Film Fantasy Friday: Searching for Dragons

Welcome to Friday, friends and lovers. Ready to visit the awesome Enchanted Forest of Patricia C. Wrede's excellent tween fantasy series? I am too. Let's go to there. I decided to to the second novel in the series, Searching for Dragons, because that's when we get to meet the foxy Mendanbar and the not-as-foxy-but-still-fun Telemain.

Princess Cimorene: played by Kat Dennings, Cimorene is a wry, smartypants princess who currently serves as Chief Cook and Librarian to the King of the Dragons...who has suddenly gone missing.

King Mendanbar: played by Dominic Cooper, Mendanbar is the absent-minded king of the Enchanted Forest who ends up journeying with Cimorene to rescue Kazul, the dragon King.

Kazul: voiced by Tilda Swinton, Kazul is the King of the Dragons, recently kidnapped by the Society of Wizards.

Telemain: played by John Simm, Telemain is a magician--not a wizard--and is interested in researching and studying magic across practitioners. He is a bit smarmy.

Zemenar: played by Ian McKellen (because who the hell else walks around with a beard?), Zemenar is the head of the Society of Wizards. He has a grudge against Cimorene for her tendency to foil his evil plots and to melt him into temporary nothingness using soapy water with a dash of lemon juice.

Morwen: played by Gillian Anderson, Morwen is a witch and one of Kazul's good friends. She makes excellent cider, keeps many cats, and has a no-nonsense attitude toward life.

Note: I need to point out something about Patricia C. Wrede. She was one of my favorite fantasy authors as a kid and I still have a lot of respect for her (and tons of love for The Enchanted Forest Chronicles). However, her novel Thirteenth Child has some issues of erasure--literally. Read here for more info.