Roald Dahl Retrospective Episode 13: Roald Dahl's Esio Trot

In this episode of the Roald Dahl Retrospective, Patricia and Arun discuss about the 2015 BBC TV movie Roald Dahl's Esio Trot based on the 1990 book of the same name starring Dustin Hoffman, Judi Dench, James Corden, Richard Cordery, and Jimmy Akingbola. The story is about an shy old man named Mr. Hoppy who has a massive crush on his downstairs neighbor named Mrs. Silver who is outgoing and enthusiastic. She owns a small pet tortoise named Alfie who she wishes for him to grow up to be a big tortoise. Mr. Hoppy decides to come up with a plan involving with a poem written in backwards writing, purchasing hundreds of tortoises, and spending all his hard earned money to care for them and help with Mrs. Silver's dance charity. He also has to contend with another neighbor named Mr. Pringle who also is smitten with Mrs. Silver. Will Mr. Hoppy win Mrs. Silver's heart?   

Roald Dahl's Esio Trot was released only in the U.K., but had a limited run in the U.S. courtesy of The Weinstein Company. Most people in the U.S. hadn't seen the movie or if they had, it had been glossed over compared to other adaptations like Disney's The BFG which came out in theaters a few months later. The same could be said for the book itself despite being the last book that was published when Roald Dahl was alive. Unfortunately, the other obscure Roald Dahl adaptions such as Danny the Champion of the World, Breaking Point, Four Rooms, and Roald Dahl's Little Red Riding Hood were forgotten for a good reason compared to its more famous adaptations like Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and Matilda. What do Patricia and Arun think of this obscure film? Is it piled up with the other terrible adaptions or is it an underrated gem? Listen and find out.

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