### Author:  [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)
#### Post date: [February 23, 2004, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-panic/230727/1 "2004-02-23T19:54:51Z")
[The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0371724/) movie is in pre-production!
Check out the cast:
Warwick Davis … Marvin
Mos Def … Ford Prefect
Zooey Deschanel … Trillian
Martin Freeman … Arthur Dent
Bill Nighy … Slartibartfast
Sam Rockwell … Zaphod Beeblebrox
I’m really looking forward to this one. I hope they don’t fuck it up.
---
### Author:  [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2004, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-panic/230727/2 "2004-02-24T00:22:03Z")
> [@Eleusis](#):
>
> [The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0371724/) movie is in pre-production!
>
> Check out the cast:
>
> Warwick Davis … Marvin
> \
Warwick Davis? Warwick “Willow” Davis? I thought Marvin the Paranoid Android was about 6 or 7 feet tall. Warwick isn’t. I mean, movie interpretations and all that, and I liked him in _Willow_, but Warwick as Marvin?
I’m not upset; I’m just a bit boggled. And I can’t find my _Guide_ to double-check the description of Marvin, and I don’t recall a description showing up in the other books. Can someone check?
---
### Author:  [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2004, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-panic/230727/3 "2004-02-24T01:23:04Z")
> [@Morgyn](#):
>
> Warwick Davis? Warwick “Willow” Davis? I thought Marvin the Paranoid Android was about 6 or 7 feet tall. Warwick isn’t. I mean, movie interpretations and all that, and I liked him in _Willow_, but Warwick as Marvin?
I’m picturing him operating a 7’ android a la Carroll Spinney as Big Bird.
---
### Author:  [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2004, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-panic/230727/4 "2004-02-24T01:55:00Z")
> [@Morgyn](#):
>
> Warwick Davis? Warwick “Willow” Davis? I thought Marvin the Paranoid Android was about 6 or 7 feet tall. Warwick isn’t. I mean, movie interpretations and all that, and I liked him in _Willow_, but Warwick as Marvin?
>
> I’m not upset; I’m just a bit boggled. And I can’t find my _Guide_ to double-check the description of Marvin, and I don’t recall a description showing up in the other books. Can someone check?
I don’t remember Marvin’s dimensions being specified in the books (except, of course, that his brain was the size of a planet), but in the television series he was indeed about 7 feet tall. However, this had more to do with the fact that he was played by a man wrapped in corrugated plastic than any description of him. I thought this Marvin was horrible. It was impossible for him to slouch or slump. I much prefer [whatever this is](http://www.kodie.demon.co.uk/marvin.htm).
---
### Author:  [@backradinc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/backradinc)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2004, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-panic/230727/5 "2004-02-24T03:34:00Z")
sorry for the hijack the thread
but i love Douglas Adams books what other authors might i like?
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### Author:  [@Phnord\_Prephect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phnord_Prephect)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2004, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-panic/230727/6 "2004-02-24T03:49:37Z")
Ya know, if you look closely at the image Archenar links to, you can kinda see how a little person would fit PERFECTLY inside of that thing. Sure, it would take special effects for him to walk, but he could kinda slouch around on his butt a bit… eh I dunno.
Predictable posting: I’m bringing my towel to this thing, just in case.
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### Author:  [@Monstre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstre)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2004, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-panic/230727/7 "2004-02-24T05:10:38Z")
Got to agree on the “What? Warwick Davis?!” sentiment.
Guess I’d pictured Marvin as taller, but more importantly – does this mean that Willow / Prof. Flitwick is also doing the **voice**? Somehow I pictured Marvin’s voice as a little deeper. And kind of monotone and depressing.
Perhaps Warwick can do the motions and the voice can be… I don’t know – Ben Stein, perhaps?
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### Author:  [@Legolamb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Legolamb)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2004, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-panic/230727/8 "2004-02-24T05:20:42Z")
I said this in my Livejournal a week or so ago - on the one hand, I’m really happy with Martin Freeman as Arthur, I think he’s perfect for the part and a great actor too. On the other, I’m worried about Mos Def and Zooey Deschanel, purely for the accent thing. After all, Ford is supposed to be from Guildford and I’d always assumed that Trillian was from somewhere around London. I just hope that they both prove to be the next Gwyneth Paltrow and not the next Dick Van Dyke, because I _really_ want this movie to be a success.
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### Author:  [@Odinoneeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odinoneeye)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2004, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-panic/230727/9 "2004-02-24T05:41:42Z")
That thread title was the most sensible thing I’ve read all day.
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### Author:  [@BraheSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BraheSilver)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2004, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-panic/230727/10 "2004-02-24T05:46:58Z")
Well, I think [this](http://www.douglasadams.com/movie/) is a picture of Davis getting into the Marvin costume, so I doubt he’ll be tall in this movie.
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### Author:  [@Journeyman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Journeyman)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2004, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-panic/230727/11 "2004-02-24T05:52:33Z")
> [@backradinc](#):
>
> sorry for the hijack the thread
> but i love Douglas Adams books what other authors might i like?
Terry Pratchett, for starters. Essentially Adams-style absurdist humor in a fantasy setting.
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### Author:  [@Legolamb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Legolamb)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2004, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-panic/230727/12 "2004-02-24T06:02:35Z")
Ok if, according to **BraheSilver** ’s link, Douglas Adam’s didn’t care about the other’s nationalities, then I guess I don’t either. Besides, Zooey’s hot. 😉
But still, Guildford and New York? They’re practically light years apart…
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### Author:  [@JoeSki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoeSki)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2004, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-panic/230727/13 "2004-02-24T14:06:45Z")
Mos Def as Ford? _Mos Def?_ Hrrm. He’s about the complete opposite of what I had in mind for an ideal Ford. He just doesn’t look like the kinda guy that could pull off a smile that “looks like he’s about to bite you in the neck”, or have the same kind of smile that he’s described as having. This is going to take a while to get used to.
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### Author:  [@JoeSki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoeSki)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2004, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-panic/230727/14 "2004-02-24T14:11:41Z")
Didn’t mean to mention ford smile 2 times. Why doesn’t this forum have a edit option?! Dagnabit.
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### Author:  [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2004, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-panic/230727/15 "2004-02-24T15:42:06Z")
> [@Journeyman](#):
>
> > [@backradinc](#):
> >
> > sorry for the hijack the thread
> > but i love Douglas Adams books what other authors might i like?
>
> Terry Pratchett, for starters. Essentially Adams-style absurdist humor in a fantasy setting.
Alan Dean Foster also has a similar style in SF.
> [@JoeSki](#):
>
> Why doesn’t this forum have a edit option?!
In order to keep everyone honest.
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### Author:  [@beajerry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beajerry)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2004, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-panic/230727/16 "2004-02-24T18:23:41Z")
I sincerely hope not, but I have a feeling this movie will suck so bad and piss Adams’ fans off severely.
Garth Jennings to direct? Who’s he? An unknown? Will that be the saving grace for this thing?
Everything about this just feels…wrong.
---
### Author:  [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2004, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-panic/230727/17 "2004-02-24T19:30:32Z")
> [@backradinc](#):
>
> sorry for the hijack the thread
> but i love Douglas Adams books what other authors might i like?
I like Tom Holt’s EXPECTING SOMEONE TALLER (probably out of print)- a great modern-day sequel to (get this) Wagner’s Ring of the Nibelung (which was the obsession of our ancestral geeks/nerds last century).
---
### Author:  [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)
#### Post date: [February 25, 2004, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-panic/230727/18 "2004-02-25T02:19:38Z")
> [@FriarTed](#):
>
> I like Tom Holt’s EXPECTING SOMEONE TALLER (probably out of print)- a great modern-day sequel to (get this) Wagner’s Ring of the Nibelung (which was the obsession of our ancestral geeks/nerds last century).
Tom Holt has a whole passel of books, some outstanding, some merely good. So far, I rate these as outstanding:
[ul]
[li]_Expecting Someone Taller[/li][li]Who’s Afraid of Beowulf[/li][li]Flying Dutch[/li][li]Ye Gods[/li][li]Open Sesame[/li][li]Djinn Rummy[/li][li]Goat Song_[/li][/ul]
I have a batch more still needs reading, too. Dang work. Takes time away from the important stuff! 😉
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### Author:  [@FilmGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FilmGeek)
#### Post date: [February 25, 2004, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-panic/230727/19 "2004-02-25T02:32:30Z")
Sam Rockwell as Zaphod is perfect.
I’m excited.
(the Marvin slumped link is from the coffee table book version of HHG)
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### Author:  [@Erroneous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erroneous)
#### Post date: [April 19, 2004, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-panic/230727/20 "2004-04-19T03:12:20Z")
Well, it should start shooting this week, if the lastest announcement at [the Hammer & Tongs website](http://www.tongsville.com/) is accurate.
[Annnnnd:](http://www.douglasadams.com/news/)
> [@](#):
>
> We’d like to officially announce that John Malkovich and Anna Chancellor have both been cast as two of the new characters Douglas created specifically for the movie.
>
> Taking the role of Humma Kavula, a crazed missionary living amongst the Jatravartid people of Viltvodle Six (who still firmly believe that the entire Universe was, in fact, sneezed out of the nose of a being called the Great Green Arkleseizure), facial cavity ejections are, of course, nothing new to Mr. Malkovich.
>
> Anna Chancellor is set to play Questular, Vice President of the Galaxy. Reports of Zaphod’s Pavlovian ducking at the sound of church bells are pure rumour and speculation, and we have no truck with such things here.
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