Amph The Prydain Chronicles

Although, this is a young adult book series I loved it. The characters, story, and writing are great so it makes The Prydain Chronicles very memorable. You can tell from the beginning that Llyod Alexander put his heart and soul into this series. I think this is a vastly underrated series that deserves more attention and, perhaps since Hollywood is getting into the tendecy of adapting fantasy books into films, a faithful Live Action movie adaptation of the Prydain Chronicles. In my opinion The Prydain Chronicles is a literture masterpiece of the 20th century.


Unlocked on request.

 

Have any of you guys read this series?

 

I've read it, but not in a long time. I can recall really enjoying it at the time. I especially love the characters' names-- so beautiful!

"The Arkadians" is another good book by the same author, set in ancient Greece. The protagonist and his leading lady reminded me of Taran and Elionwy, though it's a stand-alone book, so the story is never fleshed out as much as it in the Prydain Chronicles.

 

Ooo!! Ooo, I loooove them!!

Sorry, I got really excited when I saw this thread. My 4th grade teacher read the first book to us in class, and then I made my mother buy them all. I didn't care for the 4th book, since it really only had Taran searching for his parents and not finding them (Elonwy, or however it's spelled, it's even in it ). I haven't read them in years, but I keep meaning to re-read them. When I have some free time (yeah, right. Free time is a figment of the imagination).

And on the subject of movies, someone made a movie that sort of combined the first two books. It's animated and called 'The Black Cauldron.' I was disappointed that the prince (forgetting his name, the son of dawn, or don, or whatever) wasn't in it.

 

Yes I know about the Disney animated movie and have heard it is not that good so I don't intend to see it. I think a live action film series would be a good idea but Disney still owns the rights and I don't think they intend to make it even though there is a Fantasy explosion in Hollywood right now. I liked the fourth book in the series since it was very character-driven and I think Lloyd Alexander is excellent with characters.

 

Sorry for the double post but why do you guys think this series is not as popular as other young adult series like Narnia and Earthsea? Also how well do you think The Prydain Chronicles would translate into a Live Action film series? Even though the LWW was made into a good solid film I think it would be easier to adapt The Book of Three since it goes into more detail and in my opinion has a better story than the LWW. One of my big concerns is that some people may think that Arawn is a copy of Sauron even though Arawn is a character in Welsh mythology.

 

I'd actually love to see it made into a live action movie. Disney will never be able to do it justice.

Not sure about the second. Narnia doesn't even look interesting (saw the movie, heard bits of the 2nd book when my sister was reading aloud to my mom because it was for school) and Alexander does a much better job. I never even thought of the Sauron/Awarn connection, but especally because of the similarity in names, I can see that happening.

I didn't like the 4th book because it had almost nothing to do with the rest of the books, and Taran's quest was useless because he didn't find his parents, though a couple of the characters played minor parts in the last book.

I cried at the end of the final book, and it does remind me of LOTR in the sense that everyone is going off to this place and leaving the humans to run the world. I was sad that Taran wouldn't see most of hid friends again. It's possible that Alexander drew on Tolkien for some of his inspiration. That prince of Dawn guy could be Aragorn, Taran could be Frodo, Dalbin could be Gandalf . . .

 

Dallben is probably suppose to be like either Merlin or Gandalf. Like Arawn, Prince Gwydion (The Prince of Don) was a character in Welsh Mythology as well but I don't know if the Gwydion of Myth was like the Gwydion of Prydain so Gwydion could represent someone like King Arthur or Aragorn. Although, it is influenced by LOTR I don't think that should be a problem in its chances of getting adapted because after all pratically every fantasy book realeased after LOTR is influenced by it. Eragon which is heavily influenced by LOTR is getting made into a movie so I think The Prydain Chronicles should be too. Taran Wanderer, the fourth book in the series, is important because it is the book where Taran truly becomes a man.

 

True, but regardless, I didn't care for it.

And I like your reasons for a movie!! Yeah, a guy in the book club I'm in kept going on and on about how Eragon is ripping off LOTR

What's your favorite book? I can't choose, but the first one holds a special place in my heat

 

These are great books.

 

My favorite would probably be either the second or fifth book in the series because I loved the action in both of those books.

 

The fifth book, " The High King " won the Newberry Award which is prestigous to young fiction.

 

I always found it strange that this series is not more popular than it is because one of the books in the series (The High King) did in fact win a Newberry Medal and another book in the series (The Black Cauldron) won a Newberry Honor Medal.

 

Maybe there's wasn't (isn't) good publicity.

 

Maybe?

 

It is very strange. " The Book of Three " was a runner up for the Newberry Award also and all five books were given high praise, very high actually, by the NYT and Washington Post Book Reviews. The similarities to LotR and the fact that they were written in the mid to late sixties at the time that LotR was becoming larger than life may have something to do with it. We might just be wrong all together because these books have been reprinted and repackaged a gazillion times and are still right in front of you in the young adult section at the book store and the library. In todays market with good PR these books would have blown away Harry Potter into oblivion. You really didnt need a marketing plan when these books first hit the stores - you just needed to be a great writer - and to this day Lloyd Alexander still turns out some of the best childrens fantasy fiction and is definetely in the same breath as Judy Blume and Beverly Clearly as far as books that are for and about adolescents. He's just not as well known in the U.S. as he is in the U.K., where he is very popular ( the Chronicles of Prydain are heavily steeped in Welsh mythology even moreso than being a LotR - lite ). Its suprising because Alexander is actually an American author. You would never know it by reading his books.

 

If The Prydain Chronicles was turned into a good Live Action Movie Series I think its popularity would increase immensely. I do know one way Disney could make this into a movie series and it includes the screenwriters and director from the POTC movie series. Gore Verbinski (the director of POTC), Ted Elliot, and Terry Rossio (the latter two are the writers of POTC) should adapt The Prydain Chronicles into a movie series. They were able to blend action and humor really well in POTC, which are two of the main ingrediants The Prydain Chronicles have. Disney still owns the rights to film The Prydain Chronicles and Gore Verbinski and company have worked with them in the past so in theory this could work itself out.

 

I have been a fan of the Chronicles of Prydain for over 2 decades now. Back when I first read the books in fifth grade my mind was envisioning them as live-action movies. For me, these books carry with them so much truth and beauty, ideas and values that I think are so often forgotten in our society. The books have a real-life magic to them; it is hard to describe exactly how much these books mean to me, but it is enough to have inspired me recently to write a screenplay for the first book, The Book of Three. (It's 168 pages right now, and I need to do some editing.)

I have had some correspondence in the past with the author, Lloyd Alexander, and most recently I inquired into his thoughts on live action movies based on the films. (I also asked if I might send him a copy of my screenplay). He reminded me that Disney holds the rights to the books, and he more or less felt that such an endeavor was not possible. It would be nice to have his blessing, so to speak, but I am detirmined to let the people at Disney know that there are perhaps millions of people who feel deeply drawn to his Chronicles and would love to see them made into films.

I am envisioning the movies to be less high fantasy, more historical, focused more as a chronicle of a young man's journey to adulthood. I believe people will be inherently drawn to the ideas of what true nobility is, and the power to command ourselves. And I am certain that the deep and abiding love that develops between Taran and Eilonwy, which gracefully and beautifully grows through the length of all 5 books, will touch everyone.

I am corrently living in Los Angeles, working in post-production (music for film and TV), and I have made some connections with people in the industry, and more importantly Disney. I am in the process of talking to one director in particular who has worked with Disney in the past, and I am trying to get an agent to solicit the screenplay to Disney.

What I think is of utmost importance is what fans of the books think, their opinions, and feedback. So, I am also looking for some help in starting a website or link for people who want to see the Chronicles of Prydain made into movies. I want to try to get as much buzz happening as possible for the project, and the internet, as we all know, has become one of the most powerful tools to do this.
Any ideas or comments would be appreciated, and thanks for taking the time to read through all of this.

 

Taranwanderer, it is good to see that people who have ties and jobs in Hollywood are trying to get The Prydain Chronicles made into a movie series. Hopefully, your efforts to put the Prydain Chronicles on the big screen turn out to be fruitful. I would love to see the series get the justice it deserves and for Lloyd Alexander to be recognized as the true genius that he is. I wish you all the luck, in your future endeavors. If it is not too much to ask, I would greatly appreciate for you to inquire about E.R. Eddison's high fantasy classic The Worm Ouroboros (1922) which features a beautiful prose and eloquent Shakespearean dialouge that adds so much depth to the atmosphere of the book. It was written in 1922 and influenced Tolkien's epic and unforgettable Lord of the Rings saga and is truly a lost Gem of the fantasy genre. Thanks, for dedicating yourself to making a movie series based on such a great fantasy series like the Prydain Chronicles.

 

I swear to God I hope your for real, dude. It takes a perfect storm to make a movie and your right - this stuff is begging for live action treatment. Disney will be the biggest nut to crack but if your screenplay is great you might not even have to crack it. Disney finally proved with PotC that they could make adult oriented entertainment. Ironically Disneys' rendition of " The Black Cauldron " was actually an attempt to that end that failed them finacially, so you might run into a wall there, but surely their exec board is mostly different today, twenty two years later. Hey - they didnt keep the rights to all five books for nothing. Somebody in Disney thought and still thinks there viable.

 

I read the books some time ago, and loved them. I had the first three books, and read the last two from a cousin of mine. I have long meant to pick up the whole set, but haven't gotten around to it yet. One day I shall, and will re-read them with glee.

 

I'm probably one of the few people who saw the movie before reading the books. We own the Disney version- we own pretty much EVERY animated Disney Masterpiece or Classic or whatever they're calling it now- and it wasn't until about a year after watching the movie that a good friend suggested I read the books. It was a bit strange at first, reading them, because the movie does change around a lot, by mixing the two books together. But I did enjoy the series. The only one that I still own is The High King, but my grandparents own them all (of course, they live in another continent...). I really need to reread these books someday, since it's been years since I last read the series.

I agree that Disney could do the live-action movies justice, if they used the same people who did POTC, or others like them. Disney has now proved that they can do more than the cutesy-sweet kid movies and if they put their minds to it, I think they could make the movie work.

As to popularity... good question. They need to be rereleased, but in such a way that there's publicity. Or a movie would definitely help. There's a great market for Teen/Children's Fantasy at the moment. If these books were to be hailed and advertised as LOTR and CON have been, then I'm sure people would read them and love them. Heck, the loving part is a given- we just need to get people to read them. *grins*

Yes, the movie was a flop (*coughs* well, my family actually really liked it). But I think if they were going to take a new go at it, it would work out. I've always wondered if some of the lost popularity was because it was theoretically marketed for kids, but wasn't really a kids' movie. It's animated, and has cuddly side-kicks (Henwen? the pig, um, the hairy dog-like creature... man, I need to reread these books or at least watch the movie again, so I know the NAMES)- but it's rated PG and it earns that rating. I was thirteen when we bought it, but my siblings were 6, 2 and a baby and my mother was a bit...surprised that this was a Disney animated Classic. It's dark and has violence and lacks the general merriment of most Disney movies, even at the end. If they're going to rerelease it, on DVD or something, then I suggest that they try to market it to older children and teens, making clear that this isn't a 'normal' Disney movie. And they should definitely try a live-action version.

 

It wasnt that the movie wasnt good , it was just a finacial failure for whatever reason. Critics say it was too dark for a Disney film and especially an animated one. And I guess it was but that didnt diminish its quality, IMO. The animation was excellent, I thought, and where they screwed up was the muddled plot. Its a little too complexed for a G rated film, even though they tone it down ( unnecessarily and probably detrimentally ), i.e. - it wasnt dark enough. If they were gonna go that way, then go all the way. ( yeah its a kids book series, but its pretty dark and is scary also - its not that violent except for the conflict resolution of the final book, which is quite shocking for a childrens series )

 

Oh, I agree. It's one of the few animated movies that has a PG rating. And it's also very dark as well. On the other hand, Disney tried to 'lighten' it up with characters like Gurggy- that was the dog-like-creature's name, right? or something sounding like it?- who Disney tried to make like the usual cuddly animal characters. For one thing, it didn't really work, and for another, it doesn't fit the movie. The Black Cauldron is dark and Disney should have marketed it that way- to older children and possibly even adults. If they had, the critics might not have been against it and perhaps it would have done better financially...

And yes, they did butcher the plots of the two books. But so did the Harry Potter movies and those are doing great...

 

Yeah, Gurgy. I think the Harry Potter films are really true to their source, especially the first two, where it was almost too much like the books. I thought the treatment that the last two entries received are precisely what a live action Prydain would need.