I've read the books and I don't recall reading a statement of Telmarines descending from Polynesian islanders... unless I blacked out at some point. And actually what you wrote about the accent disappearing would be a logical absurdity - how were they supposed to lose it? They had no one to catch any other accent from, they 'exterminated' all Narnians (or rather thought they did), hence they keep the accent they came to Narnia with. They were a closed society, developing only among themselves, at least that is the image I got from reading the books. And in such cases, the culture, language and accent don't disappear, if anything, they evolve slightly.

At any rate, I enjoyed creation of Telmarines to be Mediterranean, I thought it to be interesting and creative, plus - since I am a massive fan of cultures, costumes and sets - it gave opportunity to see some absolutely fabulous work done in the film, the clothes, the furniture and such were breathtaking! I hope it is kept in the third film.

Um, have any of you actually read the books? The book Telmarines are descended from Polynesian islanders and English pirates.

Yes I've the books over and over except Prince Caspian. I only read it once. I would love to know which chapter you found that the Telmarines are Polynesian islanders please.
All in all I still like Caspian's accent.

Chapter 15: Aslan Makes a Door in the Air

Aslan: Many years ago in that world, in a deep sea of that world which is called the South Sea, a shipload of pirates was driven by storm on an island. And there they did as pirates would: killed the natives and took the native women for wives ...

South Sea is the area of the Pacific near Australia, thus Polynesian islanders or possibly Maori.

I'll admit that the accent did sound a bit fake in some areas because half my family is Spanish. Ben would sometimes pronounce the letters in a word wrong and it would sound American at times. Then again it would be weird if Ben didn't continue the accent so I suggest he should keep it.

South Sea is the area of the Pacific near Australia, thus Polynesian islanders or possibly Maori.

Then shouldn't the Telmarines have Asian in them? It was very early years that the Telmarines came into the world of Narnia before the Pevensie's did. At least that is what I read or was on the Narnian timeline.

Well, I was operating off of an assumption that the pirates were English mainly because of things like Prunaprismia's red hair and Caspian being blonde. That and them speaking English pretty much rules out Asian pirates, though it would have made for a far more interesting Telmarine culture than what we got in the movie. Anyway, the Telmarines should definitely have been biracial in the movie. You're guess is as good as mine as to why Adamson chose to ignore what the book clearly stated. About the only thing I can think of was that he thought people would scream racism. If that's the case, then pray he has nothing to do with HHB because he'll probably make the Calormenes Dutch or something.

I personally think that the accent added more "depth" to the movie, because not everyone has the same accent. I think they should keep it, even if they tone it down some.

Anyway, the Telmarines should definitely have been biracial in the movie. You're guess is as good as mine as to why Adamson chose to ignore what the book clearly stated.

I'm usually quite a vocal supporter of getting the small details from the book translated to the screen accurately. Especially when they are details which would seem easier to get right than get wrong. The amount of times i've been frustrated by things like that is beyond count.

However, in this instance i think any specific detail about the Telmarine's ethnicity included in the book is almost completely irrelevant to the adaptation of the story. I think the mere fact that Adamson and co gave them a non-english ethnicity at all, and that they maintained the Pirate backstory, is enough.

Yes, the could of adhered slavishly to the book in this instance, and made them half-english half-polynesian, but i really don't think a small amount of added accuracy would be worth the trade-up against a more interesting visual dynamic gained by making the Telmarines Spanish. Not only did it make a nice visual contrast between the Pevensies/Narnians and the Telmarines, but it also added a greater real-world historical perspective to the Narnian/Telmarine conflict by evoking a stylistic comparison to the Spanish Conquistadors, who likewise invaded foreign lands and imposed a similarly brutal regime against its native people - in this case in much of South and Central America.

Changes such as the Glozelle/Sopespian switch around bug me because they are very easily avoided and very easily corrected, but in this instance i think any deviation from the source material is entirely justified by the enhanced visual dynamic it brought to the movie - one which in many ways helped to reinforce many of the key themes about the nature of the Telmarine occupation in Narnia throughout the movie. I don't think that would be worth sacrificing just for the sake of conforming to what is essentially a somewhat trivial detail from the book.

Well, I was operating off of an assumption that the pirates were English mainly because of things like Prunaprismia's red hair and Caspian being blonde. That and them speaking English pretty much rules out Asian pirates, though it would have made for a far more interesting Telmarine culture than what we got in the movie. Anyway, the Telmarines should definitely have been biracial in the movie. You're guess is as good as mine as to why Adamson chose to ignore what the book clearly stated. About the only thing I can think of was that he thought people would scream racism. If that's the case, then pray he has nothing to do with HHB because he'll probably make the Calormenes Dutch or something.

If the South Sea is the reference point being used, then that could be used as justification that the Telmarines being Spanish. After all, one of the islands in that area of the world is the Phillipines, who are heavily influenced and had strong ties to Spain up until the late 1800's and early 1900's. These 'pirates' could just as easily have been Spanish pirates on a voyage to the Phillipines who were stranded on an island in the area and went into this rare chasm into Narnia. And as far as the Telmarines being biracial, I do recall some Telmarines being lighter skinned than others.

Chapter 15: Aslan Makes a Door in the Air

Aslan: Many years ago in that world, in a deep sea of that world which is called the South Sea, a shipload of pirates was driven by storm on an island. And there they did as pirates would: killed the natives and took the native women for wives ...

But they may not all have been born in that area, it just says that's were the island is... they could have originated from much more distant areas, and then sailed to that location later.

Chapter 15: Aslan Makes a Door in the Air

Aslan: Many years ago in that world, in a deep sea of that world which is called the South Sea, a shipload of pirates was driven by storm on an island. And there they did as pirates would: killed the natives and took the native women for wives ...

But they may not all have been born in that area, it just says that's were the island is... they could have originated from much more distant areas, and then sailed to that location later.

My thoughts exactly! Just because they were sailing in the South Sea does not mean they were from that area. In VDT the Dawn Treader goes all over the place but that doesn't mean the people onboard are from the various places. Sailing in the South Sea doesn't make the Telmarines British any more than sailing to the Land of the Duffers makes Lucy a dufflepud. Bookwyrm, I do see your point in the mention of hair color and light skin. But this change was a change I quite enjoyed.

I definitely enjoyed creating Telmarines to be akin to Spaniards, and I 100% agree with icarus, the thought of Spanish conquistadors who came, took and oppressed appeared in my mind as well, but evaporated while writing my previous posts Also, I liked the variety of cultures their introduction provided, the contrasts between the Telmarines and the Pevensies, and also somehow their dark appearance, styled to become menacing, was a great addition to the visual frame of the entire film.

None of the books specify the origin of the Telmarines, merely a place they sailed about. It's almost like giving a person the citizenship of the country they were last seen in.