Grendel Grendel Grendel (1981)

I was feeling very free after my 5 finals (2 left, wish me luck) and 4 papers, so I took the liberty of watching this cartoon of Grendel that I found on youtube. Yup, a cartoon version of Grendel. Maybe we mentioned this in class and I missed it, but apparently there was short Australian animated film made in 1981, based on Gardner’s Grendel. It doesn't match the complexity of the book, but it was an interesting watch, especially since we recently covered the book.

It was very 80s. VERY, very 80s. Psychedelic geometric shapes, strange colors, abstract backgrounds, retro animation, the whole deal. Nonetheless, It was a very interesting depiction of Gardner’s book. There were many direct quotes from the book, even though the timeline wasn’t entirely accurate, and the plot stayed true to the original for the most part.

The first main deviation was the depiction of Unferth. Unlike in the book, where in Unferth is a relatively minor character among the many warriors of Hrothgars hall, the video chooses to give him a more major role, as Hrothgar’s second in command, to whom Hrothgar promises his kingdom. He is the main hero or all the warriors, not just a hero like in the book. This sets him up for the fall of his reputation’s in the apple scene, which becomes a running gag as the other characters use it to mock Unferth with again and again. Wealtheow's role is downsized. She is just a ditzy pretty face that Hrothgar takes from a trespassing king as tribute. She says “my lord” a lot. That’s it. There is no mention of the calming effect her beauty has on others, or the emphasis on her innocence like the book. On the other hand, Grendel is for the most part unchanged. Grendel is the well-spoken monster we all know from the book, just with much less anger. He’s depicted surprisingly quiet and thoughtful, with a tendency to talk to himself.

The main confusing element was it’s intended audience. With it’s bright colors and cartoon animation, it’s easy to mistake it as a children’s movie; but Grendel still eats some heads off, Wealtheow is naked for a few seconds, and Beowulf tears off Grendel’s arm rather graphically for a children’s cartoon. However the characters are very much simplified from the book, and their dialogue is more of a comedic routine, slapstick-y with some buffoonery. It’s the kind of cartoon that if I was watching it with a 5 year old, I would periodically ask them “Well, wasn’t that silly?” to check that they’re watching. Except I wouldn’t watch this with a 5 year old, because despite some silliness, and a few dance and song numbers (Grendel has one with the Dragon), it’s still Gardner’s Grendel at heart. Grendel is still lonely and confused monster trying to find his place in the world.

While it is, visually, a strange adaptation (every character has a long snout thing for a nose, so Grendel's face is different only because it's green) it gains a lot of points for two large aspects that the novel cannot have: voices and music. Whoever voices Grendel makes him sound like a sophisticated aristocrat, who should be sipping a cup of English tea. His voice is wonderfully at odds with his actions, which range from violent, to endearingly bewildered. When he’s not narrating for the viewer, his words are changed to unintelligible howls, showing what he sounds like to the Danes. 

The dragon’s voice was unexpected— he sounds like a wheezy grandfather, complete with tiny pince-nez on the bridge of his nose, so his proclamation that “I know everything!” sounds less like he’s trying to impress Grendel, and more like he’s just grumbling. To hear the two of them talking— the eloquent gentlemen and the peeved grandfather— makes the the scene very surreal,  so that when they reach the same conclusion as in the book, it still feels true to the style of book, even if it didn’t have an element of fear or eliphany in it.

Lastly there’s the music. The music was very fitting. It was interesting to actually hear an interpretation of Shaper’s songs. They were strange, sometimes lilting, sometimes dramatic, but they were strange enough to be believable. While music is a major theme in Grendel, we can only read the words not hear the melody, and while the book isn't diminished by it, the animation gains from it. 

To sum it up, it was bizarre yet interesting to watch as a followup to a book I enjoyed it, and though it doesn’t do the book justice, it’s able to emphasize certain aspects that the book can’t, and add a level of interpretation.