Netflix picks up the adaptation rights to Redwall, a series of books about mice with swords
Aux Features Redwall
Everybody that runs a movie or TV studio has been desperate to find the next Lord Of The Rings—a ready-made, long-running series that can be turned into multiple movies or seasons of a TV show without having to do too much hard work. Disney had some success with the Chronicles Of Narnia movies, HBO had a few good years with Game Of Thrones, and Amazon is just straight-up doing Lord Of The Rings again, but now Netflix has found its own thing that has the potential to be way better than all of those combined. Because, see, they all share the same fatal flaw: They’re (mostly) about humans. They have human actors playing humans or human-like characters who generally fall within the predictable height range of human-like characters, and they all love to talk about how they don’t have tails. Boooring!
Well, get this: Netflix has just picked up the adaptation rights to Redwall, a long-running series of fantasy books that span years and years of history in a fictional world, with knights and pirates and iconic heroes going on noble quests and fighting against ruthless villains, and it all rules. (For the most part.) Oh, also, all of the characters happen to be woodland creatures. We’re talking mice with swords and badgers swinging big lances around, and again, it rules.
Variety says Netflix is planning to make both a movie and a TV show based on Brian Jacques Redwall books, with the movie focusing on the first book, Redwall, and the TV series adapting Martin The Warrior. Patrick McHale, creator of Cartoon Network’s beloved Over The Garden Wall, will be writing the movie. Three Redwall books, including these two, were previously adapted for a 1999 TV series (see below). Variety doesn’t say if Netflix has plans to adapt the remaining 20 books in the Redwall series, but it did pick up the rights to all of them, so it’s clearly keeping that door open at least.
33 Comments
I *loved* these books as a kid. I cannot remember a thing about them, but I read all of them and will definitely watch when they’re on Netflix!
Worked for the Tale of Despereaux right?
Current me: Huh, could be cool.
5th-grader me: OH FUUUUUUUUUUUCK.Bare minimum you need an entire episode dedicated to one feast, showing (and narrating) every single fucking dish. If I don’t see Deeper ‘ Ever Turnip ‘n Tater ‘n Beetroot Pie, I will write letters.
“Good news everyone — we’ve agreed to popular demand and will air the feast episode! Nothing but pictures and descriptions of food!”“Yaaaaay!”“The descriptions will be entirely in Molespeak!”“…”“Sylvester Stallone is voicing the mole!”“…this was a mistake.”
“…the frogurt is also cursed.”
Any time I hear somebody complaining about how GRRM has a habit of spending full paragraphs talking about a meal, I flash back to middle school and beginning the fourth solid page of describing what, exactly, was spread across Redwall Abbey’s table for the happy occasion at the START of the book. Later, in the midst of the action, we’d pause to get a complete breakdown of the rabbit company’s rations. And at the end of the book, you know it’s coming: another 3 page celebration feast.
I blame Tolkien, of course, for the pages-long meal descriptions in the GOT books. When the LOTR movies came out, a friend of mine was VERY disappointed in the lack of meal scenes, and the lack of Tom Bombadil.I never got into the Redwall books. I just couldn’t make the idea of mice with swords and clothing work in my mind, and that’s my fault. If they’d been out when I was a kid I think I would have loved them.
I obviously goof on the food stuff but it is very cool why it’s there — Jacques did a lot of reading to blind kids and wanted to emphasize sensory details like that.
I read a bunch of Redwall books as a kid and the extensive feast descriptions are pretty much the only thing I remember.
I’m just worried they’ll run out of source material.
If they lay off the rape, torture, and incest like that last swords-and-dragons show, I might check this out.
The third book, Mattimeo, has a lot of child slavery and more brutal deaths than the others I read, but you should be good on the rape and incest fronts. Anyway, this has a lot of potential, I haven’t seen a lot of Over The Garden Wall but I liked what I did see. Less certain about starting with the backstory but oh well.
Some of the books (Mattimeo in particular as mentioned by Miller) get DARK, but not incest dark so far as I remember. You should be good. It’s very Tolkienish in terms of what sort of mature themes it tackles.
The PBS Redwall adapted Mattimeo for their second season and even there it was pretty violent. The most brutal deaths were in shadow, but you still saw the shadow.
OK, this is NOT cool. The Redwall books are family-friendly and you’re telling me this adaptation will have, per the picture above, NUDE mice?! For shame, Netflix!
Hey, both filmed versions of Watership Down had rabbits, a dog, a cat and a bird, ALL unclothed. The humans weren’t naked, which is one of those privilege things I guess.
Man, the Netflix CEO of Tits is going to be very disappointed when he learns that most female mammals only have breasts for a few weeks after childbirth.
That will balance out his excitement at learning that many have multiple rows of breasts during those weeks
always loved looking at these book covers as a kid, never read one.loved over the garden wall, so excited to see whatever this is!
EULAAALLLLIIIIAAAAAA
Knife wielding rodents is no fantasy.It was always just a matter of time.
So how is netflix going to deal with Brian Jacques’ problematic anti-vermin stance?https://www.somethingawful.com/news/bargain-book-bin-3/And yes, to be clear, when I watched Game of Thrones I was rooting for the White Walkers. They’re dealing with an oppressive border police and centuries of anti-frost zombie sentiment.
Castle Black Lives Matter?
All wights matter!
So, are these books any good? I’ve been getting into fantasy recently, and I really like Watership Down. But, also, twenty-one books. Fuck that’s a lot.
Having not read any of them since I was about 10, I can say with confidence that they are great.
Just read the first one. It’s good, but most of them are pretty similar in structure. If you like it enough, move on to the next three or so, which are some of the best.
Thanks!
PBS did an adaptation of Redwall that I liked as a kid. Basil Stag Hare was my favorite character.
From what I know about Hollywood’s long history of twin films (even tho this is tv) I fully expect another service to adapt The Mice Templar comics at the same time.
I read a shit ton of these books when I was younger.
To the chagrin of my family, I’ll be yelling, “Logalogalogaloga!” randomly for the next few days.
I do not know anything about the books but I will definitely watch the show and film if Patrick McHale is behind them.