To
learn all about Escaflowne: the Movie - a Girl
in Gaia, check out Tsubasa
no Kami.
As you will quickly gather, the world of the movie
is very different to that of the TV series,
and so are practically all the characters. They
have the same names and look similar to their
series selves, but in almost every case have been
conceptually reworked. Because the shorter timespan
of the movie puts pretty tight practical
restrictions on development of secondary
characters, you may be disappointed to find that
the only characters whose personalities we really
get to explore are Hitomi, Van, and to a lesser
extent Folken. Before
the movie came out, I speculated that smaller roles
like Dryden's were likely to fall by the wayside,
due to the necessity of streamlining the plot.
Happily, I was wrong, and he does appear - although
in somewhat reduced circumstances. Movie
Dryden is still the son of a rich man, although
Meiden isn't mentioned by name, and he isn't a
crony of King Aston of Asturia - because in movie
Gaea there is no Asturia for anyone to be king of.
Picture
from Tsubasa
no Kami.
At the
Movies
|
Dryden's old man is just a prominent citizen of a town called Torushina, and his son, rather than a travelling merchant, is the proprietor of a bar and secretly supports the Abaharaki resistance movement that's fighting the Black Dragon Clan. Major differences between movie and series Dryden include the fact that he's not Millerna's fiancé. Movie Millerna, although she is a princess, isn't engaged to or in love with anyone (nor is she a medical student, nor does she seem to have any sisters). She's a dispossessed princess like Leia Organa, and again like Leia Organa she has an absurd hairstyle. But enough of her. (And her ridiculously short shorts.) Movie Dryden also doesn't have series Dryden's somewhat hyperactive and overbearing personality. He comes across as affable and smooth, and given that he's helping the resistance I guess we can take it as read that he has an active social conscience. Given that he's doing it secretly, we can also take it that he believes in business as usual during wartime. Although movie Dryden is less obviously intellectual than series Dryden, he does come through with useful information by being able to quote an obscure verse of a song containing a prophecy about Escaflowne, which makes it clear that if the legendary armour is awakened it will eventually destroy the world. This seems to be a popular folk song generally as Van knows most of the words (just not the crucial part), and it is performed by the torch singers in Dryden's bar. Torch singers, I should add, who are twin catgirls, one with silver and one with golden hair. Yes, folks, it's Nariya and Eriya, with considerably less to do in the movie than in the series and no connection to Folken whatever. (How weird is that?) One rumour I heard prior to seeing the movie was that they were strippers in a nightclub owned by Dryden, which rather upset me as I didn't like to see them degraded like that, and didn't want to believe Dryden was a party to that degradation. I'm glad to say that the rumour was not true; their singing act is rather elegant and ethereal and they are respectably clothed (for Nariya and Eriya, anyway) throughout. I kind of like the fact that the catgrrlz are working for Dryden rather than gatecrashing his wedding. ('Right! If you girls can't pay for the damage you did during the series, you're going to work it off in the movie!') Although movie Dryden doesn't get to show off as a great linguist, he does get to demonstrate a previously unknown talent for music, accompanying the singers on a pipe-organ in the bar. I guess John Lennon glasses are handy for reading sheet music too. Actually, although this is just speculation on my part, I like to imagine that movie Dryden is specifically a scholar of music and song, as much as series Dryden was of languages and history. He says he'd like to showcase more popular music in the bar, but that's difficult to do when the town's crawling with Black Dragon troops (who presumably would rather hear death metal than 'Strawberry Fields Forever'). My impression is that what movie Dryden really wants is just 'business as usual' - for the intensity and abnormality of wartime to be over, and for people to have a chance to get on with living their lives in an ordinary, natural way. He's a nice man, even if he doesn't get the chance to be very interesting, and he's still rather yummy-looking. Character
Design Two
head-shots of Dryden v2.0. Among the male
characters, Dryden is one of the least
noticeably altered, but important
differences are there; in accordance with
the overall design style, his nose is less
prominent (but still aquiline) and his
mouth and chin are a little more heavily
drawn, less fine-boned. His hair is worn
loose and flowing at all times (sorry,
ponytail fanciers), which I think makes
his appearance overall more distinguished.
The Middle Eastern aura I commented on in
What
Might Have
Been
has given way to Dryden's more late 17th
Century Europe aspect. Funny, that,
because everyone else looks more
old-fashioned, even primitive, than they
did in the series, to the extent that Van
is running around in a fur kilt with
shorts underneath. (Obviously Fanelians
and Scotsmen differ on some crucial
points.) But certain defining Dryden
characteristics have survived - his
whiskers, his Extreme Eyebrows, and his
lovely curly smirk. *** A
full length figure, with (nice touch) an
inset close-up of one of his eyes. That is
an eyebrow that won't quit. Turning to the
main figure of Dryden, we see what Lizzard
is pleased to term the 'Jesus pose.'
Dryden has always held the coveted
title of Escaflowne Character Most
Closely Resembling Traditional Imagery of
Christ. (Or alternately, John Lennon circa
'Let It Be.' Except John's hair never
looked this good long. I think he had his
best hair in 'A Hard Day's Night' and the
'I Am the Walrus' video. But I digress.
*ahem*) I see Dryden is letting the side
down by wearing trousers under his skirt,
which I'm pretty sure he didn't in the
series. I wonder if this development in
the movie (cf Van's kilt-with-shorts) is
in any way related to the series'
Anti-Panty-Shot policy, detailed in
Kaleidoscope
Eyes?
Even Merle's acquired little white
knickers - though I only know that
from design sketches. Note:
Dryden apparently wears a sword-belt but
does not carry a sword. *** Side
and rear elevations, to facilitate drawing
from all angles. I adore his highwayman's
coat, and find his hair very pretty and
play-with-able. And can think of very
little else to say about these
pictures. Query:
If Zongi had been in the movie, would
he have worn pants? I'm becoming
completely obsessed with pants, I'm
afraid. Pants and hair. The John Lennon
fixation was a pre-existing
condition. Oh
yeah, I wanted to say that I find the
pendant he's wearing very interesting, and
would like to have a closer look at
it. *** Two
more headshots, showcasing The Smiles of
Dryden. The one on the left is really
quite nice, in a looking optimistically to
the future sort of way. The one on the
right... I'm such a Dryden booster that I
considered trying to suppress this image
for the sake of his reputation, but then I
thought no, that would be phony, and
Dryden is no phony. He'd want you to see
this. A
horse will make this face if you skritch
it in just the right place. If
you still love him after seeing this, you
are a True Fan *^.^* |
