Book:Moving Pictures

Moving Pictures
Cover art by Josh Kirby
Co-author(s)
Illustrator(s)
Publisher	Victor Gollancz
Publication date	1990
ISBN	0552134635
Pages	279
RRP
Main characters	Victor Tugelbend, Theda Withel, Gaspode
Series	Discworld Series
Annotations	View
Notes	Book #10
All data relates to the first UK edition.

Blurb

The alchemists of the Discworld have discovered the magic of the silver screen. But what is the dark secret of Holy Wood hill?

It's up to Victor Tugelbend ("Can't sing. Can't dance. Can handle a sword a little") and Theda Withel ("I come from a little town you've probably never heard of") to find out ... Moving Pictures, the tenth Discworld novel, is a gloriously funny saga set against the background of a world gone mad!

Cover

The cover was painted by Josh Kirby, and the front features many characters filming a moving picture: Victor (with sword), Ginger (lying languorously), Silverfish (with megaphone), Gaffer (with picture box), Gaspode (by Ginger's leg), CMOT Dibbler (with sausages-in-buns), Oswald (behind Victor), a troll (under Ginger), and several imps and dwarves.

The back cover has three Wizards riding with Windle Poons on his wheelchair, chasing Gaspode (who seems to be on both covers) and Laddie, passing the Resograph.

Major Characters

Cut-me-own-Throat Dibbler
Thomas Silverfish, President of the Alchemists' Guild, whose name parodies Samuel Goldwyn (who used the name "Samuel Goldfish" for a few years). However, Dibbler acts more like Goldwyn than Silverfish does.
Victor Tugelbend aka Victor Maraschino
Detritus
Ruby
Gaspode
Theda Withel aka Ginger aka Delores de Syn
Oswald, a parody of the Academy Award of Merit, also referenced as Osric and Osbert (Oswald is the most frequently used name, but not necessarily the guardian's true name)

Minor Characters

Deccan Ribobe
Death
The Librarian
Marietta Cosmopilite
Gaffer Bird, handleman, whose name parodies gaffer, the head of a film's electrical department
Galena, troll actor, named after galena, who also experiments with the names Flint and Rock Cliffe (a la Rock Hudson)
Laddie, parody of Lassie
Soll Dibbler, Dibbler's nephew

Cameos and Mentions

Tento
Mustrum Ridcully
The Bursar
Windle Poons, currently the oldest wizard in the world (Greyhold Spold held the title in The Light Fantastic until he died)
Patrician Havelock Vetinari
Lully, alchemist
Sendivoge, Alchemists' Guild secretary
Peavie, Alchemists' Guild treasurer, inventor of banged grains
The Dean
Ponder Stibbons (first appearance)
Yob Soddoth (mentioned)
Tshup Aklathep (mentioned)
Lord Henry Skipps
Sham Harga
Genghiz Cohen (mentioned)
Morraine, troll actor, named after morraine
Riktor aka "Numbers" Riktor, wizard
Mrs Whitlow
Ksandra
Nodar Borgle, Klatchian who runs a "restaurant" in Holy Wood
Fruntkin, short-order chef who works for Borgle
Thunderfoot, actor
Breccia, troll actress
Sniddin, actor
Fred Colon
Nobby Nobbs
Bezam Planter, owner of the Odium, and his daughter Calliope Planter, a reference to the muse of the same name
Crullet, a fisherman from Jowser Cove who helped keep Deccan Ribobe fed
Meggelin, former Keeper of the Door
Jasper, a troll (perhaps the one from The Light Fantastic?)
Amber, a troll named after amber
Magma, troll king with legendary, uh, scepter, referencing magma
the Sphinx (mentioned)
Evil-Minded Son of a Bitch, camel
Azhural N'choate, stock dealer (in elephants and other wildlife)
M'Bu, N'choate's assistant
N'gru, M'Bu's uncle
Googool, M'Bu's aunt, possible reference to the word googol, since they are moving a large number of elephants
Kck!, M'Bu's second cousin, whose name references an African click language popularized in the movie The Gods Must Be Crazy
Muluccai, another stock dealer
Tazikel, another stock dealer
Banana N'Vectif, a great hunter who designs a better mousetrap (literally)... only to have his house demolished by elephants
King Leonid of Ephebe (mentioned)
other Unseen University wizards:
- Chair of Indefinite Studies
- Lecturer in Recent Runes
- Dean of Pentacles
- Greyhald Spold (mentioned)
- Pimple (mentioned)
- Cucumber Framer
Blanche Languish, stage name of click actress
Scummidge, once porter of the Assassins' Guild
Chondrodite, troll god of love
Gigalith, troll god of wisdom
Silicarous, troll god of good fortune (an avatar of The Lady?)
Monolith, troll folk hero
Cohen the Barbarian (mentioned)
Elves

Things and Concepts

Octo-cellulose, Discworld equivalent of film
Imps, used in cameras to paint film frames and blow them dry very fast
Salamander, light-producing animal
Banged Grains, Discworld equivalent of popcorn
Old Tom (mentioned)
Necrotelicomnicon Discussed for Students, with Practical Experiments, book
Battle of Pseudopolis (mentioned)
Century of the Fruitbat, current century (in Ankh-Morpork)
Holy Wood Magic
The Resograph, a "thingness-writer" which measures disturbances in reality
Handlemen's Guild
"Hiho" song, reference to Heigh-Ho song
The Boke of the Film, parodying the "instant books" that come out when a popular film is released
Movie studios:
- Untied Alchemists, parodying United Artists
- Century of the Fruitbat, parodying 20th Century Fox
- Fir Wood Studios, parodying Pinewood Studios
- Microlithic Pictures, another parody of Paramount (microlithic = small stone [entirely appropriate for a studio run by dwarves], paramount = large mountain)
- Floating Bladder
- In describing a recurring dream to Victor, Ginger also refers to Columbia Pictures and MGM Studios ("“It always starts off with this mountain—”...“—and there are stars around it, you know, in the sky, but one of them comes down and it’s not a star at all, it’s a woman holding a torch over her head—”... "...and then there are a lot of lights and this roar, like a lion or a tiger or something...” -Excerpt from Moving Pictures)
Passion's Plaything, a cheap perfume
Howondaland Green, a type of parrot
Basic Canine, language spoken by dogs
Octavo (mentioned)
Bumper Fun Grimoire (mentioned)
The Joy of Tantric Sex (mentioned)
Necrotelicomnicon by Achmed the I Just Get These Headaches
Cripple Mr Onion (mentioned)
Howondaland Smith, character played by Victor, referencing Indiana Jones
Silicon Anti-Defamation League (mentioned)
Gindle's Effortless Elevator, levitation spell
Adventures with Crossbow and Rod, book
Aurora Coriolis
Wellcome to Ankh-Morporke, Citie of One Thousand Surprises book by the Guild of Merchants
Achmed the I Just Get These Headaches's Book of Humorous Cat Stories, book
We Can Rule You Wholesale, Ankh-Morpork civic anthem

Clicks and their Roundworld references

High Jinks at the Store, in the general style of early Charlie Chaplin films
Pelias and Melisande, a Belgian play
The Interestinge and Curious Adventures of Cohen the Barbarian, parodying the Conan the Barbarian series of films (Cohen himself being a parody of Conan), later renamed Sword of Passione
A King's Ransom
The Dark Forest
Mystery Mountain
A Bolde Adventurer, probable reference to the Indiana Jones films
Tales of the Dwarfes, references Snow White, given the "Hiho" song (there are many movies about dwarves, but the "Hiho" song is unique to the Disney version of Snow White). The "And that includes you, Dozy!" line near the end of the book references Sleepy the dwarf from this movie
An Exciting Study of Pottery Making, probably refers to the awful Open University self-study films of the 70s in which men with beards and tank-tops showed us how to do everything, using blackboards. But might also be a reference to the BBC film "The Potter's Wheel", shown when there were technical problems in the early days of broadcasting.
Bad Menace of Troll Valley, possible reference to Lightnin' Smith Returns, American title "Valley of the Bad Men"
Shadowe of the Dessert, referencing The Shadow of the East, UK title "The Shadow of the Desert"
The Third Gnome, referencing the The third man by Orson Welles
Golde Diggers of 1457, reference to "Gold Diggers of 1933" and its sequel The Golde Rushe, reference to The Gold Rush (note the 57 reference as well)
Turkey Legs, reference to Duck Soup (given that it's a comedy and later referenced along with A Night At The Arena)
Blown Away, referencing Gone with The Wind, and based on the Ankh-Morpork Civil War
Valley of the Trolls and Beyond the Valley of the Trolls, references to Valley of the Dolls and Beyond the Valley of the Dolls
A Night At The Arena, referencing A Night At the Opera
Burninge Passiones