Dragonlance Movie Journal #3
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Years ago, a Japanese anime company was interested in doing Dragons of Autumn Twilight. They even sent in color art of the characters. I can still picture Raistlin with big eyes, looking about 12 years old, smiling at a small bird that had perched on his hand. Tracy said at the time that in the next scene we see Raistlin throttling the small bird. Nothing came of this. Thank goodness!
The next talk I heard of making a Dragonlance movie was a rumor that Jim Henson's Muppet company was interested. I had visions of Miss Piggy as Kitiara, Kermit as Tanis, and Gonzo as Raistlin. That deal also fell through. Purportedly, the Henson people thought Dragons of Autumn Twilight was too "macho".
Probably the worst came several years ago when I was given a script to review for Autumn Twilight. As I recall, it started off with Tanis as a berserker pirate and went down hill from there. One of the more memorable scenes was Raistlin dispensing advice to a lovelorn Tanis on how to resolve his problems with women.
Thus it was with a fast-beating heart that I sat down to read George Strayton's script for Dragons of Autumn Twilight. I was stunned, amazed, pleased! This was OUR book - the book Tracy and I had written. Yes, lots of scenes had to be cut, but the spirit and the heart of the novel are both in the script. George did a masterful job of making the necessary cuts, yet keeping the main storyline intact, while giving each of the characters a chance to shine.
