i wish there was a tv adaptation of the Harper Hall trilogy. I know there never will be but in my head I imagine it got made in the early 90s.
Jim Hensen studios was contracted to make the fire lizards. There's multiple different puppets for them, some which fly and some that perch. Some guy crouches behind Menolly to puppet the hissy queen fire lizard on her shoulder.
The dragons are also puppets, and they green screen the humans onto them. They're placed against painted backgrounds. The dragons breathe fire that's streamers in fan wind. The thread is stop motion animation of this creepy, spidery, silver strands.
The halls are made of fake stone with airbrushed moss. There's miniatures of each location that are used to mimic arial shots. There's boat scenes shot on film sets with more obviously painted backgrounds.
The music all has a very folksy feel. It's done on harps and reed pipes and guitars– but the "gitars" all look very whimsical and unique. Menolly's actress sings in a very raw, naturalist way. No auto tune or pre-recorded audio. It's all sung live. Except possibly her actual singing performances, when in scene she's singing with all her focus.
This will never exist outside of my own head, but I'd rather it exist there then there ever get made a bad adaptation of the books.
