Legend of Earthsea

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Legend of Earthsea
Produced by	Hallmark Entertainment Bender-Brown Productions
Written by	Ursula K. Le Guin (novels) Gavin Scott (teleplay)
Starring	Shawn Ashmore Kristen Kreuk Danny Glover Isabella Rossellini Sebastian Roché Chris Gauthier
Music by	Jeff Rona
Cinematography	Steve Danyluk
Editing by	Allan Lee
Distributed by	The Sci-Fi Channel
Release date(s)	13 December 2004
Running time	90 mins
Country	United States
Language	English
Official website
IMDb profile

Legend of Earthsea is a miniseries (later shortened to Earthsea), adapted quite loosely from the award-winning Earthsea novels by Ursula K. Le Guin. It premiered as a two-night television event on the Sci-Fi Channel in December 2004.

1 Plot
2 Characters
3 Production
4 Controversy
5 References

[edit] Plot

This fantasy follows the tale of a reckless youth destined to become the greatest sorcerer that the world of Earthsea has ever known. When the difficult and rebellious Ged discovers the extent of his magical powers, he seeks to master the ancient arts — and his own impulses as well. As he journeys to manhood, he will combat dragons, fall in love, cross death's threshold and ultimately wield the power to reunite a planet.

[edit] Characters

Ged (Shawn Ashmore) - young mage-in-training.
Tenar (Kristin Kreuk) - priestess.
High Priestess Thar (Isabella Rossellini)
Ogion (Danny Glover) - Master Wizard.
King Tygath (Sebastian Roché)
Kossil (Jennifer Calvert)
Vetch (Chris Gauthier)
Jasper (Mark Hildreth)
Archmagus (Alan Scarfe)
The Gebbeth (Mark Acheson) - The nameless one that comes after Ged. A cast-off being
Dunian (Dave 'Squacth' Ward) - Ged's Father.
Lady Elfarren (Amanda Tapping)

[edit] Production

The series was produced by Hallmark Entertainment in association with Bender-Brown Productions. It was adapted by Gavin Scott (The Mists of Avalon) from the Earthsea novels for executive producers Robert Halmi, Sr. (Merlin, Gulliver's Travels, Animal Farm), Lawrence Bender (Kill Bill, Pulp Fiction) and Kevin Kelly Brown (Roswell). The series was filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

[edit] Controversy

Le Guin, author of the novels on which the miniseries is based, was not involved in the development of the material or the making of the production. She has written a number of responses to the handling of this adaptation of her works, including "A Whitewashed Earthsea" and "Frankenstein's Earthsea". Also, after the series aired she made the now-famous public statement, "The SCI-FI CHANNEL ruined my books!", the Sci Fi Channel tried to play down Le Guin's negative comments on their website.