Legend of Earthsea

Infobox Film
name = Legend of Earthsea
director =
producer = Hallmark Entertainment
Bender-Brown Productions
writer = Ursula K. Le Guin "(novels)"
Gavin Scott "(teleplay)"
starring = Shawn Ashmore
Kristen Kreuk
Danny Glover
Isabella Rossellini
Sebastian Roché
Chris Gauthier
music = Jeff Rona
cinematography = Steve Danyluk
editing = Allan Lee
distributor = The Sci-Fi Channel
released = 13 December, 2004
runtime = 90 mins
country = United States
language = English
website = http://www.scifi.com/earthsea/
amg_id =
imdb_id = 0407384

"Legend of Earthsea" is a miniseries (later shortened to "Earthsea"), adapted quite loosely from the award-winning Earthsea novels by Ursula K. Le Guin. It premiered as a two-night television event on the Sci-Fi Channel in December 2004.

Plot

This fantasy follows the tale of a reckless youth destined to become the greatest sorcerer that the world of Earthsea has ever known. When the difficult and rebellious Ged discovers the extent of his magical powers, he seeks to master the ancient arts — and his own impulses as well. As he journeys to manhood, he will combat dragons, fall in love, cross death's threshold and ultimately wield the power to reunite a planet.

Characters

* Ged (Shawn Ashmore) - young mage-in-training.
* Tenar (Kristin Kreuk) - priestess.
* High Priestess Thar (Isabella Rossellini)
* Ogion (Danny Glover) - Master Wizard.
* King Tygath (Sebastian Roché)
* Kossil (Jennifer Calvert)
* Vetch (Chris Gauthier)
* Jasper (Mark Hildreth)
* Archmagus (Alan Scarfe)
* The Gebbeth (Mark Acheson) - The nameless one that comes after Ged. A cast-off being
* Dunian (Dave 'Squacth' Ward) - Ged's Father.
* Lady Elfarren (Amanda Tapping)

Production

The series was produced by Hallmark Entertainment in association with Bender-Brown Productions. It was adapted by Gavin Scott ("The Mists of Avalon") from the Earthsea novels for executive producers Robert Halmi, Sr. ("Merlin, Gulliver's Travels, Animal Farm"), Lawrence Bender ("Kill Bill, Pulp Fiction") and Kevin Kelly Brown ("Roswell"). The series was filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Author's Response

Le Guin, author of the novels on which the miniseries is based, was not involved in the development of the material or the making of the production. She has written a number of responses to the handling of this adaptation of her works, including [http://slate.com/id/2111107/ "A Whitewashed Earthsea"] and [http://locusmag.com/2005/Issues/01LeGuin.html "Frankenstein's Earthsea"] .

Also, after the series aired she made the now-famous public statement, "The SCI-FI CHANNEL ruined my books!"Fact|date=September 2008, the Sci Fi Channel tried to play down Le Guin's negative comments on their websiteFact|date=September 2008.

References

*
* [http://slate.com/id/2111107/ A Whitewashed Earthsea]
* [http://locusmag.com/2005/Issues/01LeGuin.html Urusla K. Le Guin: Earthsea essay]
* [http://www.ursulakleguin.com/Earthsea.html Ursula K. Le Guin: Earthsea]
* [http://www.scifi.com/earthsea/ Official website] for the miniseries hosted by the Sci Fi Channel