Scary animated film with a coach and skeleton horses

[Arran]

I must only have been 5 or 6 when I watched this, so it was mid 1990s, but I definitely remember it was a video tape. I only caught the end of this film so I have no idea what happened at the beginning.

It was set at night outdoors, probably in the 18th or early 19th century, and I have a feeling it was Scotland but I’m not certain of this.

It involved a man driving a coach and horses with a woman by his side that was being chased down a road by another coach and horses where the driver and the horses were skeletons. The woman wanted to marry the man but he was thrown off and landed in a ditch. At that point he realised it was a dream and woke up in a coach yard. He noticed a glove lying on the ground then looked up at a full moon where the clouds that crossed it were shaped like a coach and horses.

At the time it looked very scary.

[Arran]

Re: Scary animated film with a coach and skeleton horses

Does nobody recognise this film? I have done an internet search and nothing came up so it must be very obscure.

[battyrat]

Re: Scary animated film with a coach and skeleton horses

Been collecting animated films for years and not come across it. It sort of vaguely reminds of sleepy hollow.

Any idea what style of animation it was.

[Arran]

Re: Scary animated film with a coach and skeleton horses

No idea what the exact style of animation was although it was quite fluid and high quality. I estimate that it was produced in the late 1980s or early 1990s.

I have a feeling that it was Japanese but the soundtrack was definitely English.

[Arran]

Re: Scary animated film with a coach and skeleton horses

It still remains an unsolved mystery...

[Twocky61]

Re: Scary animated film with a coach and skeleton horses

Japan gave us that iconic tv show Monkey (or was it China?)

Anyway it was pretty dire lol

[Arran]

At long last I found it!

It's called The Mail Coach Ghosts. The second part of Ghost Stories from the Pickwick Papers. Produced by Emerald City Productions in 1987.

The other two stories are The Ghost in the Wardrobe, and The Goblin and the Gravedigger.

It was shown on ITV at 10am on 29 December 1988 and available as a video.

[George 1978]

It sounds like one of those CFF films which were shown, usually during the summer holidays, but as you say, another company produced it.

[Arran]

It appears to be part of Christmas season TV. There is a tradition of telling ghost stories at Christmas time. There are four ghosts in A Christmas Carol.

Emerald City Productions was established in Ireland during the 1980s by two Canadians, Al Guest and Jean Mathieson.

There is a reasonable amount of material about Ghost Stories from the Pickwick Papers on the Internet, including full videos that have been uploaded from as many as 10 years ago. Therefore I'm surprised that nobody managed to identify it years ago. I don't think it's a very obscure production. It's even been released on DVD.

I have recently watched all three stories and they are quite creepy. I find it hard to believe that it's U rated. It's more than enough to give kids nightmares.

The Mail Coach Ghosts is set in Edinburgh, so I was right about its location.