The Dragonlance novels were my favourite series of books when I was in high school. The Dragonlance books made me want to play Dungeons & Dragons in the first place, but I never found a group to play D&D with until near the end of my university career.
Naturally, like so many every other Dragonlance fans, my favourite character is the highly intelligent, cynical/sarcastic, physically-weak, and extremely ambitious Wizard, Raistlin Majere. He is by far the least-liked of the party of adventurers. Everyone can relate to feeling left out in some way, at some point in their lives, which is why Raistlin was so popular.
Apparently, Raistlin Majere is being voiced by Kiefer Sutherland. Sutherland has a really sexy voice, and he’s a great actor. I don’t watch 24, but I remember him being really good in Dark City. Keifer Sutherland’s role in Phone Booth really made me take notice of his voice. He plays the terrorist who is talking on the phone to Colin Farrell’s character. He doesn’t make a visual appearance in the film until the end. Sutherland has a deep, gravelly voice. Raistlin Majere has a physical ailment which makes it hard for him to breathe, so he’s got this whispering, wheezing sort of voice. I think Sutherland should be able to pull that off.
Another famous actor who announced her participation in the film is Lucy Lawless, who will be playing the plainswoman Cleric, Goldmoon. Goldmoon is the catalyst for the adventures that begin in Dragons of Autumn Twilight, which is the first book in the first trilogy of the novels. Goldmoon has been entrusted with proof of the gods’ presence on Krynn (the world/planet in Dragonlance). At the point in the timeline when the story begins, it is widely believed that the gods had abandoned the people a few hundred years before, right after a great Cataclysm. I think Lucy Lawless should be all right as Goldmoon. I am not too fond of her voice, but she’s a decent actor anyway. I hope her American accent has improved since her Xena: Warrior Princess days, though. Apparently, the actors will all be using American accents, except the Elves who will sound “European” — whatever that means.
The Dragonlance movie is going to be an animated movie, based upon Dragons of Autumn Twilight. They plan on a continuing series of films, but it depends on how well the first one does. They’re aiming to make it a PG-13 film, which more or less matches the books’ content. I’ve always thought that it would be awesome for a movie to be made, and I think animation is ideal for the adaptation because they can show everything they need to show.
The books themselves are not literary masterpieces, but they’re great entertainment. In gaming terms, the use of the D&D character classes and party composition is traditional and balanced. It’s almost like the writers basically took the D&D Player’s Handbook and made a standard D&D party. The characters really make the books come alive, though. The characters are the strength of the Dragonlance novels, so I hope they write them as true to the books as possible.
I’m really looking forward to this movie, and I hope they don’t screw it up.
Trivia: My Animal Crossing: Wild World town, “Wayreth”, is named after the Tower of High Sorcery of Wayreth, one of the five bastions of magical teaching on the world of Krynn.
WARNING: Spoilers in the comments section!
[Dragonlance Movie Site]
[Dragonlance Movie Site - About Dragonlance]
[Wikipedia - Dragonlance]
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Sorry, but Kitara was my favourite by far… Raistlin always struck me as a bit of an evil Gary Stu, and the Legends trilogy turned me off him completely.
True, he does have that aspect in spades.
I found it a more difficult to identify with Kitiara, weirdly, which is probably why I didn’t like her as much as the others characters — even in later novels.
I much prefered the Twins trilogy when Raistlin challenges a god. I remember next to nothing about the first trilogy at all but there’s one scene in the second set of books which has stuck with me since I read them when they came out: after the goddess has ranted at Raistlin threatening him and cajoling him and telling him how foolish he is for thinking he could challenge a gog, she says to him “what do you have to say for yourself now?” He simply replies: “Your move, highness.” (Or something). Classic.
I loved the Legends trilogy. Between that and the Chronicles trilogy, Legends was my favourite as well.
That was a great line. :D Raistlin may be an arrogant, power-hungry arsehole, but he was a good character.
Huh. I know several people who will be absolutely thrilled by this.
I went and reread the books after dropping in on Wayreth actually. Very different from what I remember–I think I’d gotten a bunch of the later books mixed up with the first three.
I think the books were good simply because they didn’t pander too much to the franchise … they used their source well and managed to tell a relatively decent plot compared to the usual D&D fictional outing.
I somewhat wished this was live action, actually, with a budget to fit. Few D&D stories would fit as well onto film, and certainly better than the B grade drek that we’ve been treated to in the past.
I’m sure Kiefer will do a good job – he’s done voice acting in the past (Armitage III, Land before Time) and on the 24 VG. If the animation is decent, I’ll definately be excited for this.
This is really cool, I loved these books as a kid.
I’m also really excited that it’s going to be animated–I’m going to check out the animation studio right now.
Also of note voice acting wise: Michael Rosenbaum (Lex on Smallville, also va’d on Teen Titans and Justice League), Phil Lamarr (too many va credits to even go into), James Marsden (also many, many va creds) and Michelle Tractenburg (from Buffy).
Voice acting should be pretty top notch then … hopefully the animation will follow.
I checked out the animation studio, and it seems they do a lot of children’s animation. Somewhat of a bummer.
I was also surprised to hear such a big name, as Kiefer Sutherland, to be playing Raistlin. I love Raistlin, he better do the character justice.
“Naturally, like so many every other Dragonlance fans, my favourite character is the highly intelligent, cynical/sarcastic, physically-weak, and extremely ambitious Wizard, Raistlin Majere. ”
Wroooooong
The best character, hands down, who makes the entire series into the diamond it is, is Tasslehoff.
Tasslehoff was a great character, and great for comic relief when needed. Tanis and Raistlin really kept the story going. I do not know why, but Flint is the one that became my favorite. When he “passed on” I actually cried. I felt like I had lost a friend. I did not do that for any of the other characters.
I hope they do a good job with the story, animation, and everything else, but I am not holding my breath. I have seen too many books that did not made a good leap to the big screen. Of course, if they do a great job I will not be able to wait until the second and third movies.
Raistlin was really cool to read about. I really like the legends trilogy over any of the other books. You said you cried when Flint “passed on” I couldn’t read for like 2 days when Tasselhoff died and they talk about the tomb. Bottom line: Before I even see it, this will be a top 5 favorite movie for me.
“Naturally, like so many every other Dragonlance fans, my favourite character is the highly intelligent, cynical/sarcastic, physically-weak, and extremely ambitious Wizard, Raistlin Majere.”
Raistlin is a great character, but my personal favorites are Goldmoon and Sturm. After first playing their characters in the game and then reading the books, I found their personalities and demeanors to be closest to my own.
BLEH! how could any of you Raistlin fans forget the best character of them all, the one who cared for Raistlin and gave him his tea! CARAMON!! :P. I surly hope that this new movie isn’t going to be all childishly animated but I’m still lookin forward to it.
So cool to see how many different opinions there are about who is everyone’s favorites.
Mine is definatly Raistlin. Love a dark misunderstood bad boy type! I loved the Crysania/Raistlin dymamic in Legneds. I’m really looking forward to this movie, tho like others I wish they’d do it live action w/ a budget (LOTR style).