Disney to present Pratchett's Discworld

[angilasman]

blueskydisney.blogspot.com/2010/11/mort-info.html

This could be excellent. Sir Terry Pratchett's Discworld books are genius and it's a wonder they haven't been made into big budget films before, and this is the team that did The Great Mouse Detective, The Little Mermaid, Alladin and the recent The Princess and the Frog, so they have pretty decent track record (and the most criticism for Princess was that it too much tried to recapture the earlier Disney model and they would be better to try something new and different - which fits this, absolutely).

[GProopdog]

I for one will definitely go to see this, being a big fan of Discworld.

Does anyone recall the rumor (that was later dispelled) about 4-5 years ago of "The Colour of Magic" being made into a feature film to be released in theaters? Supposedly, they wanted to cast Rowan Atkinson as Rincewind and Tony Robinson (Baldrick from Blackadder) as Twoflower.

[angilasman]

Nov 3, 2010 12:56:36 GMT -5 GProopdog said:

I for one will definitely go to see this, being a big fan of Discworld.

Does anyone recall the rumor (that was later dispelled) about 4-5 years ago of "The Colour of Magic" being made into a feature film to be released in theaters? Supposedly, they wanted to cast Rowan Atkinson as Rincewind and Tony Robinson (Baldrick from Blackadder) as Twoflower.

No (but then again, I wasn't a fan then). It was made into a miniseries in Britain a few years ago, and I know that there was a Sam Raimi helmed Wee Free Men that didn't get off the ground a few years ago.

[Afgncaap5]

I liked the miniseries of The Colour of Magic (which, naturally, included The Light Fantastic). My only complaint was that it felt like Rincewind was a decade or too older than he was in the books, but maybe I just misread all the books. I'd like to see the Hogfather holiday special someday, too.

But no, this looks nice. I'm looking forward to seeing how it goes.

[spackle]

I'm reading my way through Discworld for the first time, mostly because I saw both the Color of Magic and Hogfather miniseries. Few books make me laugh out loud, but each book in the series so far has had several of those unexpected moments. So if Disney latches on to them, I say great. There have been a few British animated shows (I've seen Wyrd Sisters and Soul Music), and though they are fun, the production values are kind of TV quality. I'd love to see them done better.

[Afgncaap5]

Enjoy the books. I think Mort is when the books really, really started to kick it into high gear.

[Mr. Atari]

I didn't like the BBC's version of Hogfather, but that was a tough book to start with. I thought The Colour of Magic was better, but I was distracted by Sean Astin the whole time. He did a fine job, but I couldn't think of him as Twoflower because I kept seeing Sam Gamgee. However, the recent Going Postal was a great adaptation. They got Vetinari wrong, but they hit a home run on Moist and the clacks towers.

I'm very skeptical on a Disney version of Mort, though. Death really isn't a villain and Keli isn't really a Disney-type princess (plus, the real love story is between Mort and Ysabell). It's a fun story with great characters, but if they modify to hit the beats of the standard Disney plot points and characterization, they'll ruin it. See also, The Black Cauldron.

[spackle]

Nov 3, 2010 14:29:30 GMT -5 Afgncaap5 said:

Enjoy the books. I think Mort is when the books really, really started to kick it into high gear.

Thanks. I just finished Wyrd Sisters and I'm starting on Pyramids. Wyrd Sisters was a little spoiled by having seen the animated version first, but before too long I had put the animation out of my head because the book shone through on it's own.

[angilasman]

Nov 3, 2010 14:57:14 GMT -5 Mr. Atari said:

I'm very skeptical on a Disney version of Mort, though. Death really isn't a villain and Keli isn't really a Disney-type princess (plus, the real love story is between Mort and Ysabell). It's a fun story with great characters, but if they modify to hit the beats of the standard Disney plot points and characterization, they'll ruin it. See also, The Black Cauldron.

That's the thing: after The Princess and the Frog Disney has decided to break the mold and try some new things. Their next traditional animated film is Winnie the Pooh, done in the style of the '60s shorts and basically adapting stories straight from A.A. Milne's text, and another project they have is an adaptation of a Phillip K. Dick story. Remember; Disney now has Pixar alums mixed in and their influence is starting to creep in. They almost partnered with Guillermo del Toro for a series of spooky children's films, but the deal fell through (probably a lot to do with the tumultuous production of The Hobbit) and GDT is with Dreamworks now.

Either way, I'm hopeful.