#10 'Moving Pictures': The Magic of Cinema Quiz

Answer: The Alchemists' Guild

At first, the technology was a closely guarded secret, but it had something to do with salamanders, imps, and octo-cellulose. Some of the alchemists in the Guild were concerned about how the wizards would react; they were opposed to non-wizards using any form of magic. Thomas Silverfish (president of the Alchemists' Guild), however, was adamant that moving pictures didn't use magic at all.

Answer: Holy Wood

Holy Wood was built on a vast expanse of sand next to the ocean. People were inexplicably drawn to the area to be part of the 'clicks', but at first, Victor had never heard of the place. After watching a moving picture for the first time, he decided to give acting a go and set off for Holy Wood.

Answer: Rincewind

Theda Withel arrived in Holy Wood from a small, obscure town on the Discworld. She was known as Ginger to her friends, but the movie posters referred to her as Delores De Syn. Ginger wanted to become famous by appearing in the clicks, but in the end she had a more important destiny to fulfil.

When the whole Disc was at risk of collapse, Thelda Withel (from a town you've probably never heard of) was subconsciously fighting back in her sleep.

Answer: Imps and salamanders

The clicks definitely did NOT use magic. Absolutely not. By no means. Not at all. The imps weren't magic, 'just ordinary occult', according to Silverfish. And the salamanders were 'perfectly normal natural history'. The wizards had nothing to complain about...

Victor wanted to know how the picture box worked so a handleman opened one up and explained. There were six imps inside: two to paint the scene and four to blow on it to get it dry. Every time the handle was turned, a new sheet came down for the demons to paint on, and a whip was whirled around to make them paint fast enough.

Answer: Cut-Me-Own-Throat Dibbler

Got any elephants to spare? Dibbler believed that bigger was better. No expense was spared; the money would come rolling in once the tickets went on sale. With careful renaming of the cast and by taking liberties with advertising, the former sausage-seller had audiences eating out of his hand.

Answer: Gaspode

Gaspode was one of the animals under the spell of Holy Wood. He wasn't much to look at, but the magic of the clicks had granted him the power to reason and to speak. He received some puzzled looks when others caught him doing uncanine things and he covered his tracks by saying, "Woof!"

Answer: Banged grains

Banged grains were another alchemist's invention. Although they were edible, they were pretty tasteless. Luckily, a little sugar and salt made them more palatable and people began buying them by the bucket. When the Dean of Unseen University entered The Odium for the first time (in disguise, of course), he ordered six Patrician-sized tubs of the stuff.

Answer: Giant versions of the main characters

The audience was mesmerised. Gaspode had to resort to the cold, wet nose trick in order to arouse Victor. The leading man tried to interrupt the film, but a huge, flickering version of the leading lady emerged from the screen nevertheless. The audience awoke in the presence of visitors from the Dungeon Dimensions.

The unthinkable creatures were using the enlarged shapes of Ginger and Victor to enter the Discworld.

Answer: A golden warrior

The dilapidated cinema in Holy Wood had a huge screen that wasn't quite right. Creatures from the Dungeon Dimensions were trying to get through it for a start, not to mention the odd way it looked. Luckily, a giant, golden statue of a warrior awoke from the depths of the auditorium to battle the monsters.

Answer: A thousand elephants for Dibbler

Dibbler wanted his clicks to be bigger, louder, better! He came up with some ludicrous ideas for stories "set against the background of a world gone mad". He wanted the "Moving Picture to End all Moving Pictures". It would have romance, battles, trolls, and women slapping people's faces! There would be a city on fire and a thousand elephants!

Unfortunately, the movie industry collapsed after the incident with the Dungeon Dimensions. Dibbler lost all of his money and went back to selling sausages. But no one remembered to cancel the shipment of elephants...