Yeah, the studio’s “research” showed that something like less than 20% of the population knew the definition, but I honestly find that hard to believe.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone is, I do believe, called Harry Potter and the Sorceror’s Stone in the US because it was found that American kids a) Didn’t know what the Philosopher’s Stone was (as in the alchemic Holy Grail) or b) Didn’t know what a philosopher was.
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen movie had Tom Sawyer put into it because it was believed that American audiences wouldn’t recognise any of the literary characters and would be put off the movie and they wouldn’t want to watch a movie if there wasn’t an American literary character in it to relate to.
Despite the fact the LXG as a comic is quintessentially British.
Well, I can see how very young children might not know about philosophy or the philosopher’s stone, but I still thought that was a really stupid move. Why not leave the title as is, and have them ask about it? I mean, I know that there are cultural differences between the UK and US, but I can’t imagine that 4-5 year olds in Britain know much about alchemy either. I don’t know what the current grade school curriculums are, but we were taught about philosophy in grade school, it was part of our English and Literature studies.
I think cultural differences were the main reason for the Tom Sawyer character in LXG too, although I thought that it was a stupid move as well. Adding an American characcter didn’t save the movie anyhow, it seems that Americans still didn’t want to watch it. Perhaps Britain should have thought to make the movie instead.
Carlotta
Yeah, the studio’s “research” showed that something like less than 20% of the population knew the definition, but I honestly find that hard to believe.
Me, too. It’s just not that obscure of a word. That’s what happens to licenses here, after all—they get revoked.
In contrast, “philosopher’s stone” probably was a fairly obscure term, although I bet it is quite a bit less obscure now, thanks to Harry Potter. (We all heard that the title was changed for American audiences, Renquist.) Which isn’t to say that American children would have rejected the book just because of that word, nor that they wouldn’t have enjoyed learning a new term. But changing British titles for Americans (and vice versa, though to a lesser extent) has a long history. It happened to Agatha Christie’s books a lot, and I can think of one that was changed for the better (Ten Little Indians—a.k.a. And Then There Were None was originally Ten Little Really-Rude-Word-for-Persons-of-Color).
I’m not at all familiar with LXG, Renquist—the main thing I know about it is how much you personally loathe the addition of Tom Sawyer. All I can say is, “sorry.” And that however objectionable the character is in LXG, at least it’s a good book. They could have added, I don’t know, the Hardy boys or something.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone is, I do believe, called Harry Potter and the Sorceror’s Stone in the US because it was found that American kids a) Didn’t know what the Philosopher’s Stone was (as in the alchemic Holy Grail) or b) Didn’t know what a philosopher was.
Well, “philosopher” doesn’t have the same meanings in the US as it does in Britain, so I can see some reasoning behind that. Besides, with “sorcerer” you get some nice alliteration going.
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen movie had Tom Sawyer put into it because it was believed that American audiences wouldn’t recognise any of the literary characters and would be put off the movie and they wouldn’t want to watch a movie if there wasn’t an American literary character in it to relate to.
I actually knew nothing of the original concept of the series from the comics, so for all I knew when I saw the movie Tom Sawyer was always a part of the whole thing. That still didn’t make the movie all that great as far as I was concerned, though.
Besides, Captain Nemo may have been American for all we know, and was created by a Frenchman. So Tom Sawyer wasn’t the only heathen influence.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone is, I do believe, called Harry Potter and the Sorceror’s Stone in the US because it was found that American kids a) Didn’t know what the Philosopher’s Stone was (as in the alchemic Holy Grail) or b) Didn’t know what a philosopher was.
Well, “philosopher” doesn’t have the same meanings in the US as it does in Britain, so I can see some reasoning behind that. Besides, with “sorcerer” you get some nice alliteration going.
What the hell does ‘philosopher’ mean in the US then? I was only aware of one possible meaning
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen movie had Tom Sawyer put into it because it was believed that American audiences wouldn’t recognise any of the literary characters and would be put off the movie and they wouldn’t want to watch a movie if there wasn’t an American literary character in it to relate to.
I actually knew nothing of the original concept of the series from the comics, so for all I knew when I saw the movie Tom Sawyer was always a part of the whole thing. That still didn’t make the movie all that great as far as I was concerned, though.
Besides, Captain Nemo may have been American for all we know, and was created by a Frenchman. So Tom Sawyer wasn’t the only heathen influence.
The comic has Nemo (20,000 Leagues), Alan Quarermain (King Solomon’s Mines), Mina Murray (Dracula), H. Griffin (Invisible Man- he’s not the original invisibile man in the movie probably due to copyright reasons), Jeckyll and Hyde (Strange Affair of Dr. Jeckyll and Mr Hyde), and they were under the control of M (James Bond) who was originally Professor Moriarty (The Final Problem) and later Mycroft Holmes (Holmes’ brother, The Mystery of the Greek Interpreter).
Also, in the film they’re all heroes-in the comics they find Hyde (with the help of Auguste Dupin from the Edgar Allen Poe stories) murdering prostitutes and the invisible man is actually raping girls in an all-girls’ school and knocking them up, but because he’s invisible they all think it’s immaculate conception. Very dark, very gritty. And no Americans.
I love that comic. Next part is coming out thie October! Woo!
What the hell does ‘philosopher’ mean in the US then? I was only aware of one possible meaning
Umm. . .pretty much somebody who just sits around thinking existential thoughts all day. There’s not really any material work associated with it.
The comic has Nemo (20,000 Leagues), Alan Quarermain (King Solomon’s Mines), Mina Murray (Dracula), H. Griffin (Invisible Man- he’s not the original invisibile man in the movie probably due to copyright reasons), Jeckyll and Hyde (Strange Affair of Dr. Jeckyll and Mr Hyde), and they were under the control of M (James Bond) who was originally Professor Moriarty (The Final Problem) and later Mycroft Holmes (Holmes’ brother, The Mystery of the Greek Interpreter).
Ah. I was wondering why the Invisible Man wasn’t the Invisible Man.
Thanks, now I suddenly want to go out and buy a bunch of Jules Verne novels, as I am currently without any.
I was reading one of mine just the other day. . .it was interesting reading about the intrepid hero climbing a mighty peak in the North Carolina mountains, amongst all the palm trees. . .
I don’t know what the current grade school curriculums are, but we were taught about philosophy in grade school, it was part of our English and Literature studies.
