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Dear God .. who's responsible for THIS mess?

Please don't close the door behind you.

Postby Erekose » December 25th, 2006, 10:24 am

It could have been worse Jo

You could have switched over in disgust and ended up watching the animated version of The Hobbit!

The animated LotR has been described as dire.. but The Hobbit is .. well.. indescribable!

To return to animated LWW...

I think that film makers (live action, animated etc) have to be careful when using books as source material, when they "modernise" a tale.
Often the context of the characterisations depends upon the society they were written into.

If LWW had been filmed in a modern context could it really have been true (ok.. LWW wasn't exactly true, and I know that'll probabl;y annoy people like Stanley by being so critical :wink: ) to the spirit of the story?

The plot would be straight out the window when Lucy brings back snow to throw at the others!

Imagine how annoying the Narnians would be having their peace disturbed by contiunal "tssst tssst tssst tssst" from the childrens walkman's.

They'd be playing games on their (signal free) mobile phones instead of joining in battles.

And they'd probably be up late wandering around the woods trying to find a road in the hope of spying a passing bus to throw a stone at!

/me is being a tad exageratory here... but felt like using a broom to apply paint to an airfix model :wink: :toothy-grin: :read:
Call yourself a dog???? I've seen better hair on a lavatory brush!!!
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Postby Larry W. » December 25th, 2006, 5:29 pm

I didn't care much for that cartoon version of LWW, either. I thought the children didn't look much like how I pictured the characters in the book. Pauline Baynes did a much better job in capturing their likeness. I was very happy when I first saw the BBC version-- then we had live actors playing the parts instead of cartoon characters. The last movie version had some really great actors playing the children, although BBC videos were more accurate to the text of the book. Probably a better cartoon version could have been made back in the 1970's even without computer animation.

I didn't think the 1977 The Hobbit cartoon was too bad in spite of all the negative criticism it had-- it was much closer to the story than than the LWW cartoon and had some appealing animation. I even have the paperback movie edition of the book with the original illustrations. I never understood why some people hated the film, though I admit it wasn't perfect, e.g. it shortened the book too much. Maybe Peter Jackson will make a better version.

The Internet Movie Database gave The Hobbit a 6.3/10 rating in its user comments, which is the same as I would have given it: . Not great but not that bad either. Compare it with the 1988 BBC version of LWW, which had a 6.9/10 and the 1979 cartoon with 7.0/10. The 2005 LWW movie directed by Andrew Adamson was the most liked at 7.4/10. I wondered why some people thought the 1979 cartoon was so great-- I thought it was the least faithful to the book! I wonder if they even carefully read the book.

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Postby Tharkun » December 25th, 2006, 6:39 pm

Well at lest they got Lucy’s hair right, something even Miss Baynes missed.
I must have something to work on...I cannot burn snow.

:roll:
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Postby Larry W. » December 26th, 2006, 12:23 am

I had liked the old-fashioned clothing used in the BBC version. It was even more accurate to the period than the wardrobe used in Andrew Adamson's movie and much more authentic than the children appearance in the 1979 cartoon. But Adamson chose the best actors to play the four children. Anna Popplewell and Georgie Henley were especially good as Susan and Lucy. They gave their characters more personality than the children who played those same parts in the BBC series, although the acting wasn't too bad there either. I thought Tom Baker was really good as Puddleglum in The Silver Chair and hope they find someone as good as he was whenever a big screen movie is made of that book.

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Re: Dear God .. who's responsible for THIS mess?

Postby Stanley Anderson » December 26th, 2006, 12:51 am

…on a night of rain Frodo smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that came over the water. And then it seemed to him that as in his dream in the house of Bombadil, the grey rain-curtain turned all to silver glass and was rolled back, and he beheld white shores and beyond them a fair green country under a swift sunrise.
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Re: Dear God .. who's responsible for THIS mess?

Postby Pete » December 26th, 2006, 1:05 am

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Postby Larry W. » December 26th, 2006, 2:48 pm

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Postby Sven » December 26th, 2006, 8:35 pm

Rat! he found breath to whisper, shaking. Are you afraid?
Afraid? murmured the Rat, his eyes shining with unutterable love.
Afraid! Of Him? O, never, never! And yet -- and yet -- O, Mole, I am afraid!
Then the two animals, crouching to the earth, bowed their heads and did worship.
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Postby Larry W. » December 26th, 2006, 8:53 pm

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Postby robsia » December 26th, 2006, 9:28 pm

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Postby Pete » December 27th, 2006, 1:30 am

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Postby Messenger_of_Eden » December 27th, 2006, 8:43 am

Which, I must say, bewilders me. Why would they rename the Character for American audiences?? Why would 'Fenris Ulf' mean any more to me than Maugrim? :smile: I'd like to know. :grin:
"If you believe what you like in the Gospel, and reject what you don't like, it is not the Gospel you believe, but yourself."--St. Augustine of Hippo
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Postby jo » December 27th, 2006, 7:25 pm

"I saw it begin,” said the Lord Digory. “I did not think I would live to see it die"

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Postby carol » December 27th, 2006, 8:38 pm

I don't know that Warnie was actually a good reviewer since a) he didn't see the series anyway and b) he was not in good health...ahem, and I don't know how good his judgemennt was.

The 1967 series (for which I have the same info as Pete) appears to have been a simplistic play as part of a children's television programme. They would have shown part of the story each time. It grew from the "Jackanory" style of storytelling, where one person is the narrator with a book and a big chair (I think) and a few others act out scenes in a simple style.

It was to reach child audiences a generation after the war... I would have loved it if they'd shown it here, although I hadn't read the books by then.
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Postby Sven » December 27th, 2006, 8:40 pm

Why do you say he didn't see the series?
Rat! he found breath to whisper, shaking. Are you afraid?
Afraid? murmured the Rat, his eyes shining with unutterable love.
Afraid! Of Him? O, never, never! And yet -- and yet -- O, Mole, I am afraid!
Then the two animals, crouching to the earth, bowed their heads and did worship.
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