Dragonlance: Dragons of Autumn Twilight

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Dragonlance: Dragons of Autumn Twilight
Dragons of Autumn Twilight DVD cover art
Directed by	Will Meugniot
Produced by	Steven Stabler
Written by	George Strayton(screenplay) Margaret Weis(original) Tracy Hickman(original)
Starring	Kiefer Sutherland Lucy Lawless Michael Rosenbaum Michelle Trachtenberg
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date(s)	15 January 2008
Running time	90-100 mins
Country	United States
Language	English
IMDb profile

Dragonlance: Dragons of Autumn Twilight is an animated film, the first^[1] to be based on the Dragonlance campaign setting of Dungeons & Dragons. Its basis is the first novel in the setting, Dragons of Autumn Twilight by co-creators Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, both of whom supplied creative assistance for the screenplay adaptation by George Strayton. The film was directed by Will Meugniot and distributed by Paramount Pictures,^[2] directly to video.^[3]

Contents 1 Cast 2 Production 3 Reaction 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Cast

• Tanis Half-Elven - Michael Rosenbaum
• Raistlin Majere - Kiefer Sutherland
• Goldmoon - Lucy Lawless
• Flint Fireforge / Fewmaster Toede / Hederick - Fred Tatasciore
• Tika Waylan - Michelle Trachtenberg
• Caramon Majere - Rino Romano
• Tasslehoff Burrfoot - Jason Marsden
• Paladine / Fizban - Neil Ross
• Sturm Brightblade - Marc Worden
• Riverwind / Gilthanas / The Speaker of the Suns - Phil LaMarr
• Bupu / Brinna - Jentle Phoenix
• Verminaard - David Sobolov
• Laurana - Caroline Gelabert
• Takhisis - Nika Futterman
• The Forestmaster - Mari Weiss
• Elistan - Ben McCain
• Porthios / Pyros / Erik - Dee Bradley Baker
• Flamestrike - Susan Silo
• Onyx - Juliette Clair^[4]

Both Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis (original authors of the novels) make cameo appearances as patrons of the Inn of the Last Home in the movie.^[5]

[edit] Production

According to co-executive producer Cindi Rice, the film combines "traditional 2D animation and computer-generated 3D elements"^[6]. The animation was developed by the India based studio Toonz Animation^[7]. A rough trailer was released on October 22, 2007, highlighting an animation technique not seen since the mid 80's and 90's era CG. It can be found on the Official Dragonlance Movie Site. The movie has been rated as PG-13 by the MPAA as of October 12, 2007.^[8][9]

[edit] Reaction

Early reaction to the film has been predominantly negative. Dan Heaton^[10] describes it as a "disaster" and "tiresome". David Cornelius^[11] says it is "genre cheese and sloppy filmmaking". Michael Stailey^[12] declares "It's been a long time since I've come across a film this bad".

Major complaints have included:

• The condensation of the novel into a 90 minute film (Heaton: "characters have no time to breathe...doesn't sell the book's expansive scope", Cornelius: "clumsy bouncing from scene to scene", Stailey: [the adaptation] "puts the entire tale on fast forward"). Large portions of the book are entirely left out of this movie, which proceeds at breakneck pace. Tracy Hickman himself was adamently opposed to trying to fit the entire novel into one movie, stating, "the film should portray essentially the first half of the book and finish with `Solace is burning.'".^[13] "Solace is burning" refers to the last line delivered in chapter 22 as spoken by the character, Raistlin. Fifteen chapters of the book follow "Solace is burning."

• The animation, a combination of 2D footage and CGI (Heaton: "extremely inconsistent", Cornelius: "the combo is a mess", Stailey: "the overall look is reminiscent of the worst animation '80s and '90s television had to offer").

Co-author Tracy Hickman agrees with the above points^[14], saying "the animation itself is less than I would have hoped it to be" and that "including the entire first book in the movie was a mistake." However, his overall reaction is positive, and he describes it as "the opening of a door and the beginning of a journey".

There was also criticism of the lack of extras on the DVD.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official movie site
• Dragonlance official site
• Wizards of the Coast site
• Reviews of the picture including one by co-author Tracy Hickman

v • d • e Dragonlance Books Dragons of Autumn Twilight • Dragons of Winter Night • Dragons of Spring Dawning • more... Characters Tasslehoff Burrfoot • Dalamar • Flint Fireforge • Tanis Half-Elven • Steel Brightblade • Sturm Brightblade • Goldmoon • Riverwind • Caramon Majere • Raistlin Majere • Kitiara Uth Matar • more... Deities Paladine • Gilean • Takhisis • Mishakal • Sargonnas • Reorx • Solinari • Lunitari • Nuitari • more... Authors Margaret Weis • Tracy Hickman • Stan! • Don Perrin • Jean Rabe Other Dragons of Autumn Twilight (film adaptation) • Dragonlance Portal • Dragonlance WikiProject