NarniaWeb Community Forums

Anhun wrote:Where is the logic behind requiring him to have a modern Brittish accent?

"Requiring" is not the word I would use for my own opinion. Preference is a better way to put it.
Two reasons, the first is that I've found the inconsistent accents of characters up til now to be annoying and distracting. The Telmarines bothered me the most with having an Italian, a Spanish, a Mexican, and an Inigo Montoyan accent all coming from the same race. It drove me crazy. And I heard a lot of people complain about the various American, Kiwi, and Aussie accents mixed in with the primarily British accents in LWW, Maugrim in particular.
Second reason that's kind of tied in with the first... If you're going to have consistent accents, then I feel they ought to be British because Lewis was British and Narnia is kind of set in a magical, mystical, British world.

Now, having said that, IF they could have all of one particular race of people or creature have one consistent accent, I'd be totally ok with it. But thus far they haven't managed to do that, which is why I'd prefer to just stick with one accent so as not to distract from the movie.

Puddleglum is the only member of the Marshwiggle race who has any speaking lines in the series (the filmmakers may choose to show other marshwiggles in a distant wigwam or two, or possibly in a crowd scene like the coronation). He has no one to be consistent or inconsistent with.

As a side note, I've been all over the world and I would say it's more common than not to see different accents among people of the same nationality, but that's really a separate discussion, since, again, Puddleglum's on his own.

Listening to the Family Radio CD drama based on Silver Chair, I discovered that Puddleglum's character was based on a gardener he once knew as a boy, a lovely sort of man. The sort of man who probably did have a regional accent of some sort. This was one of the snippets Doug Gresham bracketed these CD's with. Even the BBC audio CD version Puddleglum had an accent, though Tom Baker's video TV version sounded neutral.

Given that Glimfeather's accent will probably imitate his general "owlishness", and without getting the Brownies and their Brown Owls into the discussion, perhaps a regional accent for Puddleglum would not go amiss.

I voted for actor with CGI enhancement. I'd still like Puddleglum to look real (think: the Goblin King in PJ's "Hobbit" movie), while I'd still like him to be a Marshwiggle, and not a human (I still loved Tom Baker as Puddleglum, though).

As for the actor to play him, I suggest Julian Richings. As a matter of fact, in this somewhat depressing news drought, my suggesting him to NarniaWeb was why I signed in just now. I saw him while watching an X-Men movie with my sister - in which he played a very minor role - and I said to her "I could see him as Puddleglum!" He isn't too well known, which for me is a plus, he has since played a reoccurring role on "Supernatural".

So, what do yinz think? Okay or awful suggestment?

waggawerewolf27 wrote:Listening to the Family Radio CD drama based on Silver Chair, I discovered that Puddleglum's character was based on a gardener he once knew as a boy, a lovely sort of man. The sort of man who probably did have a regional accent of some sort. This was one of the snippets Doug Gresham bracketed these CD's with. Even the BBC audio CD version Puddleglum had an accent, though Tom Baker's video TV version sounded neutral.

The local 'country people' accent was something like a West Country one (Somerset, Devon etc - think Sam Gamgee).
Tom Baker spoke with an RP voice [is that what you mean, Wagga?] plus a bit of his own 'character'. I doubt he knew about the Kilns' gardener.

I'm definitely in favor of a real actor with some CGI enhancements if necessary. I feel that too much CGI can overwhelm a character. The focus sometimes shifts to the effects, to the neglect of character development. I would rather have a more human looking marsh-wiggle than an animated creature that I could not relate to.

All of your actor suggestions are fantastic. My personal choice for Puddleglum is Stephen Merchant: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Merchant

I think he has the dry sense of humor and nuanced understanding of characters to pull off Puddleglum. Besides, with his physique at 6'7", you wouldn't need much CGI enhancement, and I say the less the better!

Anyway, love your suggestions. We have plenty of talented actors who could do Puddleglum justice. I think the main issue would be finding someone suitable within the limited budget.

Oooh, I really like that suggestion, Inkling! I'm surprised I hadn't thought of Merchant before, given his remarkable height. I feel like casting a comedian would ensure that Puddleglum would be more of a "cheerful pessimist" rather than a down-in-the-dumps, doom-and-gloom sort of character. He'd definitely nail the comedic side of things, but on the other hand, I do worry that he wouldn't be able to handle the depth or heart. (I haven't seen much of his work, though, so perhaps I'm selling him short.) I also worry that I won't be able to disassociate him from Wheatley, the (hilarious) character he voiced in Portal 2. But all in all, an excellent suggestion! It has real possibilities.

The Rose-Tree Dryad wrote:I feel like casting a comedian would ensure that Puddleglum would be more of a "cheerful pessimist" rather than a down-in-the-dumps, doom-and-gloom sort of character. He'd definitely nail the comedic side of things, but on the other hand, I do worry that he wouldn't be able to handle the depth or heart.

Thank you! That's exactly what I think too. The actor being able to portray the "cheerful pessimist" is really important for me. You're right that depth is a concern. I haven't seen him in a truly dramatic role, but he is absolutely able to add heart to a character. And I love him as Wheatley!

Ooh, I like that idea a lot! He seems like he could be a good choice. He's definitely tall and lanky enough to nail the look. I also really like Glumpuddle's idea of Bruce Spence, but I wonder... How old do you guys think puddleglum should be cast?

Obviously with all the facial prosthetics he's sure to be wearing the actor's age doesn't really matter THAT much, but I'm leaning more towards someone in their 40s or 50s or even late 30s than someone more elderly (Bruce Spence is almost 71!). If any other Marshwiggles end up being portrayed, I like the idea of portraying them as a bit older, with the unusually-chipper-for-a-wiggle Puddleglum being more of a "young" marshwiggle. I don't think puddleglum's age is ever mentioned anywhere in the book, but he feels to me like someone middle aged, not an old man.

How about Doug Jones? He's a very prolific character actor with more experience than just about anyone wearing crazy creature prosthetics, he's 6'5, super skinny, has a nice gaunt face, and is even a professional contortionist, which I'm sure could be used to great comedic effect at times and help give puddleglum a more frog-like and presence in general. I didn't know this before researching him a bit more just now after he popped into my head, but he is also a Christian! I think he could be a great choice. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doug_Jones_(actor)

Tom Baker is so ingrained in my head as Puddleglum, I have a really hard time picturing Puddleglum as a "cheerful pessimist." That to me is weird. I'm not saying it wouldn't work, I just can't picture it.
But I did love Wheatley in Portal 2.

Inkling wrote:You're right that depth is a concern. I haven't seen him in a truly dramatic role, but he is absolutely able to add heart to a character. And I love him as Wheatley!

It's good to know that he can add heart! I did find Wheatley to be rather endearing at times, but at the end of the day, he's an AI.

David West wrote:Ooh, I like that idea a lot! He seems like he could be a good choice. He's definitely tall and lanky enough to nail the look. I also really like Glumpuddle's idea of Bruce Spence, but I wonder... How old do you guys think puddleglum should be cast?

I've personally been leaning more towards the idea of a slightly younger Puddleglum, perhaps in the 45-ish range, but I'm all right with an older Puddleglum as well. One thing that comes to mind when we're talking about people who are older than 60, though, would be the sheer physical demands of the quest. I'd hope that he at least appears like he's in good enough health to handle a trek into the snowy wilderness.

David West wrote:How about Doug Jones? He's a very prolific character actor with more experience than just about anyone wearing crazy creature prosthetics, he's 6'5, super skinny, has a nice gaunt face, and is even a professional contortionist, which I'm sure could be used to great comedic effect at times and help give puddleglum a more frog-like and presence in general. I didn't know this before researching him a bit more just now after he popped into my head, but he is also a Christian! I think he could be a great choice. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doug_Jones_(actor)

He has a great face for a Marshwiggle! There is also a bit of a youthfulness about his features that I think would set him apart from his more serious brethren. I do wonder if he's able to do a convincing English accent, but other than that, he seems like a very good possibility!

fantasia_kitty wrote:Tom Baker is so ingrained in my head as Puddleglum, I have a really hard time picturing Puddleglum as a "cheerful pessimist." That to me is weird. I'm not saying it wouldn't work, I just can't picture it.

Puddleglum is such a delightfully difficult personality to categorize.

I don't mean cheerful so much in the sense that he relishes bad luck, although considering his reaction to meeting the Underlanders and his reasons for going on the expedition in the first place, perhaps that's not entirely off-base. Rather, he's "putting a bold face" on a bad situation, at least in his mind. Everyone else, aside from his brethren, sees him as a wet blanket, but he sees himself as an optimist. He plainly states the dismal facts and then goes right on and does his best without a second thought. So, a "cheerful pessimist" in that sense.

I do really like Tom Baker's Puddleglum, but I think his interpretation works better in a serial where there's more time for pondering speech. In the movie, I think Puddleglum will need to be a bit more energetic... still serious, obviously, but I think his lines will need to be delivered at a faster clip, just because of run time.

As I'm thinking about Puddleglum's personality, I'm reminded of the way that Lewis described the Garden in The Magician's Nephew: "it was a happy place but very serious." I think since most people don't tend to associate seriousness with happiness, Puddleglum can seem like something of a paradox. I really hope the actor is able to pull it off! *crosses fingers*

The Rose-Tree Dryad wrote:He has a great face for a Marshwiggle! There is also a bit of a youthfulness about his features that I think would set him apart from his more serious brethren. I do wonder if he's able to do a convincing English accent, but other than that, he seems like a very good possibility!

Yeah, that's definitely a concern. I actually thought Abe Sapien (Douj Jones's character in Hellboy) had a British accent, but upon going back and checking it's actually more of a stuffy mid-atlantic/old-money-easy-coast accent. I guess he was actually dubbed over in the first Hellboy by David Hyde Pierce, but in the second film Doug's performance was left fully intact.

Most of his performances seem to be in creature FX, so I do wonder how good he REALLY is as just a straight up actor, but from everything I've seen he seems to be solid, and apparently he's quite a hilarious and animated personality off camera. With a good director and a script, I think he could give an excellent performance. Even if he needed to work with a voice coach for a few months to get the accent down, I think it could be worth it. You'd definitely be hard pressed to find someone who can bring more to the role in terms of looks and physicality. I mean look at this guy... He's already practically a human frog already!

^He really does have the Marshwiggle visual down pat! When I was looking at his Wikipedia page, I saw him describe himself as a "dyed-in-the-wool Christian from the Midwest." Dyed-in-the-wool is a very good descriptor for the steadfast Puddleglum, so perhaps he could draw on his own personality in the role. As far as the voice goes, it seems like he's used to changing his voice to suit various creature roles, so perhaps doing a British accent wouldn't be too challenging.

Oh wow, I just ran across this on Google—he tweeted about interest in pursuing a role in the fourth Narnia film back in 2011!

Quick! Tweet him and tell him to get his agent to start watching for auditions.

fantasia_kitty wrote:Quick! Tweet him and tell him to get his agent to start watching for auditions.

Looks like somebody's already seen to it! So cool; I wish Mr. Jones luck!