So Iofur is 'Ragnar' right? Hmm......he looks ginormous. But where's the lame Coulter-daemon-doll?

why has iofurs name been changed?

his name was changed because it was too close to iroek

I like Iofur better :( but Ragner is cool too.

yeah,ragner sounds more evil...

I am absolutely in love with this shot.
If the film can carry the sort of power this image portrays, I believe it will succeed.

EDIT:
Whoa, on a second look, has anyone else noticed the seal carcass at his feet?

SWEET.

I just don't like this shot. The palace looks nothing like I expected it to, it's much too ornate. I expected a very rigid, angled throne room.

Also, no doll?

Too ornate? On the contrary I think it is far less decorative than it should be. Where's all the gold?

I agree.. it should be more ornate, more gaudy..um what's the word, it should look more decadant... and I don't like this whole changing of Iofur's name..I always liked how Iorek and Iofurs names had similar sounds too them, because I thought it gave a nice compare and contrast sort of aspect to them... I don't know, I just don't like it...

the alliteration thing is weird but I can see why they would want to change the name.

Strange art nouveu (damn, sp?) take on the bears... I like it.

where's the armor+servants

i agree wit chevalier - i think it shud b more gaudy but its gd

What is Iofur/Ragnar's paw resting on? (the one towards the floor) Is that actually the daemon doll you think?

So what if their names sound similar? Peter Jackson didn't dumb down The Lord of the Rings by changing Sauron and Saruman, Eomer and Eowyn, etc.? This whole watering down of the Golden Compass is completely unnecessary!

I agree that the room looks much too clean and cold... it needs to be more ornate but also more dirty/ unkempt

I think they changed his name cause it sounded too much like Iorek and people were getting confused...thats what I read anyway...personaly it didnt confuse me. Ragnar is kind of cool anyway.

I always wondered if they'd make the bear's hands look different from the polar bear paws of our world... and they have! This is good as the books always refer to them being incredibly dextrious and I didn't think you could convey that with noramal polar paws

Agh! This whining over Iofur's name change is so silly. I think Ragnar sounds pretty cool.
I really like the distinctness in his face too. I hope they make his armor nice and fancy. =)

And where is the doll of Mrs Coulter? I thought that added a nice touch to how much he was obsessed with being human as she promised him to get him baptised etc. It shows his desperation to be human HE WANTS A DAEMON SO BADLY! This ends up being his downfall they need to be able to show this deperate attempt to discard his identity and become something he's not.
I also just love Mrs Coulter (as people have probably noticed) so they should add the doll to further develop her character! eh heh...

Seriously why did they change the name, people will watch the film and think Iofur's name is Ragnar. I know the names are similar but thats the beauty of it. They're going to destroy this book.
Also I really don't know why they used the american book name for the movie, in my opinion "The Northen Lights" has so much more emphasis.
Still Iofur looks good anyway. i think the room looks good but really not as i imaged it.
O well i'll just have to wait for the movie.

They're supposed to think Iofur's name is Ragnar, that's why they changed it.
I think The Golden Compass title makes more sense with the rest of the titles. Yeah we all know it's not an actual compass but it is in the sense of directing you toward truth.

not just by changeing the name various little things, but who knows it could be gd ,it probably will be

not the book (that already is brill) the film

This is quite good, but I do thin it could have been much more impressive.

I luv his little snaggle tooth. Very ferocious!

Tis so perfect! While reading the books I never really imagined much difference in the appearances of the two polar bears (Iorek and Iofur) but I'm glad they took time to make Ragnar look distinctive.

He looks huge! Quite scary but quite dim at the same time. I love his little snarl!

Oh now I see the paws! Oh goody. =]

Yeah, it seems they have made "Ragnar" larger maybe to show his glutoneous and humanly indulgent nature compared to Iorek's powerful lean grace.

i think it's funny they changed his name so people wouldn't get confused. he looks so uncomfortable in that chair haha

I went to see the move yesterday, and dont worry about the daemon, he is holding a doll in his hand (the one resting on the arm of the chair) so dont worry!!

He does have a doll and it looks just like Mrs Coulter! And his voice is amazing!

Yes, I ♥ed his voice !! But the Coulter doll creeped me out a bit