As You Wish

Today, I've posted my typographical homage to The Princess Bride. The framed version is available here, and the print-only version here.

The Princess Bride, written by William Goldman and directed by Rob Reiner, was released in 1987. At the time, I was seven years old, just about the right age to place myself in Fred Savage's shoes (well... bedsheets, anyway) and feel the same sense of wonder and adventure at this story as his character did. This is a timeless classic. I've been disappointed recently by how some old 80s favorites fail to hold up to the test of time (Labyrinth, I'm looking at you), but The Princess Bride is just as funny and quotable now as it was then.

Here are a few fun facts about the Princess Bride:

• As thick as Andre the Giant's accent is in the movie, his real accent is even harder to understand. Every time he would forget to annunciate, co-star Mandy Patinkin would slap him in the face to remind him. One assumes Andre took this in good humor or there would be no more Mandy Patinkin.
• Vinzzini isn't just blustering when he says "never get involved in a land war in Asia." This is a real strategic principal, similarly presented by Field Marshal Bernard L Montgomery to the House of Lords in 1962 (although presumably with less cackling).
• There really was a Dread Pirate Roberts, too, thought to be one of the most successful pirates of all time.
• It's not stated in the movie, but the screenplay notes that the boy and his grandfather live in Evanston, Illinois. Take a look at the bedroom and you'll find Cubs and Bears items all over the place. Go Chicago!
• On the DVD scene menu, the scene that should have been labeled "Pit of Despair" was incorrectly labeled as "Pit of Desire." That would have been a very, very different scene.