Shetland ponies star in heart-warming festive movie by Emma Massingale


  • Father Christmas has known as upon two Shetland ponies and their merry gang of mates to assist make his deliveries this 12 months.

    The story unfolds in Devon-based coach and film-maker Emma Massingale’s newest video, in partnership with NAF, starring everybody’s favorite actors, Albert and Ernie. When Dalmatian Nancy takes an necessary name from Father Christmas, she rounds up Albert and Ernie, and the group might be seen boarding a double-decker bus as they head off on their newest mission. The movie additionally options Comet the Connemara, donkey Charlie, Douglas the Hungarian vizsla, Siamese cat Louis, part-bred percheron Max, and puppies Pippin and Luna, a miniature dachshund and a labrador.



    Emma Massingale, who is understood for her heart-warming Christmas movies, mentioned developing with this 12 months’s thought was a bit more durable than in some years.

    “There’s been plenty of doom and gloom on the information and plenty of the Christmas adverts on the tv have gone down the extra political route. I believed, ‘What are we going to do to make one thing a bit totally different when it’s not feeling very Christmassy but?’” Emma instructed H&H.

    “I made a decision simply to inform a narrative and if you provide you with a narrative you’ll be able to put the totally different parts in. I began with a skeleton thought, after which I began serious about the totally different tips I’d love to do. You’re attempting to incorporate as many tips as you’ll be able to, however on the similar time make it look pure and there needs to be a little bit of humour too.”

    And it isn’t simply the actors Emma has to consider, it’s props too. Whereas attempting to remain heat one of many ponies activates the out of doors heater, inflicting a Christmas tree to dry up and lose its pine needles. In the meantime the opposite pony goes off to hunt out their finest Christmas jumpers. The gang assist collect the presents for Father Christmas and he might be seen heading off to begin his deliveries.

    “I spent about 4 hours plucking a Christmas tree, after which I had the needles in my oven for six hours attempting to get them the appropriate color. The whole lot we ate for days afterwards tasted of pine needles!,” mentioned Emma.

    “We even have to think about the places, for instance doorways must be proper for the ponies opening them. We don’t get to practise on the location earlier than filming so I do all of the coaching at dwelling, after which we go and movie. However we at all times joke that Albert and Ernie are the masters of one-take wonders, they know their job so nicely. The canine are undoubtedly a more moderen factor for me, but it surely’s nice – they’ll do various things from the horses, so it ties in rather well when telling a narrative.”

    The video was filmed at Powderham Fortress, a distant cottage on Bodmin Moor, and South Devon railway station.

    “It’s very nice to be at Powderham Fortress, I used to occasion there when it held horse trials and it’s an awesome location,” mentioned Emma.

    “It was fairly humorous attending to the cottage on the moor; it has no drive and you may solely get to it by an off-road Land Rover. My fiancé Jeremy took the Land Rover with the filming gear, and I needed to tread throughout the moor with two ponies and 4 canine.

    “A person checking his cows noticed me and rode throughout on horseback to examine I wasn’t dumping the ponies there, however he took one have a look at them of their lycra fits to maintain them clear and mentioned ‘Maybe not!’”.

    Emma, who has a busy 2023 deliberate together with filming a TV advert, mentioned she enjoys making folks smile along with her movies.

    “I simply find it irresistible if you see one thing and it makes you smile, or evokes you ultimately. I feel that’s the enjoyment of Christmas.”

    You may additionally be taken with:

    “When folks say it’s made them emotional and that they’ll actually ‘really feel it’ when watching the video that’s what

    Christmas could appear some time away, but it surely’s by no means too early to order the most effective current going – a subscription

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