Susan Meadows tending flowers in her Fernleigh garden, with a Jack Russell at the open cottage window
An original animated world from Cinema Vault Studio

The Fernleigh Chronicles

In Fernleigh, nobody likes a fuss. That has never stopped anyone from making one.

Enter Fernleigh
A British animated comedy world
Fernleigh Faces / Teaser

The village is lovely.
The residents are another matter.

A first look at FernleighTeaser / 38 seconds
Neil behind the bar at the Tipsy Teapot, holding a pint
01 / The world

Neil.
Landlord.
Confessor.
Keeper of the peace, whether he likes it or not.

Neil runs the pub, which in Fernleigh means he also runs the unofficial complaints department, rumour exchange, marriage guidance service and emergency shelter for men who’ve “just popped out for one.”

He knows who’s fallen out, who’s having an affair, who’s pretending they’re not having an affair, who owes money, who shouldn’t be driving home, and who’s banned until Thursday.

Neil’s great skill is listening without appearing interested.

He can settle an argument with one look, cut through three minutes of nonsense with six words, and has perfected the art of polishing the same glass while two grown adults destroy a friendship over a parking space.

He rarely takes sides.

Mostly because both sides are usually idiots.

And yet, if anyone from outside Fernleigh causes trouble, Neil will defend the village to the death.

Then call everyone in it a bunch of bloody lunatics the second they’ve gone.

02 / The roadmap

From village
voices to film.

Fernleigh is designed as a world with room to grow. First, short comedy episodes introduce the people who make village life anything but quiet. Then the world opens up for an animated family feature with a story big enough to bring Fernleigh together.

The Fernleigh Chronicles village logo with Bob the robin perched above the letters
01 / The world

The Fernleigh Chronicles

The shared setting, its characters and their little patch of British village life. Every story belongs to Fernleigh, whether it lasts a few minutes or fills a cinema screen.

The overarching animated world
02 / The first series

Fernleigh Faces

Ask three people in Fernleigh what happened and you’ll get four answers, a correction from the landlord and a complaint about the parking. Give the villagers a camera and they’ll happily explain themselves. Most of them probably shouldn’t.

Short animated episodes / comedy talking heads
Fernleigh Faces artwork: five villagers within the letters of FACES on a village sign that reads, Please keep your opinions to yourself. No one else does
“Please keep your opinions to yourself. No one else does.”
Inside the series

One small incident.
A village full of witnesses.

A limited run of short, animated comedy episodes. Each one takes an everyday village situation and hears it from the people caught up in it. Their straight-to-camera accounts reveal grudges, loyalties and misunderstandings that get funnier the harder everyone tries to justify themselves.

One situation

A parking space, a pub rule, a favour that went wrong. Small matters become remarkably important once Fernleigh has heard about them.

Several voices

The residents tell it in their own words. Details shift from person to person, and the contradiction is often the joke.

A returning village

Familiar faces and places tie the episodes together, so every account adds something to the world we’ll return to on film.

A route to audiences
Fernleigh goes
beyond the village.

Fernleigh Faces is being built for an independent digital release, giving the comedy a route to viewers now and room to grow into its next chapter.

Prime VideoPlanned first release

We intend to make the completed series available independently to rent or buy on Prime Video, then pursue subscription availability as a separate opportunity.

Additional route under exploration

An Apple TV Store purchase option could give audiences another way into Fernleigh.

These are proposed release routes, subject to platform acceptance.
03 / The next chapter

The feature film

Fernleigh has room for a bigger story without losing the people who can turn a small one into a village-wide incident. The feature carries its warmth, mischief and gloriously stubborn residents into a full-length animated family comedy.

Animated family comedy / feature film
On the big screen

A whole film.
An entire village with opinions.

The feature is a complete story for audiences meeting Fernleigh for the first time. Its comedy and heart grow from the relationships, routines and rivalries that make the village feel lived in, with room for a larger story and a more cinematic sense of place.

A story of its own

A full-length family comedy with its own beginning, middle and end. You won’t need to have watched the shorts to find your way around the village.

A familiar world

For those who have met Fernleigh through Faces, the places, characters and little histories give the film a world that already feels like home.

Humour for the family

Expressive animated comedy for younger viewers, with sharp observation and a good measure of British understatement for the grown-ups beside them.

Images on this page are development artwork and may evolve with the production.
Original British animationFernleigh Faces → Feature filmCinema Vault Studio