The Story of Waddingtons: The Movie!

Back in July I was invited to the World Premiere of the new blockbuster movie, The Story of Waddingtons. OK so it wasn’t at the Odeon Leicester Square and I wasn’t hounded by the paparazzi all evening, which was a pleasant change as I’m sick of having photographers pestering me to get out of the way so they can get a snap of someone important, but it was at the Everyman Cinema in Trinity, Leeds. So much more intimate and the booze and nibbles were pretty good too.

The reason I am just getting round to writing my piece is that there were still a few issues to be sorted out with Hasbro, the owners of Monopoly, so I didn’t want to infringe on copyright matters. I was given the go-ahead last week but was still suffering from the after effects of my latest trip to the theatre, sadly not of the thesp variety but the operating type, so my mind was not functioning very well – does it ever? The good news is that I now have so many points on my loyalty card at Harrogate Hospital that if I ever need another surgical procedure I will qualify for either a magnum of champagne or a free brain operation. I think I will plump for the former because, as we used to say, I would rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy. Yes, I am back!

The great thing about this review is that you can share my experience as it is available on YouTube for all to see, so even my lovely American readers will have access, as will the others all over the world with whom I am not acquainted.

Waddingtons has been a Leeds landmark for over a hundred years being situated in Stourton. In 1971 I lived in Horbury, just outside Wakefield, and in those days the M1 motorway only went as far as that suburb so I used to pass by the factory on my morning commute into Leeds, as did thousands of others going to work from the south of the county. Nightmare!

I won’t give too much away about this half-hour documentary except to say that there are some amazing facts relating to the history of the company which, although synonymous with the board game Monopoly, the Games Division only provided about 20% of the total company revenue.

If you want to have a look at the trailer then go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AODHsjNZgTI

As with most documentaries, there is a succession of talking heads, but, in this case, they are both enlightening and entertaining. There is Professor Robert Shail, Director of Research at Leeds Beckett University, who seems to have one of the cushiest jobs in all of Academia; Kitty Ross, Curator of Leeds History at Leeds Museum and John Watson, the highly entertaining ex-Managing Director in the 1970s, who followed in his father’s and grandfather’s footsteps in that role. His series of anecdotes is astounding, not only in the company’s involvement in other products, but in the way in which the Games Division became involved in the Second World War both regarding the troops and the civilian population.

I was fortunate enough to have a chat with Mr Watson at the screening and again a few days later at the launch of MONOPOLY Leeds Takeover. He is full of stories about the company and so erudite and pleasant that I find it difficult to believe that he was also a Member of Parliament. Things were so much different in those days.

As well as being enlightening about the history of Waddingtons, the film also touched on the role which Leeds has to play in the present development of games, not so much the board variety but the electronic versions. These have attracted the best developers and turned the city into a world leader in the genre.

The film is produced by LeedsBID, along with Chapter81 and Welcome To Leeds. The Director is Simon Fogal and it is Narrated by Larry Budd.

As an aside, you may have read my pieces about the MONOPOLY Leeds Takeover, well, you only have until 1st September so get into town and play along. The last I heard, the maps required to take part in the game were being subject to a second print with over 140,000 having thus far been handed out.

To watch the film in full click on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWgHQ1Zsj2w

Feature image provided by Chapter81. Left to right: Andrew Cooper (LeedsBID), John Watson, Simon Fogal (Chapter81) and Larry Budd, narrator.