Product Description

Hogfather is the magical menacing wicked and witty family story unlike anything else you could ever imagine. From the imagination of best-selling author Terry Pratchett comes Hogfather. It s the holiday of Hogswatch the night when kids anticipate presents from the beloved Hogfather. But someone wants the Hogfather out of the way. Now it s up to the most unlikely of heroes to get the holiday back on track. Just in time for the Easter season Hogfather is a cross between Chronicles of Narnia and Harry Potter that s sure to be a family favorite you ll be watching for years and years to come. System Requirements:Run Time: 189 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: CHILDREN/FAMILY UPC: 796019806046 Manufacturer No: 80604

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #766 in DVD
• Brand: WELLSPRING/GENIUS
• Released on: 2008-03-04
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.66:1
• Formats: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 189 minutes

Amazon.com
Based on a fantasy novel by Terry Pratchett, The Hogfather is an extraordinary satire-adventure set in the mythical realm of Discworld, a kind of parallel-universe version of Earth. Discworld’s alternative to Santa Claus is the Hogfather, who also chases around in a sled delivering gifts to children (on a Christmas-like night known as Hogwatch), but who looks like, well, a wild hog and is pulled through the skies not by reindeer but a bunch of grunting porkers with long, dangerous teeth. Just as the Hogfather is about to complete his annual mission to leave toys for kids under their Hogwatch trees, a specter makes a deal with a professional assassin to kill the jolly old fellow. The job is farmed out to a psychotic monster named Teatime (Marc Warren), who sets about trying to get to the Hogfather through, of all things, the Tooth Fairy. While danger stalks these immortal characters, Death (Ian Richardson) himself takes the Hogfather’s place on his magical rounds, with comic consequences. Meanwhile, a governess named Susan (Michelle Dockery), possessor of a strange secret and awesome powers, determines that the Hogfather is in danger. She sets about trying to find him and discovers Teatime’s plot, while a cluster of clumsy wizards (led by Joss Ackland) try to make sense of what has happened and what they can do about it. It’s hard to explain the charm and wit of The Hogfather, which is full of quirky, ironic humor, except to say that it’s easy to fall in love with this British television special and its dark delights. (Some a bit too dark for younger viewers.) The cast includes a very funny Tony Robinson of Black Adder. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews

Would have been great.. IF
This would have been great.... IF it had closed captioning. Deaf people like terry pratchett too!

My first trip into Discworld...
It's true. When I first watched Hogfather I hadn't read any of Pratchett's wonderful novels of the Discworld, so there were a few things that I were somewhat unable to understand (such as the full history behind Susan & Death, the Watch, ect). However, the movie is set up to be so newcomer friendly that many such as myself will have no problem getting into the movie & fully enjoying it.

The story surrounds the dissapearance & possible demise of the Hogsfather & Death's attempts to keep everything going by taking his place until the rightful entity can re assume the role. Meanwhile, Death's granddaughter Susan is reluctantly brought into the middle of all of this to help discover what has truly befallen the Hogfather & why.

All in all, I loved this movie. I was overjoyed to hear that it was finally coming to the US so I could finally have a real copy of this to watch each christmas as a new classic. I can only hope that the next movie in the series (Colour of Magic/Light Fantastic) will get the same treatment over here!

Just a great fun movie
The strange thing about Terry Pratchett is how he manages to include murder and mayhem in his works, yet somehow makes it all seem lighthearted. I just reviewed Nation and I was embarrassed by how much I relied on the word "delightful" and sadly, I have to use it here too. This dvd sacrifices none of the humor or lighthearted weirdness in translation from print to video.

The story is another one with Death vs. The Auditors. This time the Auditors are out to destroy the Disc World equivalent of Xmas by sending an assassin after The Hogfather. Susan of Stohelit (my personal favorite) is on hand to provide a human face, but for the most part this is Death's show. And Death riding around on a sleigh pulled by reindeer is the best visual I've seen in a long time.

Yes, there are some flaws. It gets a bit slow by the end of the second act and the plan to kill Hogfather doesn't make any sense whatsoever, but I watched this on the third night of a Con where I was exhausted and cranky and wishing that I had decided to go home. I had a big stupid grin on my face the entire time. There's not a lot that can do that when I'm that cranky, in fact I can't think of anything else. So that alone makes it a five star must see.