I’ve had a look for a thread but alas one is not in plain sight, last night SKY One showed the first part of a two part adaption of Terry Pratchetts Hogfather novel…
Well in my opinion us brits had a treat, it was very good. I’ve read most of the disc books but not this one. So I cant comment on how faithfull it is to the book, but at old Terry was involved it should be close…
Some familiar faces pop up, the wizards were fun, my name sake wasnt as I pictured but still quite ugly, and death was spot on. His attempts to be festive were very funny, cushion up his top and all…
Yes - I enjoyed it and I’ve never bothered reading any Pratchett beyond the first few pages of his first book. I thought the depiction of the world on the back of the turtle , a pretty awesome dit of cgi.
I have read the book, and I didn’t really like it. It didn’t feel all that Pratchett-y, if that makes any sense. Death looked like a halloween costume, but his voice was good.
I can. Amazingly faithful. I liked a the show don’t tell* way they did a lot of it, though that might leave folk who don’t know Discworld confused**. The UU was spot on and even David Jason didn’t spoil it too much.
I remember the DEATH OF RATS and Quoth(?) the Raven playing a bigger part in the book since DEATH sends them to enlist Susan. Maybe I missed a bit.
Like the protraits and shield motto in the assasins guild.
** One example, the foolishness of using a bathroom designed by B S Johnson may not have come across.
It’s a bit rearranged, and the pacing is slightly off. Some of the acting is a bit dodgy. But aside from that, it’s really very impressive! And it would be good if this is the first of many, perhaps the next one might be a Witches story.
I recently got the Wyrd Sisters cartoon from Netflix, and was pretty underwhelmed on all counts. For anyone who’s seen both cartoons, how does Hogfather compare to the earlier 'toon?
Death, despite his inanimate face, was brilliant. And they seemed to have based their production design and costumes (and actor choices) on Paul Kidby’s art, which I am very grateful for.
I thought some bits were rushed - the UU scenes for example - and overall the comic timing was inconsistent but a lot of it was spot on. There wasn’t enough of the DEATH OF RATS, he gets a lot of action in the book.
and Hex (anthill inside) and Ridcully and Ponder Stibbons and Medium Dave. Of course they should’ve got Brad Dourif for Mr Teatime.
I’m going to watch the making of doc’ tonight, having flicked though the script/picture-book I know that there’s a lot crammed in that you barely see* in the film. I think a lot of the people making this have to have been genuine fans.
Miller There is no comparison with the Wyrd Sisters animation. FWIW the Soul Music 'toon is better but they still get the wizzards all wrong.
For example the toys on the toy shop counter are a hangman’s tree and torture devices, what every child wants for Hogswatch.
I just finished watching the second episode (don’t ask how I got it, please). Wow! I absolutely loved it.
Sure, some of the timing was off, and it wasn’t quite the same as the book, but every point it hit, it hit big. Susan was absolutely perfect, and she’s now replaced Angua as my big Discworld crush.
As a huge Pterry fan this might seem a bit odd, but I thougt it was too faithful to the original. And Hogfather is one of my favorite books.
Pros:
They got Ankh-Morpork right, the *faux * Victorian setting really felt fake, as it is supposed to be.
Death looked great. I expected a more BOOMING voice, but it was the movements that made it for me.
Albert and Teatime was spot on. Hex was great - ‘anthill inside’ heh!
Cons:
The girl playing Susan was way too wooden.
The faculty members were all too much alike, apart from Mostrum and Bursar. And there was no Librarian*.
Fake teeth didn’t make Nobby strange enough. I always picture Marty Feldman as Nobbs.
The auditors were kinda lame.
I think it was too faithful because many times it was verbatim from the book. Pterry’s humor is in written form. Setting up the joke and having the payback come a few pages or chapters later. By trying to visualize those jokes, I think they failed. A good visual joke, that’s not in the book, is Albert’s struggle with his dog end that he never can light.
I gotta say, that is not how I pictured Nobbs. Then again, it would be impossible to do him without CGI if they were book-faithful, so I guess they worked with what they could do. I wish I had read the book first.
