Ideal Redwall Movie?

[T.W.]

I didn't mean that they should cut out the riddles completely, just have Matthias and Methuselah solve them faster. A couple of the riddles they spent quite a bit of time on in the book and that time could easily be consolidated into something else.

I'm not sure if you could cut out the shield since it's used to show where Martin's sword was originally kept. I guess you could completely cut that idea, though. In the book, Methuselah mentions that another told him that the Sparra had stole the sword long ago. What you could do is add a short scene in which this bird comes to Redwall, injured by Cluny's hoard, Methuselah heals him, and the bird tells them that the Sparra have the sword. Alternatively, you don't have to add anything. Warbeak told Matthias that Bull Sparra had the sword when the two first met.

To tell the truth, I'd actually like to see the series redone as a cartoon. More room for adventure! Maybe they could animate The Taggerung and The Long Patrol along the way... :P

I completely agree. I've said it before and I'll say it again, most Redwall books would work better with episodic nature of a TV series. I still think that, if Redwall were in theaters, it could serve as "pilot" and then the rest of the books could be adapted as a TV series again. You see popular movie cartoons pop up as TV series all the time now.

Of course, I'm always going to say that the best Redwall movie would have had an original plot written by Brian when he was alive.

[Mulchior Lancer]

I didn't mean that they should cut out the riddles completely, just have Matthias and Methuselah solve them faster. A couple of the riddles they spent quite a bit of time on in the book and that time could easily be consolidated into something else.

Ah, I understand now. Yes, I'd think they'd need to solve the riddles much faster for a screen adaptation.

I'm not sure if you could cut out the shield since it's used to show where Martin's sword was originally kept. I guess you could completely cut that idea, though. In the book, Methuselah mentions that another told him that the Sparra had stole the sword long ago. What you could do is add a short scene in which this bird comes to Redwall, injured by Cluny's hoard, Methuselah heals him, and the bird tells them that the Sparra have the sword. Alternatively, you don't have to add anything. Warbeak told Matthias that Bull Sparra had the sword when the two first met.

Good point. That would solve that issue. I'm not even opposed to keeping the shield. I just think it's liable to be cut since it doesn't really factor in any of the other stories (which is a shame).

I completely agree. I've said it before and I'll say it again, most Redwall books would work better with episodic nature of a TV series. I still think that, if Redwall were in theaters, it could serve as "pilot" and then the rest of the books could be adapted as a TV series again. You see popular movie cartoons pop up as TV series all the time now.

Of course, I'm always going to say that the best Redwall movie would have had an original plot written by Brian when he was alive.

No argument here that Redwall's better suited for TV. I'd love to see some of the other tales make it as shows. It's a shame that some books like Taggerung would make for an awesome show, yet chances are we'd never get to it, while Mattimeo and Martin the Warrior would most likely get made again. Not that it's a bad thing, but I want to see the other books as shows/movies, too.

And an original story for a movie would've been fantastic. Then you wouldn't have to mess around with the adaptation nonsense.

[Fuzface]

To be honest, I'd just like Studio Ghibli to do it. It probably wouldn't end up being much like the book but it'd be fantastic.

[Schröder]

Ii just remembered something that I thought of a few years ago, about how I thought ( and still do think a bit) a Redwall movie should open. Picture this:

We start out with the opening prelude thing ("it was the start of the summer of the late rose...") in a cool font, then it would fade to and from black into where the show started, Matthias tripping and Abbot's talk, maybe a bit condensed (definitely changed to match later canon) then music like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEr__dT19II
starts playing as the conversation closes and we move away from Matthias and Mortimer, through a door, around the abbey, seeing different chores being done, then around the 1:50 mark in the song, we pan to the sun, and the title appears, then the drums start beating as the title dissipates and we pan down into Mossflower Wood, where we see a dust cloud on the road. We zoom in and then at 2:15...CLUNY & Co!

[Mulchior Lancer]

I could see that working, and good choice for the music supporting the scene. Now, would the whole intro scene of Cluny be shown like from the book, or would it be just a glimpse of him coming? It could work, but I'd wonder if giving a few more minutes to establish Redwall Abbey might help ease the viewers into this new world. Still, it's never a bad thing to get the story off and running.

[Schröder]

Maybe we'd get a look around the abbey, visiting a few places along the way like the late rose or foreshadow with the weathervane as we work our way toward Matthias, closer, closer, then bump. He falls.
That would be a decent establishing shot I think, get the audience to see around the building, then after the conversation between Matthias and Mortimer, we get to see more of the place as we zoom out. That scene gives some great history, and perspective in the sense that we know where we are and what these characters are like.
Then Cluny would come in like he does in the book: suddenly and terrifying as the devil.

[Mulchior Lancer]

True, I think it's important to get Cluny out there as soon as possible. Brian always made sure his villains show up right at the beginning, sometimes even before the heroes. My inkling from writing scripts would be to introduce him a scene or two later, but I don't see why it couldn't work there. My only wish was figuring out a way to get rid of the horse, but I'm not sure if there's much of a solution for that.