Talk:National Velvet

How the Pi got his Name
From the film -

Velvet: What's his name, Mr Edes ? Edes: ''Name ? This murderous pirate's not deserving of a name ! Velvet: Oh no, not a pirate. He's a gentle one. I'll just call him Pi.''                   PFSLAKES1 (talk) 12:35, 21 September 2008 (UTC)

That is not how he got his name in the novel. It is because he was a Piebald. This is a discussion of the film, not the novel. There are significant differences between the two, and the entry for the novel is not at all accurate. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.90.21.210 (talk) 02:16, 20 January 2009 (UTC)


 * In the novel, Velvet calls him "Pie" for short. Nothing to do with the mathematical concept :-)! Wi2g 02:08, 30 November 2010 (UTC)

The term piebald refers to a horse with black and white patches. In the novel, Velvet and Mi discuss using another name such as Unicorn, but Velvet says she can't stand to see the horse in the history books under any name but The Piebald. She cites a National winner named The Colonel and wins the argument. White Arabian mare (talk) 01:56, 17 August 2015 (UTC)

The film vs the novel
Once again it appears that people are "correcting" the article about the book with material they remember from the film. Here are some points that distinguish the two:
 * The book's theme is "dreams can come true." The film's is "bad boy makes good."
 * The horse in the book was a piebald, or in American terms a pinto.
 * Piebald horses were not allowed to run in the Grand National in Edith Bagnold's time. Perhaps they are now, but I doubt it. The coloration is apparently disparaged as being too much like Gypsy vanner horses.
 * Steeplechase horses are Thoroughbreds, and as far as I know there are no piebald Thoroughbreds (it's probably genetic). In an "Author's Note" at the end of the novel Bagnold says, "...Before that date (1931, when there was a rules change) it was not necessary for a horse to have distinguished itself 'by being placed first, second, or third (by the Judge) in a steeplechase of three miles and upwards value 200 sovs. to the winner'—and for all I can find in the Rules a zebra could have entered, provided he was the proper age."  Women, of course, could not ride the National (or any other professional race) at that time and getting around that was the problem. Wi2g 20:49, 12 January 2011 (UTC)


 * In the book, the horse's name was drawn from his color, not from seeming a pirate.
 * The film ends with Micky Rooney's success at overcoming his innate dishonesty and helping a girl win a race.
 * The film omits the drama ensuing from the race having been won by a rider and a horse neither of whom were eligible to have entered.

Perhaps someone would like to make suitable corrections to this article, or even write a separate article that distinguishes the book and the film. I haven't the time. Snezzy (talk) 12:59, 3 March 2010 (UTC)


 * Think there are already separate articles for the film and the TV series; maybe by linking them better, we can lessen the confusion. Wi2g 02:08, 30 November 2010 (UTC)

The horse's name in the novel was "The Piebald"
In the novel the horse is called "The Piebald" at least 60 times, very occasionally abbreviated to "The Pie" (exactly 5 times). His name was unquestionably "The Piebald" – he was even entered under that name officially. Speculation as to how he got his name (in fact, he was a piebald, but that's neither here nor there) doesn't alter the fact.

In the film, made for American audiences, he was called 'The Pie": not surprisingly, because in American English a piebald is a pinto, so they had to find a neutral name.

Ttocserp 16:38, 8 September 2017 (UTC)
 * Agreed. "The Pie" is a non sequitur name in the film, since the horse is solid-colored. In the TV series I believe he was known as "Blaze King", which makes more sense since he did have a blaze :-). All the best,  Mini  apolis  21:50, 8 September 2017 (UTC)