Universal Pictures has released a so-called restricted trailer for an upcoming fantasy comedy movie called Your Highness. The theater release of the movie is scheduled for April 8, 2011.
It may not get up to the list of best fantasy movies but by judging by the trailer, Your Highness will be a very funny movie. And that is quite something, because humorous fantasy is a very rare phenomenon on the screen.
The movie tells the story the arrogant prince Thadeous (played by Danny McBride) and his brother, the heroic Fabious (played by James Franco) who, against their will, depart on an epic quest in order to save their father’s kingdom while falling in love wil a warrior princess (played by Natalie Portman).
HD trailer:
British author Terry Pratchett has written a large number of fantasy stories all set in a world called Discworld. Over the last few decades these Discworld novels together have formed a great fantasy series that is uncomparable to any other.
Not only are the stories brilliantly thought up and extremely funny, sir Pratchett has also written them very well. It is classic humorous fantasy as it combines high-class comedy in a world that is almost too fantastical too believe. It is fantasy making fun of fantasy: simply hilarious. Discworld itself is carried on the backs of four elephants, standing on the back of a turtle… need I say more.
Characters and themes
The stories are not all connected, although many characters and groups of characters feature in more than one story. Well-known examples of recurring (groups) of characters are Rincewind, the Wizards, the Witches, the City watch, Tiffany Aching and Death.
Many different topics and themes are discussed in the Discworld novels, from political to religious to business issues but always they are looked at from a humoristic point of view.
Novels and other works
Pratchett has written close to fourty Discworld novels so far but also many short stories and related works, like The Science of Discworld. Several of the Discworld novels, e.g. Hogfather and Going Postal, have been made into television movies.
Terry Pratchett has been diagnosed with Alzheimer but let’s hope he has many more fantastic novels to write!
Overview of the novels
1983 The Colour of Magic
1986 The Light Fantastic
1987 Equal Rites
1987 Mort
1988 Sourcery
1988 Wyrd Sisters
1989 Pyramids
1989 Guards! Guards!
1990 Eric
1990 Moving Pictures
1991 Reaper Man
1991 Witches Abroad
1992 Small Gods
1992 Lords and Ladies
1993 Men at Arms
1994 Soul Music
1994 Interesting Times
1995 Maskerade
1996 Feet of Clay
1996 Hogfather
1997 Jingo
1998 The Last Continent
1998 Carpe Jugulum
1999 The Fifth Elephant
2000 The Truth
2001 Thief of Time
2001 The Last Hero
2001 The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents
2002 Night Watch
2003 The Wee Free Men
2003 Monstrous Regiment
2004 A Hat Full of Sky
2004 Going Postal
2005 Thud!
2006 Wintersmith
2007 Making Money
2009 Unseen Academicals
2010 I Shall Wear Midnight
Sir Terence David John Pratchett, famous for wearing his black cowboy hat (and sometimes other strange hat-like creations), was born on April 28, 1948. He is extremely popular in Great Britain and also very successful around the world. Novels of his famous fantasy series Discworld have sold tens of millions of times.
Pratchett’s Discworld novels are by far the greatest example of humour in the fantasy genre. Stories by the hand of Pratchett are always brilliantly written with a lot of word puns and strange but fascinating characters, often resembling to other fictional of real persons.
Combined with well-thought-of storylines in a carefully created world, this makes for highly entertaining novels. Pratchett is not afraid to combine classic fantasy with lots of humour and modern-day political and social themes and issues.
Discworld
As mentioned above, the most famous work of Terry Pratchett is his Discworld series. Or better, the collections of novels with stories taking place in the Discworld. Over the last 25 or so years, Pratchett has written close to forty of these higly acclaimed Discworld novels with titles as Night Watch, Hogfather, Going Postal, Mort and Guards! Guards! among the most most popular and best known examples.
Allthough not being a fan of Hollywood, several of Terry Pratchett’s novels have also been made into television movies.
Sadly, Pratchett is suffering from a form of Alzheimer. We can only hope he will stay healthy and writing fit for a long time to come and will extend his Discworld empire even further.
A lot of types or genres of fantasy can be distinguished. The categorization of the genres is often not clear but vague and/ or overlapping. Also several names are used to describe the same or similar fantasy genres.
Below an overview of the main types of fantasy as I would categorize them. It is by no means a complete list of fantasy genres but I think that most people would agree that it contains the main genres and could be used to classify almost all fantasy books and series. As indicated before, the exact definition and categorization of the genres is often unclear and different views on it exist. Therefore, my interpretation of the different genres may be up for debate.
High Fantasy / Epic Fantasy
High Fantasy and Epic Fantasy are sometimes discussed as separate types but I consider them to be the same.
This type of fantasy is characterized by stories that are happening on an epic scale in a world completely different from our own. Strange beings, great battles and lots of magic.
Most of the popular fantasy series and books are part of this category with the best know example of course being The Lord of the Rings.
Heroic Fantasy
This category of fantasy almost always revolves around the typical story of a young boy who turn out to be a great hero.
It can be seen as a subgenre of high fantasy. Many if not most high fantasy stories have such elements but some books/ series completely revolve around it.
Closely related is Sword & Sorcery genre, which I consider to be a more extreme version of Heroic Fantasy. A good example of Sword & Sorcery is Robert E. Howard’s Conan the Barbarian.
Low Fantasy
Low Fantasy is probably the most vague category of fantasy. To me, Low Fantasy stories are set in a relatively normal world, containing some fantasy elements. Magic is most of the time on the background (dormant) and when it does play a role it is more subtle compared to high fantasy.
A Song of Ice & Fire I would consider to be High Fantasy, but the series also has elements of Low Fantasy as fantasy is not the main focus of the series and magic only pops up every now and then.
Historical Fantasy
Fantasy set in a historical setting, not in a thought-up fantasy world. Of course the story may not follow actual historical events but it uses a period from our past, often the Dark Ages, as the setting for a book. Fantasy elements, like dragons and wizards, are then added.
The story of King Arthur is an example of this genre.
Humorous Fantasy
Fantasy with a comedy twist. Books in this category not only contain humoristic stories set in fantasy realms but they are often also a parody or satire of “real fantasy” books, series or movies.
Several authors have picked fantasy as the setting for their humorous books with Terry Pratchett and his Discworld novels as the best-known example.
Dark Fantasy
Fantasy in which scary creatures like werewolves and vampires are the main or important characters. This type of fantasy is closely related to the horror genre which is why it is sometimes difficult to draw a line as to what is fantasy and what is not.
Examples of dark fantasy is The Dark Tower series by Stephen King, the movie Pan’s Labyrinth or the computer game Diablo.
Contemporary Fantasy
Fantasy in a modern-day setting, with the story at least partly happening in our real, contemporary world.
Clearly, the best-known example of this genre is the Harry Potter series but several popular movies and TV series are made in this genre, like the Twilight movies and the True Blood television series. The vampire theme is a modern setting is especially popular these days.
Science Fantasy
Stories that contain a mix of fantasy and science fiction elements. Often the evil side has powerful weapons while the characters on the good side are in touch with the earth or their inner selves and can use some form of magic.
One could argue that Shannara is related to this genre as the background story of this series clearly involve science. It is also a popular them for computer games, like Warhammer.
I hope this overview has created some clarity in the field of fantasy. Let me know if you have any additions or don’t agree with the distinctions made.
