The Magician's Nephew
This one might not actually make it to theaters but I sure hope it does. (I would really like it if Disney made all of the books into movies like what Warner Brothers is planning to do with Harry Potter. After all if Warner Brothers can do it why can't Disney?) If they get around to making this movie I wonder what material they are going to use to make the green rings. The yellow rings should be easy enough to make (there are various yellow materials, especially gold) but the green ones might be painted, stained or who knows what. I don't doubt that the gold and silver trees will be shown which made the crowns of the first king and queen of Narnia (my reason for this is because in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe film Lucy's and Susan's crowns look like silver and gold garlands made of branches and flowers). The silver apple tree should also be pretty interesting. I wonder if the apples will be made of some silver-like metal or if they will be real apples with a silver candy coating. (It's just an idea.) Any way Weta Workshop has done a very good job on a lot of the props, weapons, etc. on the previous films so I am very sure they will do a good job on this one (on account that this book makes it to film).
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
I thought a lot of foreshadowing was done very well in this film. First if all the wardrobe had various scenes carved on it that (hopefully) will be shown in The Magician's Nephew when it comes out. Next thing to note is that the lamppost has roots at the bottom (which is also explained in The Magician's Nephew). Thirdly, the professor has a tobacco box in the shape of a silver apple. (This box is only in the movie not in the book.) Another thing to note is the fact that the crowns at the Pevensie siblings' coronation look like they were taken off the branches of trees (as I have already stated earlier in this blog).
I love how well Weta Workshop did very good work on the props like the book described(with some extra detail they decided to put in themselves). Peter's shield is supposed to look silver with a bright red lion on it and the handle of his sword is supposed to be gold. (Weta made it look like a Lion's head.) Both Susan's horn and quiver are supposed to be made of ivory (whether Weta just decided to make them look like ivory or actually made them out of ivory I don't know but they did a good job in at least making them look like the right material). Lucy is given a dagger which has no known detail about it (and is only mentioned in the first book) and a cordial in a vial made of diamond. (Weta could easily get away with this one if they wanted to make the bottle out of glass sicne diamond and glass are both transparent materials who's to be the wiser?) Mr. Tumness' flute, although beautifully designed in the film (and I am perfectly happy with the way it looks in the film to), was supposed to be made of straw (and according to a drawing by Pauline Baynes should have looked more like a pan flute). The wardobe was also supposed to have a mirror on the inside of the door. Both the witch's crown and wand were supposed to be made of gold, not ice. (I actually like the ice look on both objects in the film especially the fact that the witch's crown is shown melting when spring comes. I suppose the wand could have been made of white gold as well as ice and the witch did have an unusual gold crown like structue on her head during the final battle in the shape of Aslan's face with his mane inside as well as around it.) The stone knife seemed to be in perfect detail (it is never stated what colour it was or any other description except that it was made of stone). They also put the writing on the stone table that talks about the Deep Magic.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Monday, March 9, 2009
The Princess Bride
Who has watched the classic movie The Princess Bride? I have it at home and no matter what I still think it is one of the best movies of all times (minus the swears). I got the book (by William Goldman/S. Morgenstern) as a Christmas present from some friends of my parents. I haven't finished it yet but I can already see some differences in the movie and the book.
WARNING: Some spoilers may follow. If you do not want either the book or movie spoiled please feel free to skip over these parts.
1. In the book the Pit of Despair is actually called the Zoo of Death. One thing I found out in the book that I did not know in the movie was that the Prince (Humperdinck) was fond of hunting (even more than war! I thought that was strange enough). The zoo was built by the Prince and the Count (Rugen) and the animals (yes, animals, not people) were put on 5 different levels (at the beginning only 4 of the 5 levels were used) and they were taken care of by the Albino until the prince decided to single handedly kill them one-on-one (even wrestling with them). The first level had the fast creatures, the second level the strong, the third the poisonous, fourth the most frightening and the fifth was meant for something as strong, dangerous and powerful as the prince himself.
2. The Count is the one who reported the beauty of Buttercup (the princess bride as reffered to in the title) to the Prince. (People who began to pass by the area where she lived noticed how beautiful she was becoming and word eventually reached the Count.) He also turned out to be married! (I did not see that one coming!) His wife the Countess, a woman much younger than the Count who loved fashion and makeup, came with him while he was interested in seeing how beautiful Buttercup really was. (He lied to her parents and told them he was interested in seeing how well their cows were.) If it wasn't for the Countess noticing how attractive Westley (Buttercup's parents' farm boy) was, Buttercup might not have realized that she was falling in love with him. (I probably should mention that the Count also could not stop starring at Buttercup any more than his wife could not stop starring at Westley.)
3. Both Inigo's (the world's greatest fencer from Spain) and Fezzik's (the world's strongest giant from Turkey) pasts are revealed. Inigo's is told a bit in the movie (the most important parts) but some extra detail is put into the book. Fezzik's life has a bit of a sadder story (excepting the fact that Inigo's father was killed). He was born big, grew up to be big, was pick on as a child, his parents showed him how to fight, they became his personal trainers for fighting competitions in different parts of the world, people boo at him when he wins, his parents eventually die from a plague in Mongolia, learns how to fight groups instead of fighting one-on-one so won't get boed, he temporarily joins a circus and later on gets fired when (after turning 20) he gets boed again. He is fired in Greenland where Vizzini (the smartest Sicilian in the world as well as a criminal mastermind) finds him. (I do not know whether Vizzini found Inigo first or Fezzik.)
4. The Prince (who lived in a place known as Florin) was originally going to marry the Princess of Guilder (named Noreena). This would have been good for both countries and would have developed peace throughout both kingdoms. However, the Prince found out (after the wind blew the Princess' hat away) that she was bald and he refused her. (It explained her gigantic hat collection.)
5. A bit of information about the King and Queen of Florin for those interested. King Lotharon and Queen Bella were the ones to fire Miracle Max (a miracle worker and healer), not Humperdinck as in the movie. The Queen was actually the Prince's stepmother and he called her E. S., short for evil stepmother, since he was young (because as a child who knows of any good stepmothers from the stories) although she does not really seem evil. The King also mumbles and only the Queen seems to know what he says. Since the King is now slowly dying Prince Humperdinck needs to get married in order to produce the next male heir to the throne.
End of Spoilers! P.S. For Now!
In case anyone is wondering about the reunion scene with Buttercup and Westley in Chapter 5 that William Goldman says can either be mailed or emailed, some sources say it is a fake and that one will only get some letters about why one can't get that scene in the book.
There is also a chapter at the end of this book called "Fezzik Dies" that is supposed to be an introduction (supposedly) to a sequel called Buttercup's Baby. I haven't got to that part yet but I heard that there might be more of Inigo's past mentioned in this section (something that I for one am interested in) and some future events coming up with our other favorite heroes. I don't know if this chapter is just a red herring (like the reunion scene supposedly is) or if the author actually plans to write it (although he hasn't written a book for quite a few years now that has been published as far as I know). I would like to know how the new story, that has in a sense already begun, is going to turn out.
WARNING: Some spoilers may follow. If you do not want either the book or movie spoiled please feel free to skip over these parts.
1. In the book the Pit of Despair is actually called the Zoo of Death. One thing I found out in the book that I did not know in the movie was that the Prince (Humperdinck) was fond of hunting (even more than war! I thought that was strange enough). The zoo was built by the Prince and the Count (Rugen) and the animals (yes, animals, not people) were put on 5 different levels (at the beginning only 4 of the 5 levels were used) and they were taken care of by the Albino until the prince decided to single handedly kill them one-on-one (even wrestling with them). The first level had the fast creatures, the second level the strong, the third the poisonous, fourth the most frightening and the fifth was meant for something as strong, dangerous and powerful as the prince himself.
2. The Count is the one who reported the beauty of Buttercup (the princess bride as reffered to in the title) to the Prince. (People who began to pass by the area where she lived noticed how beautiful she was becoming and word eventually reached the Count.) He also turned out to be married! (I did not see that one coming!) His wife the Countess, a woman much younger than the Count who loved fashion and makeup, came with him while he was interested in seeing how beautiful Buttercup really was. (He lied to her parents and told them he was interested in seeing how well their cows were.) If it wasn't for the Countess noticing how attractive Westley (Buttercup's parents' farm boy) was, Buttercup might not have realized that she was falling in love with him. (I probably should mention that the Count also could not stop starring at Buttercup any more than his wife could not stop starring at Westley.)
3. Both Inigo's (the world's greatest fencer from Spain) and Fezzik's (the world's strongest giant from Turkey) pasts are revealed. Inigo's is told a bit in the movie (the most important parts) but some extra detail is put into the book. Fezzik's life has a bit of a sadder story (excepting the fact that Inigo's father was killed). He was born big, grew up to be big, was pick on as a child, his parents showed him how to fight, they became his personal trainers for fighting competitions in different parts of the world, people boo at him when he wins, his parents eventually die from a plague in Mongolia, learns how to fight groups instead of fighting one-on-one so won't get boed, he temporarily joins a circus and later on gets fired when (after turning 20) he gets boed again. He is fired in Greenland where Vizzini (the smartest Sicilian in the world as well as a criminal mastermind) finds him. (I do not know whether Vizzini found Inigo first or Fezzik.)
4. The Prince (who lived in a place known as Florin) was originally going to marry the Princess of Guilder (named Noreena). This would have been good for both countries and would have developed peace throughout both kingdoms. However, the Prince found out (after the wind blew the Princess' hat away) that she was bald and he refused her. (It explained her gigantic hat collection.)
5. A bit of information about the King and Queen of Florin for those interested. King Lotharon and Queen Bella were the ones to fire Miracle Max (a miracle worker and healer), not Humperdinck as in the movie. The Queen was actually the Prince's stepmother and he called her E. S., short for evil stepmother, since he was young (because as a child who knows of any good stepmothers from the stories) although she does not really seem evil. The King also mumbles and only the Queen seems to know what he says. Since the King is now slowly dying Prince Humperdinck needs to get married in order to produce the next male heir to the throne.
End of Spoilers! P.S. For Now!
In case anyone is wondering about the reunion scene with Buttercup and Westley in Chapter 5 that William Goldman says can either be mailed or emailed, some sources say it is a fake and that one will only get some letters about why one can't get that scene in the book.
There is also a chapter at the end of this book called "Fezzik Dies" that is supposed to be an introduction (supposedly) to a sequel called Buttercup's Baby. I haven't got to that part yet but I heard that there might be more of Inigo's past mentioned in this section (something that I for one am interested in) and some future events coming up with our other favorite heroes. I don't know if this chapter is just a red herring (like the reunion scene supposedly is) or if the author actually plans to write it (although he hasn't written a book for quite a few years now that has been published as far as I know). I would like to know how the new story, that has in a sense already begun, is going to turn out.
Introduction
Hi There Everyone!
This is Kirstin, the blogger for Kirstin's Khronicles or, if you prefer, Rose Petal Fiction. In this site I plan to write about (and possibly discuss) some fantasy books and movies that have been out. (It doesn't matter what year, after all some older movies/books are better than newer ones.) I might get into writing about t.v. series as well as sci-fi and classic books but I'll see how far I go with this first. Well enough chit-chat. On with the Fantasy.
This is Kirstin, the blogger for Kirstin's Khronicles or, if you prefer, Rose Petal Fiction. In this site I plan to write about (and possibly discuss) some fantasy books and movies that have been out. (It doesn't matter what year, after all some older movies/books are better than newer ones.) I might get into writing about t.v. series as well as sci-fi and classic books but I'll see how far I go with this first. Well enough chit-chat. On with the Fantasy.
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