Terry Pratchett's The Colour of Magic is a fantasy-comedy two-part British television adaptation of the bestselling novels The Colour of Magic (1983) and The Light Fantastic (1986) by Terry Pratchett. The fantasy film was produced for Sky1 by The Mob, a small British studio, starring David Jason, Sean Astin, Tim Curry, and Christopher Lee as the voice of Death. Vadim Jean both adapted the screenplay from Pratchett's original novels, and served as director.
Terry Pratchett's The Colour of Magic was broadcast on Sky One, and in high definition on Sky 1 HD, on Easter Sunday (23 March) and 24 March 2008. The first part drew audiences of 1.5 million, with the second part attracting up to 1.1 million viewers. The film was well received by fans, but drew mixed reviews from critics, who generally praised the acting talent of the all-star cast, but criticised the film's script and direction.
The production is the second adaptation of Pratchett's novels as a live-action film, following the successful release of Hogfather on Sky 1 over Christmas 2006. A third adaptation, Going Postal, followed in 2010.
Plot
The plot of the adaptation largely follows the first two Discworld novels, The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic. The story follows the misadventures of Rincewind, a wizard who is expelled from Unseen University after spending 40 years failing to learn even the most basic magic. In fact, Rincewind's head holds one of the eight spells from the Octavo, the most powerful spellbook in the Discworld, and he has been unable to learn others because "they were afraid to be in the same head" as the Octavo spell. Rincewind is forced by the Patrician of Ankh-Morpork to act as a local guide for Twoflower, a property insurance salesman and the Discworld's first tourist, who is visiting Ankh-Morpork, and Twoflower's luggage, which is made from Sapient Pearwood and can run on its own legs.
After a misunderstanding over an insurance policy causes the owner of the inn where Twoflower and Rincewind are staying to commit arson, the pair flee the city. They proceed across the disc, encountering a variety of mythical creatures, most of which lead to near-death experiences for Rincewind. Fortunately for Rincewind, the Octavo spell in his head precludes him from actually dying, resulting in several comic encounters with Death. Meanwhile, a significant power struggle is occurring within the Unseen University. Narrator Brian Cox explains that "in the competitive world of wizardry, the way to the top is via dead men's pointy shoes... even if you have to empty them yourself". The power-hungry wizard Ymper Trymon (Tim Curry) plans to become Archchancellor. Trymon assassinates several faculty members but is thwarted by the incumbent Archchancellor, Galder Weatherwax, and his superior magical knowledge of the Octavo. Trymon knows there is no point in deposing the Archchancellor until he learns how to control the Octavo, which is growing increasingly restless as Rincewind (and the spell in his head) moves further away from Ankh-Morpork and into greater danger.
Rincewind and Twoflower are eventually washed rimwards to the kingdom of Krull, which lies on the very rim of the disc, where they are taken prisoner. The astronomers and "astrozoologists" of Krull have for many years attempted to determine the sex of Great A'Tuin, and are on the verge of launching a space vehicle to carry a pair of "chelonauts" on a new mission over the rim of the disc. Unaware of this, Rincewind and Twoflower take the place of the two chelonauts and 'escape' to the spacecraft, which they accidentally launch, catapulting them off the rim. The prospect of losing the eighth spell in this fashion prompts the Octavo to act, causing A'Tuin to perform a barrel roll to recapture Rincewind, landing the pair near the centre of the disc. Watching the Octavo's restlessness, the Archchancellor reveals his intention to use the Rite of AshkEnte to ask Death about the Octavo and also about a large red star that has recently appeared in the sky. Now knowing all he needs, Trymon throws Weatherwax from the Tower of Art and becomes Archchancellor in his place.
The red star grows steadily larger, and the worried people of Ankh-Morpork mob the Unseen University because the wizards appear unable to save the disc from it. Trymon learns from Death that all eight spells of the Octavo must be said together at the solstice to save the disc from destruction and that Great A'Tuin is flying towards the red star for a purpose that Death says is " NOTHING TO DO WITH ME.https://wiki.lspace.org/Death " Tryon dispatches a group of mercenaries, led by Herrena, to capture Rincewind and retrieve the eighth spell, along with a force of wizards. Meanwhile, Rincewind and Twoflower encounter Cohen the Barbarian (87 years old and retired), and Twoflower rescues Bethan, a human sacrifice in a druid ritual. A battle between the wizards and Rincewind leaves Twoflower in a coma; Rincewind rescues him from Death's door, and Cohen in turn rescues Rincewind and Twoflower from Herrena and the mercenaries.
The four take a ferry to Ankh-Morpork, where the populace is rioting because the star is now larger than the disc's own sun. Trymon assembles the senior wizards of the University, and orders them to unchain the Octavo. When they release the spellbook, Trymon steals it and locks the wizards in its chamber. Rincewind releases them and they follow Trymon to the top of the Tower of Art, afraid that he will attempt to say the spells and that they will destroy his mind (and the rest of the world). Trymon, however, says the first seven spells successfully and gains near-ultimate power, and turns the wizards to stone. Rincewind fights Trymon, who is eventually killed, returning the spells to the Octavo. Rincewind expunges the eighth spell from his head, completing the set, and reads the entire spellbook.
The red star is finally revealed as a world-turtle breeding ground: the Octavo spells prompt several eggs orbiting the star to hatch into juvenile discworlds, which follow Great A'Tuin as it returns to deep space. The narrator tidies up a few loose ends: the Octavo is eaten by the luggage, which Twoflower donates to Rincewind. Rincewind, now able to learn new spells with the departure of the 8th spell from his head, re-enrolls at Unseen University. Cohen and Bethan decide to get married (despite the 60 year age difference), with Cohen celebrating by commissioning some Din Chewers, made from troll's teeth (pure diamond). Twoflower presents them with a dozen gold coins as a wedding gift. Although Twoflower, who comes from the Counterweight Continent where gold is extremely common, considers this a small sum Rincewind comments that in Ankh-Morpork a dozen gold coins is enough to buy a small kingdom. Twoflower returns home on a ship and Rincewind returns to the Unseen University with the Luggage happily following.
Differences from original texts
Although the film generally remains true to the original novels, several scenes and characters were removed or merged with others to bring the script to a reasonable length. Noting that "there wasn't time for everything", the producers cut completely the scene in the Temple of Bel-Shamharoth and the associated plotline about the significance of the number eight; Director Vadim Jean defended the decision, saying "we could have gone there, but we went to the Wyrmberg instead. There [were] time constraints and we could have gone one way or the other, so we went the whole hog on just one." The scenes in the Wyrmberg were themselves shortened and simplified, reducing the character of Li!ort to a cameo and losing the characters of K!sdra, Greicha and Hrun completely.
The inter-wizard rivalry at Unseen University ("Dead Man's Pointy Shoes"), by contrast, was expanded and spread out throughout the film, while in the novels the sequences are short and mainly found in The Light Fantastic. This established Trymon as a more easily recognisable antagonist.
To avoid the necessity of explaining the deus ex machina in detail, the Octavo in the film simply causes A'Tuin to roll to recapture Rincewind, whereas in the novel, a complicated "change spell" returns him to the disc. The creatures from the Dungeon Dimensions which invade reality at the end of The Light Fantastic, and Rincewind's fight in the Dungeon Dimensions themselves, are completely omitted, and Trymon is simply driven mad by reading the Octavo spells at the end of the film version. Galder Weatherwax is also killed by Trymon in the film version, whereas, in the books, he is killed by accidentally summoning the Luggage instead of Rincewind.
In the book, Rincewind never attempted suicide, whereas in the film version, he tries to take his own life by jumping into the river Ankh. His circumstances of spotting the Luggage are additionally different: in the book he spots it while sitting in the Broken Drum, while in the film he spots it while being carried up from the River Ankh on an empty pallet.
In the book, Twoflower was toothless and wore dentures. In the film, Twoflower's teeth were his own.
Production
The adaptation was produced by The Mob, with Rod Brown, Ian Sharples, Elaine Pyke and Sarah Conroy credited as producers. Vadim Jean continued his involvement with the film as director.
Adaptation
The Colour of Magic is the second live-action adaptation of Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, following the highly successful Hogfather, which was broadcast over Christmas 2006 to an audience of 2.6 million. After the success of Hogfather, Pratchett was easily persuaded to release the rights for The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic. Vadim Jean was employed to adapt the two literary works into a three-hour, two-part screenplay. While Pratchett was given "carte blanche" to "turn up whenever [he] wanted", he was happy to see a more liberal interpretation of his first two works than he had been for Hogfather. Speaking to Sky Magazine, Pratchett said that, "There [was] not so much emotional baggage... riding on The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic. It was just this book of mine that suddenly started selling incredibly well". Jean's main challenge was to streamline the plot and remove the many tangents that are a feature of Pratchett's work, without destroying the appeal of the books. Jean said that "there [was] a real danger, with this story, that one could strip out the 'Pratchett-ness'... I had to fight to keep [it] in". Pratchett was pleased with the final script, saying "it wasn't the slaughter job I thought it would have to be", and "[we've managed] to keep the soul... it's still recognisably [the same] book".
Filming
Filming took place at Pinewood Studios for the interior scenes of the Wyrmberg, the Octavo room in the Unseen University, and for exterior shots of Ankh-Morpork and the Broken Drum. Pinewood's exterior water tank, the largest in Europe, was also employed for the scenes where Rincewind and Twoflower are washed towards the edge of the world. These sequences, as well as being the most challenging to film, were also one of the most physically exhausting for the cast. Background shots of Niagara Falls were also taken, and digitally merged with the bluescreen film shot at Pinewood, location shots taken on a river in Wales, and CGI sequences of A'Tuin and the Discworld. Digitally combining all this material together in a believable fashion was, according to Jean, "the toughest week of the shoot". All the digital effects and CGI for the film were provided by Fluid Pictures, a small digital effects group based in Soho.