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Post by mturtle7 on Jan 29, 2020 22:02:35 GMT
*eventually calms down from incoherent excited screaming* *starts screaming again* *eventually calms down for real this time*
Ahem...yes. Anyway. I'm still too...um...goshdarned excited to really care that much about the production studio , but I do have opinions. First of all, Magnesium Films does look rather sketchy and uncertain by itself, since it's totally new and we the public know practically nothing about it, but I'm actually willing to reserve judgement on it for precisely the same reasons. Plus, I have faith in Tom's business sense, so I don't think he'd be making a deal with these guys unless he was really sure they had good odds of succeeding.
Also, kind of like Polyhymnia, I loved the concept art but thought the "synopsis" was downright hilarious. I still can't read it without laughing a little! I mean..."near death experience"? "only chance for survival"? "stop the war? "friendship is her greatest weapon"? What is this, a gritty YA dystopia novel?! It makes it sound like she and her friends are in a death-ridden apocalyptic wasteland, constantly fighting for their lives against some Great Enemy that's out to destroy her!!!
Granted, I can see how that might sound more appealing to investors than "yeah so she's in this new school but she notices weird stuff going on every few weeks or so, and this one time she gets a concussion from falling rocks and has to go the infirmary. Oh, and in the next season, we might actually have a few fight scenes!".
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Post by Gemini Jim on Jan 29, 2020 23:12:30 GMT
I looooved the concept art...but giggled at the description. It all sounded much faster paced and less episodic than the story, more action than mystery. Still, high hopes all around! ETA: the description of the ether is accurate, if imho an unnecessary spoiler. If I were writing the description, I think I would have focused more on uncovering dark secrets and ancient lies, avoiding ensnarement in age-old rivalries, and her loyalties torn as war looms between the sinister machinations of the Court and the savage inhabitants of the forest. Something in that direction. Put war if you must, but it seems a lot more of a secrets and lies kind of story. The description is interesting. "But even as her powers grow stronger, her friendships remain her greatest weapon." |
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Post by Corvo on Jan 30, 2020 1:39:33 GMT
What I expect from that description: Techno Harriet Potter stops WW3 in future Mononoke Hime world. There are lessons about friendship and love, and some cool explosions too. Jokes aside, here's my whining analysis whining on the description (my english is boxbotish, you've been warned): 1) " Orphaned kid in a shadowy organization" sounds like a generic YA book. Plus, she's not really orphaned, but it's fine. (Not as harsh as it sounds, YA books can be cool). 2) " ...can program spiritual energy like software" kind of spoils a few elements os the story for me, like the reason behind the ether station, what is that extra part in Robot's CPU and how the old robots where able to move back in chapter 18. 3) " ...she knows that her near death experience is her only chance for survival" makes absolutely no sense to me. I'll have to break it: 3.1) " ...her near death experience": I understand that a "near death experience" is when your body literally almost died. If a bullet passes inches from your head, that's not a near death experience. I don't remember Annie having one of those, unless you count what happened in chapter Divine, but I don't buy it. 3.2) " ...is her only chance for survival" gives the impression that her life is in constant danger, which is far from being true. 3.3) " ...her near death experience is her only chance for survival": Can someone explain to me how does that even work? How is her (non-existent) near death experience, her "only chance of survival" (against what exactly?)? 3.4) " ...she knows that her near death experience is her only chance for survival": Well, this just expands a little on the above thought really. The whole thing sounds like someone was trying way too hard to come up with a catchphrase without reading the story carefully. 4) " stop the war" should be followed by " that's been building up for a few centuries now, but is not really much of a war as a slight tension and, in fact, the two sides haven't even had much contact in the last decade or so...". Apparently they think Gunnerkrigg is more of an action epic than a comic about girls getting haircuts. Personally, I don't see that much tension between the Court and the Forest until chapter 67, or maybe a little before, when Coyote flicks a building. 5) " the spirit world" sounds wrong to me somehow. Some might think it "cool", but I see it as kind of generic and giving the wrong impression about the forest? I don't know, I may be wrong. 6) " But even as her powers grow stronger, her friendships remain her greatest weapon.": It's fine, but, again, it sounds like a generic catchphrase, even if it's more accurate. The word "weapon" (in the context of this whole description) still makes me think they are trying to sell it as an epic adventure/action show though. Please keep in mind that these are just my opinions, I'm not saying I'm right. Long story short, I'd go with the original one. |
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Post by Eversist on Jan 30, 2020 2:14:04 GMT
They'll likely have to change the story a bit (or a lot) for the new medium. The near-death experience could be Rey trying to take her body (so teaming up with Rey being her "only chance for survival"). It could also be her falling off the bridge and subsequent encounter with Jeanne (so then, saving Jeanne). Part of what I love so much about GC is the general... calmness, even when there are high stakes, and The Powers That Be may think that that wouldn't play well/get viewers in an animated series. I agree the synopsis is a bit over the top.  |
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Post by madjack on Jan 30, 2020 2:18:29 GMT
I bet "near-death experience" is a bit of misdirection: She's a psychopomp, with all the experience of being near dying people and the etheric representations of death that entails.
EDIT: Welp. Qualified by Tom on SomethingAwful, it's actually a bit of both:
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Post by Gemini Jim on Jan 30, 2020 2:41:31 GMT
The first episode should be pigeons. ALL PIGEONS.
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Post by migrantworker on Jan 30, 2020 13:58:39 GMT
What I expect from that description: Techno Harriet Potter stops WW3 in future Mononoke Hime world. There are lessons about friendship and love, and some cool explosions too. Jokes aside, here's my whining analysis whining on the description (my english is boxbotish, you've been warned): 1) " Orphaned kid in a shadowy organization" sounds like a generic YA book. Plus, she's not really orphaned, but it's fine. (Not as harsh as it sounds, YA books can be cool). 2) " ...can program spiritual energy like software" kind of spoils a few elements os the story for me, like the reason behind the ether station, what is that extra part in Robot's CPU and how the old robots where able to move back in chapter 18. 3) " ...she knows that her near death experience is her only chance for survival" makes absolutely no sense to me. I'll have to break it: 3.1) " ...her near death experience": I understand that a "near death experience" is when your body literally almost died. If a bullet passes inches from your head, that's not a near death experience. I don't remember Annie having one of those, unless you count what happened in chapter Divine, but I don't buy it. 3.2) " ...is her only chance for survival" gives the impression that her life is in constant danger, which is far from being true. 3.3) " ...her near death experience is her only chance for survival": Can someone explain to me how does that even work? How is her (non-existent) near death experience, her "only chance of survival" (against what exactly?)? 3.4) " ...she knows that her near death experience is her only chance for survival": Well, this just expands a little on the above thought really. The whole thing sounds like someone was trying way too hard to come up with a catchphrase without reading the story carefully. 4) " stop the war" should be followed by " that's been building up for a few centuries now, but is not really much of a war as a slight tension and, in fact, the two sides haven't even had much contact in the last decade or so...". Apparently they think Gunnerkrigg is more of an action epic than a comic about girls getting haircuts. Personally, I don't see that much tension between the Court and the Forest until chapter 67, or maybe a little before, when Coyote flicks a building. 5) " the spirit world" sounds wrong to me somehow. Some might think it "cool", but I see it as kind of generic and giving the wrong impression about the forest? I don't know, I may be wrong. 6) " But even as her powers grow stronger, her friendships remain her greatest weapon.": It's fine, but, again, it sounds like a generic catchphrase, even if it's more accurate. The word "weapon" (in the context of this whole description) still makes me think they are trying to sell it as an epic adventure/action show though. Please keep in mind that these are just my opinions, I'm not saying I'm right. Long story short, I'd go with the original one. There may be much less to it. A comic is actually a very information-dense medium - think how many book pages would it take to convey everything that has been depicted so far. Of course you will lose a lot of that detail if you compress the whole plot into a few sentences. Also, it is just possible that Magnesium has been made privy to parts of the plot which were not published on the comic's website yet. Putting myself in their shoes, if I wanted to adapt an unfinished comic into a TV series, I would definitely want to know something about where it is ultimately headed. Oh, and this bit: - is actually a very accurate observation. Just look at who calls themselves Annie's friend: Coyote. Ysengrin. Renard. Kat. Annie (the other one). Sure she gets stronger on her own, but she would not have become what she is now without first being built up by them. |
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Post by fia on Jan 30, 2020 16:33:49 GMT
I am SO SUPER EXCITED ABOUT THIS. I hope it goes well, someone picks up the series, and that Tom gets creative say.
It doesn't have to be the exact same as the comic, but I do hope it's not a very immature or superficial take on GC. That would make me happy.
I also hope City Face gets to have little dramatic fun blurbs at the beginning or end of some episodes, like Kero-chan's Corner in Cardcaptor Sakura...................................
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Post by DonDueed on Jan 30, 2020 17:24:53 GMT
Excited? Sure, guardedly. As others have pointed out, it's a long road from concept to reality.
I wonder how the video medium would handle the very important (and fun) Treatise pages...
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Post by bedinsis on Jan 30, 2020 17:36:22 GMT
I'd describe it more as a School of Adventure that eventually morphs into a mystery. Though since the latter is a much more broadly applicable term and it describes something more akin to an emotion than a setting I don't disagree with you. I mean, something like 2/3 of what happens in this comic is straight up just slice of life. Thread was a pretty big chapter despite the fact that not much happened in it besides Kat getting a girlfriend and some causing tension in her friendship with Annie. Any story that invests a large amount of effort into its characters, their emotions and personalities will eventually have stories that boil down to "the characters hanging out". And the supernatural/super-science is present in most chapters, so while calling some of the latter chapters slice-of-life is not inaccurate I still maintain that it is more accurate to call it a school-of-adventure-story. Or maybe a coming-of-age-story. |
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Post by mturtle7 on Jan 31, 2020 4:13:59 GMT
I bet "near-death experience" is a bit of misdirection: She's a psychopomp, with all the experience of being near dying people and the etheric representations of death that entails. EDIT: Welp. Qualified by Tom on SomethingAwful, it's actually a bit of both: You know, despite the direct clarification, I'm STILL really confused about that! I mean, how is her falling off the bridge, "her only chance for survival"?! I mean, she learns some important stuff because of it (meeting Jeanne, the fairies, etc.) but the the way they're phrasing it really just makes no sense!
I stand by my belief that they just jumbled together as many death-related words as possible, in the hope of making the comic sound more exciting and action-focused.
...I do like the last sentence though, about friendship. They definitely do know what the comic's actually about, so they're didn't quite as over-the-top as they could have with all the "action and danger" stuff. That's the main reason I'm just amused by this synopsis, rather than being really angry about it.
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Post by imaginaryfriend on Jan 31, 2020 5:40:28 GMT
I consider it a win because the phrases "female Harry Potter" or "Hogwarts but it's a HUGE high-tech city" didn't appear anywhere in the description. Hoping it won't be in any high concept of any actual pitch but if that's what it takes, that's what it takes. Just in case anyone cares: Link to last previous discussion of GKC animated series that I can remember; stuff I said about the industry back then is seven years out of date, broad statements I made about the challenges of working with big vs. with small organizational structures I still stand behind. |
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Post by Polyhymnia on Jan 31, 2020 6:35:25 GMT
I’m thinking Nausicaa but not post apocalyptic. That’s how the description makes it sound—maybe cross Nausicaa with the Matrix or something. Cool but not exactly how theming were for the majority of the comic.
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Post by pyradonis on Jan 31, 2020 9:53:21 GMT
I bet "near-death experience" is a bit of misdirection: She's a psychopomp, with all the experience of being near dying people and the etheric representations of death that entails. EDIT: Welp. Qualified by Tom on SomethingAwful, it's actually a bit of both: You know, despite the direct clarification, I'm STILL really confused about that! I mean, how is her falling off the bridge, "her only chance for survival"?! I mean, she learns some important stuff because of it (meeting Jeanne, the fairies, etc.) but the the way they're phrasing it really just makes no sense! I think they mean that after that she starts to seriously investigate. Had she not done that, she might - might! - have been crushed between the powers at play here.
Also, kind of like Polyhymnia , I loved the concept art but thought the "synopsis" was downright hilarious. I still can't read it without laughing a little! I mean..."near death experience"? "only chance for survival"? "stop the war? "friendship is her greatest weapon"? What is this, a gritty YA dystopia novel?! It makes it sound like she and her friends are in a death-ridden apocalyptic wasteland, constantly fighting for their lives against some Great Enemy that's out to destroy her!!! Reading certain comments or forum posts certainly make it appear as such. I mean, the Discussion forum has 74 pages of threads, of which 25 come up when searching for the keyword "war". Pretty much for a comic which is not about war. I have read so much about impending war, all-out war, war led by Annie and Kat on different sides and final battles in the three years I have been part of this forum, that yes, sometimes I could think certain readers practically want this to be a comic about a supernatural war. |
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Post by alevice on Jan 31, 2020 12:37:35 GMT
Im worried this might be aimed as children's programming because there are quite a few not child friendly content.
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Post by Lightice on Jan 31, 2020 14:58:12 GMT
Im worried this might be aimed as children's programming because there are quite a few not child friendly content. I think you underestimate modern children's shows. Have you watched Infinity Train? There's a scene of a (non-human) man ground to death against the titular train's wheels -- and not off screen, either. Children's shows aren't as averse to death and other difficult subjects as they once were, and Gunnerkrigg Court is mostly PG, anyway. |
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Post by atteSmythe on Jan 31, 2020 15:27:39 GMT
The pitch description is supposed to include spoilers. It's what you tell your investor to let them know what they're buying, it's not how the publisher is going to sell the material to the public. This was a business press release, not consumer marketing material.
Good on you, Tom! This is fantastic news, and I hope it works out well for you. Your story deserves as much audience as you can get.
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Post by ctso74 on Jan 31, 2020 18:06:21 GMT
If this were to be a thing, I'd have 2 hopes: one is that Tom gets to maintain firm control over the story so that we don't end up in a situation where the adapted series departs hugely from the base material. I think GKC could do very well as an animated series... but I'd hope that they essentially use the existing comic as a story-board and don't screw with the plot and lore a bunch =/ The other thing is that they aren't lazy with the animation style. Among the obvious "I hope this happens because I've loved this comic for a long time", I selfishly want this to happen, if only for my voice agent to submit me for Coyote or Ysengrin... Voice talent. Animation style. Story. Those are the things that popped into my head, when I first heard about it. As for which VAs would be best, that's so subjective, but there's a lot of talent out there. New talent can still be fantastic talent. I love Miraculous Ladybug & Cat Noir(don't judge me!) and Hilda, but I don't think either animation styles would work right. Something more Avatar/Dragon Prince/Gargoyles seems more fitting. As for story, I imagine Tom will have some input(if it's made). He's been looking at what he's been writing for years. There may be spots, he wishes he could change, and now he'll have a chance. Some of it will have to change, due to it being in a different medium. As long as the characters and general feel remain the same, with the comic to go by, I imagine it will shape up right. As for general feel/mood, I'd like to bring up Gargoyles again. |
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Post by dramastix on Jan 31, 2020 19:00:58 GMT
If this does get off the ground, I’m psyched for Tom. But I do hope he has an ending in near enough sights, because, George R. R. Martin will tell you, these things catch up with you fast. It’s taken 15 years to get this far into the comic; I’m wondering if it’ll be 10 more before he nears a conclusion or if it’s so close (<5) that he feels safe making this option an actual consideration. So very much this. I mean things have been changing so much in the past few chapters that I expect an end game is nigh - and it could be a few years before an animated series actually hits the airwaves, which leaves me to think that we are finally in the last third or quarter of Annie and Kat's tale. It may be that the opportunity to option the film rights has only just recently popped up, but I'd guess that Tom wouldn't go for it if he still has a whole bunch of story to tell. Of course I've been wondering about the endgame for at least the last 2 years, so who knows? |
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Post by todd on Feb 1, 2020 0:17:22 GMT
Something more Avatar/Dragon Prince/Gargoyles seems more fitting. As for story, I imagine Tom will have some input(if it's made). He's been looking at what he's been writing for years. There may be spots, he wishes he could change, and now he'll have a chance. Some of it will have to change, due to it being in a different medium. As long as the characters and general feel remain the same, with the comic to go by, I imagine it will shape up right. As for general feel/mood, I'd like to bring up Gargoyles again. I've fond memories of "Gargoyles" as well (I brought it up when Loup's attack on the Court reminded me of Oberon trying to break into the Eyrie Building - in both cases, you've got a powerful magical being pounding on a technology-generated force field), though "Gunnerkrigg" would be (if it was true to the webcomic) less action-adventure in tone, obviously. Its leads were living medieval gargoyles re-awakened in the modern world after most of their kind were slaughtered by Viking raiders in Scotland; "Gunnerkrigg"'s leads are a couple of schoolgirls in a weird school that's really part of a "mad scientist project". |
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Post by philman on Feb 3, 2020 8:36:36 GMT
Huh, skipped over this post until I saw the poll, as I just assumed it was a fan request or idea or something.
Still, as great as this could potentially be, I'm willing to bet that this never happens, how many brand new animation studios are just started and never get past their first year?
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Post by ohthatone on Mar 12, 2021 15:23:29 GMT
Has anyone heard anything about this or did it just kind of die? I know there's a certain amount of NDA in these kinds of things but I was hoping to at least know it's still alive.
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Post by bedinsis on Mar 12, 2021 16:39:36 GMT
Some time during last year I visited magnesiumfilm.com for this very reason. I could back then see that they had expanded their list of projects, since they only had Gunnerkrigg to start with, to now include 5 projects. This year they've also made a blog post about one of their projects, but otherwise nothing can be gathered from their website. I suspect they are trying to shop around, both for potential producers that would be interested in one of the projects they are agents for and for additional projects. |
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Post by blazingstar on Mar 13, 2021 18:56:23 GMT
Has anyone heard anything about this or did it just kind of die? I know there's a certain amount of NDA in these kinds of things but I was hoping to at least know it's still alive. This past year has also been a very, very bad environment for television production companies to launch new projects, due to *waves hand to vaguely everything* all this. The GC series announcement was posted in the beginning of 2020, right before things hit the fan. There's a high chance it's experienced some setbacks. |
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Post by arf on Mar 15, 2021 7:22:21 GMT
I can imagine Leika having a go but, yeah. No surprises if it's been put on hold.
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Post by philman on Mar 15, 2021 8:43:54 GMT
I feel kind of bad about my pretty negative comment being the final one posted last year before this thread was necroed again last week... Sorry if I jinxed it!
But yeah, so many big things got put on hold last year that it doesn't surprise me that something more risky like a webcomic property was paused as well. Hopefully we'll see a rush of new things like this coming out now that things seem to be drawing to a close!
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Post by alevice on Mar 18, 2021 15:10:55 GMT
I feel kind of bad about my pretty negative comment being the final one posted last year before this thread was necroed again last week... Sorry if I jinxed it! Here we have it folks, a global pandemic was brought by a jinx caused by a negative comment about an animated adaptation of a webcomic. |
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Post by todd on May 1, 2021 2:11:57 GMT
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Post by SilverbackRon on May 1, 2021 6:18:43 GMT
Umm, yeah clearly a fabricated story. It says the series was already released in Canada in 2019, which clearly isn't true. Before I read that, I was actually getting excited as they were listing actual voice actor names for the different roles. Ashly Burch as Kat? Ok, I am on board! But the more I read I could tell this was someone's wish list. Then of course at the end they claimed it was already released and that proved it wasn't factual at all. Big disappointment! I totally don't understand the point of that wiki. Is it just a wiki where people tell make believe stories about their wishlists? I don't get it. |
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Post by todd on May 1, 2021 13:38:02 GMT
I'm as baffled as you are about it. I should take another look at that web page and the other pages connected to it, to see if it offers any clues for what the purpose of it was.
Follow-up: Having looked a bit more at the site, I suspect that it was indeed designed as an imagined "alternate world animation company". One of the other entries is for an actual animated series, "The Owl House" (which is worth watching, by the way), but described as a Kids WB production around 2000 (the actual series was created by Disney and premiered in early 2020).
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