The ElfQuest Movie of 1994 / 1995.

So I recently went through the entire 1994 and 1995 story boards...

And, got to say - maybe because I hold the original quest in such high regards (easily one of my top 5 comic runs)... I didn't like some of the changes they made.

The 1994 is pretty rough, in my view. They pretty much make Rayek the irredeemable villain; rather than just the egotistical jerk he is in the comics (he literally tells the trolls to kill Cutter and bury him under a landslide). Rayek becomes the king of the trolls in this; which is also odd. This takes away from Picknose having his moment in the sun. The entire thing also just puts Leetah as the maiden in distress.

The 1995 version is very similar; other than it starts with Winnowill being the reason the Palace crashes (inciting the troll rebellion...?). And here it veers slightly from 1994 - same situation, where Picknose is forced to go with the Wolfriders, and Rayek attacks him later to use him; but now it's Winnowill who is the king of the trolls, but Rayek is still irredeemable as well.

I am not sure why the first movie, wouldn't just stick very close to the first six issues of the original series, ending with the birth of Ember and Suntop.

And if it did well, make the next movie issues 7 to 14 (with Winnowill's defeat). And then the final movie, if it got to be a trilogy the all out war seen between 15 (death of Voll) to 20.

What were your thoughts on the 1994/1995 storyboards?

It reminds me of a simplified children TV show rather than a movie. A "black and white" story and "black and white" cardboard characters - the good good hero, the bad bad villian, the maiden in distress - and  a very limited number of fleshed out characters anyway.

The Troll King/Queen Elves were just annoying for me - I'd almost forgotten that it was twisted this way. Well working repression. XD

Hm ... they've probably wanted a new story for the movie? Simpler, "more action" and other than the "old boring" well known storyline? Maybe this was considered a "successful movie plot" in the 90s? If so it did not work out well. And it doesn't excuse the deformation of Rayek's and Winnowill's characters and of the Trolls' "disenfranchisement". Why should they need an elfin leader at all?

I like your chapter suggestion for a trilogy, Tymber. Yet I'm afraid that every movie would feel rushed and "character reduced" to make it possible at all.

Id not seen the 1994 storyboards, I think Id seen the other one (95, Im guesing, will read it in a moment and see if it was the musical)

As far as the 94 one... Wheres the actual "quest"? As Em said, its got the traditional, worn out white knight vs dark knight damsel in destress, secondary characters dragged along with little regard, and big fight scene at the end, pretty cookie cutter, and you could stick about any disney or warner brothers cartoon character in place of any character and it wouldnt change much.  Theres no "elves" "questing" outside of the hero plodding along in a worn out plot-fit (outfitted in the finest standard plot armor) and very little that makes EQ unique (which is, in my opinion, pretty much the only reason to make a new movie about anything already in other media: to introduce watever unique combination of tropes that makes you feel something new)

The only thing elfquesty feeling in it was the Recognition, which felt just a a shade more EQ than "love at first sight".

The first act and beginning of the first part of the second act was, to me, pretty much the comics reformatted into a storyboard. And while Id rather see any bit of EQ in action on the screen, I have to wonder if a little fresher angle on it might be ok... Not a change in the story, or events, but... Those cliff walls and still pretry much a textured plaster wall, bulldozed Sahara desert, "its a forest" trees, "the wolves are walking" shamble across the desert in a straight line (aimless and reasonless btw, only taking a direction after skywise plays with the lodestone AFTER walking aimlessly for hours.... Seems like that would have gone against every survival instinct a wolfrider would have had, and would make it impossible to return where you came from. (No, I didnt read the panels, was kind of skipping passed after Picknose didnt get away and they skipped the lodestone/skywise being trusted by cutter over staying put...

I get why they didnt have Savah and Greymung in the story, saving money on "throwaway" characters that would have to be voiced for one or two lines. I dont get the last half at all. Theres no quest for finding other tribes, no quest for finding the Palace, not even side quests involving two edge or whatever (I know, extra characters, just making a point).

The biggest thing it leaves me wondering is how it would have linked around to the original story to make sense? Though it doesnt preclue a second being "blue mountain" and a third being "the palace" theres no lead up or tie in that I could see.

Oh WOW! I didn`t knew these many pictures existed, I spend the whole time looking at every panel after finding this thread! SOOOOO MANY WENDY DRAWINGS ,OOOOOOOHMG-SHIT HOWCOOLISTHAT?    Momentarily I'm at the level of a preserver, fluttering around in a totally excited state.
So much for the pictures:

I must thank you Tymber , for showing  these drawn treasures, they are beautiful even if drawn  in rough form. i take everything elfquesty from wendy ...

storys as seen of a Rayek-fan: Ok, they are mostly  Disney movies  with all that singing (yup it is black and white storytelling) and  (in the 1st movie) I hear Rayek  sing the song of the bad lion from the Lion Kings movie: "Be prepared!"    Rayek is the evil Lion addressing the trolls (Hyenas).

Btw. I would love to hear Rayeks songs from both scripts.

Rayek as Troll king : OMG what should I say, either: "this is something ridiculous, no Troll would accept an elf king" , or: Oooh , OHMYGOSH!  Rayek, you? King of the Trolls? oh, i'll melt away when you say that ... !
Fortunately, he stays alive in both film scripts, but that's close.
He is far more an arsehole than in the comics. Wow, in this script he has the potential for an insane. I think I love that  dirty bastard even more than before, I can`t help it.      Always was fan of the baddies.    the meaner, the better.

I would simply rate the two scripts as Alternate Universe worldpool storys, then everything looks much funnier and more interesting. Do with it as you please.
After all, we know that this film won't exist and we don't care about it. Ok, I do, I like the first version, ha (dirty laughs). I could just hijack this story and spin an old Go Back character of mine into it (after making a few changes to her). Ah and my head cinema has already rewritten the story from where Rayek invades the troll underworld, and spun it into the future.... yummy!  (But that doesn`t belong here , so i will stop now)

Yeee wrote:

I would simply rate the two scripts as Alternate Universe worldpool storys, then everything looks much funnier and more interesting.

Sounds like you got a belated Christmas gift, Yeee!

YES! I have , thanx so much for it I am melting away, ooooooooohhhhhhhh! ...and swooning!

Then write it @Yeee!
Whenever it I see
Ill read it with glee
Oh what fun that will be!

But I wonder
What happened to the thunder
The Warner Brother blunder
Will that storyboard be discovered?

Wow, great rhyming! Well, I write less because I don't speak English. But you can find my first drawn thoughts of invading the AU Worldpool story Disney movie from 1994 with a fierce Go Back. Take a look into my sketchbook because I don`t think it belongs here.

"But I wonder
What happened to the thunder
The Warner Brother blunder
Will that storyboard be discovered?"

If yes , I want to take a look after that storyboard too, yummy yummy...

I just finished skimming through the 1995 one, and like it more than V1, but didnt see Rayak singing to the trolls in the canyon.... Cant remember which one that was. Regardless, V2 had more of a questy feel, though I still dont knkw how much "musical" works with EQ in that way. Maybe a few songs as a tribe in the calm, a solo by a drunken pike or picknose? Picknose had a song but Im not seeing that work even as wellas oompa loompas interrupting the movie... Its hard to figure out how to add culture to anstory without narrating exposition through musicals... Hmm...

Anyway, thanks for bringing this back into the limelight, Tymber, its fun, and gave me many images of the trolls to play with!

Embala wrote:

It reminds me of a simplified children TV show rather than a movie. A "black and white" story and "black and white" cardboard characters - the good good hero, the bad bad villian, the maiden in distress - and  a very limited number of fleshed out characters anyway.

Exactly. I wonder if they were told to keep it "simplified" by executives, or if this was their choice. Because Wendy and Richard have always come off pretty strict about how ElfQuest is portrayed. So it would shock me if they -
1. Bent the knee to some production/director order.
2. If this was their idea for the movie, without any outside input.

Embala wrote:

The Troll King/Queen Elves were just annoying for me - I'd almost forgotten that it was twisted this way. Well working repression. XD

Agreed again; because of how they betrayed Cutter and crew, who they at least KNEW (from Bearclaw, even seems to have a knowing relationship in this script when Picknose opens the door). I can't see why the trolls would just bent the knee to another elf. Rayek, at least we get to see he captures Picknose and uses him. In the second version, Winnowill is just there - no explaining how she got there when we saw her in the opening at the Palace. Makes even less sense.

Embala wrote:

I like your chapter suggestion for a trilogy, Tymber. Yet I'm afraid that every movie would feel rushed and "character reduced" to make it possible at all.

Oh. We'd never get the quality in a movie that you see in a book or comic, because it's always simplified and changed. Certain characters would just fall to the background more. But with the 94/95, it was pretty much just Cutter, Rayek and Leetah. Everyone else was just ... there. No development or personality at all. You don't get the feel of Skywise and Cutter's depth of Friendship. Sure, these are stills - and that there'd be dialogue between them to flesh this out - but as a pitch, it feels weak.

TrollHammer wrote:

Id not seen the 1994 storyboards, I think Id seen the other one (95, Im guesing, will read it in a moment and see if it was the musical)

There is mention of some "music" - but mostly the wolfriders humming/singing in the troll caves - which I would hope would sound something like the Dwarves when they sang Misty Mountains in The Hobbit.

TrollHammer wrote:

Theres no "elves" "questing" outside of the hero plodding along in a worn out plot-fit (outfitted in the finest standard plot armor) and very little that makes EQ unique (which is, in my opinion, pretty much the only reason to make a new movie about anything already in other media: to introduce watever unique combination of tropes that makes you feel something new)

Especially when Richard commented why there's no half-elves. Already been done to death, it's boring.

TrollHammer wrote:

I get why they didnt have Savah and Greymung in the story, saving money on "throwaway" characters that would have to be voiced for one or two lines. I dont get the last half at all. Theres no quest for finding other tribes, no quest for finding the Palace, not even side quests involving two edge or whatever (I know, extra characters, just making a point).

See, if I would have gone the route they did - I would have used Greymung as the King (and the one to bark the command at Picknose; and if Picknose was to be trapped with the elves - go into Picknose's resentment towards this being Greymung's fault and he wants to get back at him) - so that when Rayek approaches Picknose, you could have just had them have a conversation about how Picknose wants to get back at Greymung so he'd help Rayek find a way back. And I'd have used Savah to explain the origin of the High Ones in more depth and how maybe she was one, and that they all ran from the humans and did whatever it took to survive. And have her say, "I sense the blood of the high ones in you all - but it's tainted with wolf blood." Boom. Mystery for the wolfriders, leaving viewers wanting more.

TrollHammer wrote:

The biggest thing it leaves me wondering is how it would have linked around to the original story to make sense? Though it doesnt preclue a second being "blue mountain" and a third being "the palace" theres no lead up or tie in that I could see.

There is none.

Yeee wrote:

Oh WOW! I didn`t knew these many pictures existed, I spend the whole time looking at every panel after finding this thread! SOOOOO MANY WENDY DRAWINGS ,OOOOOOOHMG-SHIT HOWCOOLISTHAT?    Momentarily I'm at the level of a preserver, fluttering around in a totally excited state.
So much for the pictures:
I must thank you Tymber , for showing  these drawn treasures, they are beautiful even if drawn  in rough form. i take everything elfquesty from wendy ...

Glad to share something!

Yeee wrote:

Rayek as Troll king : OMG what should I say, either: "this is something ridiculous, no Troll would accept an elf king" , or: Oooh , OHMYGOSH!  Rayek, you? King of the Trolls? oh, i'll melt away when you say that ... !
Fortunately, he stays alive in both film scripts, but that's close.
He is far more an arsehole than in the comics. Wow, in this script he has the potential for an insane. I think I love that  dirty bastard even more than before, I can`t help it.      Always was fan of the baddies.    the meaner, the better.

Well, you'd love what they would have given us then, had either of these seen the light. Because they sure do make Rayek out to be an arse (and literally for no real reason other than petty jealousy - but he went way to the extreme).

Yeee wrote:

After all, we know that this film won't exist and we don't care about it.

Well, yes - they don't exist. But these were pitched as legitimate movies. They COULD have been released.

This thread made me flip through some of the other stuff in the miscellaneous section and found the Xanth graphic novel. I dont know anything about the xanth series otger than heard of it, but that graphic novel appears to be in the same art style as the Jink! series (which i like for some reason), and is quite funny in a way I like. It references a second issue, is it done by someone else, or was it never completed?

Tymber wrote:

See, if I would have gone the route they did - I would have used Greymung as the King (and the one to bark the command at Picknose; and if Picknose was to be trapped with the elves - go into Picknose's resentment towards this being Greymung's fault and he wants to get back at him) - so that when Rayek approaches Picknose, you could have just had them have a conversation about how Picknose wants to get back at Greymung so he'd help Rayek find a way back. And I'd have used Savah to explain the origin of the High Ones in more depth and how maybe she was one, and that they all ran from the humans and did whatever it took to survive. And have her say, "I sense the blood of the high ones in you all - but it's tainted with wolf blood." Boom. Mystery for the wolfriders, leaving viewers wanting more.

See, I like that idea. It still calls from standard tropes but flows better and makes more sense to have Picknose jaded by both his own king and be more willing to follow someone who he percieved as an ally. Could even go with the trope of "well, they are both scoundrels, and they are using each other, but they work together untill each gets what they want". It kind of makes you wonder what W&P's working dynamic is: was wendy so busy making storyboards she didnt put time into the actual story? Did R write the story and put his spin on it? Was it just a quick draft and they figured "meh, we'll get something thrown together for now and work out the kinks later"? I know other movies that went through years of rewrites and came out completely different than pitched, and after 25 some odd years we probably would never get the full story. Its interesting to study, though.

Sorry for the double post... I figure if this needs to be split into uts own thread, though, Id make it easy.

If I may, @Tymber (and all else), if we were given a blank script and asked what we would want to see put on the screen as something Elf Quest themed (trying to keep all other constraints as open as possible), what would YOU want to see?

"Because they sure do make Rayek out to be an arse (and literally for no real reason other than petty jealousy - but he went way to the extreme)."

Oh yes, well ok some people react crazily jealous, and commit murder because of it. Rayek goes this psycho - path (lol what word combination) and looses every good sense. He goes so nuts, he needs protection from himself (and others need protection from him). that he's so crazy and goes to the trolls without any cover. It's a miracle that there is only one person trying to lynch him in story 1.

But I see now, where I would place my own OC into this weird story (1): She would enter unknown to the reader before chapter 2b. When the chapter starts, time has passed since end of the previous chapter. I would let her appear right after page 173, when the Troll assassin tries to kill Rayek.
@Trollhammer : see, my first try. But my storytelling is more drawn than written, that`s why everything takes so long or is more fragmented.

"if we were given a blank script and asked what we would want to see put on the screen as something Elf Quest themed (trying to keep all other constraints as open as possible), what would YOU want to see?"
I want to see: 1. Rayek, so the scripts as crazy as they are, are a start.
2. The High Ones Palace crashlanding story "How shall I keep from singing"
3. Rayek again: this time with an END to "rogues curse" (hopefully he doesn`t die, but that might happen.), not that shitty open end, what they gave us
4. Kings of the broken wheel, because of all that thrill and the devastation.
5. the palace war, because it`s so cool!

TrollHammer wrote:

Sorry for the double post... I figure if this needs to be split into uts own thread, though, Id make it easy.

If I may, @Tymber (and all else), if we were given a blank script and asked what we would want to see put on the screen as something Elf Quest themed (trying to keep all other constraints as open as possible), what would YOU want to see?

Hah - did you make a new post? Did someone merge it back into this one? You mention splitting it? I don't mind.

My script would follow very close to what we see in the Original Quest.

Starts with a Palace screaming towards the world - doing quick cuts - showing Palace falling/going inside, seeing everyone panicking - yelling at the Preservers ("Fairies") to wrap them up/Palace falling/inside/until impact into a mountain where we see the Palace remains intact, but causes a crater. Show seasons pass, rocks collapse, snow comes, and the Palace is slowly buried.

This is all done in about 3 minutes of film time.

Cut to inside the Palace, and one of the Elves breaks out of the webbing; tearing it away. Looks around to see others in webbing. Tears it open and together they head outside. They're greeted by cave men (why, in the OG did it look like the Palace crashed next to a forest but in reality at the end of OG it's dead center in a mountain? My script would make it so it was always a damn mountain). The cave men react as they did in the comic and begin slaughtering - and so a few escape, and see wild life, imitating wolves and bears, to quickly confuse the humans and thus easily escape.

Show the humans sitting around the Palace, show a scene with coming and going seasons, very rapidly - and slowly see the humans evolve into what we see the followers of Gotra (sp?) look like. Pan across the map, while doing this - zooming through the world with a first person perspective - along the land, woods, rivers, lakes - until it stops just above the holt - And we see an elf trapped - Redlance - and see Cutter and Skywise watching. We see Cutter touch his forehead and mentally call the others (to show they're capable of telepathic communication that EQ fans will know as Sending). They rush in and rescue Redlance but the human shaman shouts to burn them out of the woods and immediately set fire.

The elves flee to the trolls - who look like the same trolls we saw inside the Palace, running around, just bigger, stronger.

They explain what has happened - and Greymung says he knows of a wooded area - tells Picknose to lead them. And it follows end of issue #1, and into #2 - where he betrays them and traps them. The elves, travel with the wounded Redlance and after several days come to Sorrow's End, where rather than the big fight - the Wolfriders introduce themselves - and many of the elves are fascinated, but not all that startled - they bring them to Savah who explains she was one of the High Ones who fled - and she explains that when the Palace came to the world of two moons, something siphoned the magic - and the Palace crashed - and that the High Ones had to flee the humans. Skywise sees a large stone - and asks about it - and she explains it's a fragment of the Palace. He asks to break a piece off and sees it always points the same way. (So I change how he gets the lodestone; and also indicate it's the stone trying to get "back home").

Fast forward a few years, and Cutter mentions to Skywise he's interested in going back to see if they can find the Palace of the High Ones. Following the stone - it leads Cutter, Skywise and several of the other Wolfriders who go (One-Eye, for example, Strongbow, and perhaps some of the Sorrow's End, such as Rayek) back to where they just came where the trolls are gone. We see Cutter & Skywise's budding relationship here as they recall all kinds of stories together; and they discuss very other members of the tribe, so we get to know a little about each one. Leetah finds herself more and more drawn to Cutter, which makes Rayek jealous. This builds up over their travel.

I would skip Blue Mountain, and make it so they eventually arrive to the mountain. There they encounter the frozen trolls who are far more brutal - and when Cutter almost dies (similar to how he did in the OG) - Leetah touches him to heal him - and in that moment Recognition happens - which makes Rayek furious. The Go-Backs arrive and help - and turn the tide of battle; there's some casualties (such as One-Eye). We meet the main Go-Backs (Kahvi and Vaya) who talk about they've been trying to "go back" to the Palace for years now. Now with the Wolfriders, who possess magic (such as Redlance) and the Sorrow's End (Leetah and Rayek), the Go-Backs believe they have a chance now.

Epic battle. Palace reclaimed.

Cool storyline!

..."Epic battle. Palace reclaimed."
and there can happen so much other great thrilling situations... maybe fighting the epic battle with unfulfilled recognition and within the battle the battle between Cutter and Rayek embedded (with falling in the others back- treachery etc.).

Yeee wrote:

Cool storyline!

..."Epic battle. Palace reclaimed."
and there can happen so much other great thrilling situations... maybe fighting the epic battle with unfulfilled recognition and within the battle the battle between Cutter and Rayek  embedded (with falling in the others back- treachery etc.).  

Well, ideally - what I posted would be the first ElfQuest movie. And if it was successful and got a sequel, I'd do Siege at Blue Mountain/Kings of the Broken Wheel type movie next - so the jealousy (if it was my script) that I was building up, would become the focus of the next part.

sounds good too

Dunno why I didn't see this. Pretty rough, and wish we could get the data files to rework it if its been dropped, but its a little of something.


I've been reflecting on the question myself as to what Id write if handed a blank script... Im really not sure, but have a few ideas...

A) just do the OQ and related stories:
  1) as is in the books, no changes. ...or...
  2) mildly changed, similar smoothed out details like Tymber is exploring. Id open with the forest already burning, though, reeling from an all out attack, perhaps the tribe split with one defending the holt while they grab what little they can, with the "rescue team" off camera getting Redlance. The holt catches fire, the attack becomes too much amd they have to leave, but they are worried about the rescuers getting back. Just as they are having to leave, Cutter gets back and agrees they must leave, and leads them to the trolls.  We dont need to see the sacrifice scene, they can explain it all with the trolls later or even later yet at Sarrows End. (More such subtle, "freshen up" changes from a storytelling point of view that changed little that happens, unless a whole course or plan is made up for the whole long story and any "down the road" changes need made for efficiency or effect. Since we already know the story flow we can add in recursive side plots easily, which is even more intriguing of an idea since time travel is involved (paradoxes, causes for the loop, etc, perhaps that ALL of the reasons (rayak, troll revolt, planet harmonics, Jink deleting half the spirit's memories ;P ) are all to blame, and we see all of them weave together in the tapestry of the Scroll of Colors?)

B) Start instead with Wolfrider,
  1) perhaps with Demontricker's meddling being well intentioned but backfiring. Do OQ as a sequel, and adjust things accordingly. In a way the OQ seems very small and rushed, with little context as to why things are as they are. Yes, the humans are superstitious and have vague memories of thr Palace crash, but the whole planet against them? Trolls as well, with no reason other than "you're different, and we need to beat the racism horse to death one more time", (sorry, Im of the opinion thst politics makes bad fantasy and that particular hot button topic is so overdone it might actually be causing the very thing it says its against. Like I said, I hate politics, not trying to start a debate, what Im saying is provide some sensical backstory that shows the various situations prior to kicking the Wolfriders out of their home. An outsider might see iss #1 as "ok, so nomadic people are getting pushed out of where they currently awere living... They look like strong survival types, this isnt a big deal, they'll just live somewhere else". Theres no reason to feel attachment to the Holt, the Father Tree, or anything else. As it sets, other than Redlance being injured (which could happen from the cave in or the fire or any number of other things), the humans could be replaced by a thunderstorm and natural causes of forest fire, and other than some specific people recalling things IRL as a connection, there's no reason to feel bad about the holt burning.  If we play around in the Holt a while we can habe newcomers feel a reason why this is a bad thing.
 2) do Wolfrider (and other parts) as a streaming service series with lack of format. (For those that have seen it, Im thinking like Love, Death, and Robots), where there is no set length, the stories are related and tied together, but not necessarily continuous, perhaps if its needed we have them narrated by Pike as rememberances at various times (he's remembering something else while something present is happening). This fits the established "short story" and "howl" format in the story quite well, and can develop the series more naturally, with freedom to throw in a variety of perspectives as various storytellers spin tales free of continuity (semi sorta like Game of Thrones hopped around in location and time), so yoi could have a Go-back storyteller tell about Two Spear and Kahvi long before the Wolfriders meet them, or the Mother of Memory recalling the trek across the sands...

Edit
C) Of course I comoletely forgot my personal slant on it: dump the Elves and let the Trolls have the story tols from their perspective... TrollQuest!
1) as a story following Picknose the way EQ follows Cutter
2) as a set of shorts through the history of the Trolls
3) from Two Edge's perspective, with his meddling and games


Theres a lot of ways to go... Its hard for me to figure out what modern cinematic marvels could do with the story these days, and with the "silver screen" possibly changing over the next few years to rely on streaming services and whatnot, there may be other opportunities. Look how Star Wars is hopping around playing with blank spaces in the story. It was rough at first getting people on board with Solo and Rogue One, but things are getting hammered out to be more accepted to play in the background.  I think EQ has some modern day potential, its just going to take the right combination of people to make it work.

(Additional story flesh out from A2: changes from entering caves to leaving tunnel of golden light: capture Picknose who is unwilling to help them at all, attempts to lead them off away from the inner kingdom or into a trap. Cutter reminds him that he spent some time within as a youth and knows these caves well, and draggs Picky to the throneroom. This enhances his position with the King, proving their good intentions in that he could have led them to the store rooms or 'treasure' nd as Picky as their witness, they didnt even harm anyone, just seeking refuge, and hold all the cards as an honorable tribe. Greymung still betrays them, perhaps even after wagering a gamble he "loses" to make the "tunnel of golden light" seem more like a treasured secret place instead of the stacked deal it was. Anyway, they go out the ToGL but instead of stark cliffs with a nice neat, ground level opening from the tunnels, the tunnel opens to a ravine in the side of steep mountainous cliffside, with a bend that cant be seen around. Theres sign of debris indicating some kind of forest in the shadow of the ravine, and the "soil" looks like fertile soil in this light (perhaps early morning, with it nice and cool as the desert can be. I live in one, some mornings can be quote pleasant compared to the later mid-day blaze). The ravine is long enough the elves are completely out of the tunnel when picknose causes an avalanche to bury the tunnel entrance before they realize they've been duped. (Picknose escapes or stays depending on other changes later. Maybe gets away but caught outside and shows up later?)

I like the idea that its not Tatooine/sahara dunes. A brackish wasteland of drought stricken, rough, dead terrain is easier to sell and more interedting. Terrain features that suggest theres a reprieve from the heat but there is none. A dry creek bed suggesting a path to go doen to wster, but there is none. No way back into the cave, and the mid day sun proves that even the ravine is no shelter from the heat. Battle wounded and weary elves and wolves stare out into a bleakness that almost wsihes they could face the flames again, ad their might have been a lake to wait for the fire to blow over if the humans hadnt been attacking as well. As they ponder thier circumstances, with scouter up on the ridge to look for a path, Skywise weaves his twine to carry the lodestone, and they follow it in hopes of refuge, water, amything that is beter than this.

The terrain would additionally allow for a more natural "holy cow" moment of finding Sarrows End, as well as a more sensical path for a raid, a place for the Wolves to hang out later and so on. The desert is full of life, a real desert that is, but a desert stricken by drought and seared by wildfires can leave it very desolate until the following year. As the Father Tree Holt, a day's walk away, had been experiencing drought, this would follow suit and provide for a more livable area for Ember and Suntop to grow up in. Dwell on the new settling in but rising unrest in Cutter. Spend some time telling the story. Let the audiance FEEL what its like to be an elf, a wolfrider, a naturalize alien on this world of two moons... EQ is an experience for me, not a quick speedrun.

I was just musing.

I dont know if there are any RWBY fans here, but for a bit that series did a silly "what if" flavor spinoff called RWBY Chibi. They finally did a few more episodes, but that spinoff was so much visual crack there would never be enough for me. But I wondered: what if someone were to do say Wolfrider! as a set of chibi style shorts in a similar way? Seems like it would br a cheap way to sound out interest in the rest of the Elfquest series.

Personally I think there is more interest in Elfquest, at least the Original Quest, than there has been in many franchises that made it to the big screen.

Today studios don't even have to sell a physical product to get movies into homes. We still haven't seen even an Elfquest short subject on the market.

Is there some kind of resistance? We're past the interracial couple and tough girl issues nowadays.