Hogfather (2006) (TV)

Director:

Vadim Jean

Writers:

Vadim Jean (adaptation)
Terry Pratchett (novel)

Release Date:

25 November 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Fantasy | Thriller

Plot:

It's Hogswatch (equivalent to Christmas) on the Discworld and the Hogfather has gone missing, requiring Death to take his place while his granddaughter Susan endeavors to find out what has happened. |

Plot Keywords:

Discworld | Christmas | Death | Monster Under Bed | Weird Laughter

Awards:

3 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

David Jason	...	Albert
Marc Warren	...	Teatime
Michelle Dockery	...	Susan / Death of Rats
David Warner	...	Lord Downey
Tony Robinson	...	Vernon Crumley
Nigel Planer	...	Mr. Sideney
Peter Guinness	...	Medium Dave
Stephen Marcus	...	Banjo
Craig Conway	...	Chickenwire
Rhodri Meilir	...	Bilious
Sinead Matthews	...	Violet
Ian Richardson	...	Death / Narrator (voice)
Neil Pearson	...	The Raven (voice)
Nicholas Tennant	...	Corporal Nobbs
Richard Katz	...	Constable Visit

Also Known As:

Terry Pratchett's Hogfather (UK) (complete title)

Runtime:

185 min (2 parts) (DVD version) | 189 min (2 parts)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Certification:

UK:PG | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Romania

Company:

Mob Film Company, The

Trivia:

Death, voiced by Ian Richardson, utters the line "You might very well think that I'd already thought of that, but I couldn't possibly comment" - a reference to Richardson's catchphrase as Francis Urquhart in the political thriller "House of Cards" (1990) and it's sequels "To Play the King" (1993) and "The Final Cut" (1995).

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: In the last scene, when Death is looking out of the window, reflections of modern street lights can be seen on the glass.

Quotes:

Death: Humans need fantasy to *be* human. To be the place where the falling angel meets the rising ape.
Susan: With tooth fairies? Hogfathers?
Death: Yes. As practice, you have to start out learning to believe the little lies.
Susan: So we can believe the big ones?
Death: Yes. Justice, mercy, duty. That sort of thing.
Susan: They're not the same at all.
Death: You think so? Then take the universe and grind it down to the finest powder, and sieve it through the finest sieve, and then show me one atom of justice, one molecule of mercy. And yet, you try to act as if there is some ideal order in the world. As if there is some, some rightness in the universe, by which it may be judged.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Whole Hog: Making Terry Pratchett's 'Hogfather' (2006) (TV)

Hogswatch it! An excellent bit of whimsy

A very silly festive fairytale for children of all ages, with a no-nonsense (in the primmest, properest sense of the word), kick-ass heroine, set in a world that looks remarkably like ours, in a thaumaturgical, Victorian Gothic kind of way, considering it's actually a disc balanced on some elephants, which are balanced on a turtle.

'Tis the night before Hogswatch - a solar festival not dissimilar from our Christmas. But where is the Hogfather to deliver the presents? What on earth is Death doing? Just how DO you subdue the monsters in the basement with a poker? Not to mention those in the Tooth Fairy's castle. Who has been naughty and who has been nice? And can Susan save the Hogfather before it's too late? Like all the best 'children's' stories, there are a slew of adult jokes - from Ian Richardson's asides about House of Cards, to the 'Ant hill Inside' ('Intel Inside') visual jokes on the, er, 'computer' - modernity is folded subtly into this wonderfully alternate world of yore.

Good performances from the famous faces, but it is Michelle Dockery as Susan who is the highly pragmatic, utterly bewitching star of the show.

There are some nice unpatronising ruminations on the nature of belief, myth, right and wrong for those who like a moral but not entirely Christian worldview.

So - who's up for a bit of magic and believing?