgotten in an old tin for 110 years. That’s 417 years less than Richard III (1452-85), also recently discovered lying forgotten in Leicester.

Royal leapfrog

A newly discovered tree frog has been named after Prince Charles in recognition of his charity work to protect its rainforest home.

“Now, Voyager, sail thou forth”

Science writing – health, climate change, environment, nanotechnology, biotechnology – often gets a poor press. Too technical, too obscure, too fantastic. A joy, therefore, to find a brilliant article in the latest issue of The Smithsonian on the exploration of outer space.

Real truths about kidnapping, murder, and small miracles

The Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo is a human rights organisation whose aim is to find the babies stolen during the era of the Argentine dictatorship known as the “Dirty War” (1976-83). Its president is Estela Barnes de Carlotto, about whom an award-winning film has been released.