Page 921…
First full day of being home. Got really NO work done…ugh.
HOpe tomorrow I can.
Thank you all for enjoying the story so far. It’s nice to be able to catch up on all the comments and such.
By the way. Remember back about a year and a half ago when I saw “Across the Universe”?
The beatles inspired movie/musical.
Well…I got to meet the producer of the movie in L.A. We talked about some other projects…
I told him how we geeked out about the movie and wanted to do a similar movie with Dreamland. Can you guys imagine an “Enchanted” or “Little Mermaid” type movie for Dreamland?
Thoughts?
Hmmm…It has potential btw great job on the story so far cant wait to read more
Three words. Thundercats. Shirt. Rules.
As far as the movie, I’m not sure how it would go in those styles. I love the digital feel of this style, and you can really meld the real and fantasy elements together this way, where I don’t think it would be as fluid in that style. It could be cool though, if you could make it work 🙂
I think it would rawk ^.^
Love the thundercats shirt too.
Nice bit of sibling rivalry/dating drama, but is anyone else wondering at the denseness of Alex. Seriously, the first thing out of my mouth to my brother on seeing him after last night’s dream would be about waking up with the medicine bag with a message for him.
I’m starting to think he lost the medicine bag. He didn’t flush it in the bathroom, did he?
I’ve been lurking about (as in I read through this comic some time last week). It’s very great. A simple, interesting story. Novel idea.
I think this would not work well in movie format. Due to the episodic quality (I’m gonna take a leap here) I think this would be much better in a television show format. Just because there is this sense of episodes, due to his whole sleep then wake up thing. There is a very clear rise and fall of tension, and regularly.
Also, you would never be able to fit so much story into one movie. You could tackle it as a series of movies, maybe?
Beats me! 🙂
Anyway, keep up the comic-creating. It’s lovely.
And why does Alex care? Does he want TWO girlfriends?
I’m gonna have to agree with Allie on this one; it’s just too long for a single movie. It would be better as a TV show in my opinion. Just so long as it doesn’t end up like Legend of the Seeker.
Leave it to Alex to cut right to the chase.
Also, I can’t see Dreamland as a Disney-like musical.
Oh suuure, because that’s the IMPORTANT question, Alex. >,<
I suppose it could always work as either a series of movies, OR a MINI-series for TV…I’m not sure how much time you’d have to use to fit everything in. But mini-series do pretty well usually. Or at least, I think so. ^///^
That is a question you really don’t want to hear the answer to, Dan.
I’d have to agree with it being better as a mini-series or series; it’s kind of like trying to fit 40 years of Spider-Man into 3 movies: It may work somewhat, but you’re still left with some unanswered questions(not to mention, how do you bring back characters that died?)
well, alex (in my opinion) simply relapses into child-mode here. kinda like the “he stole my candy” thing. 😉
it’s not about the date in particular and it doesn’t matter that he has his own girlfriend (and probably isn’t even interested in nicole anymore). what matters right now is the fact that dan got something that alex wanted. period.
he feels that he lost in some imaginary competition and to me it seems that alex is a bit of a sore loser. LOL
the bag? well, it doesn’t go anywhere. let’s resolve this issue first (alex’s thoughts, I assume). 😀
Movie would be easy, do the real world in live action, do the dream sequences in cgi/animated. Been done before, but I think it would work perfectly.
What? Why does he care about her opinion at all? She’s never been pleasant with him.
He’s got a nice lady in the dream world. Just drop it, man.
SQUEEEEEEEEE!!!!!
love the idea of a movie!!! it would be so cool, to see and hear your characters on the big screen…awesome
I loved both Little Mermaid and Enchanted. And I love Dreamland Chronicles. I don’t think the two styles would really merge right. Maybe if it was only musical while Alex was in Dreamland, it could add to the dream-like quality, but I couldn’t see Alex, Dan, or Nichole as singers in life. Sorry, but I can’t see how else it would add to the great story-telling experience you have going here.
P.S. Love the guys’ shirts.
Alex: “.. with him and not me?”
Nicole: (tousles Daniel’s hair) “Because he’s just awesome like that.”
Yeah! Enchanted is a good fit for Dreamland 😀 That way we can see him going from his -dream- state to real life.
Other movie references? I thought of brendan frasier in Monkey Bone.
alex’s shirt is the bomb diggity! Personally a musical for dreamland chronicles would be hard to imagine. It is a kid friendly book, but then again, really can’t imagine Alex dancing about with a giant sword on his back, to some Beatles song.
sure, the musical could work – but I kind of like the idea of the story as an action/adventure movie instead of heavy on the romance.
But, hey – whatever sells the project, I’m sure the public will love either.
A musical Dreamland would be the bomb. Paddington would have an excuse to do dance numbers! ^_^
As for the update: ALEX!!!!!! TACT! *headdesk*
Heh, Alex mouth, meet Alex foot. Foot, mouth.
He’s setting himself up for a really good takedown by Nicole.
Though I think Nastaija would be more amused than angry. Well, maybe exasperated.
If both she and Nicole were present I culd definitely see them look at each other and then go “Boys!”. 😛
A musical eh?
Hmm, I think Dreamland would work best as a CGI adventure film.
The musical angle would fit, but better as a separate project for the stage.
As far as the movie goes, I think it would work the Enchanted way with having some kind of animation for Dreamworld and then live-action work for Earth, but as a musical? Probably not unless it was extremely well done. Musicals for ‘family’ movies are very hit-or-miss outside of Disney. I wouldn’t do a musical unless you know that it will turn out right, and that’s hard to tell.
I am not sure what format this would be better as but I tend to lean more towards tv. You would want to make sure it doesn’t get butchard on eather format or marked as a “kiddy” show/movie. I love the way you appeal to all ages Scott. I have seen too many good things get destroyed by move to movie. Look at the Harry Potter series, after book 1 to film they started leaving stuff out (movie 3 and 4 left way too many holes), mixing it around and generally screwing it over. The superhero movies yeah they bring a new group of fans in but the hard core fans tend to find so may flaws with the movies. Epically the latest Spiderman, come on 1 villain please. Even the latest Transformers movie (though quite a fan and enjoyed the movie) they could have done with out the twins having such an obvious race and come on the very hot Megan Fox never got filthy in the desert while everyone else was covered even the bots. I should end this rant. Scott just make sure you have creative rights what ever format you end up choosing. we don’t want this one sucking.
I’d love a movie! But like others can’t see it as a musical. But if it ever happens, musical or not, I will be seeing it.
I agree that a TV show would probably be better than a movie, and while an animation might be easier for doing effects, live action would probably be better on both TV and in the theaters.
Hm….
Thanks all.
So…maybe a Dr. Horrible like series?
I would flip for a Dreamland movie. In any form! A live action movie is my dream though 😀
Now Alex, mind yer manners, boy!
Looking forward to the movie, (not so sure about the musical… maybe it would work but I have trouble envisioning it.) Either way, looking forward to hearing what the soundtrack is like. I like the music in movies almost as much as the movie itself.
Cliff hanger on every day! Dude, you rock! I want to hear what she says back!
I would love to see a Dreamland TV show or movie! I would worry about it being live action though. I fear that any studio’s budget constraints wouldn’t allow for the dreamland sets to convey the scope and awe inspiring detail that we see here in the Webcomic. I don’t see a mix working as well either. Enchanted worked because they only spent a very short time in animation at the begining. Dreamland would go back and forth too much and might appear disjointed. I love the way it looks now and your character designers have done fantastic work. Animating Dreamland in its current style would most likely get the best overall result for the story and the resulting merchandise since people wouldn’t have to try to relate to multiple versions of the same characters. Whatever you choose to do, I look forward to it.
THUNDERCATS. You just made my morning.
I think making it more like a Shrek,toy story or a Bolt type of movie would be better…. I cant see it being a musical.
There’s always a fine line to travel when going from a book or series to a film or TV series. You just cannot include all the detail, and many subplots have to go by the wayside. On the other hand, you cannot be too slavish, or it just doesn’t work.
And then there’s what they are doing to “The Seeker” by leaving out most of what makes the (novel) series unique and replacing it with the usual TV conventions, special effects, and other trash.
I hope Dreamland Chronicles can somehow avoid these pitfalls.
I can’t see Dreamland being a musical, but I do support a movie. A stand-alone, but considering how Hollywood is obsessed with sequels, I’m not sure how well that would work out. But the plot for the first should cover some good chunk of the current comic (and probably overlap books since you like to end on a cliffhanger), and then end on a good note with whatever issues resolved. Or even an original stand-alone plot that fits within the story parameters.
Maybe live-action for the real world and CGI for Dreamland, or perhaps CGI all around. The whole comic was made in CGI, even if it’ll be hard adjusting to the new style and models.
And Alex, back in December and January, you didn’t do much work, just has lunch and napped and then ran off while Dan and Nicole did research. That hurt you and helped Dan.
I think you should go to the guys in japan and have them animate it, and make it Japanese Anime style, they do good work over there. It is also a way to spread the story around the world. Go see Studio Bones, or Sunrise Entertainment, they are some of the best, hell, go see Studio Ghibli, they did Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke, this seems right up their alley!
But, then again, since it will be anime style some people will shun it…
Another theory, Get it done in full CG, like it is now, only better!
Anyways, out of time and ideas, hope i have helped!
I would looooove Dreamland as a TV series.
I love the characters the way they look now and it would be neat to see them animated.
I could see a Miyazaki/Ghibli rendition of it being absolutely incredible… I think the story emphases would change, though.
I agree with those that think a musical might be a bit much… Nothing against Disney, but they tend to over-musical good stories into stuff that my parents loved but I didn’t really care to watch as a kid (or even later as an adult), because there was way too much singing. Singing is great, but good stories are much better (and you’ve already got a fantastic one)!
Also, I feel that making it a musical would kill some of the “realism”. I know it’s a story about a magical place, but that doesn’t mean that everyone is doing song and dance numbers all the time (in my mind). Honestly speaking, I don’t think I’ve ever had a dream that included spontaneous song and dance numbers.
So I vote 100% against musical, but I do feel you could squeeze the story (at least, what we’ve got so far) into a single movie. It would go by pretty fast, since we get at most a few minutes per page here (sometimes even just a few seconds). It’d go by pretty fast, and still be quite long, but I’d certainly watch it! 🙂
My question is how Nastajia would feel about this conversation. Oh, Alex you walk a fine line indeed…
No way! Not a musical. Although I am a fan of the Disney animated musical, I do not believe the Dreamland Chronicles needs to be a musical. It seems some of the readers believe making this a musical would somehow make it more appealing or entertaining in a cinema format. The comic is spectacular by itself and it does not have singing or dancing. There are other concpets that have been adapted for a musical format (i.e. Lord of the Rings) and they have not do very well. For some heinous reason, the public has been programmed into making animated features into musicals. This is the product of simple minded trends. The first thing someone thinks of when they want to make an animated feature is to make it a musical – Why?! It is because Disney started a legacy of making musicals with Snow White. It has always been popular, so people naturally gravitate toward it when they think of animated features. There are plenty of animated features that do not have music (i.e. Incredibles, Meet the Robinsons, etc.). We do not need to put music to a story in order to predict success. The appeal in Dreamland Chronicles is its original story and concepts. I predict it can be successful as a movie or TV show by capitalizing on what it already is. I do not envision any of the characters dancing or singing in order to express their objectives or personalities, anyhow (other than Paddington, of course, with his funky chicken, waltz, etc.). In terms of a movie or TV show, I do not think the format of the comic would translate well into a movie. Kitsunewolf85 hit the nail on the head by advocating stand-alone plot. The Serenity movie did a good job of this based on the TV series. I would advocate a tv series to present the current plot and episodes. Then, as long as the audience did not have to be up-to-date on the continuity, a movie would do well as a finale or stand-alone story. CG is definitely the way to go, but Japanese anime would also work. In fact, anime has great CG work nowadays, too (i.e. Advent Children or Appleseed: Exmachina).
Personally, I can’t imagine Alex breaking into song and start twirling and dancing like they did in Enchanted and Little Mermaid. I would much rather see it as, either an animated movie, (looking identical in style to the comic,) or an animated TV series to include all the material, as others have suggested, (again, looking identical in style.)
Live action could be okay, but you would obviously have to do a lot of animating for Paddington, Kiwi, mermaids, etc. I’m not certain about the backgrounds, but it would be MUCH less expensive if they were animated. I think it would look a lot better then if all the humans were animated matching with everything else.
OR
You could animate Dreamland, and keep the real world REAL, LIVE ACTION. I think that would be really cool, in a movie, or a TV series.
I know this isn’t actually the answer to your question, (my preference would be that it’s not a musical movie, BTW,) but I thought I should mention, that I would really support Dreamland being animated. Now I thought you might have mentioned already having actors lined up, (have you mentioned this?) in which case, this comment is a waste of my time, and your time. Therefore, I apologize, if that is true.
Oh Geez, Alex. This can only end badly.
On a good note – I would totally dig a musical Dreamland movie. Or any type of Dreamland movie. It could be interpretive dance and I’d watch it. (OK wait, maybe not interpretive dance, but you get the idea.)
i agree with the enchanted style. anyone think the guy who did thing would be good for Paddingtnon? or Mr. Inconceivable for Nicodemius?
I love The Little Mermaid (My most watched Disney film by a long way), but I honestly can’t see Dreamland as a musical. It’s an altogether different type of story and I can’t think it would really be a good idea to have Nico burst into song, let alone Alex (You just KNOW he’d be a dreadful singer, don’t you?).
I think you would either need to get Pixar to create an animated version of the comic (No-one else being good enough at that style of animation, quite frankly) or do a live action version. With no singing. Sorry…
it’s not that he likes nicole anymore, its about Dan Being able to get a date when he couldn’t. which he really shouldn’t be all that surprised about.
Seriously Alex, do you really need to ask that question? xD
Truth be told, I think a Dreamland musical is a little odd sounding, but I could be pleasantly surprised :3
I loved Enchanted and The Little Mermaid, and I would love to see Dreamland as a movie or tv series. I just don’t think the two mix quite right. A musical just wouldn’t cut it for Dreamland. With the exception of Paddington, none of the characters really strike me as the type to burst into a choreographed song and dance routine. I would love to see this in CG or anime. Live action could work, but it would be a bit of a stretch to relating an actor to the CG characters we know and love. A Beowulf type CG would be a good compromise between the two. One way or another, I will definately be watching it.
I don’t thing a musical would be right for Dreamland either, it would just be sappy (not that I have a thing against musicals). CG animation sound awesome and it would definitely be a hit, since the comic is already CG made. And anime would be awesome too though, with dramatic scenes and lots of action , I wish I could have both :). I think the Real-action awake/CG Animation while asleep would work, and a live action movie could be pulled off as well but it probably be better off animated CG or Anime. Also what about licensing with the movie? Will Target be flooded with stuffed toys of every single character? That would kinda be a rip-off for all the people the traveled to San Diego. But whatever you decide, I’M BUYING A MOVIE TICKET! :DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD
(or watching TV show) I also like the idea that Kitsunewolf85 had about a stand-alone plot as well.
I think tailman hit it right on the money about Alex and Dan. Don’t forget, Alex assumes that he is osmewhat of a ladies man, he hit on two mermaids as soon as he got in Dreamland for Peet’s sake! Can’t wait to see how Nicole will burn him next strip!
Cheers to all :).
Well, Paddington is in and of himself a musical number, so you can get it in that way. In all seriousness though, reading the series and comparing it to average dialogue speed, the entire series could well be 2 or 3 feature length pieces word for word to the comic.
I think that you can do what most people would do, overspecialize, overfocus on one group, make a lot of money right now. Or you could do the sane thing nobody does because we live in a passionless world – make a strong, open to everyone, film, let it come out to warm, not hot release, and let it build up fan base indefinitely. Essentially a garden hose forever instead of a swimming pool all at once now.
As for comic. A) Alex, you’re essentially already committed to Nastajia in a weird way that basically means to be with her you have to be dead… Even if you dream about her every night for the rest of your life, Humans don’t live as long as elves… Okay, my A) got shot down… B) Underpants, and C) Losing the medicine bag is entirely too cliché for Scott.
alex needs slapped, again and again and again. everytime he opens his mouth, you just wanna punch him, seriously did he forget about the girl he just left behind…. only to get annoyed that “one” turned him down.
Selfish, arrogant, annoying, self-centered… he’s everything i hate about humanity.
Gahhh, It would probably not really me musicals for me. Maybe as an extra feature on the DVD, that’d be the shiznat.
+1 to no musicals, though I like the idea of some Paddington dances as a DVD extra …
+1 also to either all CG or CG in Dreamland and Live Action in the Waking World
> Just so long as it doesn’t end up like Legend of the Seeker.
Amen! I’ve been watching that series, and it’s not horrible, but it IS a terrible disappointment if you’ve read the books. I often find myself thinking, “which book was that in? None of them, I think … ”
Of course, the books weren’t perfect either; the first several kind of retreaded the same plot over and over …
Anyhoo … Alex is just suffering from a blow to his pride; hopefully he will recover quickly and move on to the medicine bag business.
🙂
I second an idea I liked; if a movie is made, why not make it a side-story that expands the comic’s world, rather than an adaptation?
I was about to say..”classy” ;p
I’ll take all compliments directed at the Thundercats shirt personally… due to owning one myself…. >_>
Dan is fortunate that Alex went right into questioning Nicole so he never had to explain what it is he has and Alex doesn’t from before he fell off the chair.