The Colour of Magic

Colour Of Magic theatrical run in New York

2 February 2009 (13:54) 1 Comment

As reported by the New York Times, the Colour Of Magic adaptation is being screened in New York at the Quad Cinema on 13th Street until February 5.

The screening opened January 30. To quote the review:

Originally broadcast on British television and now receiving a limited theatrical run here, “The Color of Magic” mashes together a pair of comedic fantasy novels by Terry Pratchett into one long, rambling saga. Directed by Vadim Jean, who adapted the books with help from Mr. Pratchett, it is by and large a droll, ingratiating affair, albeit one whose rickety effects and lackadaisical pacing are decidedly more suited to the small screen than to the large.

What’s refreshing here (aside from the inimitably British mock-epic tone) is precisely this sense of an immense fantasy played out in a diminished scale. Where even the quietest moments of the “Harry Potter” films bludgeon the viewer with the immensity and expense of their production, “Magic” has a charmingly modest, artisanal feel about it.

Colour Of Magic filming location featured by British Waterways

13 January 2009 (18:12) Comment!

WaterScape.com reports that British Waterways, also known as BW, has mapped the filming locations of iconic films and TV series along the U.K.’s network of canals and rivers. The map includes a filming location from The Colour Of Magic alongside filming locations from Coronation Street, The Full Monty, and 28 Weeks Later.

Of the project, British Waterways marketing director Simon Salem said, “If you only see Britain‚Äôs canals and rivers on screen, you might be forgiven for thinking the waterways are mostly frequented by criminals, zombies and creatures from the pages of fantasy novels - but the truth is very different.”

Retro News: Pratchett interview, in which he actually talks about things other than Alzheimer’s (29 November 2008)

28 December 2008 (19:57) Comment!

Deborah Orr at the Independent.co.uk interviewed Terry Pratchett late in November, and in doing so provides some insight into Terry Pratchett’s writing process.

The article gets the requisite Alzheimer’s questions done early. Terry Pratchett summed up the effect of his very public diagnosis:
(more…)

Retro News: Pratchett interview (08 November 2008)

28 December 2008 (18:07) Comment!

In a Daily Mail interview titled I’m not beaten yet: Terry Prachett on the frustration and fury of Alzheimer’s, Terry Pratchett shared with the interviewer some more about his attitude towards the “embuggerance” of Alzheimer’s. To quote the article:

Although he calls it a ‘wretched disease’, since disclosing that he has it, he has retained his dark sense of comedy. He began an address to his latest convention of fans by cracking a joke. ‘I said, “Hello my name is…” Then I retrieved a crumpled piece of paper from my pocket and read out my name,’ he recalls.

The audience laughed because Terry, afflicted by an illness that steals both memory and identity, was permitting them to do so.

(more…)

Retro News: Sir David Jason on Colour Of Magic (18 March 2008)

16 December 2008 (20:24) Comment!

NewsShopper.co.uk posted an article soon after the Colour Of Magic premiere, reporting on some of the things David Jason said about the movie, both at the premiere Q&A and elsewhere. He reflects on the relationship between Rincewind and Twoflower:

The central thrust of most comedy in a two-character relationship is one knowing fool and one unknowing fool…. You must have a balance, an opposite, like a ying and a yang. Where Rincewind and Twoflower succeed is where Twoflower is a totally naive tourist and Rincewind is very streetwise.

And he talks about the stuntwork for the upside-down swordfighting scene between his character and Karen David’s:

In my innocence, I thought ‘We’ll do [the swordfighting scene] standing up, have a swordfight, and they’ll comb your hair back and make it stand on end and then they’ll reverse the film. Then it’ll look like you’re upside-down’, That’s not what happened.

It’s not a nice experience…. being hung upside-down like the last chicken at Sainsbury’s. I wouldn’t do that again in a hurry.

He sums up:

If you haven’t read The Colour Of Magic it’s going to be much easier to follow than Hogfather. It’s much more fun, it’s more of a road movie.

As always, check out our Colour Of Magic page for more information on the miniseries, including more quotes from David Jason.

Retro News: Pratchett interview post-Alzheimer’s diagnosis, pre-Colour Of Magic airing (18 March 2008)

16 December 2008 (0:08) Comment!

An old interview from the Guardian provides some insight into Pratchett’s attitude towards Alzheimer’s three months after announcing the diagnosis. He says, “I’m nearly 60 and I’ve never been nearly 60 before so I’m not sure if some of the things happening to me are Alzheimer’s or getting older. Nor is anyone else. If I say, ‘I keep losing my keys,’ someone will say, ‘That’s me!’ And, again, sometimes, I do find days really hard. If you have a really complex day with lots of fans ringing up or emailing, lots of meetings, by the end of it I just want to go and sit down quietly. But that in itself is not an Alzheimer’s thing. Everyone feels like that after a difficult day.”

To explain his decision to campaign for Alzheimer’s awareness, Pratchett said, “If you’re in a plane that’s crashing and you’re on the phone, what you do is keep talking all the way down.”

He also shared this poignant story from his days as a young reporter:

When I was a young reporter covering, as one did, the police stations on New Year’s Day, there was a story about a minibus and a car colliding. Six kids had been killed. I thought: ‘This is a great story. It’s going on page one.’ Then I got back to the office and the other trainee reporter was explaining why he was late, how he had had to console his mother because his sister hadn’t come back home.

So I looked at the names in my notebook, and her name - which wasn’t very common - was there. I ringed the name and handed my notebook to the news editor and went to the toilet. I went into a cubicle and locked the door. And then I laughed…. I laughed, but I wanted to scream. There was a lot of that sort of thing, and ultimately I didn’t want to do it.

An update from Terry Pratchett

4 August 2008 (8:58) 2 Comments

www.PJSMPrints.com has another update from Terry Pratchett. Here it is in full:

Folks,

To those that want to know, it would be true to say that my life right now is occasional short periods of writing interspersed and interrupted with requests for interviews.  As my UK readers will know, merely catching a variant of Alzheimer’s has propelled me onto more prestigious chat show sofas than I have ever seen in 25 years of quietly writing the Discworld series. 

My general health is good.  The most recent test by my specialist indicates, in effect, that I am no worse now, and possibly slightly better than I was at the back end of November.  I have no idea when Unseen Academicals will be finished, simply because of the amount of media interest that continues to be generated by recent developments in the treatment of AD.  Frankly, and with the agreement of my publishers, I feel that this is something that I should give priority to.

In a week’s time we are flying to the States to talk to a number of specialists in AD research and, incidentally, go out with the LAPD officers who are tasked with ‚Äì and I am not kidding ‚Äì locating and bringing home those elderly joggers with memory difficulties who have jogged five miles and can‚Äôt remember where they live.¬† I thought this was an urban myth, but apparently it is true.¬† We will, obviously, be back in time for UK convention, which I would not miss for root canal surgery.

The bad news is that it looks as if, for various reasons, Going Postal The Movie will be delayed and shooting will not begin until the start of next year. However, the guys from Mob turned up this morning and filmed my sequence for the Colour of Magic DVD which will be released in October.

Colour Of Magic DVD to be released October 2008 in U.K.

29 July 2008 (22:03) 11 Comments

Despite rumors that the The Colour Of Magic DVD would not be released, PJSM Prints has confirmed that the DVD will be released this October in the U.K. by Twentieth Century Fox. There is no information available about DVD extras, though entertaining “Tourist Guides” and other video extras can be found on Sky One’s official site.

The Colour Of Magic adaptation, starring David Jason as Rincewind and Sean Astin as Twoflower, aired as a two-part miniseries on Sky One this Easter, and is based on events from the first two books in the Discworld series.  Terry Pratchett also appears in a cameo part.

There is no information pertaining to a U.S. airing of the film.

Update: More up-to-date information can be found on our Colour Of Magic Release/Airing Dates and Information page.

TV Zone magazine features Tim Curry in The Colour Of Magic

11 April 2008 (18:13) Comment!

TV Zone’s 226th issue features Tim Curry, who acted Trymon in the recent Discworld TV adaptation, The Colour Of Magic. The excerpt available on-line includes Curry marveling at the technology available to the producers of The Colour Of Magic. To quote Tim Curry in the article:

The technology has taken such huge leaps. It‚Äôs so interesting that even in television, the director can now say ‚ÄòOh, don‚Äôt worry about that, we‚Äôll paint it out‚Äô, or, ‚ÄòThis section is a CGI‚Äô. In Legend there was nothing like that. They weren‚Äôt even puppets…. I‚Äôve seen images of [the creatures in The Colour Of Magic]. I saw the two dragons today that looked fantastic.‚Äù

And then there’s the all-important question (to fans at least): Was he a fan of the Discworld series? But alas:

I wasn’t aware of Terry Pratchett until I was sent this script, although I’m told that he sells very well in America… I hadn’t been aware of him before.

Terry Pratchett on J. K. Rowling

2 April 2008 (20:42) 2 Comments

Terry Pratchett, as fantasy writer extraordinaire before J. K. Rowling came along and Stole His Thunder, Causing Him To Become Intensely Jealous And Bitter (according to the newspapers, anyway), has been asked once more about his attitude towards J. K. Rowling. Of course, most journalists can’t resist over-dramatizing a story (thus the heading on this article: “Broomsticks at dawn as Pratchett curses JK.” I mean, really.), but here’s the quotage anyway:

At the screening of the TV adaptation of Pratchett’s mass-translated novel The Colour of Magic, I asked if he was a fan of [J. K. Rowling].

“Not particularly,” he said bluntly. “I read the first one [Harry Potter], that was fine, but now I read other things. You don’t have to be a fan, it’s not compulsory.”

The article also mentions Terry Pratchett’s take on the Rowling’s recent lawsuit against RDR Books, who intended to publish a print version of the Harry Potter Lexicon. To quote Terry Pratchett:

In fantasy writing, accusations of copying are very difficult to make. You know who invented wizards? Who invented Goblins? If we were going to start paying royalties for nicking one another’s ideas, we’d have all given our life savings to the Tolkien family a long time ago.

Not particularly surprising, or unreasonable. And very funny. I don’t see any cursing, do you?

Colour Of Magic premiere Q&A transcript

1 April 2008 (21:00) Comment!

DenOfGeek.com, in addition to the review we told you about earlier, has made available a complete transcript of the Q&A session that followed the screening March 3. Director Vadim Jean, Sir David Jason (Rincewind), Sean Astin (Twoflower), and of course Terry Pratchett participated in the session. Some selections:

Terry Pratchett: … some screens actually glittered at home but now, well, some screens didn’t glitter so much ‚Äì I’ll put it that way.
Vadim Jean: It’s definitely the projector! In glorious high definition ‚Äì which you’re all going to go out and buy just to see this, it’s, well, stunning.
Terry Pratchett: Actually, for once, he’s not lying! I’ve seen it on the big TV screens and there was masses of colour.
Vadim Jean:We’re just stretching the technology to the limit, throwing it 150 feet.

————

Sean Astin: Richard, the prop guy who worked it from inside ‚Äì there actually was someone inside working it ‚Äì after 45 minutes you’d forget someone was inside there. You’d lift the lid and he’d be just about dead, make-up running, sweating and everything, and they’d like ‘we’re gonna go for another one, jump over the hill again?’ and he’d say ‘no problem! No problem!’

————

David Jason: I think this is accessible to everyone. The Rambo-lovers as well as mums and dads ‚Äì we’ve got our little ones here and they’ve been loving it, and Sean’s little ones too. I think that given a fair go, and reasonable publicity, that this will attract a lovely family audience, and that’s what we made it for.

Luggage auction ends at £3,667.42

30 March 2008 (11:31) 1 Comment

The charity auction for the one-off replica of the Luggage used in the Colour Of Magic ended on Monday March 24, with a bid of ¬£3,667.42. All ¬£3,667.42 of that goes to the Alzheimer’s Research Trust in the U.K. The Luggage was filled with the complete set of Discworld books, signed by Terry Pratchett, and the new film tie-in edition of The Colour Of Magic, signed by some of the actors in the movie.

Colour Of Magic premiere report; Terry Pratchett, Sean Astin, and David Jason on video

27 March 2008 (0:51) 1 Comment

BBC has a video report on the premiere of The Colour Of Magic, which includes interviews with Terry Pratchett, Sean Astin, and David Jason.¬† Terry Pratchett says seeing the film is “like wandering around on the inside of my own head,” while Sean Astin and David Jason bring the on-screen double-act into real life, bantering about David Jason’s daughter’s impressions on the film as well as other things.

The premiere took place March 3, and the Colour Of Magic adaptation aired for the first time last Sunday and Monday in the U.K.

The Colour Of Magic finishes airing; early reviews good

25 March 2008 (8:10) Comment!

As you all know, The Colour Of Magic, the TV adaptation of the first two books in the Discworld series, finished airing for the first time March 24 in the U.K. The reaction fans so far has been excellent, and the early reviews so far have been similarly good. To quote a TimesOnline.co.uk article on The Colour Of Magic:

The two-parter was better than Sky’s previous Discworld adaptation, the story more clearly told (I could understand it) and David Jason happier as the hopeless wizard Rincewind than as Albert in The Hogfather [sic]. It also benefited from an excellent villain in Tim Curry. It looked good, in an over-glossy, Hallmark Productions kind of way …

Another article, from The Scotsman, said, “this was a good-looking production that proper fans probably appreciated.” However, criticisms were also evident in both articles:

Every now and again the budget (tight, it was implied, by the accompanying “Making of” documentary) looked stretched. If it could show characters falling off the edge of the world, make a trunk walk and blow up the Broken Drum Inn, why is it impossible for the skeleton Death to open its mouth when it speaks?

And:

The opening instalment, based on Pratchett’s first and possibly worst Discworld book, was far too long, dragging out its attempts at satire with leaden direction and script.

The Guardian.co.uk some preliminary viewing figures for the adaptation:

• The second part concluded with almost 1 million viewers last night, with an average of 967,000 viewers and a multichannel share of 4.7%. The viewer numbers peaked at 1.1 million viewers at 7:15.
• The first part (which aired Sunday March 23) attracted 1.5 million viewers and an 8% multichannel share.

Compare these numbers to Hogfather’s: 2.4 million for the first part (a record-breaking number) and 1.5 million for the second.

Update: Another highly enthusiastic review.

Reminder: The Colour Of Magic aired 6 p.m. on Sky One tonight

23 March 2008 (17:57) Comment!

The headline says it all, really.¬† Viewers in the U.K.¬†had the opportunity to see the first part of the¬†much-awaited Colour Of Magic adaptation tonight at 6 p.m.¬† Part two airs tomorrow, also at 6 p.m.¬† Don’t forget to check out the official site, where galleries and videos can help you pass the time until tomorrow!¬† FromRimToHub.com’s Colour Of Magic section¬†will also help pass the time.

David Jason, Sean Astin, Tim Curry, Terry Prachett on Colour Of Magic

22 March 2008 (14:41) 4 Comments

An extensive article from TimesOnline.co.uk includes quotes from David Jason, Sean Astin, Tim Curry, and Terry Pratchett about the coming Colour Of Magic two part adaptation, which will be broadcast this Sunday and Monday at 6 p.m.  To quote Sean Astin in the article:

It’s a little weird…. Some guy has a brain fart and I’m wearing big furry feet for two years. Another guy has an acid tablet and I’m in a pond in the back of Pinewood…. Terry obviously loves Tolkien and fantasy but he also loves to … take the piss out of it.

Tim Curry, with some less colorful language, also speaks about the Discworld series:

Terry’s big on satire and drawing conclusions in his worlds that you can take into this one…. I don’t think class has passed him by, or the advancements of technology.¬† Trymon is such a wonderfully double-dealing slimeball–he’d be totally at home in Brussels.¬† I’ve had a lot of extremely uncomfortable pointy shoes to wear, and lots of great hats.

And finally, Terry Pratchett himself also speaks:

Hogfather was more serious; The Colour of Magic is about humour…. It’s a buddy movie except that one of the buddies [Rincewind] doesn’t want to be a buddy. It’s a road movie although roads are probably the last thing they manage to travel on most of the time.

[On signing over the rights to The Colour Of Magic and The Light Fantastic] I tried to conceal the fact that I really wanted them to do it but really would like to be paid a lot of money…. The nice thing is that The Colour of Magic really had no plot. It was a series of episodes and we could, like a smorgasbord, pick what we wanted. So it wasn’t quite the slaughter job that I thought it would have to be.

Terry Pratchett also addressed the concerns of many fans on the casting of David Jason as Rincewind, since many consider Rincewind to be younger and skinnier:

It was mainly the book cover illustrations that did that…. I’m very good at not describing characters. David Jason has got three amazingly good attributes. Firstly, he is an excellent actor. Secondly, he’s Sir David Jason, and that name counts for something. And thirdly he’s a Discworld fan and about 15 years ago he declared that he wanted to play Rincewind. I thought, ‚ÄòWonderful!’¬†

The article also has a set-report aspect to it, as it describes the filming of the scene where Rincewind is close to being swept over the edge of the Discworld.  To quote the article:

“I don’t want to leave this world!‚Äù gurgles David Jason. Britain’s Most Popular Actor [sic] is clinging to a log in the middle of a foaming torrent of water, which swirls through his red robes and greying beard and plasters his hair across his face. ‚ÄúDON’T MIND ME - I’VE GOT A BOOK TO READ,‚Äù deadpans a skeletal figure in a deckchair on a nearby rocky outcrop. Slowly, Jason’s grip relaxes on the log and he disappears beneath the surface.

‚ÄúCut!‚Äù barks a voice through a megaphone. A bedraggled Jason re-emerges, and is shepherded by a squad of frogmen to the edge of Pinewood Studios’ 100-square metre water tank, as the huge compressed air generators that were creating the torrent wind down. It’s an overcast August afternoon near the end of the 11-week shoot for The Colour of Magic, Sky One’s multimillion- pound Easter adaptation of the first two books in Terry Pratchett’s supernaturally successful Discworld series…. In this scene¬†[Rincewind] is attempting to avoid being swept over the Discworld’s oceanic rim and into space, which will be represented on the vast blue screen behind him. His travails are observed by the sardonic Death, whose vocal duties have passed from the late Ian Richardson to Christopher Lee, who voiced him in the Pratchett animations Wyrd Sisters and Soul Music.

The article also informs readers that the fight with Tim Curry has been filmed in addition to the upside-down fight in the Wyrmberg.

Don’t forget to watch The Colour of Magic on Sky One at 6 p.m. this Sunday and Monday!

Colour Of Magic airs 6 p.m. March 23 and 24; more Colour Of Magic trailers

19 March 2008 (21:19) 2 Comments

SkyOne has finally announced the air date in the U.K. for The Colour Of Magic: 6 p.m. March 23 and March 24, on SkyOne and SkyOne HD. In addition, two new trailers have been posted to YouTube.

Trailer 2, length 32 seconds:

Narrator: From the dawn of time, they have always been there: the eight great spells. Now, one of them is missing.
Trymon: Well, that’s rather badly organized.
Narrator: And only one wizard–
Rincewind: I never really completed my training.
Narrator: –can bring it home. David Jason, Sean Astin, and Tim Curry take you to the very edge of the Discworld. Terry Pratchett’s The Colour Of Magic. This Easter. SkyOne and SkyOne HD.

Trailer 3, Theatrical, length 93 seconds:

Narrator: In a distant and secondhand set of dimensions, from the very dawn of time, they have always been there: the eight great spells. Now, one of them is missing. One of the eight spells is missing.
Trymon: Well, that’s rather badly organized.
Narrator: And there is only one wizard–
Rincewind: I’m the worst wizard this side of the Circle Sea!
Narrator: –who can bring it home. From the makers of Hogfather. SkyOne presents a pigment of your imagination.
Twoflower: All my life I’ve wanted to see dragons.
Rincewind: Don’t be ridiculous. Dragons don’t exist.
Rincewind: I won’t. (?)
Rincewind: What are you grinning at?
Death: Oh, I’m sorry. I can’t help it.
Rincewind: He says he’s a tourist.
Broadman: What’s that mean?
Twoflower: Smile!
Rincewind: I think it means idiot.
Narrator: David Jason, Sean Astin, and Tim Curry–
Trymon: Fantastic.
Narrator: –take you to the very edge of the Discworld.
Twoflower: And I thought everything was going so well!
Rincewind: Well, you thought wrong.
Narrator: Terry Pratchett’s The Colour Of Magic. This Easter. SkyOne and SkyOne HD.

You can find more videos on YouTube (though all are repeats from what can be found on the site) on Sky’s YouTube channel.

Sky begins major advertising for The Colour Of Magic

18 March 2008 (21:06) Comment!

MarketingWeek.co.uk reports that Sky’s multimillion-pound advertising campaign for Terry Pratchett’s The Colour Of Magic is kicking in gear this week, which “includes TV, press, online and outdoor executions as well as the rerelease of Pratchett’s book of the same name, part of the Discworld series.” To quote the article:

Sky is also partnering with online bookseller Amazon, as well as homepage takeovers on MSN, Yahoo! and AOL. Interactive ads will run across sites, such as TVGuide and Yahoo! linking to the sky.com/magic microsite.

National press advertising will run in titles including The Sun, The Guardian, New Statesman and listings sections and TV spots will air across Sky Networks. Sky is also launching a Bluetooth zone at Victoria station, which will give mobile users the opportunity to download video clips, ring and text tones and screen savers.

Sky is also involved in viral and social network promotion for the adaptation.