Animated Adaptation: Difference between revisions

** The first one, originally broadcast in French and produced in the 1960s, keeping almost none of the plots from the comics and [[Bowdlerize|completely removing all references to alcohol or drugs.]]

** The second, English-language series (although a French co-production) from the 1990s was a far better [[Adaptation Distillation]], keeping all references to alcohol and drugs and adapting practically every book very faithfully. Although even here some changes were made ("Tintin In America" had so much stuff removed that it was one of the few stories to be a one-parter rather than two) and the English language version still leaves the street signs and other on-screen writing in French (most glaringly in "The Secret of the Unicorn" when Thompson and Thomson's "real" names—Dupont and Dupondt—are seen on passports!).

* Believe or not, ''[[WITCH (animation)|WITCH]]'' is adapted from its first two comic book storylines. However, many people, especially from America, [[Adaptation Displacement|didn't realize this]]. Although the comic book had far more staying power than the animated series. Unless you're American, chances are you've noticed the comic book.

* ''[[The Smurfs]]''. Of course, [[Adaptation Displacement]] means that few in North America are aware of the original [[Franco Belgian Comics]] by Peyo. In addition to the Hanna-Barbera series, there were several animated Belgian shorts produced in the 1960s, and a Belgian feature film in 1976 (''La Flûte à six schtroumpfs'', later dubbed to English and released in the United States in 1983 as ''The Smurfs and the Magic Flute'').

** There were also several specials in the 1980s including an adaptation of the graphic novel ''[[Garfield His 9 Lives]]'' and a [[Christmas Special]].

* ''The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show'' featured shorts in the vein of the ''[[Peanuts]]'' comics, as opposed to the longer stories of the many movies and TV specials.

* ''[[Defenders of the Earth]]'', combined the exploits of [[Flash Gordon (comic strip)|Flash Gordon]], [[The Phantom (comic strip)|The Phantom]] and [[Mandrake the Magician]], along with their children.

* ''[[The Boondocks]]'' started life in the newspapers. Aaron McGruder abandoned it to work on the show.

** ''[[The Little Mermaid]]: [[The Little Mermaid (animation)|Animated Series]]''

** ''[[Timon and Pumbaa]]'', which compared to the rest of them had little to do with ''[[The Lion King]]'' besides shared characters.

** ''[[Buzz Lightyear of Star Command]]''—in-universe the series that the toy from ''[[Toy Story (franchise)|Toy Story]]'' was based on.

** ''[[Tarzan (Disney film)|Tarzan]]: The Animated Series''

* ''[[Beetlejuice (animation)|Beetlejuice]]'' did as well, done more-or-less straight, though it started with a different premise from [[Beetlejuice|the movie]], making it an [[Alternate Universe]].

* ''[[Godzilla]]'': Done twice: first in the late 1970s by Hanna-Barbera, based on the ''showa'' Godzilla films, and then in the late 1990s, ''[[Godzilla the Animated Series]]'', based on the American movie. Worth noting that as much bile as the American ''[[Godzilla (film)|Godzilla]]'' movie gets heaped on it, even most haters will admit the cartoon spinoff was pretty good.

* ''Return to the [[Planet of the Apes]]'' was actually ''more'' true to the original novel than the movies were. That's not a recommendation for it over the movies, however.

* [[Jackie Chan]] got a series called ''[[Jackie Chan Adventures]]''. He was actually partially involved in it, doing a live-action "Ask Jackie" feature after the end credits where he answered questions viewers submitted. The show itself was about an AU Jackie Chan who isn't an action star at all. He's an [[Adventurer Archaeologist|archaeologist]]/sometimes secret agent who battles demons and tracks down magical artifacts with the help of his [[Tagalong Kid|niece]], [[Eccentric Mentor|his uncle]], and other [[Classy Cat Burglar|recurring]] [[The Big Guy|characters]], lasting for five seasons.

* ''[[The Karate Kid]]'' was adapted into an animated series.

* Six episodes of ''[[The Blues Brothers]]'' animated series were produced for UPN in 1997, but the show was cancelled before even airing.

 

== Adapted from Literature ==

* The 1973-75 animated version of ''[[The Addams Family]]'' put them on the road in a cross between an RV and their Victorian mansion. There was another version in the 1990s, which was essentially a continuation of the then-recent movies. Of course, the live-action sitcom was itself adapted from Charles Addams' print cartoons in ''The New Yorker''.

* ''[[ALF]]'': Something of a [[Prequel]], as it tells of Alf's adventures on Melmac. It even had a [[Spin-Off]], ''Alf Tales''.

* An animated adaptation of ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' was planned during the hiatus between the sixth and seventh seasons, but was scrapped. At least one script written for the animated series was recycled for the live-action show ("Him", which uses several tropes usually reserved for animation). One of the Season Eight comic issues had a dream sequence that appeared to be set in the abortive animated AU, with art similar to the released conceptual sketches for it. The five minutes of the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnUvZP7-5LM first episode] doing the rounds on Youtube utterly nail the tone of the first season. About the only thing missing was Sarah Michelle Gellar playing Buffy (the actress from the popular XBOX video games reprises the role), but everything from Buffy hitting herself with a stake when showing off to Giles despairing when Buffy misidentifies the cult as "the followers of [[Morgan Freeman]]" is present and accounted for.

* ''[[Doctor Who]]'' has had a few ventures into animation courtesy of the BBCi Web site, among other places.

* ''Jim Henson's [[Muppet Babies]]''.

* Another Jim Henson example: ''[[Fraggle Rock]]''. It started the same year the original puppet version ended.

 

 

* Along with the ''[[Super Mario Bros Super Show]]'' aired ''[[The Legend of Zelda (animation)|The Legend of Zelda]]'', based in the Hyrule of the first two games in the Zelda series. It became notorious (and the [[Trope Namer]]) for Link's obnoxious [[Catch Phrase]], "[[Well, Excuse Me, Princess!]]!" Much like [[Zelda II: The Adventure of Link|the second game]], it tends to be a [[Base Breaker]]—people who experienced it back when it was new tend to [[So Bad It's Good|enjoy it more]] than people who became fans because of the later games.

* The ''[[Pac-Man (animation)|Pac-Man]]'' TV series was the first adapted from a video game. It combined elements of ''[[The Flintstones]]'' and ''[[The Smurfs]]'' while retaining some semblance to the video game.

* ''[[Destroy All Humans!]]'' was going to get a CGI animated series on FOX, produced by the producers of the ''[[King of the Hill]]'' series. Nothing has been said since October 2005, but most fans believe it was canned to make way for the game sequels.

* ''[[Donkey Kong]]''

* A brief "animated tribute" to the webcomic ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'' was [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyFRBjhqZRg fan-produced] and put on [[YouTube]].

* The newer series of ''[[Red vs. Blue]]'' has a combination of regular machinima and animation (by the animator of ''[[Haloid]]''). At a convention, Rooster Teeth screened an experimental short featuring the ''RvB'' guys animated in pencil-and-paper 2D. Whether this was to be a separate project or if bringing in Monty Oum is the realization of a modified form of it is unclear, as nothing much has been said about it since.

 

 

** Parodied again in the Strong Bad Email "[http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail181.html webcomic]", in which he shows off what would happen if Secret Collect (a maze game with blocky Atari graphics) and Thy Dungeonman (a text-based adventure game) got animated adaptations in the vein of ''[[Pac-Man (animation)|Pac-Man]]'' and ''[[Captain N]]''. The end result is not pretty, and by that I mean hilarious.

* "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDDHHrt6l4w When trouble's about, you'd best watch out for the WATCHMEN!]" This parody appeared in 2009, and highlights what may have been a (damn good) reason why ''[[Watchmen (comics)|Watchmen]]'' wasn't made into a movie way back in the 80s... It's hilarious, but the moment one realizes that, back then, this would not have been out of the question for producers in [[The Eighties]] is pure horror for many comic book nerds. Of note are the winking smiley faces, Manhattan's... furry diaper thing, and the fact that everything mentioned in the cast roll call is flat-out wrong.

 

 

[[Category:The Millennium Age of Animation]]

[[Category:Derivative Works]]