(no subject)
I was linked to this a few days ago, but haven't seen it elsewhere on f-list, so for those who care: New Narnia Trailer!
This made me very, very, very happy, as did the other trailer. *makes ecstatic noises* Thoughts in order of screen shot:
-Seeing the house: I really hope they get Diggory right. I know most people hate the BBC versions with a passion, but I kind of liked them- and I really liked their Professor.
-The Wardrobe: It has a TREE on it. Oh. Em. Gee. Actually, in the Embassy theatre at home, there's been a cardboard model of the Wardrobe for about two years now, and it actually has a lot of great detail.
-They're SO BRITISH. WITH THE ACCENTS. HEART.
-I would have liked a few more shots of Edmund, who I adore. He looks so wee, though! Although not as small as Lucy, who looks absolutely miniscule in that shot of Peter, Susan and Lucy.
-WOLF! WOLF! I am ashamed to admit I cannot remember his name, but WOLF. If he and Peter do not have an Epic Facedown, I might cry.
-The right Penvesies are at the Beavers'. I know this is kind of a big canon detail, but it's always nice to notice.
-PETER. OH GOD. Now, Peter's not my favourite character, but it is certainly possible that he might have been my first-ever fandom crush. He's so with the SWORDS and the COMPETENT and I swear to god I am NOT perving on a fourteen year old but I just ADORE Peter. I want him to kick ass in a really British Public Schools kind of way. Yeah.
-Edmund all alone at the White Witch's Castle! They just better get him right. My favourite scene in The Horse and His Boy is still the bit where Edmund mentions forgiveness/second chances.
-I'm going to go re-read LWW ASAP, but it's kind of annoying me that Jadis is blonde because I am almost 100% positive that she is not supposed to be. I have that illustration from TMN in my head where she's stalking down the street in London and her hair is long and free and black. So.
-Is 100-year winter canonical? And if they don't say "Always winter and never Christmas" at some point I will cry.
-"We're not heroes"- I want to know if that's canonical, too.
-Beavers looking like actual beavers, just bigger! Mmm, canon. (I mean, remembering the BBC...)
-RED AND GOLD PAVILIONS OH OH OH OH PETER'S SHIELD- okay, all this visual imagery is what's really going straight to my heart and squeezing. It's what Weta did really well for LOTR as well- sorry for comparison- that they really made an effort with recreating the world, even when they couldn't get the plot right.
-Polar bears: still annoying. WTF?
-A LAMP-POST. IN THE MIDDLE OF THE WOOD.
-TUMNUS.
-The shot at the train station. I am really impressed with the way they've gone direct from fantasy to slightly stylised mid-war Britain. And happy, because I think this is one of the most important things about LWW, that like LOTR it was conceived of during war and it is kind of about those wars and Britain as well- it's not just the fantasy. And the train station scene is fabulous and I'm glad they're keeping it.
-Susan! Arrow!
-Um. That bird. Flaming? What?
-I'm pretty sure canon-Peter didn't say "No, but I bet they help." But... it's funny.
-Susan and Lucy on Aslan
-In conclusion: FOR NARNIA AND THE LION.
Watching it reminded me of something that sixth_light talked about a lot when we watched the Buffy season finale: when LOTR made epic fantasy marketable and popular, while in some ways it did a great service to fantasy, it also kind of did it a disservice. Because now, watching any fantasy film, especially book-based, made after (or sometimes before...) LOTR, you can't help thinking "Oh, they're ripping off LOTR." As a long-time epic fantasy fan, of course, I know that some stuff is simply ubiquitous in epic fantasy: trekking (note the absence of capital ;)), battles, swordfights, showdowns, ultimate evil, ultimate good. But to someone who's come into a movie theatre and watching the Narnia trailer and has only really seen LOTR and so forth- they can easily be deceived into thinking that some stuff is copied, because they don't have that awareness of stuff that is simply constant to the fantasy genre.* Narnia is particularly subject to this because it's book-based, made in New Zealand- and Weta did the designs for both films.
*I mean, it can be argued that a lot of these constants come from LOTR anyway, I guess, but I haven't exactly made a study of the origins of fantasy literature, so I'll skip it. :P
This made me very, very, very happy, as did the other trailer. *makes ecstatic noises* Thoughts in order of screen shot:
-Seeing the house: I really hope they get Diggory right. I know most people hate the BBC versions with a passion, but I kind of liked them- and I really liked their Professor.
-The Wardrobe: It has a TREE on it. Oh. Em. Gee. Actually, in the Embassy theatre at home, there's been a cardboard model of the Wardrobe for about two years now, and it actually has a lot of great detail.
-They're SO BRITISH. WITH THE ACCENTS. HEART.
-I would have liked a few more shots of Edmund, who I adore. He looks so wee, though! Although not as small as Lucy, who looks absolutely miniscule in that shot of Peter, Susan and Lucy.
-WOLF! WOLF! I am ashamed to admit I cannot remember his name, but WOLF. If he and Peter do not have an Epic Facedown, I might cry.
-The right Penvesies are at the Beavers'. I know this is kind of a big canon detail, but it's always nice to notice.
-PETER. OH GOD. Now, Peter's not my favourite character, but it is certainly possible that he might have been my first-ever fandom crush. He's so with the SWORDS and the COMPETENT and I swear to god I am NOT perving on a fourteen year old but I just ADORE Peter. I want him to kick ass in a really British Public Schools kind of way. Yeah.
-Edmund all alone at the White Witch's Castle! They just better get him right. My favourite scene in The Horse and His Boy is still the bit where Edmund mentions forgiveness/second chances.
-I'm going to go re-read LWW ASAP, but it's kind of annoying me that Jadis is blonde because I am almost 100% positive that she is not supposed to be. I have that illustration from TMN in my head where she's stalking down the street in London and her hair is long and free and black. So.
-Is 100-year winter canonical? And if they don't say "Always winter and never Christmas" at some point I will cry.
-"We're not heroes"- I want to know if that's canonical, too.
-Beavers looking like actual beavers, just bigger! Mmm, canon. (I mean, remembering the BBC...)
-RED AND GOLD PAVILIONS OH OH OH OH PETER'S SHIELD- okay, all this visual imagery is what's really going straight to my heart and squeezing. It's what Weta did really well for LOTR as well- sorry for comparison- that they really made an effort with recreating the world, even when they couldn't get the plot right.
-Polar bears: still annoying. WTF?
-A LAMP-POST. IN THE MIDDLE OF THE WOOD.
-TUMNUS.
-The shot at the train station. I am really impressed with the way they've gone direct from fantasy to slightly stylised mid-war Britain. And happy, because I think this is one of the most important things about LWW, that like LOTR it was conceived of during war and it is kind of about those wars and Britain as well- it's not just the fantasy. And the train station scene is fabulous and I'm glad they're keeping it.
-Susan! Arrow!
-Um. That bird. Flaming? What?
-I'm pretty sure canon-Peter didn't say "No, but I bet they help." But... it's funny.
-Susan and Lucy on Aslan
-In conclusion: FOR NARNIA AND THE LION.
Watching it reminded me of something that sixth_light talked about a lot when we watched the Buffy season finale: when LOTR made epic fantasy marketable and popular, while in some ways it did a great service to fantasy, it also kind of did it a disservice. Because now, watching any fantasy film, especially book-based, made after (or sometimes before...) LOTR, you can't help thinking "Oh, they're ripping off LOTR." As a long-time epic fantasy fan, of course, I know that some stuff is simply ubiquitous in epic fantasy: trekking (note the absence of capital ;)), battles, swordfights, showdowns, ultimate evil, ultimate good. But to someone who's come into a movie theatre and watching the Narnia trailer and has only really seen LOTR and so forth- they can easily be deceived into thinking that some stuff is copied, because they don't have that awareness of stuff that is simply constant to the fantasy genre.* Narnia is particularly subject to this because it's book-based, made in New Zealand- and Weta did the designs for both films.
*I mean, it can be argued that a lot of these constants come from LOTR anyway, I guess, but I haven't exactly made a study of the origins of fantasy literature, so I'll skip it. :P