The cartoon?

[TorryEllis]

Hey all, new guy here. Got all misty-eyed after seeing news about the game, and I've been hunting for somewhere to talk about Redwall, maybe make some new Redwall-based friends and the like. Finally found this place... So I joined.

So, does anyone remember the Redwall cartoon? I actually have it on DVD. Ain't watched it in forever, though, but I plan on it as soon as I can get someone I know to watch it with me...

[The Grey Coincidence]

Hello. I'm relatively new too. Though I'm not sure this is the place for introductions. I think its Front Lawns or something.
I've never watched the cartoon and don't feel particularly inclined to do so. I mean, the books are better, right?

[Ashleg]

Definitely!

[SoranMBane]

The cartoon was actually my introduction to the books when I was a real little kid. I liked it a lot then because I liked pretty much anything that was animated and had talking mice in it, so of course I had to go track down the books at my elementary school library.

I've even rewatched a bunch of the animated series fairly recently, and it's a real mixed bag in terms of quality. The animation can get pretty stilted and sloppy, for one, though certainly not in a way that suggests the showmakers didn't care (if you've ever seen a bad direct-to-video animated movie, then you know what "not caring" really looks like). I more get the sense that they were just working with a very small budget and time constraints. I do generally like the character designs, though. With some of the villains, it can get hard tell what they're even supposed to be (like, some of the weasels appear to have buck teeth like rats for some reason??), but most of the good guy species look spot on. Even most of the voice acting is actually pretty decent.

And as an adaptation, I think that season 1 at least is actually kind of an improvement on the book. There are some changes they made that I don't quite get (like the tapestry having prophecies on it, which seems a bit weird and unnecessary), but most of the other changes they made seem to have been for the sake of making characters more likeable, useful, and engaging. I especially love all the changes they made with Cornflower. In the book, she's just kind of The Love Interest™, and the biggest effect she really has on the plot is accidentally throwing a lamp on Cluny's siege engine. But in the animated version she has all sorts of chances to do cool stuff and to shine as a character. I can't really comment on season 2 since I haven't rewatched it all the way through (at least, except to say that Tim Curry is the most perfect person they could have chosen to play Slagar). But season 3 is definitely more of a step down from the book (though Martin the Warrior is my favourite book in the series, so they had a bigger act to follow there). It's not bad per se, since there is some stuff they did really right (like how they depicted Tramun Clogg, and how pretty Rose's Noonvale song is in the show), but they definitely missed the mark on some of the book's key moments. The tickle torture scene is also just phenomenally stupid.

So, yeah, the animated series is certainly flawed, but I'm still glad it exists. I even wish they could've done at least one more season based on Mossflower just to see how it would have turned out (and to see how they would have animated the bats).

[The Grey Coincidence]

Hmmmm, solid advertisement. XD
Personally, I only found Redwall because of Kung Fu Panda Fanfiction. I saw Marlfox's book cover and thought. Animals? An axe? MINE! And now I'm obsessed. Muhahaha!

[The Skarzs]

Lol!

Welcome, Torry! So glad you found us.

My introduction to the series was the animation as well. My grandmother taped some of it when it was showing on TV, and it has been a source of nostalgia ever since. When I got older I started noticing that in the between-breaks extras there was Brian Jacques talking about the series, and I asked my mom about the books.
Turns out, we had a few!
So started my addiction to reading. I loved the first book, discovered through friends that there were even more, and spent years amassing, reading, and rereading the books.

As many problems I see now with the animation, I cannot bring myself to dislike them because of how fond of memories they are.

[Ashleg]

That's the thing; I would probably LOVE the show if it had been a memory for me. Before the books.

But because it wasn't I just think it feels out of place.

[The Grey Coincidence]

I'm a bit curious. How does the show handle all the deaths?  I mean what with how gory the books are, how does a cartoon do it? How many gory discretion shots are they?

[The Skarzs]

There is no blood. All injuries, like arrows and spears, look like they're holding it more than . . . Wearing it. For example, Orlando in Mattimeo had an arrow stick into the wood BESIDE his paw, though he acted like it was actually pierced. Most PG way to go.

Perhaps the most gory thing would be with Asmodeus, where the shadow of Matthias cutting off his head showing, then the head falling to the ground. No blood.
Except for this little tapestry scene depicting Matthias's victory, with the beheaded snake beneath him with, I think, just a small puddle of orange-red stuff. That's it.

[MeadowR]

I think the cartoon was only slapped on at an early time of the morning over here for a brief while, and so I think I caught about one episode. A few years on I saw another episode on a channel on Sky (not sure what the direct US equivalent is - maybe just go with cable). That was some years back and I don't think they've repeated it.

Basically what I'm saying from that is that it hasn't influenced my interest in Redwall in any way. It was all about the books. If it had been shown more and in a better slot, I probably would have watched the cartoon - though I don't think it's a very good interpretation from what I have seen.

[Grond]

The cartoon was actually my introduction to the books when I was a real little kid. I liked it a lot then because I liked pretty much anything that was animated and had talking mice in it, so of course I had to go track down the books at my elementary school library.

I've even rewatched a bunch of the animated series fairly recently, and it's a real mixed bag in terms of quality. The animation can get pretty stilted and sloppy, for one, though certainly not in a way that suggests the showmakers didn't care (if you've ever seen a bad direct-to-video animated movie, then you know what "not caring" really looks like). I more get the sense that they were just working with a very small budget and time constraints. I do generally like the character designs, though. With some of the villains, it can get hard tell what they're even supposed to be (like, some of the weasels appear to have buck teeth like rats for some reason??), but most of the good guy species look spot on. Even most of the voice acting is actually pretty decent.

And as an adaptation, I think that season 1 at least is actually kind of an improvement on the book. There are some changes they made that I don't quite get (like the tapestry having prophecies on it, which seems a bit weird and unnecessary), but most of the other changes they made seem to have been for the sake of making characters more likeable, useful, and engaging. I especially love all the changes they made with Cornflower. In the book, she's just kind of The Love Interest™, and the biggest effect she really has on the plot is accidentally throwing a lamp on Cluny's siege engine. But in the animated version she has all sorts of chances to do cool stuff and to shine as a character. I can't really comment on season 2 since I haven't rewatched it all the way through (at least, except to say that Tim Curry is the most perfect person they could have chosen to play Slagar). But season 3 is definitely more of a step down from the book (though Martin the Warrior is my favourite book in the series, so they had a bigger act to follow there). It's not bad per se, since there is some stuff they did really right (like how they depicted Tramun Clogg, and how pretty Rose's Noonvale song is in the show), but they definitely missed the mark on some of the book's key moments. The tickle torture scene is also just phenomenally stupid.

So, yeah, the animated series is certainly flawed, but I'm still glad it exists. I even wish they could've done at least one more season based on Mossflower just to see how it would have turned out (and to see how they would have animated the bats).

About the animation its a series that is nearly 20 years old- obviously the graphics and so on will be a lot worse than they are today.

I also think that the first season was a big improvement on the Redwall book as it fits a lot better with the rest of the Redwall universe than the book does. I'd say season 2 was on par with the book. But yeah season 3 was somewhat below the book although they definitely didn't butcher it in my opinion.

BTW if anyone wants to watch the series or re-watch it, the entire series is on youtube (all 3 seasons and they're even organized into playlists). Just search Redwall on youtube...

[The Skarzs]

Or on other legal sites.

[Grond]

Or on other legal sites.

Sure except those sites typically require a paid membership and the bigger problem is that what content is available on them varies from country to country. For instance, some t.v. series, movies etc... that are available on the American Netflix aren't available on Netflix Canada or Netflix in European countries etc... due to differing copyright and licensing laws between countries. You can get around that by Tor Browser or using some proxy server but then again that is also technically going against copyright rules to get that content. Youtube is universal if you have access to youtube this content is available anywhere you are in the world.

[Chipster of Noonvale]

...

[LordTBT]

Or on other legal sites.

Sure except those sites typically require a paid membership and the bigger problem is that what content is available on them varies from country to country. For instance, some t.v. series, movies etc... that are available on the American Netflix aren't available on Netflix Canada or Netflix in European countries etc... due to differing copyright and licensing laws between countries. You can get around that by Tor Browser or using some proxy server but then again that is also technically going against copyright rules to get that content. Youtube is universal if you have access to youtube this content is available anywhere you are in the world.

"Except"? You make it sound like people write books, create music, and make movies, video games, and TV shows so you can watch/read/listen to their art for free.

You pay for content you're interested in so that the people responsible for making it can keep making content. Novel idea! If you want to take advantage of the internet to rip-off art, you don't have to advertise that to others.