Yeah, I can see why you might imagine Mojo that way! I imagined him as more of a Siberian husky, myself, when I first read the books, bc a neighbor of mine had a black & white husky… the floof and the smile seemed to be a perfect fit for Mojo to me! This one here is a Siberian husky [X]:
From TOBT:
[Mojo] was covered in deep, plush fur, beautifully golden and gray in places, and overlaid
with a faint saddle of longer black hairs. His overall shape was that of a wolf, but he
was far too big to be a wolf, and there was nothing furtive and sly about him, as is the
case with wolves. On the contrary, he was wholly majestic in the way that he sat
staring motionless at the door.
Even though it’s right there that he’s more of a German shepherd mix:
On closer inspection, I saw that he most truly resembled a giant German shepherd,
with the characteristic black muzzle and alert face.
German shepherd w/ the black saddle pattern on the back and muzzle [X]:
I can’t find it now (does anyone have it?) but I know I saw a pic of the REAL Mojo w/ Anne Rice, she confirmed that he was a long-haired German shepherd [X]:
I gotchu fam! There’s probably better pics on line but I took this with my cell phone cause it’s the back cover of one of the TOBT comics. 😀
Yeah, I can see why you might imagine Mojo that way! I imagined him as more of a Siberian husky, myself, when I first read the books, bc a neighbor of mine had a black & white husky… the floof and the smile seemed to be a perfect fit for Mojo to me! This one here is a Siberian husky [X]:
From TOBT:
[Mojo] was covered in deep, plush fur, beautifully golden and gray in places, and overlaid
with a faint saddle of longer black hairs. His overall shape was that of a wolf, but he
was far too big to be a wolf, and there was nothing furtive and sly about him, as is the
case with wolves. On the contrary, he was wholly majestic in the way that he sat
staring motionless at the door.
Even though it’s right there that he’s more of a German shepherd mix:
On closer inspection, I saw that he most truly resembled a giant German shepherd,
with the characteristic black muzzle and alert face.
German shepherd w/ the black saddle pattern on the back and muzzle [X]:
I can’t find it now (does anyone have it?) but I know I saw a pic of the REAL Mojo w/ Anne Rice, she confirmed that he was a long-haired German shepherd [X]:
I don’t know the real reason, I don’t know anyone who does. I don’t know if it was Anne Rice’s choice, or Neil Jordan’s.
I think there were a lot of factors that went into that decision, and it stirs up alot of issues and questions, alot has been written about it and alot more can be written about it!
TL;DR: 1) I think it was done to cut time, Louis being distraught about losing a wife and child is immediately understandable to anyone who hasn’t read the books. It starts off the film with Louis questioning the reasons of a God that could punish him for seemingly no reason at all.*
2) The other main issue is whether Louis is/was straight or if he actually was bisexual/homosexual/etc. as a mortal and Lestat entering the picture and pulling Louis into vampiring made it possible for Louis to let go of his preconceived ideas and social/religious/etc. repression and accept himself for what he really was. Neil Jordan probably wanted that left open-ended and unanswered.
(*It could have set up the whole Louis-frustrated-about-how-religion-plays-into-vampiring, but that was cut from the film, too.)
1) One of the audiobook recordings for IWTV has a runtime of 14 hours and 28 minutes [X] and that’s ALOT OF STORY to condense down into a movie that can’t be that long. Scenes have to be cut.
The movie we got is 2 hours long, and in 1994, I seem to remember movies being more in the 1.5 hour range. Titanic, clocking in at a little over 3 hours long, was kind of ridiculed by the critics for that lengthy runtime. These days, a 2-3 hour movie is not really as big a deal.
Building in the right amount of time/scenes to show the circumstances of Paul’s death and why Louis felt so responsible for it, that would have increased the runtime and delayed the amount of time we get to the actual vampiring. I can’t check the film right now but I think Lestat appears within the first 15 minutes of the movie, for good reason. To get the vampiring STARTED.
2)
In 1994, same-sex marriage was legal in zero states. Now it is the law of the land. Movie!IWTV was already pushing the envelope to suggest that Louis/Lestat were in a romantic relationship together. So, if Louis starts his story as having been married to a woman, it would appear that he’s established as being straight. On the surface.
HOWEVER! this is a Neil Jordan movie, and one of his previous movies, the Crying Game, Jordan had gender issues and sexual orientations as main concerns, so perhaps starting Louis off as SEEMING TO BE STRAIGHT and then having Lestat swoop in and now Louis is “with” Lestat somehow, experiences that moment of intense intimacy when he is given the Dark Gift… so Jordan seems to be asking the audience if Louis was actually bisexual or homosexual as a mortal and suppressed it? Since we never see Louis and Lestat actually make love on screen (aside from the Dark Gift happening), does it still count as a homosexual relationship?
^I think Neil Jordan wanted these questions left open-ended, and for that to be part of the exquisite torture that is the Louis/Lestat ship. Is it platonic or romantic? Jordan isn’t telling, and neither is Louis.
There is, as I said, a lot more to it than that, but these are the main issues that come to mind for me, and I’m also trying to be concise. Anyone can reblog/comment with more ideas.
Anne Rice herself changed it because she claims she wanted people to see Louis could be bisexual, but also because she doesn’t understand her own goddamn character and the importance of his motivation and what Paul’s faith and loss represented anymore.
She has expressed surprise before that people called it out and weren’t happy with it, which really says more about her and the lack of thought that went into this change than anything else.
Neil Jordan didn’t change it, and would have handled it well, I’m certain.
SO!!! There was a VCTV livestream today with Anne AND Chris. This is for anyone who wants to watch, study, yell at, whatever! I’M barely 2 minutes in right now. Apparently Chris loves Riverdale sooooooooooo…take that as you will!
Thanks @miralain for dL’ing this! Here’s thelink to their FB posting of the vid,How much is Coke paying them for product placement? Hmmmm. How much does Brooks Bros. pay AR for product placement??? Hmmmmm???
As many know now, they will be working with Paramount Television and Anonymous Content
They want to stay fully engaged with fans in the production process
No set broadcaster, all options open (Netflix, Hulu, etc.) (Chris joked about it being on Facebook)
Next announcement will be when that network is decided
No timeline for production. They have no idea how long it will take. Script-writing is next. Chris is the one who will be script-writing, Anne will review
Chris: “She finished writing season 1 when she wrote the books!”
Pilot is done. Next are more episodes. They are starting the process and having several meetings with Paramount and Anonymous Content
Anne SWEARS the series will be 100% loyal to the books. (They named GoT as an example of doing this though soooooo)
Anne said compromises are inevitable but artistic control comes from good will
and respect; you make it work by picking people you admire and trust. They worked with Paramount and Anonymous Content since they all agreed on a common vision and the end result of the series
No idea about locations of sets and whatnot
Don’t know if they will keep with the 80’s period of the books, however Anne wants to do Lestat’s pre-vampire period period-accurate
Neil Jordan may end up helping out on the project
Casting
Still taking suggestions from fans and looking fancasts up on imdb
Anne: “Lestat is always shaking his fists to those who would break him down…Scrappish impish…lovable hero”
Chris: “–and he’s hot!! 😀 He’s gonna be hot. #LestatIsHot”
Chris and Anne might want to cameo in the series (joked about making a game out of it)
Some characters may change where “ethnicity is flexible”
Anne and Chris agree that POC being casted are important and will be
considered in casting. The Millennial vamps (older gang) will most likely
be largely POC.
Anne says she has taken notice of black fans showing
their admiration of Aaliyah playing Akasha.
Anne gave a story about
meeting an Akasha cosplayer who mentioned that she and her friends feel
left out of high fantasy for being black and how Anne was moved by this.
Anne: “Akasha isn’t written as black or a person of color…she’s middle eastern” Me: ??? (Those aren’t…mutually exclusive???) Anne: “–but she could be a person of color.”
Marius was played by a black man in the musical and Anne thought he
did a great job. Marius can be any ethnicity so long as he’s half Roman. She’d prefer to have Marius as blue eyes and blonde haired like Lestat but it’s “not imperative for him”.
Anne: “Louis at least has to be beautiful”
Armand has to look as described as well.
Anne wanted Cher to play Gabrielle.
Anne and Chris to be inclusive, but will always focus more on how fine the actor is. Talent is needed to get the role, not just looks.
Armand will be casted as someone who looks 17, but will be technically older. Not sure about age for
Lestat and Louis (Anne is thinking early 30s)
Physical and emotional aging will
be put into consideration (she gave Marius as an example as him looking like he’s in his 40s but being mentally older)
Plot and Episodes
They will tell the story chronologically in Lestat’s eyes so wolves-paris-so on. Basically, how knowledge unfolds for Lestat is how it will unfold for audience
THIS MAY CHANGE depending on when they talk to producers, however this is not
what they want in terms of how the events should happen.
Don’t want to cheat on Lestat’s life and skip out any details of it (go figure)
Stay faithful to the books and to Lestat’s story
Chris warns for us to be mindful of news that doesn’t come from official page
Lestat and Gabbi’s journey to be expanded
Origin stories of Marius and other older vampires will be shown and expanded on (done through the flashback stories Marius gives)
Blood and Gold will be involved but they won’t DO the story (so using that material for possible spin offs)
A lot about the Talamasca and especially David. Jesse too, but mostly David
(Anne: He’s close friends with Lestat in TOTBT Me: Is that what you call it? lmao)
TVL could be 2-3 seasons. IWTV may be one. Depends
Anne and Chris want to know what goes wrong in the translation from book to media in other series so they can avoid it
They’re keeping eroticism the same as in the books.
Lestat turning Gabrielle will be a big scene, as they feel this is when the series starts to truly bring the
vampire world into view and Lestat really starts becoming a vampire. This scene is significant in
asking the audience what they would do in that instance. Lestat turning will also be significant.
Characters and Character Relations
SOMEONE FUCKING MENTIONED LOUSTAT AS THE LOUIS / LESTAT SHIP NAME AND THEY BOTH LOST IT (which one of you was it? Hm?)
There will be a lot about Louis and Lestat’s relationship in the series (and Lestat and Nicki)
Anne says she understands how important queer relationships are and how they have driven the series
*On expanding on other characters* Chris: …human characters like Jesse or Daniel Mollo-
Anne: OR LESTAT WHEN HE’S HUMAN Me:
Anne doesn’t feel a need to make new characters.
More info on
Théâtre des Vampires
and the characters in that part will expanded as well
Chris and Anne openly acknowledge Lestat as bisexual and this will be depicted clearly within the show
On the topic of Armand, what that character means to Anne will shine, so he will gain a more
sympathetic role outside of just the IWTV perspective. Both his dark side and his more childish, light-side will be shown
Jim Morrison of The Doors was Anne’s inspiration for Lestat’s singing voice and for the band (I forget but I think this was the song Anne named as being a good example. Though, I’m partial to their sexy song “5 to 1″). She describes Lestat’s voice as somewhere between a “barratone and tenor…Melodic”. (Something about Jon Bon Jovi also a little bit)
Mayfair Witches
Rights of Mayfair Witches not available to them (?) and thus, the crossover books are not a part of the VC TV series and, thus no show for them right now
Maybe Mayfair TV series in future. Anne doesn’t want them to play second fiddle to the vampires
Anne and Chris
They talked about the recent April Fool’s Joke. Anne apologized to Justin Beiber?? Why?? I don’t know (they weren’t behind the joke article)
Chris likes Riverdale (ew)
Chris worked with Anne on Ramses the Damned.
Someone in the VC Discord Server brought up the question of if Chris could/would carry out the VC books after Anne. Based off this interview, I think it’s very likely depending on how well the VC TV series goes. He seemed a little apprehensive about it, but he’s worked with his mother on writing and is familiar enough with her characters to care about them. I think it’s possible
Chris went to the VC balls in New Orleans as a kid
Chris’ A Density of Souls may get a chance to be a film. Chris is in discussion with someone about it (?? that’s what I got from the interview anyways)
*After Anne leaves to get Chris a Coke* Chris *to the camera*: She won’t let me out of the house. She won’t let me leave!! Me: Same
The Facebook Page and Other Information
Anne, yet again, made a little speech about how nerds mean a lot to Hollywood nowadays
“Readers know things about the novels that are valuable”
They have a record of fan comments that Anne reads every so often
They mentioned some of the fights going on in the FB thread
(Chris: There are some people with…strong casting choices. Anne: I got into fights with people lmao)
Anne prefers if you message her over the page rather than through emails
They cannot do much about given resumes and asking about jobs related to production. There will be a time for that later
Anne is in contract for two more VC novels. It sounded like her next novel is also included in the TV series’ contract, but I could have misinterpreted.
Anne asks about any regrets or things she would change from the books as she goes into the series. More fleshing out but that’s about it
Disappointing the fans is their biggest concern and worry
“the older gang will most likely be largely poc” that would be awesome tho. like i’m super hesitant to get excited about this thing but this sounds cool
More Vampires of Color yessss! *Grabby hands* if they want to change anything, that’s a good change that I, for one, can get behind.
It says they’ve optioned the rights to 11 of them, but, including Pandora, there’s 13 books. So which books are not included?
I think it’s IWTV*, Blackwood Farm, and Blood Canticle, maybe Merrick, bc AR has said her Mayfair/VC hybrid novels “haven’t worn well over time.” She’s even told ppl to ignore them when reading PL and PLROA. I bet she’ll at least touch on IWTV in flashbacks, but we know she loved movie!IWTV, and probably doesn’t want to try to reinvent the wheel on that one.
It could be that she’s not including PL and PLROA for now.
Does anyone have a statement from her re: which books aren’t included?
*Anne Rice previously noted that the series likely will not touch on the events of “Interview with a Vampire,” but will instead pick up with its sequel “The Vampire Lestat.” [X]
Full list:
The Vampire Chronicles Interview with the Vampire (1976) The Vampire Lestat (1985) The Queen of the Damned (1988) The Tale of the Body Thief (1992) Memnoch the Devil (1995) The Vampire Armand (1998) Merrick (2000) – arguably a Hybrid Mayfair/VC since one of the main characters is a Mayfair. Blood and Gold (2001) Blackwood Farm (2002) – Hybrid Mayfair/VC Blood Canticle (2003) – Hybrid Mayfair/VC
Prince Lestat (2014) Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis (2016)
New Tales of the Vampires Pandora (1998) Vittorio the Vampire (1999) – he’s never been included as a VC vampire.
no she said that its going to start with the vampire lestat then move chronologically also that the vampire lestat will most likely be 2 seasons (she said possibly 3) and interview only being one season
(I didn’t watch the stream yet, I gotta do that)
@roselioncourt informed me that someone else owns the rights the the Mayfair books, which probably includes the hybrids.
Oh good, I really would love to see them address IWTV, we need a new Claudia!
… AND the 11 VC are all in the banner on their Official VC FB (OVCFB):
Interview with the Vampire (1976) The Vampire Lestat (1985) The Queen of the Damned (1988) The Tale of the Body Thief (1992) Memnoch the Devil (1995) The Vampire Armand (1998) Merrick (2000) – arguably a Hybrid Mayfair/VC since one of the main characters is a Mayfair. Blood and Gold (2001) Blackwood Farm (2002) – Hybrid Mayfair/VC Blood Canticle (2003) – Hybrid Mayfair/VC Prince Lestat (2014) Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis (2016)
New Tales of the Vampires Pandora (1998) Vittorio the Vampire (1999) – he’s never been included as a VC vampire.
I-want-my-IWTV 