Earlier this week, Netflix released a surprise announcement that it is giving author Brian Jacques’ iconic adaptation Redwall books in a new animated film and TV franchise. Based on the children’s series of 22 books published from 1986 to 2011, the books span generations of anthropomorphic mice, rabbits, dassies and other creatures living in Redwall Abbey.
While the program was a TV series in the late ’90s, it was never adapted to the scope (or presumably the budget) of a Netflix movie. Many of us here at The edge are longtime fans of the series. Here’s how we take the news.
What were your first thoughts on a Redwall adjustment?
Chaim Gartenberg: I think my initial reaction was ‘OMG’, followed by a lot of screaming from my internal seven year old. I grew up reading the Redwall books. I remember the original was one of the first “real” books I ever read. And the whole series just has this shiny, golden spot in my memory. These are wholesome, sweet books full of daring adventures, clever riddles, and where good always triumphs over evil. What do you dislike?
Jay Peters: I was delighted when I heard the news of the Redwall remaster. As a child, I was a dedicated fan of the books for many years and devoured every new entry in the series as quickly as possible. But if I’m honest, I can ‘t tell you a single plot from a book right now. Hopefully this does not matter for the new series; as long as it contains adorable creatures in epic battles and enjoys decadent feasts, I will rejoice.
Adi Robertson: I’m partly in the same boat: I read the books religiously, but I remember very little of the real plot. They really hit the part of my brain that loved dollhouses and other miniature things. Unlike Jay and Chaim, however, I remember enjoying that they could be bloody and whimsical – we are not talking Watership off or anything, but I remember a bunch of terrible fortresses and crazy kings.
Mitchell Clark: Yes, I have to agree. While I remember books like Triss because I have light-hearted adventures, I know there were some dark things like Marlfox and parts of Salamandastron – assassins, bloodlust, the whole nine meters. As an adult and given the reputation of Netflix, I wondered if they would get into the darker parts, but I honestly hope that they will focus more on kids, and that it will inspire some of the kids to pick up the book series.
What makes Redwall a good choice for a TV show?
Jay: There’s a lot of action and heroic stories, which consistently make for a pretty good TV. I’m sure many of the characters will be vague and adoring, which will make the show even more watchable. And Netflix has a lot of source material to pull off, as there are about 1,000 books in the series.
Chaim: So many books. But part of the brilliance is that they are all (mostly) fairly independent, and adapting each one can be a project.
Mitchell: Fantasy was a lot in lately, but it is not usually aimed at children. This is a good series that contains a lot of elements that really blow your imagination, and I think it will be very nice. It can also impart a neat art style. There is always a lot of talk about tapestries and paintings in the books.
Which parts or books in the series are you most looking forward to seeing?
Russell Brandom: It’s been a good 20 years since I read these books, but two scenes stand out. First, the utter horror of Matthias, who stood against Asmodeus for the first time. Redwall hooked me like nothing else. The snake hypnotism is a great use of the central animal fantasy conceit, and the fact that Asmodeus is not the primary villain makes the encounter so much more disturbing. The second – spoilers for MosblomI think? is Tsarmina in the sinking castle at the end of the second book, a legal picture if you’re afraid of drowning, which I certainly did at the time. (Cats hate water! So true.) However, I have to wait until the Martin the Warrior forward series to see the one on screen.
Chaim: I’m hoping for a good, vague, Lord of the Rings-style weights. Please show us some Badger Lords.
Any worries about making a Redwall Show?
Mitchell: There are just so many stories, backstory and regular stories being told about the series that I hope Netflix and the creators of the program come up with a specific story that they want to tell in the universe. I’m not sure I want to see them try to tackle the whole thing. I would rather I want more than overcrowded.
Chaim: That’s a good point, but it seems like they’re starting relatively small: a movie based on the first book, and a TV series focusing on Martin the Warrior, which makes sense to me. Martin’s story is broader, spread over a number of books, while the first book is relatively independent.
Adi: I can remember that the books depend a lot on species-based morality in Tolkien style, and that’s objectively strange, and I’m not sure how the program will handle that! I would soften it by saying that I remember some good foxes or something, but the Redwall Wiki informs me that foxes are “without exception malignant vermin”, so I think that’s right.
Russell: I’m going to bring in a practical matter here. Part of the fun of the books is the imagination of this wide variety of animals that interact with friends and enemies, with rabbits, dassies, mice, crows and various obscure mustard lids that are more or less alike. But if you have to draw canonical versions of these characters, the size difference becomes an issue. Mice are just much, much smaller than crows, cats, marsupials, rats and most others Redwall antagonist.
Sword or no, even the bravest mouse cannot take down an animal more than ten times as large as possible, so the choreography of the battle scenes will be a serious problem if we stay even slightly close to the natural dimensions. But at the same time, an unmistakable sign of the series is the depiction of mice holding swords in their little mouse hands, which becomes less fun if you stray too far from the kind of photorealistic animals depicted on the classic book cover. This is a real bind!
CGI? Hand-drawn animation? lion king-sque faux live action? How would you like a Redwall show realization?
Mitchell: I hate it for being boring, but it has to be drawn by hand. I think it will work best for the fantasy environment, and although I do not need it to have the same art style as Over The Garden Wall, I want the atmosphere to be similar, if it makes sense.
Chaim: Anything but ‘realistic’ CGI. These books are … pretty violent, which I’m worried about translating really bad to a realistic style. No one needs to see a mouse kill a bunch of rats with a sword in faux-live action, especially not the family-friendly target audience.
Jay: I want to be hand-signed, but I expect CGI. Netflix, if it’s not too late: please sign the program by hand.
Russell: Given the surrealistic nature of the setup, I think they might as well get away with computer-aided 2D animation, in line with what Cartoon Saloon does. But certainly not 3D and certainly not photo-realistic. Nobody wants to see someone else lion king.
Some Deeper’n’Ever Turnip’n’Tater’n’Beetroot Pie or a Strawberry Hearty?
Mitchell: Although I do not love beets, strawberries are currently extraordinarily out of season, so rustle what carrots can you get from the cellar, ay chap?
Adi: Anything other than solidified cream, because A) the large amount of dairy food in Redwall has always asked me questions about where exactly the milk comes from in a series on humanoid animals (I vaguely remember that ‘aphid milk’ was an answer at one point?), and B) I still do not really know what it is not.
Jay: Honestly, I’ll try some of it. If the program is successful, Netflix may be able to Redwall-theme cooking program shows spin.
Adi: Anyway, Redwall Feast TikTok is going to be great.