The year was 2005, when was a young and dorky 10 year old first
experiencing 'Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" on the big screen.
All I knew prior was that my father loved the book, which I've read
in more recent years. Now, 13 years later, I'm finally listening to the
original radio show, from 1978. I was interested to find that it was
based of a Lewis Carrell poem, "The Hunting of the Snark" which is
every bit as fanciful as his other work
Douglas Adams creates such a fun, silly world. It's certainty
quintessential sci-fi, but not the dark and morbid deep space
drama's we've seen previously. The writing is simple enough
for a kid to understand, but the concepts and world building are
engaging enough for an older audience as well. The writing is so
clever, so non-traditional.
There's hilarious writing, such as:
“On the planet Earth, man had always assumed that he was more
intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much—the
wheel, New York, wars and so on—whilst all the dolphins had ever
done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely,
the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent
than man—for precisely the same reasons.”
Combined with the more serious:
“He felt that his whole life was some kind of dream and he sometimes
wondered whose it was and whether they were enjoying it.”
The mixture between the two is really lovely and engaging.
I never got past the first of five parts, but I'll defiantly put the rest of them
on my list.
Also watched the first episode of the television program, which kept that
fun retro vibe. Watching all of the vintage special effects for space travel
was a really fun throwback. The early CG work was adorable, and though
aspects were certainly dated, the strong story and humor held up.
Also including some character designs of a more modern imagining that I
liked, with the dream cast of Jeff Goldblum, Sophia Taylor Ali, and Donald
Glover. What a dream team!
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