A Distant Fantasy

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***A Distant Fantasy*** is a 2020 American animated fantasy film created using Plotagon by Sammy Knight. It is the third animated film that Sammy has created using Plotagon, following *Dead Trigger*. The film is set in the distant land of Zarek and follows a prince named Abraham who has been usurped from his throne by the foul wizard Oberon. Assisted by his captain, the princess and a local peasant, he sets out to destroy Oberon and claim his throne as King of Zarek once and for all.

About a month after the cancellation of *The Penny Dreadfuls*, which was originally meant to be the film to follow *Dead Trigger* in terms of release, Knight started production on *A Distant Fantasy* on December 27, 2019. The film was soon made in honor of Monty Python member Terry Jones who died on January 21, 2020 from complications of dementia.

A Distant Fantasy was released on March 20, 2020 and received mixed to positive reviews, receiving praise for its music score and animation but was criticized for its short running time.

## Plot

In the distant land of Zarek, King Moroni and Queen Hannah are about to make their son, Prince Abraham, the new ruler after he marries Princess Barbara. The wedding is unfortunately interrupted by the foul wizard Oberon, who murders the king and makes the people of Zarek his slaves, forcing Abraham to brew potions of all sorts for him. Abraham escapes a few months later to reunite with Barbara, who has fled the castle upon Oberon's intrusion, and seek help in destroying Oberon.

He finds Captain Ivor, who was the chief of the king's secret police, who took Barbara to serve as a fieldmaid for the Danforth Family. He brings the father, Luke Danforth, with him to train him in the art of swordplay to fight Oberon's men if necessary. Meanwhile, back at the castle, Hannah expresses her dissatisfaction with how Oberon is running the kingdom. As a result, he gives Hannah seven days to agree to rule alongside him as queen or she will perish. He also sends his soldiers to capture the rest of the Danforth family to have them serve as slaves.

After receiving a vision out in the forest, Abraham is informed that he must travel to the Campbell Isles to seek the help of an elderly sage named Elisha. He is also told that he must end Oberon's rule over Zarek, or not only will Hannah die, but the beautiful enchantress Sariah, who lost her power upon the rule of Oberon, will fade out of existence. This travel is made possible by ship, the Thunder Trembler captained by Abraham's uncle Lysander. They arrive at the Campbell Isles and Elisha has Abraham brew a potion with enough power to destroy Oberon's power. During this time, Ivor trains Luke in swordfighting.

Upon his return to Zarek, Abraham and his company gets captured by Oberon's soldiers. Luke and Ivor are forced into slavery, and Barbara is told by Oberon, who was revealed earlier in the film to be her father, that she is to marry a man specially chosen by Oberon and not Abraham. They escape their predicament just in time to see Hannah drop dead upon her refusal to be Oberon's queen. Luke attempts to intervene and Ivor, trying to defend Luke, gets killed by Oberon's power. Luke, who has the potion needed to destroy Oberon, passes it to Abraham, who then applies it to his sword and destroys Oberon for good.
With Oberon's death, the enchantress's power is restored, Luke is made captain of the king's secret police, and Abraham and Barbara reign over Zarek in happiness and peace.

## Characters

Prince Abraham - Heir to the throne of Zarek, but was usurped by Oberon.

Princess Barbara - Abraham's lady love who served as a fieldmaid for the Danforth family.

Captain Ivor - Former captain of the king's secret police.

Luke Danforth - Father of the Danforth family.

Mary Danforth - Wife of Luke Danforth.

Beatrice Danforth - Teenage Daughter of Luke and Mary Danforth.

Noah Danforth - Son of Luke and Mary Danforth.

Oberon - The foul wizard who has conquered Zarek by killing King Moroni and forcing his people into slavery.

King Moroni - Father of Prince Abraham and former king of Zarek.

Queen Hannah - Mother of Prince Abraham and former queen of Zarek.

Lysander - Uncle of Prince Abraham and captain of the *Thunder Trembler.*

Naomi - Daughter of Lysander and cousin of Prince Abraham.

Sariah - Enchantress of Zarek who lost her power thanks to Oberon's rule.

Elisha - Potionmaster of the Campbell Isles.

## Reception

### Critical response

A Distant Fantasy initially received mixed to positive reviews, but later grew more positive as years went on. Based on 20 assessments on the like-to-dislike ratio system, 95% of assessments were positive (19 likes and 1 dislike).

In a Discord chatroom, although DBG Channel called it "far from terrible" and "a fairly competent film", he also stated that he "couldn't get into it." toastyclams said "The characters are interesting and well-developed excluding Oberon though, I felt like the scene where he decides to reduce the hunts was a lopsided development." He summed up his thoughts saying the movie was "alright". Jackster Does Plotagon rates the film 8.2/10 saying, "I personally think this is your most underrated movie. It doesn’t beat the Dead Trigger movies but it’s a shame that not everyone gets into this. The plot is engaging, the animation is fantastic for the most part, most of the characters are generally enjoyable and the music score is very nice. However the movie is way too short for what it’s trying to tell and the villain Oberon isn’t that interesting. While not quite as good as the Dead Trigger movies, this deserves a bit more attention." TheNinjaGuyStudios had a far more positive response to the film however, with him saying in a Discord chatroom that it was "Sammy's best movie yet." JPW appreciated the film a lot, even finding it better than the first Dead Trigger film.