Those changes you listed are all either really small, insignificant changes or completely understandable/necessary. No book will every completely translate to a movie. They are two very different mediums and what works in a book wont always work in a movie due to time restrictions, visual imagery and at times budget/FX limitations. Even something as simple as a description of a character 'tall, thin, slightly spike-haired, blond, young-to-middle-aged man' can at times need to be changed to something different for visual dynamics.
The Horned King had to be the only antagonist, it would have been silly to do anything else. It's one movie, a kids movie at that, so there needs to only be one overall plot. Anything else would make it cluttered and convoluted, especially for a kids film, with the limited time allotted. If they were going to make another movie or had more time maybe they could have done more but you don't usually have that luxury with a film.
Eilonwy being more of a spit fire, that's negligible and a nitpick.
Gurgi sacrificing himself I can understand too. Again, they only have so much time to tell a story in a movie format and moving the sacrifice to a character they are able to spend more time on gives the act deeper meaning. In a book you are better able to expand and explore more characters than you are in a film.
Over all, the changes are pretty normal for how they had to translate from book to film. I wouldn't call it source disloyalty at all and any author who agrees to let their book be made into a movie understands there are going to be changes and sacrifices from the original material. It seems to me the changes are minimal and only done when absolutely necessary.
reply
share
sunrise_md2000
15 years ago
Um, sorry but no. The changes were not nitpicky; those listed were small examples of a complete character and plot overhaul, as anyone who has read the books will tell you. While it is true that some changes had to be made (you can't make one film encompassing five books that traverse a time period of five to eight years, after all), what Disney finally came up with bears almost NO resemblance to its source material. About the only thing that stuck were the characters' names; the character personalities and development were completely butchered and the deep themes of the novels are nowhere to be found, replaced by flimsy sword-and-sorcery cliches.
This was a film project in which animation bit off more than it could chew, unfortunately. It was also badly timed, with all kinds of internal chaos going in within the Disney company, including a change of leadership. Meanwhile the movie was in production so long and went so overbudget that it was finally rushed out as a cobbled-together mess. Sadly, I agree with the original poster. Although it is groundbreaking in terms of animation and visuals, as an adaptation of a marvelous children's book, this film is an abomination.
Disney still owns all film rights to the property, more's the pity. I do wish they would dump them so somebody else could have a go with a live-action version and do them right.
reply
share