Terry Pratchett's Discworld - Wyrd Sisters

Author Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels offer an alternate reality that has proven irresistible to an avid, international audience--a universe where the world really is flat, after all, supported by four elephants floating through the cosmos on the back of a giant turtle. It's a world where fantasy conventions have been filtered through an antic, satirical lens that slyly warps the actions and motives of the wizards, witches, monarchs, and knaves that populate them, suggesting a sword & sorcery counterpart to Douglas Adams's venerable A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Developed for British television as an animated, six-episode miniseries, Wyrd Sisters marks the first attempt at transferring the franchise to video. As presented here on three tapes, with a running time of approximately 147 minutes, Pratchett's cracked re-imagining of familiar mythological themes retains its verbal wit and realizes colorfully stylized visual terrain, although modest animation techniques relegate its impact to the realm of older TV cartoons. Sci-fi aficionados spoiled by lavish computer graphics and the current big-screen state of the art will wonder what all the fuss is about.

Pratchett's fans, however, won't mind. An intricate plot, set in motion by the murder of King Verence by the utterly dimwitted Duke Felmet, encompasses a smuggled baby, an itinerant theatrical troupe, a kiss lasting 18 years, time travel, and other pokerfaced twists of fate, cohering around the three title heroines, a coven of rather dotty witches. A droll, sociable Death (voiced by Christopher Lee) epitomizes the breezy comic spirit that fuels Pratchett's stories. --Sam Sutherland Amazon.com

Don't Bother

Too bad there aren't negative star ratings. I had great hopes for this after watching Hogsfather... I was extremely disappointed! The voices were annoying (especially Magrats which was akin to a dentists drill and fingernails on the chalkboard... at the same time) and the animation childish at best. Coming from a genious like Pratchett I was expecting great entertainment geared towards adults, but this was so dumbed down for children that it was painful to watch at times. But I did watch it all, hoping against hope that it would improve. It didn't. I'm sure glad that I only rented it! March 11, 2008

Should have been MUCH better . . .

Somehow, I missed knowing about this until recently, even though I've read most of the Discworld books. The sisters in question are the somewhat austere Granny Weatherwax and her associates, the fun-loving Nanny Ogg, and the much younger Magrat Garlick, all of them witches. The king of Lancre has just been murdered by Duke Felmet and his Valkyrie-like Duchess and the infant prince has happenstantially come into the hands of the three witches, who decide to place him with a traveling theatrical troupe for safety. Things get nasty when the kingdom of Lancre -- not the people, the actual kingdom itself -- begins pressing for a king that will care for it better. Granny doesn't like to meddle, but there are times when you just have to, right? Okay, this treatment is animated (almost have to be, wouldn't it?) and the voices are supplied by well-knowns like Christopher Lee (as Death) and Jane Horrocks as Magrat, but the result isn't entirely successful. Maybe it's because Pratchett's writing revels in wordplay, much of it non-dialogue, which doesn't come off as well in a visual medium. Also, unless they are very, very familiar with all the tropes and themes in the Discworld series, many of the casual references and asides will go right past most viewers. Also, some of the rendering aren't really very close to Pratchett's descriptions -- especially the dwarfs and the trolls. And Death is just a little too "cute," quite unlike the way Pratchett writes him. On the other hand, Pratchett himself has said several times that he was extremely pleased with this production, so what do I know? October 9, 2007

Flawed...But Fine For Die-Hards

I had always wanted to snag this little set of three BBC-produced videos. As is obvious, the production is an animated adaptation of 'Wyrd Sisters,' one of satirist Terry Pratchett's many popular Discworld novels, and one of his better works featuring the irrepressible "witches of Lancre": Granny Weatherwax; Nanny Ogg; and Magrat Garlick.

Read the product description above in order to gather plot details, and then by all means buy & read the actual book. The sole lovely aspect of this film is that it really stays faithful to Pratchett's text without the typical film-maker's deviation that has ruined so many literary adaptations. In fact, the dialogue is word-for-word from Pratchett's story.

The problem is that the animation is extremely run-of-the-mill, even for 1997, when this was made. While drawn well enough, the characters are prevented (by the cheesy, stilted animation) from lending the verve, fluid expression, and timing needed to keep pace with and compliment the wonderful Pratchett dialogue. It simply doesn't "jive." Almost incongruous. Moreover, the animation is of the kind typical to a rather low-budget Saturday's kiddie cartoon; all of the adult splendor of Pratchett's satire is therefore neutralized by the presentation here. The production ruins any potential for capturing even a bit of Pratchett's singular genius.

It's a shame, because the book is classic, the story is ideal for a film, and it's a fun thought to imagine *any* of these Pratchett heroes and heroines "coming alive" onscreen. But the problem is that, here...they are lifeless.

The voiceover cast is decent, except for the actress who voices Granny Weatherwax; a fine actress but miscast, since none of Granny's steely authority and "lone-rider" dignity comes through (which really matters little because the animation wouldn't have allowed much to come through with any actress). June Whitfield is a great voice for Nanny Ogg, and so is Jane Horrocks as Magrat. Many of Pratchett's books truly deserve the full-budget, live-action film treatment. In an ideal world, Jean Marsh would be a dead-ringer for Granny, a "cinematically aged," roly-poly Dawn French as Nanny Ogg, and no one else but Jane Horrocks to play Magrat.

If you're a die-hard Pratchett fan, this is worth having in your collection--no doubt about it. I bought the videos and converted them to DVD for private use, since no one owns a VCR anymore and I highly doubt that this film is ever destined for DVD release (it really doesn't merit a wide-scale commercial conversion). Still, I'm glad I bought the little "mini-series." As an admirer of Pratchett's work, I'm pleased to simply have it, but this is purely a rabid fan's indulgence, and there's simply no other reason to buy it.

Read the books. August 21, 2007

buy the books, burn the dvd

Isn't there a rating below 1 star?

Don't buy this, don't rent it, don't even borrow it for yourself if you like any Pratchett book. It is perfectly suitable for children under about the age of 9 if they aren't very smart and can sit staring at Saturday morning cartoons for hours at a time.

The screen writer apparently didn't realize that leaving out all the great puns, hilarious allegory, and brilliant dialog created by Terry Pratchett, would leave you with a really pathetic movie.

Buy ALL the Weird World books but if you buy this DVD , don't blame me. January 30, 2006

Very disappointing

With Terry Pratchett's great writing and Cosgrove Hall doing the animation I figured this had to be a winner, but sadly this is not the same stop-frame-puppet-animation Cosgrove Hall brilliance that brought us 'The Pied Piper of Hamelin' or 'The Reluctant Dragon'. This is their second-rate cartoon team who brought us the highly overrated Dangermouse. Wyrd Sisters exhibits the sort of mediocre paint-by-numbers animation that Hanna-Barbera was infamous for. In my opinion Discworld could have been well-served by Cosgrove Hall if only they had done it properly. This cartoon treatment is disappointing to say the least. I advise everyone to just read the book instead - your own imagination will conjure up better images than this DVD does. January 24, 2006

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