Outraged and a bit pissed. Thanks Walden Media...arseholes.
I've not been posting. I know. I suck again. But now I'm motivated to vent and share.
Walden Media is the Anti-Christ. No really. I've not semi-authentic proof. Well, mostly not...but they really do suck.
Let me tell you children a wee story about a lady name Susan Cooper. Long ago on the shores of a distant isle she wrote these books - a series really, called The Dark Is Rising. Yes, that is the name of the series and the name of the second book in the series. She has won some very important award for her works. (I mean, the Newbery Medal still means something right?) This was long before JKR and Hogwarts first met the world. Susan Cooper wrote this series mostly about a boy named Will Stanton.
Now I'll just go ahead and clarify a few things that they've gotten wrong from the trailer alone. There is no romantic plots - subplot or otherwise.
Secondly, which I would have thought would have been rather obvious if you read The Dark is Rising(the book). The the movie would like to have you believe that there is strife and drama within the Stanton family. That Will, as the second youngest child is constantly getting harassed by his siblings et all. This is something that I'm going to love to watch them fix. In the book there is an entire conversation, not just a one-liner tucked at the bottom of some page, about how Will is a(notice the use of "a" not "the") seeker. He is a seeker because he is the Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. HELLO!! Why change this. Removing this makes why he's a seeker awkward. Being the seventh son of a seventh son isn't something unique to Cooper's novels. It's a folklore reference that can be found on nearly continent.
Since they're not even going to bring in anything about Arthur or heaven forbid Merlin I wonder how the movie will actually feel. Because no, they aren't important at all. Not like we're going to get a sequel out of it anyways so I guess it's not important to know any background on The Old Ones or even know how the series ends. But hey, maybe it'll be like Hamlet. Everyone will die in the end, thus negating the need for a real conclusion or resolution *coughDeathlyHallowsCough* so the idea of another movie following the book series would be absurd.
I won't spoil anymore plot "devices" except to say that Walden, the directors and producers saw fit to fundamentally alter The Rider and certain things he gets up to. Why? That's all I want to know. He's kick ass as it is. You don't have to give him CGI skills to prove it.
For those who are familiar with the books and are curious to see a plot point by plot point destruction examination of the movie, kiandra_fire in authorblog has done an amazing break down of where Walden Media and director David Cunningham have hacked the book into something that kinda used to be The Dark is Rising. It breaks my heart to read it all, but I'm glad someone else is pretty well miffed about it. The entire authorblog comm. is pretty nifty btw.
Oh, and to stress the point, the marketing dept. for Walden Media decided recently to re-tool their previous work. The Dark is Rising movie is now called "The Seeker: The Dark is Rising."
Screw you Eccelston. And an even bigger "Screw you McShane". Those two interviews cost both men a lot of respect in my book. Yes, because 10-year-old kids are going to read books written in Old English.
...the last indignity heaped upon an already horrific bastardization of a children's classic. The Rider rides a black horse. Chris Eccelston plays The Rider. Note the subtle changes made. For further visual proof.
While I'm not going to let them ruin some of my fond childhood literary memories, I'm certainly going to be pissed @ Walden Books for allowing this to go on. I'm not pleased with Susan Cooper for allowing this, but she sold the rights to Jim Henson ages and ages ago. Then Jim Henson sold it to Walden Media so... She knew she’d get no say when she sold it, but I’m pretty sure she didn’t think Henson would sell it much less see it go to the slaughter house of Walden Media.
Also on a side note that’s kinda sad and funny. A quick look at Walden’s previous movie adaptations of children’s novels include Bridge to Terabit (Which also included some gross alterations), The Giver and most surprisingly The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian. Besides Walden, Lions’ Gate is also involved in the production. While we’re looking at movie histories - What are some of the movies Lions’ Gate has in their bag of wonders, The Devil’s Rejects, Hostel, Requiem for a Dream, American Psycho (I and II), Delta Farce, Highlander: The Source, The Bratz Movie and oh yea… and Saw. What a diverse portfolio from both companies! Impressive and scary stuff on both sides.
Walden Media is the Anti-Christ. No really. I've not semi-authentic proof. Well, mostly not...but they really do suck.
Let me tell you children a wee story about a lady name Susan Cooper. Long ago on the shores of a distant isle she wrote these books - a series really, called The Dark Is Rising. Yes, that is the name of the series and the name of the second book in the series. She has won some very important award for her works. (I mean, the Newbery Medal still means something right?) This was long before JKR and Hogwarts first met the world. Susan Cooper wrote this series mostly about a boy named Will Stanton.
Now I'll just go ahead and clarify a few things that they've gotten wrong from the trailer alone. There is no romantic plots - subplot or otherwise.
Secondly, which I would have thought would have been rather obvious if you read The Dark is Rising(the book). The the movie would like to have you believe that there is strife and drama within the Stanton family. That Will, as the second youngest child is constantly getting harassed by his siblings et all. This is something that I'm going to love to watch them fix. In the book there is an entire conversation, not just a one-liner tucked at the bottom of some page, about how Will is a(notice the use of "a" not "the") seeker. He is a seeker because he is the Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. HELLO!! Why change this. Removing this makes why he's a seeker awkward. Being the seventh son of a seventh son isn't something unique to Cooper's novels. It's a folklore reference that can be found on nearly continent.
Since they're not even going to bring in anything about Arthur or heaven forbid Merlin I wonder how the movie will actually feel. Because no, they aren't important at all. Not like we're going to get a sequel out of it anyways so I guess it's not important to know any background on The Old Ones or even know how the series ends. But hey, maybe it'll be like Hamlet. Everyone will die in the end, thus negating the need for a real conclusion or resolution *coughDeathlyHallowsCough* so the idea of another movie following the book series would be absurd.
I won't spoil anymore plot "devices" except to say that Walden, the directors and producers saw fit to fundamentally alter The Rider and certain things he gets up to. Why? That's all I want to know. He's kick ass as it is. You don't have to give him CGI skills to prove it.
For those who are familiar with the books and are curious to see a plot point by plot point destruction examination of the movie, kiandra_fire in authorblog has done an amazing break down of where Walden Media and director David Cunningham have hacked the book into something that kinda used to be The Dark is Rising. It breaks my heart to read it all, but I'm glad someone else is pretty well miffed about it. The entire authorblog comm. is pretty nifty btw.
Oh, and to stress the point, the marketing dept. for Walden Media decided recently to re-tool their previous work. The Dark is Rising movie is now called "The Seeker: The Dark is Rising."
Screw you Eccelston. And an even bigger "Screw you McShane". Those two interviews cost both men a lot of respect in my book. Yes, because 10-year-old kids are going to read books written in Old English.
...the last indignity heaped upon an already horrific bastardization of a children's classic. The Rider rides a black horse. Chris Eccelston plays The Rider. Note the subtle changes made. For further visual proof.
While I'm not going to let them ruin some of my fond childhood literary memories, I'm certainly going to be pissed @ Walden Books for allowing this to go on. I'm not pleased with Susan Cooper for allowing this, but she sold the rights to Jim Henson ages and ages ago. Then Jim Henson sold it to Walden Media so... She knew she’d get no say when she sold it, but I’m pretty sure she didn’t think Henson would sell it much less see it go to the slaughter house of Walden Media.
Also on a side note that’s kinda sad and funny. A quick look at Walden’s previous movie adaptations of children’s novels include Bridge to Terabit (Which also included some gross alterations), The Giver and most surprisingly The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian. Besides Walden, Lions’ Gate is also involved in the production. While we’re looking at movie histories - What are some of the movies Lions’ Gate has in their bag of wonders, The Devil’s Rejects, Hostel, Requiem for a Dream, American Psycho (I and II), Delta Farce, Highlander: The Source, The Bratz Movie and oh yea… and Saw. What a diverse portfolio from both companies! Impressive and scary stuff on both sides.