Re: The Land of Stories Main Thread

[Glorfindel]

Look and weep. This is the French cover of TLoS The Wishing Spell:


x

I figure they wanted a French artist to draw the pictures, chauvinist as the French are.
But this is awful, imo. It so is not Chris' style or in the vain of the (more mature) atmosphere of the book, and I remember how meticulous and almost obsessed Chris was with getting the pictures just right. I hope they haven't changed the pictures inside the book.

[valkeakuulas]

I wonder who's the illustrator? This looks awfully lot like some of the pictures from Roald Dahl books, especially Fairy Godmother. But I agree these do not look good compared with the originals.

[MoviesAreLife]

Why on earth did they change the original cover art?!? It was beautiful and professional!

This French version looks like a little kid scribbled it out. Just awful. Maybe appropriate for a children's series....but still. Ew.

[Glorfindel]

I just realized that in this French cover they give away all the items of the wishing spell that the twins need to collect (in the circles at the top). Way to ruin an important plot and riddle.
WHY?!?

[MoviesAreLife]

The cover was such a mess that I didn't even notice at first!

[coxfire]

I figure they wanted a French artist to draw the pictures, chauvinist as the French are.

Hey, that's not entirely false, but some French people are not chauvinist, please do not generalize it to everyone, some could not take it so well !

Now, I agree that the cover is really bed, and too childlike. I am not sure the problem lies in them wanting a French artist but rather the fact that Michel LAFON (the publishing company) has some obligations regarding the artists they have to work with for the covers. Since Michel LAFON is in France the biggest publishing company, I understand that it was the best company to work with to sell the book.

[Delight]

I'm quite tickled that the French come up with their own version of the TLOS cover. Reminds me of Harry Potter, where the initial editions of the first book had covers that were so much more cartoonish and catering for young readers (I still have a copy of the one where they've illustrated the villain with the turban on the back cover; and they switched it to Dumbledore with his half-moon glassed in the later printed editions).

I agree that the original TLOS cover was done much more nicely, but this isn't too bad either (albeit a bit too 'messy'). I see Goldilocks, and that's one character I wouldn't mind seeing an illustration of.

[Glorfindel]

I figure they wanted a French artist to draw the pictures, chauvinist as the French are.

Hey, that's not entirely false, but some French people are not chauvinist, please do not generalize it to everyone, some could not take it so well !

Excusez moi!  

Now, I agree that the cover is really bed, and too childlike. I am not sure the problem lies in them wanting a French artist but rather the fact that Michel LAFON (the publishing company) has some obligations regarding the artists they have to work with for the covers. Since Michel LAFON is in France the biggest publishing company, I understand that it was the best company to work with to sell the book.

Maybe, but the same could be said for the publishing companies of the other countries that published translations for TLoS, and none of them felt the need to change the cover.
Although I fully understand TLoS1 being published by Michel Lafon is a good thing for the book.


For a lot of books exchanging the illustrations originally used might not make such a difference, especially on the cover, but for some books the original illustrations are an asset to the book, and (as we know is in the case of TLoS) handpicked and approved by the author himself to get more of his vision of the story across. That's why I hope they didn't change the illustrations inside of TLoS1 (like the sea dagger or the troll crown, of which drawings we know Chris was very meticulous about). It seems like when they do stuff like that, same with e.g. changing the title and certain names in the translation, it changes something significant in a book and removes the 'voice' of the book further away from the author.

Personally I hate the translation of the title of TLoS in the Netherlands, the only country that changed "The Land of Stories" into "Magic Land": taking away any mention of stories out of the title, when the fairytale stories are very essential in the book, ugh .
As some French are chauvinist  , some Dutch are quite stubborn, obnoxious snobbish, and at the same time very crude/disrespectful, especially when it comes to handling the artistic work of foreigners.
(Can you believe they cut out the famous almost 10 minutes long night club dancing scene + The Broadway Melody Ballet of Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse out of 'Singing in the Rain' when they aired it on tv because they thought that Gene Kelly was "showing off" his dancing too much?
Or when they translated the nightly phonecall skincare routine sentence of Kurt into "phonesex", ruining the entire punch of that innuendo.)

And that's why I prefer buying books in the land of origin and reading them in their original language, and why I prefer watching shows/movies without subtitles or dubs.
(Sorry, pet peeve, and yes, I'm quite nerdy about that. Like Chris is nerdy about the original fairytales being butchered e.g. by Disney, lol.)

[MoviesAreLife]

Or when they translated the nightly phonecall skincare routine sentence of Kurt into "phonesex", ruining the entire punch of that innuendo.)

OMG! I can't believe they did that!!  

[Glorfindel]

OMG! I can't believe they did that!!  

Yup. What a way to ruin the moment of Kurt's innocent mentioning of that and Sebastian's expression.
I facepalmed when I read that translation.



Generalizing again, but sublety is not a very common trait among the Dutch television makers.

[MoviesAreLife]

I mean...I know that translation must've been awkward for them...but Kurt does NOT seem like the type to actually say: "Yeah, I like to have phonesex with my boyfriend every night...."

[Lottie2303]

THAT is hilarious!!! I wonder how Sebastian would have reacted on screen if Kurt actually would have made that statement  .

A German TV channel once cut The Sixth Sense down and omitted an entire scene where the kid and Bruce Willis where talking about ghosts. Funnily enough, that scene was used for the television promotion. It really made no sense.

[MoviesAreLife]

THAT is hilarious!!! I wonder how Sebastian would have reacted on screen if Kurt actually would have made that statement  .

With total shock that a "princess" could talk about such things.   

[Lottie2303]

I've read too many Kurtbastian FF's that I tend to believe Sebastian would have started to fantasize about Kurt that very night  

[Glorfindel]

I mean...I know that translation must've been awkward for them...but Kurt does NOT seem like the type to actually say: "Yeah, I like to have phonesex with my boyfriend every night...."

It wasn't awkward for them, it was just stupid. They really didnt get the joke behind it and thought Kurt was legitimate talking about phonesex (which lbr: Chris or Carson probably would have, but not Kurt).
FAIL!

[MoviesAreLife]

Yes! That horndog probably would start fantasizing about Kurt soon enough.

I'll admit, I did think Kurt could've been hinting at phonesex....but he's just not the type to actually come out and say it, you know? It has to be subtle.

[Lottie2303]

It reminds me of good times when a random guy gay gave me... erm... a special kind of moisturizing tips. It actually could be misinterpreted easily    

[MoviesAreLife]

It reminds me of good times when a random guy gay gave me... erm... a special kind of moisturizing tips. It actually could be misinterpreted easily    

Do tell!

[Lottie2303]

It reminds me of good times when a random guy gay gave me... erm... a special kind of moisturizing tips. It actually could be misinterpreted easily    

Do tell!

 sperm  

[MoviesAreLife]

Eeeewwww! LOL! (goes to show you how mature I am!)

[Lottie2303]

Eeeewwww! LOL! (goes to show you how mature I am!)

The best part for me is actually I didn't know the guy, maybe talked for 2 minutes with him until that point and suddenly he gave me that advice out of nowhere.

But, yeah, actually that entire conversation could make actual sense     

[MoviesAreLife]

WTF? Why would he just randomly mention that kind of thing to you?!  

[coxfire]

I figure they wanted a French artist to draw the pictures, chauvinist as the French are.

Hey, that's not entirely false, but some French people are not chauvinist, please do not generalize it to everyone, some could not take it so well !

Excusez moi!  

I was kidding, don't worry, my compatriots do infuriate me too.  

[Lottie2303]

WTF? Why would he just randomly mention that kind of thing to you?!  

also, he was gay! So not even an awkward pick-up line. I thought it was funny.

[MoviesAreLife]

WTF? Why would he just randomly mention that kind of thing to you?!  

also, he was gay! So not even an awkward pick-up line. I thought it was funny.

Maybe he was bi and totally trying to have his way with you!  

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