The Pagemaster
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Pagemaster is a live action/animated film released by 20th Century Fox on November 23, 1994 and based on the illustrated book of the same name. It was directed by Joe Johnston (live action) and Maurice Hunt (animation).
| The Pagemaster | |
|---|---|
 The Pagemaster theatrical poster |
|
| Directed by | Joe Johnston Maurice Hunt |
| Produced by | Paul Gertz |
| Written by | David Kirschner David Casci |
| Starring | Macaulay Culkin Ed Begley Jr. Mel Harris Christopher Lloyd Patrick Stewart Whoopi Goldberg Leonard Nimoy |
| Release date(s) | November 23, 1994 |
| IMDb profile | |
Contents |
[edit] Synopsis
The film tells the story of a young boy named Richard Tyler (Macaulay Culkin), who finds shelter from a storm inside a nearby library. Tyler slips and is knocked unconscious while exploring a rotunda in the library. Upon awakening he is led on a journey through conflicts and events that resemble fictional stories, keeping him from finding the exit from the library.
[edit] Plot
After an accident in a tree house that he is building for his son, Alan Tyler sends his timid son Richard to buy some nails. On the way, Richard is caught in a storm and finds shelter in a library. There he meets Mr. Dewey (Christopher Lloyd), who believes Richard is in his library for a fiction book. Richard wanders through the library looking for a phone to use to call his father and comes across a rotunda. He then slips and falls, hits his head and is knocked unconscious. After waking, Tyler is caught in a wave of paint and becomes an illustration. Richard meets The Pagemaster, who bears a resemblance to Mr. Dewey and the Pagemaster sends Tyler on an adventure to find the "EXIT".
Richard soon meets The Pagemaster's loyal servants. First is Adventure (Patrick Stewart), a swashbuckling pirate book. Later, Richard meets Fantasy (Whoopi Goldberg), a brash fairy tale book. The three flee from the Hound of the Baskervilles and stumble into the horror section of the library, which has changed into an enormous graveyard. They then meet Horror (Frank Welker), a "hunchbook" (a cross between hunchback and book) in the world of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. After journeying through the land of adventure (where they get attacked by Moby Dick and are captured by Long John Silver himself), and finally Fantasy, where Richard encounters a large, winged, long-neck, long-tailed dragon that coils him in its tail and eats him. He escapes by finding a book of Jack and the Beanstalk, with the titular plant growing up through the dragon´s mouth). Finally, the group reaches the EXIT where they encounter the Pagemaster. He reveals that the entire adventure was all a test for Richard to face his fears, and the other characters he encountered throughout his adventure appear and congratulate him. Richard returns to the real world with Adventure, Horror and Fantasy, who revert back to normal books. Mr. Dewey points the way to the EXIT and Richard leaves and goes into the tree house his father was building for him. When his parents return from looking for him, they are shocked to find him in the tree house, but are proud of his new courage.
[edit] Cast
- Macaulay Culkin - Richard Tyler: A boy who is scared of everything and bases his life on statistics.
- Ed Begley Jr. - Alan Tyler: Richard's eager father who tries to help him overcome his fears.
- Mel Harris - Claire Tyler: Richard's supportive mother.
- Christopher Lloyd - Mr. Dewey, Voice of The Pagemaster: The eccentric librarian who doubles as the wise old Pagemaster.
- Patrick Stewart - Adventure (voice): A brave pirate book who is considered "a classic". He seems hot-headed but is really a big softy.
- Whoopi Goldberg - Fantasy (voice): A charming and friendly fairy book who hides a hot temper.
- Frank Welker - Horror, Dragon, as well as animal noises (voice): Horror is a book with a mishapened spine, called a hunchbook. He fears everything and only wants a happy ending.
- Leonard Nimoy - Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde (voice): The doctor who turns into a frightening monster through a potion.
- George Hearn - Captain Ahab (voice): The crazed sailsman determined to kill the whale Moby Dick.
- Jim Cummings - Long John Silver (voice): One-legged captain of the Hispaniola.
- Ed Gilbert - George Merry (voice): One of the pirates in Silver's crew.
- Phil Hartman - Tom Morgan (voice): Silver's first mate.
- B.J. Ward - Queen of Hearts (voice): Frightens Richard while inside the dragon's stomach.
- Dorian Harewood - Jamaican Pirates (voice)
- Richard Erdman - Pirate (voice)
- Fernando Escardon - Pirate (voice)
- Robert Picardo - Pirate (voice)
[edit] Trivia
- The theme songs to the movie, are "Dream Away", sung by Babyface and Lisa Stansfield; the other being "Whatever You Imagine", sung by Wendy Moten.
- There are many different references to different novels and rhymes, such as Humpty Dumpty.
- Not much film merchandise was sold, only soft toys of the main characters, t-shirts, and a Game Boy, Sega Genesis, and SNES game of the same title.
- The majority of the cast has appeared in some form or another on Star Trek. (Patrick Stewart played Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Whoopi Goldberg played Guinan, Leonard Nimoy played Mr. Spock, Robert Picardo played The Doctor, Frank Welker played the voice of Mr. Spock in Star Trek III: The Search For Spock, Christopher Lloyd played Kruge in Star Trek III: The Search For Spock, Ed Begley Jr. played Henry Starling in two episodes of Star Trek: Voyager, George Hearn played Dr. Berel in an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and B.J. Ward played numerous characters in Star Trek computer games as did Jim Cummings.)
- Promotional advertisements for this film used the theme from the 1984 film The Last Starfighter.
- The film grossed $13,670,688 in theaters.
