Animated Adaptation: Difference between revisions

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So here's what they did. Take the premise of a popular live-action series, particularly a [[Sitcom]], and append this phrase: "gains super-powers and a wacky [[Non-Human Sidekick]]. [[They Fight Crime]]."

This particular variation was almost entirely exclusive to the 1970s.

An alternate formula was to reproduce the original show in a half-hour format, adding a small group of kids and their pet as sidekicks to the heroes. For some reason, this was neither as popular nor as successful as the first option. Filmation proposed this for ''Star Trek'', but [[Gene Roddenberry]] balked instantly and the direct approach was used instead.

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** ''[[Spider-Man: The Animated Series]]'' was pretty much John Semper doing the best he could with horrible animation, censorship and [[Executive Meddling]], yet still doing pretty well.

** The most recent one, ''[[The Spectacular Spider-Man]]'', is widely considered [[Adaptation Distillation]], as it used many elements from the original comics, the Ultimate Comics, and the movies, combining them into its own universe.

** The upcoming ''[[Ultimate Spider-Man]]'' TV series which so far looks to be [[Adaptation Distillation]] in ernest.

* ''[[Superman]]'', [[wikipedia:Superman in other media#Animated|many times over]].

** Arguably Bruce Timm's ''[[Superman: The Animated Series|Superman the Animated Series]]'' was the most definitive, considering that many fans claimed it to be better than the comics, and like its brother series many character traits (Lois calling Clark "Smallville" for example) and many characters were [[Canon Immigrant|integrated into the comics themselves]]

** The very first animated adaptation of ''Superman'' was a series of 7-10 minute shorts produced by the Fleisher studios in (and later Famous studios) in conjunction with Paramount from 1941-1943. While sparse on characterization, they were way ahead of their time with a style that influenced the Batman series fifty years later. The first installment, "The Mad Scientist" (also known as Superman no. 1) was nominated for an Academy Award for animated short subject.

** In 1966, another Superman animated series, ''[[The New Adventures of Superman]]'', put Filmation on the map, and while hardly epic, serve as a very faithful adaptation of the Silver Age comics.

* Several of the Marvel super heroes including [[The Mighty Thor|Thor]], [[Iron Man]], [[Sub-Mariner]], [[Captain America]], [[Incredible Hulk|Hulk]], and [[Silver Surfer]] have had at least one cartoon.

* Several of the Marvel super heroes including [[The Mighty Thor|Thor]], [[Iron Man]], [[Sub-Mariner]], [[Captain America (comics)]], [[Incredible Hulk|Hulk]], and [[Silver Surfer]] have had at least one cartoon.

* ''[[The Avengers (Comic Book)|The Avengers]]'', a comic starring most of these heroes, had two cartoon incarnations.

** The 1999 series, ''The Avengers: United They Stand'' is a rather forgettable short-lived series that gave the Avengers Power Rangers-esque [[Powered Armor]] transformation sequences, and relegates the "big name" Avengers to special guest appearances.

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* ''[[For Better or For Worse]]'' had seven animated specials and a two-season animated series on Teletoon.

* ''[[Garfield and Friends]]'', adapted from '''two''' comic strips -- ''[[Garfield (Comic Strip)|Garfield]]'' and ''[[U.S. Acres|US Acres]]'' -- both created by Jim Davis.

** And 2009 brought us ''The Garfield Show'' -- a CGI version of ''Garfield and Friends'' [[The Same but Less|minus the Friends.]]

** 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.

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** ''[[The Jungle Book (Disney film)|The Jungle Cubs]]'' and ''[[Tale Spin]]''.

** ''[[Lilo and Stitch: The Series]]'' and ''[[Stitch!]]''

** You get the idea. Important to note is that very rarely (Really only with the late nineties/early 2000s series) were [[Off-Model|they as well animated as the films they were based on]]. This is [[Justified Trope|understandable]] however, as doing a series week-in week-out with a lower budget means a lot less attention to detail than a film can be given.

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* The movie ''[[Van Helsing]]'' also has a animated movie, "The London Assignment," which is in fact a prequel of the live-action film.

* ''[[James Bond (film)|James Bond]]'', though they, at least, had the good sense to forgo the hard-drinking, womanizing spy with a license to kill for his teenaged "nephew", ''[[James Bond Jr.|James Bond Jr]]'', who operated out of an English boarding school and went on ''[[Jonny Quest]]''-esque adventures armed with gadgets made by his [[Hollywood Nerd]] friend, I.Q. The role of "M" was taken by the school headmaster, who would remonstrate with young James over the chaos his escapades inevitably caused, and Miss Moneypenny was replaced by a fellow student with a crush on James. And they still managed to keep the concept of a new girl every adventure going, in a G-rated way of course. Of course, most of the films themselves are considered suitable for family viewing in the United Kingdom, so an animated version isn't that far-out an idea.

* How about kid-friendly cartoons based on R-rated films, complete with associated action figures? In theory these were intended as [[Gateway Series]] to get children interested in a franchise so they'll watch the original films when they're old enough; in practice, [[What Do You Mean It's Not for Kids?|less strict parents would let them watch the films anyway.]]

** ''[[Highlander]]'' (more details farther down the page)

** ''[[RoboCop]]'' (twice!) (second time after PG-13 second sequel)

** ''[[Rambo the Force of Freedom]]''

** ''[[Police Academy]]'' (although the cartoon came along when the films themselves had descended into PG territory)

** ''[[Conan the Adventurer (animation)|Conan the Adventurer]]'' (came out long after PG Conan the Destroyer)

** ''[[The Toxic Avenger]]'' (the Animated Adaptation was called ''[[wikipedia:Toxic Crusaders|Toxic Crusaders]]'')

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* Any anime series originally based on [[Light Novels]], like ''[[Haruhi Suzumiya]]'' or ''[[Slayers]]''.

* Basically the whole ''[[World Masterpiece Theater]]'' project including many classics from Western literature from children books to ''[[Les Misérables (novel)|Les Misérables]]''.

* ''[[Peter Pan and The Pirates]]'', which was not based on the Disney movie of ''[[Peter Pan (Disney film)|Peter Pan]]'', instead being a separate adaptation of the original novel. Actually, it may be the closest an adaptation of ''Peter Pan'' has ever got to the novel. Featuring [[Tim Curry]] as the voice of Captain Hook.

* There's an anime version of ''[[Deltora Quest]]'''s first series, which mostly follow the story with several changes and featured Delta Goodrem's "In This Life" as its third opening theme.

* ''[[Redwall]]'': The Animated Series, produced by ''[[Nelvana]]''. Has been subject to quite some [[Bowdlerize|Bowdlerization]] and [[Filler]].

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* In the early heyday of ''[[M*A*S*H|Mash]]'', Filmation decided to do a Saturday Morning adaptation of the series on ''[[Uncle Croc's Block]]''. This version of ''M*A*S*H'' had a cast made entirely of dogs. so, they called it ... ''M*U*S*H''. (Which, according to Jim Backus' [[Opening Narration]], stood for "Mangy, Unwanted, Shabby Heroes".)

* A 1973 stump for a ''[[McHales Navy]]'' cartoon for ABC never got past the pitch stage.

* [[Filmation]] adaptated their 1975 live-action series ''The Ghost Busters'' as ''[[Filmation's Ghostbusters|Ghostbusters]]'' in 1986.

* ''[[Top Cat]]'' is the animated version of ''[[The Phil Silvers Show]]''.

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** The entire purpose of ''Transformers: The Movie'' was to "clear the way for the new toy line". The real reason Optimus Prime and many of the others were killed off? Because their toys had been discontinued by the company.

* The ''[[G.I. Joe]]'' 3 3/4 inch toyline got an animated series made by the same company that animated commercials for the ''[[G.I. Joe]]'' comic series.

** [[Action Man]] (Action Force in the 1980s) was originally the U.K. version of [[G.I. Joe]], but received a retool as an extreme sports hero who later had his own cartoon.

* The ''[[He-Man and the Masters of the Universe|Masters of the Universe]]'' cartoon series included new aspects to the mythos [[Ret Canon|which would be added to the figures' pack-in minicomics canon]], and new characters who would be added to the toyline (like Orko or King Randor).

* ''[[Hero Factory]]'' is struggling to keep one up, perhaps in part because it barely has a story to speak of (very much unlike [[Bionicle|its forerunner]]). The first season, ''Rise of the Rookies'', was a 4-episode [[Miniseries]], while the second, ''Ordeal of Fire'', had to be [[Compressed Adaptation|compressed]] into a ''single'' episode (though the pacing greatly benefited from this). Season 3, titled ''Savage Planet'', became more of a legitimate mini-cartoon again (though only two episodes long), with ''Ordeal'' being reduced to a simple [[DVD Bonus Content|bonus for its DVD release]].

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* ''[[Mortal Kombat (video game)|Mortal Kombat]]: Defenders of the Realm''

* ''[[Battletoads]]'', being originally conceived as a multimedia property to rival the ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'', was set to have a cartoon based on itself, but apparently only its pilot episode ever aired (and [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKkL-e5FfEA it's not hard] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOfpqVCkDL0 to see why]).

* Ditto for ''[[Bubsy]]''.

* ''[[Darkstalkers]]'' was mangled into something unrecognizable when adapted for American Saturday morning TV. The 13-episode series was about Pyron awakening and hiring Demitri, Morrigan, and several other characters to help him take over the world, while Felicia--now an ancient woman in a cat costume--seeks the help of/lives with a 13-year-old geek/wizard in training named Harry Grimoire. The characters in the series looked and acted much less like their in-game counterparts, and all fights between the monsters involved shooting lasers from their hands. The female characters also had much less revealing costumes. This [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLZIWZszuh8 YouTube video] sums it up pretty well.

* ''[[Rayman]]: The Animated Series'', which was fully animated in [[All CGI Cartoon|CGI]]. It had no characters from the series save for the title character and a cameo from the second game's [[Big Bad]].

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=== Live-Action TV ===

* ''[[Saturday Night Live]]''

** One TV Funhouse short involved Dennis Haysbert introducing several short-lived cartoon shows for Black History Month, including ''[[Driving Miss Daisy|The Hoke & Daisy Show]]'' and ''Ladysmith Black Mambazo [[Recycled in Space|In Outer Space]]''.

** Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, George Bush and Ronald Reagan as ''[[The X-Files|The X-Presidents]]''.