Go Read the Book
I think it's safe to say that I'm a big reader. I think it's also safe to say that I am a fan of The Chronicles of Prydain, considering I've named a character and myself about its heroine. However, despite my love of these books, I am sadly aware that they are a lesser known series of books, not a lot of people seem to know of its existence. Granted, many people are, as I keep encountering people know know the name Eilonwy (based on how few WoW servers have that name available and why I had to go with the name EilonwyG as a user name way back when), but a vast majority don't. I accept this as true, and yet...
And yet I am very protective of this series as well. Maybe that makes me a purist? I don't know. There's a girl on deviantart that I found after searching online for Prydain art and found her old works of art. She wrote a "lost" chapter of The High King done in the viewpoint of Eilonwy that really moved me. We spoke when I complimented her efforts and now I follow her deviantart page. She's currently working on a graphic novel version of the book series, staring with The Book of Three. This is a girl who is a true fan, who knows her Prydain Chronicles, who knows the characters and understands them. I love this girl and all she does.
Sometimes I forget that most people don't know the series. There was an old Disney animated movie that tried to honor the series called "The Black Cauldron". It came out in the early 80's ('82, I believe) (edit: checked and it was '85) and was a result of the failing then Disney animation team. It was a time when they weren't sure if Disney animated features would last much longer, as old Walt had died many years ago and many of the 9 old men from his time were dying or leaving and it left the studio bereft of their talent. It was a long hard road from the last truly successful movie, sliding down, down, down until the mid 80's, just before the Little Mermaid revival. So the movie's dismal portrayal was partly to due with that failing regime. There was a lot wrong with it. Don't get me wrong, there was a lot that was good, too, and I still love it, but mostly it was just sad. They lumped two of the books together, which was their first mistake - should have just stuck with The Book of Three rather than try to combine that plot with the Black Cauldron. The first half of the movie, as all the characters are meeting, is The Book of Three, then it takes a weird twist and becomes The Black Cauldron, except the Black Cauldron without all the characters that were in the Black Cauldron. So many important characters got nixed because of that.
Anyway, while I see that the movie left something to be desired, I still defend it as it is the only bit of film done based on my beloved series. At least Taran of Caer Dalben and Eilonwy of the Red-gold hair exist out there somewhere, Disney at least got the message out that they exist, right? As long as people watch Disney movies, perhaps they'll get interested enough to check out the source material. (Although, maybe that's just me, I've always wanted to read the source material for all the Disney movies, haven't yet, but I intend to get to it.)
But, maybe what they did really wasn't such a boon after all. Maybe they should have left well enough alone. Maybe if they couldn't do it right, they shouldn't have done it at all. I think of this as I read the reworked chapters by a deviant art member.
Apparently, this person recently watched the movie "The Black Cauldron" and, not too surprisingly, found it wanting. They were confused by the ending. (No surprise there; Gurgi jumps into the cauldron that is supposed to kill any that enter, and yet survives? Because he has a good heart? Heck no! In the book, an arrogant third-born prince ended up sacrificing his life to end the horror of the cauldron by jumping in, knowing full well he would die. It was the only selfless thing he'd ever done in his life, and his sacrifice redeemed his person. He did not come back to life.) So they felt they needed to tweak the movie. Okay, I guess. I can see how they'd think that. Separate the books first, then add some songs, like a Disney movie should...
But no, they...they desecrated my story! Hen-wen the oracular pig becomes Nen-wen the oracular snake? (The Nen-wen I'm chalking up to someone not hearing names correctly.) The added background of Taran's family, because "...the original film...lacked background about Taran's family..." No shit, Sherlock! That's because no one knows who Taran's family is! Taran doesn't learn about his history until The High King, just after...well, just incase you haven't read the book and are thinking about reading it now, I won't say what happened just before he learned his history, but know it's on the last pages of the last book of the series. And it's a big game changer. It's a big deal. It's why Dalben never told him. As far as the snake, apparently an oracular pig was lame and snakes were cooler. *fume*
The more I keep reading this thing (skimming it, really, it hurts to much to read all of it), the angrier I get. The first section, the prologue, wasn't so bad, it was just some backdrop information that actually wasn't too bad. A little weird that made me go "huh?", but nothing that was really made mention of in the books, so I gave it a pass. I even commented on it, saying it was an interesting take, but mentioned that the movie didn't do the books justice. You know, subtle hint that Disney didn't just make up the movie. It came from somewhere. But each subsequent chapter makes me want to scream and write in saying all the points they messed up on. Some of the mistakes are based on the mistakes they put in the movie, so I suppose I can't fault them (like how Doli is a fairy; he's one of the Fair Folk, yes, but he's basically a dwarf; Doli did not have fairy wings, he could not fly). But the rest? I don't want to be overly critical, I know how creativity shouldn't be snuffed out just because I don't like it, but... But damn it, go read the book!
~grrrrr~
And yet I am very protective of this series as well. Maybe that makes me a purist? I don't know. There's a girl on deviantart that I found after searching online for Prydain art and found her old works of art. She wrote a "lost" chapter of The High King done in the viewpoint of Eilonwy that really moved me. We spoke when I complimented her efforts and now I follow her deviantart page. She's currently working on a graphic novel version of the book series, staring with The Book of Three. This is a girl who is a true fan, who knows her Prydain Chronicles, who knows the characters and understands them. I love this girl and all she does.
Sometimes I forget that most people don't know the series. There was an old Disney animated movie that tried to honor the series called "The Black Cauldron". It came out in the early 80's ('82, I believe) (edit: checked and it was '85) and was a result of the failing then Disney animation team. It was a time when they weren't sure if Disney animated features would last much longer, as old Walt had died many years ago and many of the 9 old men from his time were dying or leaving and it left the studio bereft of their talent. It was a long hard road from the last truly successful movie, sliding down, down, down until the mid 80's, just before the Little Mermaid revival. So the movie's dismal portrayal was partly to due with that failing regime. There was a lot wrong with it. Don't get me wrong, there was a lot that was good, too, and I still love it, but mostly it was just sad. They lumped two of the books together, which was their first mistake - should have just stuck with The Book of Three rather than try to combine that plot with the Black Cauldron. The first half of the movie, as all the characters are meeting, is The Book of Three, then it takes a weird twist and becomes The Black Cauldron, except the Black Cauldron without all the characters that were in the Black Cauldron. So many important characters got nixed because of that.
Anyway, while I see that the movie left something to be desired, I still defend it as it is the only bit of film done based on my beloved series. At least Taran of Caer Dalben and Eilonwy of the Red-gold hair exist out there somewhere, Disney at least got the message out that they exist, right? As long as people watch Disney movies, perhaps they'll get interested enough to check out the source material. (Although, maybe that's just me, I've always wanted to read the source material for all the Disney movies, haven't yet, but I intend to get to it.)
But, maybe what they did really wasn't such a boon after all. Maybe they should have left well enough alone. Maybe if they couldn't do it right, they shouldn't have done it at all. I think of this as I read the reworked chapters by a deviant art member.
Apparently, this person recently watched the movie "The Black Cauldron" and, not too surprisingly, found it wanting. They were confused by the ending. (No surprise there; Gurgi jumps into the cauldron that is supposed to kill any that enter, and yet survives? Because he has a good heart? Heck no! In the book, an arrogant third-born prince ended up sacrificing his life to end the horror of the cauldron by jumping in, knowing full well he would die. It was the only selfless thing he'd ever done in his life, and his sacrifice redeemed his person. He did not come back to life.) So they felt they needed to tweak the movie. Okay, I guess. I can see how they'd think that. Separate the books first, then add some songs, like a Disney movie should...
But no, they...they desecrated my story! Hen-wen the oracular pig becomes Nen-wen the oracular snake? (The Nen-wen I'm chalking up to someone not hearing names correctly.) The added background of Taran's family, because "...the original film...lacked background about Taran's family..." No shit, Sherlock! That's because no one knows who Taran's family is! Taran doesn't learn about his history until The High King, just after...well, just incase you haven't read the book and are thinking about reading it now, I won't say what happened just before he learned his history, but know it's on the last pages of the last book of the series. And it's a big game changer. It's a big deal. It's why Dalben never told him. As far as the snake, apparently an oracular pig was lame and snakes were cooler. *fume*
The more I keep reading this thing (skimming it, really, it hurts to much to read all of it), the angrier I get. The first section, the prologue, wasn't so bad, it was just some backdrop information that actually wasn't too bad. A little weird that made me go "huh?", but nothing that was really made mention of in the books, so I gave it a pass. I even commented on it, saying it was an interesting take, but mentioned that the movie didn't do the books justice. You know, subtle hint that Disney didn't just make up the movie. It came from somewhere. But each subsequent chapter makes me want to scream and write in saying all the points they messed up on. Some of the mistakes are based on the mistakes they put in the movie, so I suppose I can't fault them (like how Doli is a fairy; he's one of the Fair Folk, yes, but he's basically a dwarf; Doli did not have fairy wings, he could not fly). But the rest? I don't want to be overly critical, I know how creativity shouldn't be snuffed out just because I don't like it, but... But damn it, go read the book!
~grrrrr~