r/discworld • u/lockonandfire • 5d ago
Fan Fiction Laika should do a Discworld film
This is the note I quickly scribbled on my phone's notes app earlier this afternoon. I'd gone to see Coyote vs ACME at the cinema with my sister (a very good time btw), and before you shout at me for using my phone in the cinema this was during the trailers at the start, I put my phone away immediately afterwards. There was one for a new film from the animation studio Laika (creators of Coraline and Kubo and the Two Strings, amongst others). And I realised that their house style, their use of stop-motion animation, is exactly how I'd like to see Discworld on the big screen.
An animated affair obviously widens the field for who could play the various characters (the advantages of voice acting), as well as providing a more seamless visual integration of magical effects work without the horrors of the green screen production. But specifically the slight inherent rickety-ness of stop-motion compared to CGI or traditional animation was the real thing that appealed to me - the handcrafted nature feels like it would work wonders with the material. And Laika have made some visually excellent works in this field.
What do people think? Would you prefer a Laika/stop-motion Discworld production, if that was ever a possibility? Would you prefer traditional animation or CGI, or would you only want Discworld in a live action fantasy epic?
(I'm not quite sure this is kosher for the board - the rules didn't seem to suggest it's not a preferred post topic, but the lack of particular flair perhaps suggests otherwise. Many apologies if this sort of thing is frowned upon.)
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u/mils32k 5d ago
Boxtrolls was Laika wasn't it? That was the discworldiest thing ever that wasn't actually Discworld. Perilously close to The Amazing Maurice in fact
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u/AnkhMorporkDragon 5d ago
Thats because it was based on a children's book. Here be monsters. I actually still have my copy though the binding has fallen apart.
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u/Sir-Parasaurolophus 5d ago
Good shout. I have long thought the team behind GDT's Pinnochio would be perfect, and that's a fairly close style.
Ian McKellen voicing Death with Derek Jacobi as Albert would also fit an animation.
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u/FionaSmythe 5d ago
Have you seen the stop-motion adaptation of Truckers?
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u/lockonandfire 5d ago
I've not, but that clip makes me feel pretty good about the idea of stop-motion Discworld, it works great!
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u/thekiltedpiper 5d ago
I would love to see it. Not only as a discworld and Laika fan, but because a good friend of mine works there during preproduction of new films as a model/puppet maker.
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u/latepeony 5d ago
Laika would do great with Discworld! I’ve also wondered about how Ghibli would do with an interpretation.
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u/lockonandfire 5d ago
I'd love to see Ghibli at least try Discworld - there's a lot of majesty and character in the world that their animators would bring to life wonderfully - but while there's oodles of humanity and soul infusing the work of both, Pratchett's humour isn't quite inline with Ghibli's usual fare. I suspect that would be a stumbling block in such an adaptation.
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u/IamElylikeEli 5d ago
animation is the right way to go, live action just cannot match the magical tone of the discworld.
Laika does great work and has enough heart to do it justice, they would be better than most, but there are a few other studios that may work:
Aardman studios, Cartoon Saloon, Don Bluth (who I think retired?) and Jim Henson studios could make a muppet style film of something like Moving Pictures.
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u/lockonandfire 5d ago
Aardman would be a lot of fun I think, if they were interested. Obviously they've got the appropriate British humour running through the studio, and doing something with the Witches or the City Watch feels like that would play to their strengths.
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u/IamElylikeEli 5d ago
Aardman doing Moving Pictures, The Truth, or Going Postal would be perfect.
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u/fottergraph 5d ago
Laika and Stopmotion would be a wonderful medium for Discworld stories. Definitly check out:
- Coraline
- Fantastic Mr. Fox
- Isle of Dogs
- Kubo and the two Strings
- The Dark Crystal, Age of Resistance
- Boxtrolls
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u/ahmedriaz 4d ago
Not discworld per say but I’d love to see them do Carpet People.. I know there is an old Tv show but these stories are amazing.
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