Oswalds

[tealin]

As a large number of my journal's visitors are or will soon be on summer vacation, I thought I'd post a link I've been sitting on for a few months.

Oswald on the Web

It's basically a Discworld casting site, where you can nominate certain actors for certain roles and then vote on the nominees. An excellent way to fritter away a couple of hours. (They're also desperately in need of people who have a broader perspective of Movieland and who won't just nominate Johnny Depp and Alan Rickman for everything.)

Comments

[thearchduchess.livejournal.com]

Wow.

That's cool. Except I had no idea who to put (I mean, who on Earth should be Vetinari - I so clearly see Paul Kidby's drawings, I just can't fathom) and I got so annoyed by people doing stupid things like nominating Emma Watson for Tiffany. I mean, come on. Tiffany should be someone young and unknown. And, although it works well, it would be cool to see some other people for Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg than just Maggie Smith and Miriam Margoles. Not that I can think of anyone!

But I love that in Guards! Guards! all the Brothers are just the Monty Python guys - "This parrot has been burnt to a crisp by a dragon." "No, it's just pinin' for the fjords!"

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

Speaking for myself, I can only see Maggie Smith as Granny Weatherwax – even Paul Kidby's drawings look like Maggie Smith to me. I suppose maybe June Brown ... but she doesn't really have the right voice, she's not commanding enough. My roommate once suggested Dames Smith and Dench ... no only would that be great to see, they'd also probably have lots of fun.

Guards! Guards! is such a Python book ... all those little sidetracky conversations among the Brothers or the people on the street sound like they could have been lifted out of a Python sketch.

[thearchduchess.livejournal.com]

I can see Maggie Smith doin Granny Weatherwax very well, I just wondered whether people had gone, McGonagall - better be Weatherwax too! Judi Dench and Maggie Smith would be a fantastic pair to see! I should watch 'Ladies in Lavender' just to see the two of them.

Guards! Guards! really is an excellent book, and a great one to start with, as I am glad to see buttfacemakani has done! I can't wait to see her fanart!

Oh, and it wasn't you who got Richard Dean Anderson into the running for Vimes was it?

[noodledaddy.livejournal.com]

If I was casting biopic of Johnny Depp, I'd use Alan Rickman.

[disneyboy.livejournal.com]

you so silly. :P

[linda-lupos.livejournal.com]

Dame Maggie Smith as Granny would be SUCH typecasting... but it would work SO WELL! And McGonagall and Granny are a bit a like. A bit. Sometimes. ;)

I have no idea on a good Vetinari either. :/ It's so easy to go for the predictable Alan Rickman (too Snape) or Jeremy Irons (too Scar)...

But excellent page. ^^

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

Personally, I think Ms Smith is much better for Granny than she was for McGonnagall... I was never terribly happy with that casting choice. But now, because of the popularity of the Potterverse, that's all anyone seems to see her as. (Whereas I forever associate her with Mrs Medlock from Secret Garden so my hypocrisy is blatant.)

[linda-lupos.livejournal.com]

And that's why Sister Act will always be a greater source of amusement that it should be: it's McGonagall as the head nun! ;)
Kicking ass as usual. Just like Mrs Medlock, and any other character the great Dame Maggie plays. :)

[linda-lupos.livejournal.com]

Ack, and now I'm obsessed with Maggie Smith. I looked her up on imdb and saw this quote: "It's true I don't tolerate fools but then they don't tolerate me, so I am spiky. Maybe that's why I'm quite good at playing spiky elderly ladies."
Well hmm Granny. ;)

Speaking of grannies... [on roles] "When you get into the granny era, you're lucky to get anything." Typical really that she called it the GRANNY era. ;)

Will shut up now!

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

Well, obviously, she's lobbying for the role of Ms Weatherwax! Bring it on!

[a-e-ray.livejournal.com]

brilliant! an exelecent waste of time!

[dried-frog-pill.livejournal.com]

Now if only they'd use this to cast real Discworld movies (or are they?)...

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

I rather doubt they'd cast movies based on an online popularity contest (though it seems sometimes that stranger logic is used...). All the same, it's fun to pretend.

[(Anonymous)]

After seeing Blackadder Back and Forth, when he has a little goatee, i could see rowan atkinson being a great vetinari. It's such a shame to most people he's Mr. Bean. It's funny, i always pictured Lord Downey's predecessor,Dr. Cruces to clearly be Jeremy Irons. It must be the creepy Scar voice. It's funny how people can be affected by artwork and other imagery, even if they dislike it. Hugh Lauie now is top contender for Vimes in my head especially after Paul Kidby's stuff.

P.S. Stephen Fry would have to be in it somewhere. Maybe Ridcully.

[abibliophobe.livejournal.com]

There are quite a few that I don't agree with either - I think unknowns (or maybe barely known actors from TV or something) would work best for a lot of the characters.

I'm not sure if I like the idea of Maggie Smith as Granny Weatherwax or not - she seems a bit too... sophisticated or soft or something, at least in most of the stuff I've seen her in. Which admittedly isn't that much.

The young Granny in The Art of Discworld looks A LOT like Cate Blanchett being angry. (So we just age her 40 years or so, and there we have it!)

[lady-twatterby.livejournal.com]

It's not fair, you can't nominate Stephen Briggs because he hasn't got an IMDB listing. And he's obviously a superior Vetinari.

Apart from that, it appears the voters have only ever seen the Harry Potter films, because there seem to be mainly nominations for actors who've been in those.

[thefordmustang.livejournal.com]

Whoo hoo! Thanks for this!

Marvelous time waster- and 2006 is for nominating "Going Postal!" The only thing is the actors whom I would choose are either not the right age for the roles, too Texan, too Icelandic or just not really that well known to have an IMDB listing. And, yes, Stephen Briggs would be grand as Lord Vetinari!

My actual best wish would be for them to choose relatively unknown actors who match the role the best. Certain characters like Sam Vimes and The Patrician and Granny Weatherwax are such icons that it seems hard for me to imagine people for the role (esxcept Stephen Briggs. Oh, and Johnny Depp and Alan Rickman- JOKING!