Harry Potter News and Commentary
Steve Vander Ark’s Lexicon is finally going to be published, after some revisions to the book are made, putting it in compliance with the court’s ruling.
Warner Bros. is talking about a Beedle movie. As I was reading the book, I thought, “A movie of these five stories might be interesting, if put in the right hands.” But one thought has caused this idea to come crashing down on my head:
Michael Gambon as Dumbledore the narrator.
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{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
See…I think Gambon can pull of the narrator bit. He certainly has the voice for it.
Right hands? Again, given his penchant for fairy tales, I have to see Guillermo del Toro at the head of this. Assuming he had the time to do it.
Yes, he probably could to the narrator thing. I think my problem was that when the idea hit me, I pictured him sitting in a big chair with a copy of the book unfolded.
Yes, del Toro. That would be the way to go. He’d do a great job with it, especially “The Warlock’s Hairy Heart.”
As for Del Toro, we’ll see how he butchers The Hobbit before desiring him for Beedle the Bard.
Gambon as narrator? Shudder!!!!!!!!!!
Well, I plan to skip the published version of the Lexicon – too many nasty things in getting that in print. I don’t think I could get past it all.
I really hope they don’t do a movie of Beedle. I love it as a book. And there is something about it being fairy tales that just seems better when read – silently or aloud (Stephen Fry would be a good choice to just read them, or more fun, Alan Rickman). But as a movie? No, thanks. When something is really than fanciful and imaginative, I think that a director’s/actor’s vision does little to enhance it. Then we are forever tied to what THEY saw when they read it and there is no longer room for what each person sees when reading the stories.
Besides, Del Torro isn’t one of my favorites, and the other one mentioned is Tim Burton. I’d think I’d run very fast from anything he would do with Beedle the Bard.
Pat
It’s funny that other HP websites don’t seem to have much to say about Steve getting his book published. I’m actually curious what changes had to be made to get it published although with a good internet connection don’t know if there is any reason to buy it.
My copy of Beedle finally showed up today. I think the post office hates me, first Harry, a history now this. Or maybe it’s just the HogHead’s Bookstore.
Looking forward to seeing what everyone has discussed now.
The Beedle movie (Yellow Submarine?) won’t be able to include Dumbledore’s commentary intelligently so I hope they go with a different narrator. Besides, DDore being dead, it would have to told as he wrote it (as flashback?) or his portrait reading it. Neither has much appeal outside fandom, I suspect.
I like Pat’s suggestion of a Snape reading, but his death, alas, presents even greater problems than DDore’s.
I think a Weasley-Potter family gathering during which Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, and a special guest (Hagrid?) each tell a tale would be good, especially if its out in the woods on a dartk and stormy night in a tent/cabin.
Or Mrs. Weasley reading to her grandchildren with cameos of the stars inside each fairy tale as she might imagine it…
Or Gilderoy Lockhart giving readings at St. Mungo’s in the Children’s Ward for the surreal, postmodern effect…
Or perhaps best of all, Prof. MacGonagall standing in for Albus.
Who would you want to read these stories aloud to your children in your living room?
I always pictured maybe Harry sitting down with his children or something, reading them each night. But for several reasons I don’t think it would translate well to the big screen. I wouldn’t be disappointed in the least if it didn’t make it to a movie form. It’s short; it could get Bloxamed down; it would probably be boring for most audiences; and it would be a nightmare to publicize, I would imagine. Also, I think stories like this are best suited in the environment of a kid’s bedside at night, being read aloud.
As for Gambon narrating, I actually saw an IMAX film at a science center that had Gambon narrating, and he wasn’t bad. I think I like his character outside of his interpretation of Dumbledore better. But again, Dumbledore actually reading the stories wouldn’t be right.
I’d like to see Luna reading.
Brent wrote: “It’s funny that other HP websites don’t seem to have much to say about Steve getting his book published. I’m actually curious what changes had to be made to get it published although with a good internet connection don’t know if there is any reason to buy it.”
Actually, I read through some of the comments over on Leaky Cauldron about the Lexicon now being published. Talk about vitriolic & vindictive! According to some of them, SVA has been justifiably excommunicated from the world of Potter & should be allowed no forgiveness at all & never permitted to publish _anything_ related to Potter, let alone a revamped Lexicon. He deserves to burn in fandom hell, & possibly even real hell, for ever crossing Jo. And I’m not exaggerating about some of these comments!
Hey, as much as I dislike Gambon’s portrayal of Dumbledore, I don’t wish him any personal or professional harm. Some people need to take a chill pill & learn to put away their little JKR idols.
And the really sad part is that the commentary on Pottercast has gone down a notch since SVA no longer appears on their shows.
I should probably add for balance that not all the comments on SVA & the release of a revised Lexicon over at Leaky are negative. Quite a few are more than willing to forgive & forget & move on.
Revgeorge, completely agree with you, and it seems like if you say anything good about SVA the rest of fandom will let you know how they feel. Also, agree on your pottercast analysis. I made my comment because I was curious what everyone in “mainstream fandom” thought and I couldn’t find any posts.
I don’t think there has to be a narrator.
But I don’t think filming Beedle is such a good idea. There isn’t that much plot to any of the stories, and it would have to be filled out with additional material. What are the chances that all the extra material – filler – would be consistent with the spirit of the stories or the Potterverse? What are the chances that it would instead reflect the director’s vision? Or even more problematically, what if the filler went where JKR was suggesting, but didn’t? I’m thinking of the Hairy Heart, where I’ve suggested that the Hairy Heart’s perverted desires involved sexual violence. I don’t think most of us are ready to see that depicted. I can see so many ways the filming of the 5 stories can go wrong
The other thing that concerns me about this is how quickly Holloywood jumps on something which smells like money. Nothing wrong with that, I know – it’s good fo the economy – but it feels like exploitation.
Brent, I’m not sure anyone has commented on it officially in fandom. The last Pottercast was a live cast on Beedle the Bard that I ended up not listening to because of the poor audio. I don’t really listen to Mugglecast anymore & the comments on Mugglenet for the article on RDR withdrawing their appeal & publishing a revamped Lexicon were disabled so I couldn’t see them.
What bugs me are the people who seem to have deified JKR & act like, well, fundamentalists whenever they feel she has been defied. Gather up the torches & pitchforks & boiling tar for those infidels who oppose her!
I guess I have said much on whether filming the Tales is a good idea or not. Kind of got distracted by Gambon & then the SVA Lexicon thing.
But as seems to be usual lately, I agree with Red Rocker. There are so many things that could go wrong with such an adaptation & not very many things that could go right. It would seem like just a stretch for money. But it is all just rumors right now, so it’s hard to say how much we should get worked up or not worked up as the case may be about it.
My first inclination was that some really talented and visionary indy filmmakers would do a nice job with it. I think del Toro would.
But Red Rocker is probably correct in saying that the moment in the basement in “The Warlock’s Hairy Heart” is not something most people want to see on a screen.