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Have an Amazing Hogswatch! |
As the year of the Lachrymating Leveret draws to a close, and we move into the year of the Querulous Megapode (Ho! The Megapode!) we'd like to wish all of you a very Happy Hogswatch. Although we may not have much in the way of convention news to share yet, there's still some Amazing stuff happening in the next few months.
Adelaide locals were treated to an Amazing movie screening on Saturday the 10th of December at Palace Nova Prospect when the Australian Discworld Convention showed a special advance screening of “The Amazing Maurice”. Due to be released in Australia on the 12th of January, the story is based on a book by our favourite fantasy author, Sir Terry Pratchett.
For those who need a refresher, the story is about the Amazing Maurice, a talking cat, who, together with a bunch of talking rats and a boy called Keith, run a Pied Piper type scam in a new town every day. They stumble upon a Mystery (it deserves the capital M) when they reach a town with a rat infestation without the rats. They team up with Malicia, a story obsessed girl and daughter of the town’s mayor, to help solve the puzzle of the starving town without getting trapped, hurt or eaten!
Unlike some Pratchett adaptations, The Amazing Maurice was considerably true to the source materials (COUGHTheWatchCOUGH) which delighted the viewers. Fans particularly loved nods to the author and brief cameos of other well-loved characters – no spoilers here! Truly a family film, there was enough to keep it interesting for older viewers as well as mild enough to not be too scary for the younger audience members. In fact, due to a sudden increase in ticket sales in the last days leading up to the event, the movie screening was moved to a different cinema in the complex half an hour before the start time, giving ticket holders the bigger screen experience.
The movie screening was organised to help raise funds for the upcoming Australian Discworld Convention in 2024. Each two years a different state hosts the convention, and it is Adelaide’s turn again, the last being in 2017. Check out the Australian Discworld Convention page to find out more about tickets to the convention and to join the newsletter. To this end, a raffle and market stall was also held before the screening with prizes including double movie passes, museum exhibit tickets, and a new, not-yet-released-in-Australia book of “The Unadulterated Cat Maurice”.
Now the only question left is: is it MawREESE or MORRis?
Our friends at Discworld Monthly very kindly let us known that Flicks is having a prize draw for a bundle of Amazing Maurice goodies. This is open to anyone in Australia, and all you have to do is sign up to their weekly newsletter and send them an email! To find out the details and enter the draw, visit the Flicks website. "The Amazing Maurice" hits Australian cinemas on January 12th, 2023.
In addition to The Amazing Maurice, we also know that Good Omens Season 2 should be hitting Amazon Prime in "Summer" (so, Winter for us Aussies), showing the further (as yet undocumented) adventures of angel Aziraphale and demon Crowley. If you'd like to catch up with David Tennant and Michael Sheen in the meantime, Season 3 of their pandemic-hit "Staged" is now available to view on ABC iView.
If you know of any Discworld plays on in your area, please let us know as we'll do our best to help get them an audience! (I mean, there's a good chance Brisbane Arts Theatre will do another show next year, but if anywhere else has one in the works, please contact us!)
On the Australian Discworld Convention front, we will be announcing the dates and venue for the 2024 convention some time in the early part of 2023 - along with a brand new website launch. There's just a fair few bits and pieces we need to get lined up first (such as signing the necessary paperwork, and finishing up some art and design). A huge thank you to everyone who's already purchased a Supporting Membership - it's wonderful to have your support even with so little concrete information that we can give you at this point.
Have a wonderful Hogswatch and a Happy New Year!