The Flight of Dragons: Difference between revisions

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[[File:TheFlightOfDragons.jpg|frame|"Ugh, department store seersucker, all charred with dragon exhaust."]] '''''The Flight of Dragons''''' is a [[Rankin/Bass Productions]] animated film, produced in [[The Eighties|1982]], but not aired until [[The Eighties|1986]]. It is loosely adapted from [[Gordon R Dickson]]'s fantasy novel [[The Dragon Knight|''The Dragon and the George,'']]. However, it replaces the main character with [[Peter Dickinson]], the real life author who wrote ''The Flight of Dragons'', an art book that proposes scientific reasons for the [[Here There Were Dragons|prior existence of dragons]]. Got all that?

[[File:TheFlightOfDragons.jpg|frame|"Ugh, department store seersucker, all charred with dragon exhaust."]] '''''The Flight of Dragons''''' is a [[Rankin/Bass Productions]] animated film, produced in [[The Eighties|1982]], but not aired until [[The Eighties|1986]]. It is loosely adapted from [[Gordon R. Dickson]]'s fantasy novel [[The Dragon Knight|''The Dragon and the George,'']]. However, it replaces the main character with [[Peter Dickinson]], the real life author who wrote ''The Flight of Dragons'', an art book that proposes scientific reasons for the [[Here There Were Dragons|prior existence of dragons]]. Got all that?

The film is a [[Heroic Fantasy]] in which a twentieth-century "man of science", [[Literary Agent Hypothesis|named Peter Dickinson]], [[Time Travel|travels back in time]] to defeat [[Big Bad|Ommadon]], an evil wizard who isn't happy that humans are [[Magic Versus Science|choosing science over magic]]. Due to an accident, Peter ends up [[Sharing a Body]] with a dragon and he thus has to learn about how [[Our Dragons Are Different]] in order to survive. In the end, it turns out that the [[Powers That Be]] selected Peter because they needed someone who ''wouldn't'' [[Clap Your Hands If You Believe]].

It's [[Better Than It Sounds Film|Better Than It Sounds]] -- unless you were a fan of both books before you saw it. In particular, the film features a remarkably effective voice cast: the late John Ritter is highly sympathetic as Peter, Harry Morgan an amusingly eccentric Carolinus, Victor Buono a convincingly growly Aragh, James Gregory surprisingly lovable as the elderly dragon Smrgol -- and [[James Earl Jones]] sonorous and magisterially evil as the Red Wizard Ommadon.

It's [[Better Than It Sounds/Film|Better Than It Sounds]] -- unless you were a fan of both books before you saw it. In particular, the film features a remarkably effective voice cast: the late John Ritter is highly sympathetic as Peter, Harry Morgan an amusingly eccentric Carolinus, Victor Buono a convincingly growly Aragh, James Gregory surprisingly lovable as the elderly dragon Smrgol -- and [[James Earl Jones]] sonorous and magisterially evil as the Red Wizard Ommadon.

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* [[Daddy's Girl]]: Melisande, to Carolinus. It doesn't really become evident until she's in her weird coma, at which point he calls her "my darling, darling child" and weeps copiously. Possibly the most genuinely moving scene in the whole film.

* [[Does This Remind You of Anything?]]: Peter's ''[[Title Drop|Flight of Dragons]]'' fantasy role-playing game reflects the [[Dungeons and Dragons|Dungeons & Dragons]] boom of the early [[The Eighties|Eighties]].

* [[Doing in ~~The~~ Wizard]]: Peter's specialty, and the whole reason he was chosen to lead the quest.

* [[Doing in the Wizard]]: Peter's specialty, and the whole reason he was chosen to lead the quest.

* [[Doomy Dooms of Doom]]: Invoked by Ommadon, along with a [[Title Drop]], when [http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=GB&hl=en-GB&v=rkeoqVP4N9g sending Bryagh forth] to battle the heroes.

* [[The Dragon]]: Bryagh, who is a literal dragon as well.

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** [[Ambiguously Brown|Is Solaris black? He could be Indian.]]

* [[Even the Subtitler Is Stumped]]: The closed captioning regularly confuses a dragon's ''hoard'' for a dragon's ''horn''.

* [[Everything's Better ~~With~~ Princesses]]: Princess Melisande

* [[Everything's Better with Princesses]]: Princess Melisande

* [[Evil Is Hammy]]: Ommadon.

* [[Evil Sorcerer]]: Ommadon.

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* [[Heroes Want Redheads]]: Both played straight and averted. There are two heroes, and one ends up with the redhead, and the other gets the blonde.

* [[Heroic Sacrifice]]: {{spoiler|Smrgol.}}

* [[Hey, It's That Voice!]]: Fans of [[The Seventies|Seventies]] TV will not only recognize John Ritter (Peter) as Jack Tripper from ''[[Three's Company ~~(TV)~~|Threes Company]]'', but also Harry Morgan (Carolinus) as Colonel Potter from ''[[MASH|M*A*S*H]]'' (if not as [[Dragnet|Joe Friday]]'s partner) and James Gregory (Smrgol) as Inspector Luger from ''[[Barney Miller]]'' (if not as the Gorilla General from ''[[Planet of the Apes]]''). Going back a little farther, Victor Buono (Aragh) was the villainous King Tut on ''[[Batman (TV)|Batman]]''. And need one even mention [[James Earl Jones]]?

* [[Hey, It's That Voice!]]: Fans of [[The Seventies|Seventies]] TV will not only recognize John Ritter (Peter) as Jack Tripper from ''[[Three's Company|Threes Company]]'', but also Harry Morgan (Carolinus) as Colonel Potter from ''[[MASH|M*A*S*H]]'' (if not as [[Dragnet|Joe Friday]]'s partner) and James Gregory (Smrgol) as Inspector Luger from ''[[Barney Miller]]'' (if not as the Gorilla General from ''[[Planet of the Apes]]''). Going back a little farther, Victor Buono (Aragh) was the villainous King Tut on ''[[Batman (TV series)|Batman]]''. And need one even mention [[James Earl Jones]]?

* [[I Fell for Hours]]: "Actually, it's been more like ten centuries!"

* [[Improbable Hairstyle]]: Melisande's long blonde hair is beautiful...except for the part where it looks like she's wearing gigantic seashells on either side of her head.

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* [[Missing Mom]]/[[Disappeared Dad]]: Princess Melisande's parents were killed by "the night demons" when she was a small child, resulting in her being [[Happily Adopted]] by Carolinus. No explanation is ever offered for what became of the kingdom of which she is a princess.

* [[Mordor]]: Ommadon's kingdom.

* [[New Powers As the Plot Demands]]: When Ommadon causes Carolinus to lose the ability to track the quest through one magical means, the image of his brother Lo Tae Shao appears and reminds him that Melisande has the previously unmentioned ability to do the exact same thing by entering a trance.

* [[New Powers as the Plot Demands]]: When Ommadon causes Carolinus to lose the ability to track the quest through one magical means, the image of his brother Lo Tae Shao appears and reminds him that Melisande has the previously unmentioned ability to do the exact same thing by entering a trance.

* [[Not Quite Dead]]: Averted with Aragh. He DID die drowning, but was revived by Solarius, in exchange for killing the Sandmurk queen and joining the quest.

* [[The Obi-Wan]]: Smrgol, almost exactly.

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* [[Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping]]: Sir Orrin, who clearly has never been any closer to England than Liverpool -- [[Actor Allusion|East Liverpool, Ohio]], that is.

* [[Our Dragons Are Different]]: Dragon biology is discussed rather in depth, including their need to eat limestone to generate gas, which enables them to fly and breathe fire, as well as their use of soft metal for bedding, as it will not catch fire.

* [[Plot Tailored to ~~The~~ Party]]: Each member of the group overcomes exactly one obstacle. Also, the shield and flute provided to the party by Solarius and Lo Tae Shao each fulfill exactly one function. (Well, the shield fulfills two if you count Peter selling it to the pawn shop guy at the end.)

* [[Plot Tailored to the Party]]: Each member of the group overcomes exactly one obstacle. Also, the shield and flute provided to the party by Solarius and Lo Tae Shao each fulfill exactly one function. (Well, the shield fulfills two if you count Peter selling it to the pawn shop guy at the end.)

* [[Prophecies Are Always Right]]: Peter is identified as the [[Chosen One]] to Carolinus because he somehow knows what the four magic brothers, Melisande and Gorbash looked like and made them into pieces for his board game.

* [[Puff of Logic]]

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** Thankfully, it's pretty mild. Odds are you won't notice it for a while.

* [[Take Our Word for It]]: The Sandmurks' screeches are so horrible that they will drive any listener mad. The audience never has to hear it, though, as all ''we'' hear from the Sandmurks is silence.

* [[Taking You ~~With~~ Me]]: Sir Orrin

* [[Taking You with Me]]: Sir Orrin

* [[Talking in Your Sleep]]: Melisande, during her weird coma, tells Carolinus what's going on with the quest.

* [[Talking the Monster To Death]]: Peter defeats the villain by reciting formulae and listing scientific disciplines.

* [[Talking the Monster to Death]]: Peter defeats the villain by reciting formulae and listing scientific disciplines.

* [[Time Travel]]: "Actually, it's been more like ten centuries!"

* [[Title Drop]]: Not counting the title of the book Peter wrote.

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* [[Wife Husbandry]]: As mentioned, when Sir Orrin first met Melisande when she was five and he was a fully grown adult he decided he would marry her... he changed his mind pretty quickly when the (also fully grown adult) Danielle appeared.

* [[The World Is Just Awesome]]: Peter towards the Magic Realm throughout the film, and then subverted in the ending. By denying magic, he sacrifices his only chance to remain there.

* [[World Healing Wave]]: After defeating Ommadon.

* [[World-Healing Wave]]: After defeating Ommadon.

* [[Wrong Guy First|Wrong Girl First]]: Sir Orrin's love for Melisande and desire to marry her rather conveniently disappear once Danielle joins the party.

* [[The X of Y]]