Camelot on the Small Screen (2014 CFP)

Another belated CFP:

Call for Submissions: Camelot on the Small Screen (Edited Collection)
Publication Date: 2014-02-28 (Archive)
Date Submitted: 2014-01-21
Announcement ID: 210619

Call for Submissions: Camelot on the Small Screen (Edited Collection)

In the past five years, there have been three television series based on the Arthurian legends: the French Kaamelott, the BBC’s Merlin, and Starz’s Camelot. Previous decades have seen dozens of series, miniseries, made-for-television movies, and animated incarnations of the legends, from The Adventures of Sir Lancelot in the 1950s to Australia’s Arthur! and the Square Knights of the Round Table or the 2001 miniseries The Mists of Avalon. The proliferation of these productions testifies to the enduring power of the myth and its continued relevance to modern audiences. Until now, most Arthurian scholarship has focused on the medieval literary corpus, modern literary adaptations, and cinematic treatments of the tales, and relatively little attention has been paid to television portrayals of Arthur and his court. We therefore plan to propose an edited collection that addresses this imbalance. Essays might analyze contemporary issues and themes (gender, marginalization, or religious intolerance, for example), compare TV series to literary texts, focus on a particular character within a single series or across several series, etc. We are particularly interested in essays that examine the following programs: --The Adventures of Sir Lancelot (British series from the 1950s) --The Legend of Prince Valiant (American animated series from the 1990s) --Arthur of the Britons/ Arthur, the Young Warlord (British series from the 1970s) --Mr. Merlin (American series from the 1980s) --Merlin of the Crystal Cave (British miniseries from the 1990s) --adaptations of A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (many have been made over the years) --Japanese anime (King Arthur, King Arthur: Prince on a White Horse, Tears for Tiara, etc.) --The Mists of Avalon (American miniseries from 2001) --Merlin (American miniseries starring Sam Neill) --The Legend of King Arthur (British series from the 1970s) --Guinevere (American made-for-television movie from the 1990s) --King Arthur and the Knights of Justice (American animated series from the 1990s) --Sir Gadabout: The Worst Knight in the Land (British series from 2002) --extended Arthurian subplots in otherwise non-Arthurian programs The preceding list is not exhaustive, and we would be interested in essays that cover any number of Arthurian shows; however, we are not seeking essays on the three most recent series (the French Kaamelott, the BBC’s Merlin, and Starz’s Camelot).

Articles should be 7,000-8,000 words in length including references. Please send abstracts of approximately 500 words and a short biography to Drs. Tara Foster (tafoster@nmu.edu) and Jon Sherman (jsherman@nmu.edu) at Northern Michigan University; any queries can also be sent by e-mail.

The deadline for abstract submission is February 28, 2014. We will respond to submissions by mid-March, and first drafts should be submitted by the end of August 2014.

Tara Foster
Modern Languages and Literatures
Northern Michigan University
906-227-1814
Email: tafoster@nmu.edu

TF1's Merlin Mini-Series

The French television network TF1 aired a two-part miniseries called Merlin in 2012 . There is sparse information online about the series (see the sidebar under 2010-2019 productions), but the film, a comedic retelling of the Arthurian legend, offers yet another Merlin-centered version of the story.

Part one opens with a very Gandalf-looking Merlin (played by Gérard Jugnot) at the court of Uther Pendragon, where he helped raise and educate the young Arthur and (sometimes) Guenièvre. Ten years later, a less hirsute Merlin retires to Brocéliande after Arthur has grown up and begins to live with Viviane and her son Lancelot. However, Merlin is called back when Camelot is threatened by Arthur's cousin, Morgane, (herself a powerful magic-wielder, trained by her aged aunt) and her ally the barbarian king Vortigern (!) on the eve (?) of Arthur and Guenièvre's wedding. (Morgane had, apparently, expected to marry Arthur and become queen.) Merlin, Viviane, and Lancelot spend some time at court here, and (I think) the two mages are instrumental in stopping Morgane and Vortigern at this time. However, the villains return in part two, and Merlin is ill-prepared because the title of part one, "L'Enchanteur Désenchanté," refers to the fact that Merlin loses his powers as the years pass and he falls in love with Viviane and becomes a surrogate parent for Lancelot.

Taking place seven years later, part two, "Le Secret de Brocéliande," centers on Merlin's struggles to regain his magic in order to save the realm and restore Guenièvre to flesh after she has been turned, by the returned Morgane, into stone. This section also focuses on a quest for the Grail undertaken by Merlin and a teenaged Lancelot--the prophesied Grail-winner--to save Viviane, who is held by Morgane.

There are lots of images and some plot summary at the series official site (http://www.tf1.fr/merlin/) but no video. The following trailer comes from YouTube:

New Scholarship by Zaradona

Zarandona, Juan Miguel. “The Arthurian Opera by Isaac Albéniz and Francis Money-Coutts (1852–1923): Libretto Translation Theories Applied to Merlin.” Arthuriana 23.2 (Summer 2013): 1-19.

Offers a comparison between various versions of the operatic text, including Teatro Real of Madrid’s 2003 performance released on DVD in 2004.

More Arthuriana on Screen in Bucharest

Sorry to have missed this:

Monday, 21 July
Panel 2 : 10.30-12.50
King Arthur and the Modern Imagination

Paper 3 (of 4): Łukasz NEUBAUER (Koszalin University of Technology), Arthurian Themes in Lech Majewski’s Knight

Arthuriana on Screen at Arthurian Congress 2014

Of interest if you're in Romania this summer:

XXIV Triennial Congress of the International Arthurian Society - University of Bucharest
(full program at http://arthuriancongress.unibuc.ro/programme/)

Friday, July 25th

Panel 1: 15.20-17.20
Thematic Pannel : Children of the (K)night: Arthurian Bad Boys and Mean Girls
Organizer : Kevin J. HARTY (La Salle University, Philadelphia)

Participants:
Christine NEUFELD (Eastern Michigan University), Bloodlines: The Sanguine Semiotics of Dracula vs. King Arthur
Susan ARONSTEIN (University of Wyoming), Thoroughly Modern Morgan?: Starz’ Camelot’s Arthurian Bad Girl
Martin B. SHICHTMAN (Eastern Michigan University), Subversive Sorority: The Naughty Nuns of Starz’
Camelot
Elizabeth S. SKLAR (Wayne State University), Queering Mordred
Donald L. HOFFMAN (Northeastern Illinois University), The Queering of Mordred Revisited
Kevin J. HARTY (La Salle University), Using the Arthurian Legend to Turn Bad Boys into Good Boys: The Boy Scouts and Thomas Edison Make an Arthurian Film, The Knights of the Square Table
Laurie A. FINKE (Kenyon College), Ghosts of Chivalry: King Arthur and the Ku Klux Klan


Saturday, July 26th

Section 2 : 14h30-16h10
Influence of Arthurian Myths and the Contemporary World
Dragos MANEA (University of Bucharest), The Magic of Merlin: Strategies of Legitimation in Camelot (Starz 2011) and Merlin (BBC, 2008-2010)
Nicoleta NEAGOE (Université de Bucarest), Le mythe du Graal à l’aube du IIIe millénaire. Étude de cas – The Da Vinci Code de Dan Brown
David JOHNSON (Florida State University), Reading Couperus Reading Walewein: Arthur’s world reimagined at the close of WWI.
Anca MANOLESCU (Université de Bucarest), Un symbolisme sans rivages : René Guénon et Heinrich Zimmer, décrypteurs de la matière arthurienne
Geert VAN IERSEL (Fontys University of Applied Sciences), Robots and Jets as Knights and Warhorses: The Transformers does Arthurian Britain
Eliana Ionoaia – Arthurian Heroism in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings and C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of
Narnia

Lancelot in Night at the Museum 3

A bearded and long-haired, Dan Stevens (of Downton Abbey fame) is set to play Lancelot in the upcoming film Night at Museum 3, which takes place at the British Museum. Some fuzzy images of Stevens have been posted on the Daily Mail website at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2548648/Dan-Stevens-gallops-London-set-Sir-Lancelot-installment-action-franchise-Ben-Stiller.html and the first trailer is promised to be released soon.

Bosko's Knight-Mare

According to Salda's research, "Bosko's Knight-Mare," a 1933 animated short, is the earliest example of Arthurian animation. Here is one version of the film (Salda suggests there was originally a longer version) from Dailymotion. (There was also a video on YouTube, but it has been removed for copyright infringement.)

The film offers an interesting adaptation of the Connecticut Yankee story, and Salda's discussion offer much insight into its contexts and relationship with the Arthurian tradition.



Bosko s Knight-Mare (1933) (High) by andythebeagle

Update on Salda's Arthurian Animation

I've been reading Michael N. Salda's recent book Arthurian Animation:A Study of Cartoon Camelots on Film and Television in preparation for a forthcoming review. I'm about a third through so far. The book is very enjoyable and accessible, and, following the lead of Susan Aronstein's study of Arthurian film, Hollywood Knights: Arthurian Cinema and the Politics of Nostalgia, it offers further connections between Arthuriana on screen and American culture. Chapters 1, 3, and 4 highlight material that is mostly inspired by Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court or its filmic adaptations, and Salda offers some insightful close readings in these chapters linking the animated material to its live-action counterparts. Chapter 2 focuses on the unfinished film King Arthur's Knights, a work inspired by Malory, and that would have served as an excellent example of Anglo-American ties of solidarity during World War Two had it been completed.

More to follow soon....

CFP Arthurian-Themed Electronic Games (6/1/14)

CFP Essays on Arthurian-Themed Electronic Games (6/1/14)

The Alliance for the Promotion of Research on the Matter of Britain seeks essay proposals devoted to surveying or studying video and computer games based on and/or inspired by the Arthurian tradition.

Essays will appear in a collection devoted to surveying the complete Matter of Britain on screen (as defined on our web site: http://matter-of-britain-on-screen.blogspot.com/) .

Proposals of 250 to 500 words or completed essays by 1 June 2014.
Final versions of essays will be expected by June 2015.

Please address submissions, inquiries, and suggested topics to the editors at

Popular.Culture.and.the.Middle.Ages@gmail.com

Please use “Arthurian EGs” as your subject line.

Or submit material via post addressed to

Michael A. Torregrossa
Founder, The Alliance for the Promotion of Research on the Matter of Britain
34 Second Street
Smithfield, RI 02917-3627
United States


In addition to proposals, we would also appreciate your help in compiling a list of productions and bibliography of works discussing this material.

Hoyle's Cinema of John Boorman

New from Scarecrow is an interesting-looking book on John Boorman, though a cursory glance at the bibliography leaves me rather disappointed from the get go. There is an extended treatment of Excalibur, but, unfortunately, the author offers little engagement with the prodigious scholarship on the film noting only monographs by Aberth, Aronstein, and the Umlands; Lacy's piece in The Arthurian Encyclopedia (from 1986!); and Wakefield's essay. Likewise, there is some discussion of Boorman's work on a Lord of the Rings film, but no apparent knowledge of recent work on this project by Janet Brennan Croft.

The Cinema of John Boorman
By Brian Hoyle
Scarecrow Press

Pages: 286
Size: 6 1/4 x 9 1/2
978-0-8108-8395-6 • Hardback -- September 2012 • $65.00 • (£39.95)
978-0-8108-8396-3 • eBook -- September 2012 • $64.99 • (£39.95)

John Boorman has written and directed more than 25 television and feature films, including such classics as Deliverance, Point Blank, Hope and Glory, and Excalibur. He has been nominated for five Academy Awards, including twice for best Director (Deliverance and Hope and Glory). In the first full-length critical study of the director in more than two decades, author Brian Hoyle presents a comprehensive examination of Boorman’s career to date.

The Cinema of John Boorman offers a film-by-film appraisal of the director’s career, including his feature films and little-known works for television. Drawing on unpublished archive material, Hoyle provides a close reading of each of Boorman's films. Organized chronologically, each chapter examines two or three films and links them thematically. This study also describes Boorman’s interest in myths and quest narratives, as well as his relationship with writers and literature. Making the case that Boorman is both an auteur and a visionary, The Cinema of John Boorman will be of interest not only to fans of the director’s work but to film scholars in general.

Brian Hoyle lectures on film studies and English literature at the University of Dundee. He is the author of numerous articles covering British and American cinema, including articles on Orson Welles, Joseph H. Lewis, Ken Russell, and Derek Jarman.

Kaamelott Bibliography Take 1

I'm starting a project on recent Arthurian TV and thought I'd share some of the material I have discovered so far. Here is my initial bibliography of studies devoted to the French series Kaamelott:

Bashi, Ahmed S. “The King at Kaamelott.” MA thesis. Eastern Michigan U, 2010. Digital Commons @ EMU. Web. 30 September 2013. <http://commons.emich.edu/theses/297/>.

Brossard, Sébastien. “Kaamelott: Humour, Parodie et Réflexion sur l’Échec.” MA thesis. Université of Franche-Comté, 2011. Astier & Co. Web. 30 September 2013. <http://astierandco.fr/blog/public/documents/Sebastien_Brossard_Memoire_M1_Kaamelott.pdf>.

- - -. “Kaamelott: Humour Télévisuel et Série Intertextuelle.” MA thesis. Université of Franche-Comté, 2012.

Florentin, Valérie. “Les Anachronismes Comme Procédé d’Humour Verbal: Une Étude de la Série Télévisée Française Kaamelott.” Canadian Association for Translation Studies Young Researchers Archive. Web. 30 September 2013. <http://www.act-cats.ca/Young_Researchers_archive/Florentin_Anachronismes.pdf>. 

- - -. “L’Humour Verbal et sa Traduction: Une Étude de la Série Télévisée Française Kaamelott.” MA thesis. Université Laval, 2010. Collection des Thèses et Mémoires Électroniques de l’Université Laval. Web. 30 September 2013. <http://theses.ulaval.ca/archimede/meta/27310>.

Perret, Faustine. “La Rception du Moyen Âge au Travers de la Série Télévisée Kaamelott: Analyse de la Série.” MA thesis. Université of Franche-Comté, 2011.

Shoaf, Judith P. “Kaamelott: A Semi-Heroic Epic.” The Heroic Age: A Journal of Early Medieval Northwestern Europe 13 (August 2010). Web. 30 September 2013. <http://www.heroicage.org/issues/13/forumc.php>. (An especially good overview.)

Blog Update 8/22

Did some work tonight updating our database of productions based on the Wikipedia page "List of films based on Arthurian legend". I should finish that listing by the weekend. It is a serviceable list but by no means comprehensive given the scholarship of Kevin Harty, Bert Olton, and Michael Salda. Please send suggestions for additional material via email or comments to this post, and I will add them ASAP.

Merlin and the Dragons News

I've been learning how to edit entries on Wikipedia today and did some work expanding the listing for the animated film Merlin and the Dragons to make it less of a stub and add in some additional resources. You can view the updated entry at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merlin_and_the_Dragons and see my changes in the "View hstory" tab. The film is still available on DVD from select distributors, including Amazon.com, and on YouTube. If you can, get the DVD, it includes a making-of feature.

Here are the clips from YouTube, posted by Tanabe18:

Sword in the Stone 50th Anniversary Edition

Disney is re-releasing The Sword in the Stone to home video in early August. The film will be offered in Blu-ray/DVD/Digital Edition and DVD/Digital Edition combo packs. There has been little advance information on the extras, but advance reviews on CriterionForum.org (at http://www.criterionforum.org/DVD-review/the-sword-in-the-stone-dual-format-edition/disney/1202) and Movieman's Guide to the Movies (at http://moviemansguide.com/main/2013/07/review-swordinthestone-bd/) reveals a special treat for fans of the film. Apparently, Disney has put together the original concept art for the film to provide an alternate first meeting for Merlin and Wart and more action for Madame Mim (the film's Morgan le Fay analogue). Further details to be posted as/if they become available.

Updates on Salda's Arthurian Animation

Michael Salda's Arthurian Animation: A Study of Cartoon Camelots on Film and Television is now available from McFarland and coming soon from Amazon.com and other distributors.

The contents have been uploaded to McFarland's page for the book and follow below. Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk currently offer previews of the contents, full preface, full introduction, and part of chapter one from the Kindle edition of the book (which is available to access today from both Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk), and BarnesandNoble.com offers a preview to owners of its Nook readers (though I was unable to access this). This is definitely a must-get; click the preceding links for purchasing/previewing.


Table of Contents

Preface 1

Introduction 3

1. The Iris Opens: "Bosko’s Knight-Mare" 7

2. The Best Arthurian Cartoon Never Made: Hugh Harman’s King Arthur’s Knights 16

3. "To Ye Jousting Tournament": Arthur’s Postwar Rise 36

4. "What’s Up, Duke?" Variety in the 1950s and Early 1960s 43

5. The Sword in the Stone, a "Full-length Flop," and Arthurianimation’s Decline 59

6. The Profane and the Sacred: What Hath Monty Python Wrought? 77

7. Many Returns of the King: The 1980s 85

8. Arthur, Arthur, Everywhere: Short Animation of 1990s 100

9. Four Roads to Camelot: The Feature Film Bumper Crop of 1997-98 131

10. Where Lies Arthur? Arthurianimation Since 2000 151

Coda 175

Chapter Notes 177

Works Cited 189

Index 197

Lee on Prince Valiant (1954)

With apologies for the multiple cross-postings:

Lee, Peter W. “Red Days, Black Knights: Medieval-themed Comic Books in American Containment Culture.”Corporate Medievalism II. Ed. Karl Fugelso. Studies in Medievalism 22. Cambridge, Eng.: D. S. Brewer-Boydell & Brewer, 2013. 181-200. Print.

New Site Name

As the Are You from Camelot? collection moves forward, I'm beginning to think ahead to larger concerns about the state of scholarship on Arthurian-themed films, television productions, and electronic games (as well as our association with our sponsor and our niche in Arthurian Studies). As a result, I am pleased to announce the renaming of this blog to The Matter of Britain on Screen as the first step in this direction. I hope that you continue to find the site of service to you.

Michael Torregrossa
Co-founder, The Virtual Society for the Study of Popular Culture and the Middle Ages

Merlin on Video

A quick post to catch up to date. The popular series Merlin finished its five-year run earlier this year. The complete series is now available to own on DVD, Blu-Ray, and instant video. The following images are the front and back covers of the DVD release. I assume the Blu-Ray includes the same extras.

Salda's Arthurian Animation Coming Soon

The latest from McFarland. This is definitely a must get.

Arthurian Animation: A Study of Cartoon Camelots on Film and Television
Michael N. Salda

Print  ISBN: 978-0-7864-7468-4
Ebook ISBN: 978-1-4766-0614-9
ca. 35 photos, notes, bibliography, index
softcover (7 x 10) 2013
Price: $45.00
Not Yet Published, Available Fall/Winter 2013

About the Book

This is an exploration of the potent blend of Arthurian legend, cartoon animation, and cultural and artistic trends from 1933 to the present day. In more than 170 theatrical and televised short cartoons, televised series and specials, and feature-length films from The Sword in the Stone to Shrek the Third--all covered in this book--animators have repeatedly brought the Round Table to life on screens large and small. Although these productions differ greatly in tone and intent--spanning spectra from comic to sober, fantastic to realistic, and entertaining to edifying--they share in the proof of Camelot’s continuing relevance in the modern world.

About the Author

Michael N. Salda is an associate professor of Medieval Literature in the Department of English at the University of Southern Mississippi. He lives in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

Lancelot on Once Upon a Time

A much belated post:

The recent episode "Lady of the Lake" (14 October 2012) of the ABC fantasy-drama series Once Upon a Time featured an extended appearance by Sir Lancelot, played by African American actor Sinqua Walls. Walls offers details about his role in an interview for TV Fanatic at http://www.tvfanatic.com/2012/09/sinqua-walls-speaks-on-sir-lancelot-dangerous-addition-to-once-u/ and the Once Upon a Time Wiki includes some details about the character at http://onceuponatime.wikia.com/wiki/Sir_Lancelot.

The following trailer appears from the televisionpromos channel on YouTube: