I am mostly surprised this hasn’t happened already.
Brian Jacques’ beloved “Redwall” books are being adapted into a feature film and TV series thanks to a new rights deal between Netflix and Penguin Random House Children. The fantasy novels have sold 30 million copies globally and have attracted an avid following with their tales of heroism, villainy and derring do all played out by mice, moles, hares and badgers. Think J.R.R. Tolkien with cuddlier protagonists.
Although… ‘cuddlier?’ Well, okay, everybody in Middle-Earth who was a viewpoint character was also a stone-cold badass*. But I digress. It felt like I was just a little too old to read Redwall when it came out; was I mistaken?
(H/T: GeekTyrant)
Moe Lane
*I would fight you over arguing Samwise Gamgee was an exception, except I can’t believe that any of my readers would be likely to disagree.
“Sam will kill him if he tries anything.”
Yeah… physically carrying your friend *up a mountain* qualifies for a decent supply of badass points all by itself.
Anyone who thinks Sam was not a badass probably only watched the movies, and can be forgiven for that misperception because Sean Astin.
Sam wise is a simple man who knows what he wants but gets dragged in over his head. That he alone stays with Frodo through if all is a testament to the power of his simplicity. He pretty much singlehandedly takes down an elder goddess. He clears an orc fortress by himself. He then leads the cleansing of the shire. Insofar as there is anything separating him from the other members of the fellowship, it is that he alone isn’t some sort of noble who is half expected to go have adventures.
.
If it wasn’t obvious, this comment started out as a disagreement with your assessment of Sam but I talked myself out of it.
Aye, Samwise Gamgee is the hero we should all aspire to be.
He wasn’t fated, nor cursed, nor chasing fanciful dreams, nor the chosen champion of a race.
He was just a stolid Hobbit, who would much rather have been at home, with his garden and his girl.
He saw things that needed to be done, and he did them.
Because someone had to.
And he was there.
Well, there was the bit where a wizard threatened to do something to him for eavesdropping. I don’t remember how it goes in the book, but I do remember that his clippers had been quiet for quite some time.
The badgers of Salamandastron are not cuddly. Neither is Cluny and his horde of sea rats. You can love Tolkien AND Jacques. I can tell you this: Brian Jacques’ books have much, much better food.
I am really looking forward to this series!