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If that was all there was to it, this would simply be a very strange thing to do, and sometimes, that's as far as it went: ''[[Star Trek the Animated Series (Animation)|Star Trek the Animated Series]]'' was essentially just a continuation of the original series in animated format, and there it almost made sense - elaborate alien/monster designs cost a lot less in animation. But most of the time, the folks behind these abominations (correctly) realized that the source material [[Animation Age Ghetto|wasn't really suitable]] to a [[Saturday Morning Cartoon]]. And yet ''this didn't stop them''.
 
So here's what they did. Take the premise of a popular live-action series, particularly a [[Sit Com]], 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.
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Another formula was to take the existing show, and append the words "[[Recycled in Space|IN SPACE!]]"
 
In more recent years, people are taking [[Western Animation]] more seriously as a storytelling medium, and not as just a way to [[Merchandise -Driven|sell toys.]] The results are now noticeable, with adaptations that take the prior format and [[Pragmatic Adaptation|reproduce it successfully into animated form.]]
 
The [[Animated Adaptation]] is rarely quite as ridiculous today. The [[Live Action Adaptation]], however, has taken up the reins of silliness.
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For a video game-specific example of this trope, see [[The Anime of the Game]].
{{examples|Examples}}
 
== Adapted from Advertising ==
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== Adapted from Comic Books ==
* ''[[Batman: theThe Animated Series (Animation)|Batman the Animated Series]]'' is arguably the most successful example of the Animated Adaptation. It spawned seven in-continuity spin-off shows that lasted from the early 1990s right through to the early 2000s, as well as computer games and movies. It kept some of the character designs and all of the tone of Tim Burton's movies (well, it was dark but not in a Tim Burton kind of way), but took place in an [[Alternate Continuity]]. It also originally placed a moratorium on death, although this was relaxed for the spin-off movies and the rest of the [[DCAU]] in general, including ''The New Batman Adventures''. Also, several characters were popular enough to become [[Canon Immigrant|Canon Immigrants]] to the mainstream [[The DCU|DC Universe]], most famously Harley Quinn.<br />It has also forever burned the voices of [[Kevin Conroy]] and [[Mark Hamill]] into the minds of everyone that grew up in the 1990s and 2000s as '''the''' voices of Batman and [[The Joker]]... You'd think after ''[[The Dark Knight Saga (Film)|The Dark Knight Saga]]'', DC may have tried to get new voices for the characters, but both returned to their roles in ''[[Batman: Arkham Asylum (Video Game)|Batman Arkham Asylum]]'', and rather than [[Christian Bale]] voicing Batman in ''Gotham Knights'' (''[[The Dark Knight]]'' tie-in Direct-to-Video movie), which would make sense, guess who played Batman instead? Though this had more to do with both Nolan and Bale's disapproval of the animated tie-in, on an entire basis that it was "for kids" and "a tie in". This despite the fact that it got the same MPAA rating as the movies.
* There have been several ''[[Spider-Man (Comic Book)|Spider-Man]]'' animated series produced over the decades:
** Starting with a 1967 adaptation that introduced the famous [[Ear Worm|"Does whatever a spider can"]] theme song.
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** The upcoming ''[[Ultimate Spider Man]]'' TV series which so far looks to be [[Adaptation Distillation]] in ernest.
* ''[[Superman (Comic Book)|Superman]]'', [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superman_in_other_media#Animated many times over].
** Arguably Bruce Timm's ''[[Superman: theThe Animated Series (Animation)|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 (Animation)|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.
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* ''[[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.
** The 2010 series, ''[[The Avengers: EarthsEarth's Mightiest Heroes (Animation)|Avengers Earths Mightiest Heroes]]'', has been well received by most everyone and does stay true to the comics, while doing a similar attempt at an [[Adaptation Distillation]], much like the above-mentioned ''Spectacular Spider-Man''.
* [[X-Men (Comic Book)|The X-Men]] has had several cartoon incarnations as well.
* And so has ''[[Fantastic Four (Comic Book)|The Fantastic Four]]''.
* ''[[Justice League (Animation)|Justice League]]'' and ''[[Super Friends]]'' are based on the ''[[Justice League of America]]'' comic.
* Filmation's adaptations of ''[[Archie Comics]]'' were very popular, starting with ''[[The Archie Show]]'' in 1968.
* ''[[Tintin (Comic Book)]]'' has had two Animated Adaptations.
** 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!).
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** ''[[The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh]]'' -- technically this one was late eighties.
** ''[[The Jungle Book (Disney)|The Jungle Cubs]]'' and ''[[Tale Spin (Animation)|Tale Spin]]''.
** ''[[Lilo and Stitch The Series]]'' and ''[[Stitch! (Anime)|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 (Film)|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 (Animation)|James Bond Jr]]'', who operated out of an English boarding school and went on ''[[Jonny Quest (Animation)|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 ItsIt's Not for Kids?|less strict parents would let them watch the films anyway.]]
** ''[[Highlander (Franchise)|Highlander]]'' (more details farther down the page)
** ''[[RobocopRoboCop (Film)|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)
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** Though there wasn't a ''[[Terminator (Film)|Terminator]]'' cartoon ([http://stason.org/TULARC/movies/terminator/7-4-Marvel-Comics-The-Terminator.html not that they didn't try]), there was a range of children's toys based on the film, which at the time was still rated 18. There is a now CGI animated adaptation, called ''Terminator Salvation: The Machinima Series''.
* The three movies that built [[Jim Carrey]]'s career, ''[[The Mask (Animation)|The Mask]]'' (which lasted three seasons, and is probably the best remembered cartoon out of the three), ''[[Ace Ventura]]'' (which also lasted three seasons and had a crossover episode with ''[[The Mask (Animation)|The Mask]]'' -- and interestingly, is the only one of the three where the main character actually looks like Jim Carrey!) and ''[[Dumb and Dumber]]'' (which only lasted one season with six episodes).
* ''[[Bill and Teds Excellent Adventure]]'''''s''' continued the basic premise of ''[[Excellent Adventure]]'', with the duo of dudes traveling through history and meeting famous individuals in an attempt to solve various issues in their present day lives. With Alex Winter, Keanu Reeves and George Carlin (as Rufus) all reprising their original roles, the main characters were very faithful to their source material, though their exploits in the past were roughly as historically accurate and about as tongue-in-cheek as ''[[The Flintstones]]''... which ''may'' have something to do with it being a [[Hanna -Barbera]] production.<br />... But then the show received a budget-related format reboot for its second season, with none of the aforementioned voice actors, a new animation style and a new intro theme -- all due to it being from a different production company (DIC). It received a non-triumphant response and had a short run.
* ''[[Spaceballs (Film)|Spaceballs]]: The Animated Series''
* ''[[The Neverending Story (Literature)|The Neverending Story]]''. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Neverending_Story_(TV_series) Yes, it exists.]
* ''Baggy Pants and the Nitwits''. The first is Charlie Chaplin turned into a silent [[Funny Animal]] cat, and the second is the super-powered version of Arte Johnson and Ruth Buzzi's famous [[Dirty Old Man]] Tyrone and Gladys from ''[[Rowan and MartinsMartin's Laugh -In (TV)|Rowan and Martins Laugh In]]''.
* ''[[Highlander the Animated Series]]'' (with yet ''another'' McLeod). Set on a [[After the End|post-apocalyptic Earth]], though this would probably not count as a substantial mangling of the original premise if not for the fact that, being children's television, the entire aspect of decapitation was removed. Except for the [[Big Bad]], the other immortals served as [[Plot Coupon|Plot Coupons]] that the protagonist [[Gotta Catch Them All|needed to find]], so they could pass on their Quickenings to him -- willingly. The fact that the new McLeod was immortal did not end up coming up much, since they couldn't even show him momentarily-dying. There were, however, a few off-screen deaths that someone familiar with the series could identify as decapitations, including that of Connor McLeod himself.
* ''[[Clerks]]'' was remade as ''[[Clerks the Animated Series]]'' by Kevin Smith and a team of capable writers and artists. Although it featured no space travel or wacky animal characters, it was intentionally a massive departure from the movie and featured numerous elements of fantasy (including Blofeld-like villains and evil Egyptian slave drivers). Sadly, it was [[Too Good to Last]] (Smith claimed it would be cancelled after two episodes. He was right).
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* A cartoon based on ''[[Problem Child]]'' got made and aired on the [[USA Network]]. Lord knows why.
* ''[[Fantastic Voyage (Film)|Fantastic Voyage]]'' had an adaptation produced by [[Filmation]]; the [[Expy]] of the hero picked up an [[Eyepatch of Power]], Raquel Welch's [[The Chick|counterpart]] got a ponytail, and they were joined by a Sikh(?) mystic and a [[Child Prodigy]] who created the [[If It Swims It Flies|flying sub]] they traveled in.
* ''[[The Amazing Chan and The Chan Clan (Animation)|The Amazing Chan and The Chan Clan]]'', though it's a very loose adaptation of the ''[[Charlie Chan]]'' films (it was tailored more to fit [[Hanna -Barbera]]'s "meddling kids" genre that was so popular in the 70s). Though it did feature Keye Luke from the Oland films as the voice of Mr. Chan.
* An animated adaptation of ''[[Napoleon Dynamite]]'' is in release.
* ''[[The Karate Kid (Film)|The Karate Kid]]'' was adapted into an animated series.
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* 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]].
* Even literature is not immune to the [[Recycled in Space]] syndrome: A [[Mad Scientist]] clones Professor Moriarty in ''[[Sherlock Holmes in The Twenty Second Century]]''. Fortunately, the good guys are able to reanimate Sherlock's well-preserved corpse to fight him over a series of adventures based on the canonical stories. The idea was first proposed by [[Filmation]], who made a [[Poorly -Disguised Pilot]] as a two-part episode of ''[[Bravestarr (Animation)|Bravestarr]]''.
* ''The Adventures of Don Coyote and Sancho Panda'' was... actually fairly true to the original ''Don Quixote'' novels. It still goes under "flat-out crazy" for turning the main characters into [[Funny Animal|Funny Animals]] (and leaving the rest of the cast human), however.
* This was also done to ''[[The Three Musketeers (Literature)|The Three Musketeers]]'' in ''[[Dogtanian and The Three Muskehounds (Animation)|Dogtanian and The Three Muskehounds]]'', and to ''[[Around the World In Eighty Days]]'' in ''[[Around the World With Willy Fog (Animation)|Around the World With Willy Fog]]''. Apart from the [[Punny Name|punny names]], some slight [[Bowdlerization]] and the characters being animals, they were straight retellings of the plots from the books.
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== Adapted from Live-Action TV ==
* The 1973-75 animated version of ''[[The Addams Family (TV)|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 (TV)|ALF]]'': Something of a [[Prequel]], as it tells of Alf's adventures on Melmac. It even had a [[Spin -Off]], ''Alf Tales''.
* ''[[Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (TV)|Hercules]]'' and ''[[Xena: Warrior Princess|Xena]]'' received an animated movie. The quality of the animation was so [http://cdn2.iofferphoto.com/img3/item/212/397/256/kVmG.jpg stunningly poor], and horribly different to the series, that it is one of VERY few things that fans hate more than ''Xena'''s finale. Animation and plot notwithstanding, the film made the crucial mistake of turning {{spoiler|Gabrielle}}, the fourth most important character in the cast, {{spoiler|into a giant bird for most of the films duration}}. Yeah. Bad idea. Cast and crew of the shows tend to avoid talking about the film. With something like this lying around, you have to wonder why Rob Tapert openly hates the comic adaptations. [http://nflemin2.webs.com/250px-Xena_Comic_Book.jpg Or maybe not.]
* An animated adaptation of ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)|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.
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* ''[[The Flintstones]]'' is regarded by many as a thinly-veiled adaptation of ''[[The Honeymooners]]''.
* ''[[The Gary Coleman Show]]'': loosely based on Coleman's [[Made for TV Movie]] ''The Kid with the Broken Halo''.
* ''[[GilligansGilligan's Island (TV)|Gilligans Island]]''
** [[The Professor]] finally managed to use [[Bamboo Technology]] to get the gang off the island. By fixing the boat? Nope. He built a ''space ship'' out of bamboo, and promptly got the gang stranded on ''Gilligan's Planet''.
** Before ''Gilligan's Planet'', there was ''The New Adventures of Gilligan'', an animated adaptation of ''Gilligan's Island'' featuring plots that were just like those of ''Gilligan's Island'', only dumber. Oh, and Gilligan had a pet monkey named Stubby.
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* ''Tabitha, Adam and the Clown Family'': Instead of a group of ex-Partridge Family-like sitcom characters getting a magical kid sidekick, older versions of Adam and Tabitha from ''[[Bewitched (TV)|Bewitched]]'' (who were already magical) get a sidekick singing circus family.
* Two entries in the ''[[Ultra Series]]'' were animated. One (''Ultraman USA The Adventure Begins'') was a pilot by Hanna Barbera animated in an [[Animesque]] style, The other, ''The Ultraman'', was a very successful anime by Sunrise.
* In the early heyday of ''[[MashM*A*S*H (TV)|Mash]]'', Filmation decided to do a Saturday Morning adaptation of the series on ''[[Uncle Crocs 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 ''[[Filmations Ghostbusters (Animation)|Ghostbusters]]'' in 1986.
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* ''[[Dead Space (Video Game)|Dead Space]]'' has an animated prequel called ''Downfall'', showing the fall of ''Ishimura'' (the game's main setting) before the game hero arrives on the scene.
* ''[[Super Mario Bros (Video Game)|Super Mario Bros]]'' had three different adaptations, with a loose continuity among them (the second is named after ''[[Super Mario Bros 3 (Video Game)|Super Mario Bros 3]]'' and the third after ''[[Super Mario World (Video Game)|Super Mario World]]'').
* 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 (Video Game)|the second game]], it tends to be a [[Base Breaker]] -- people who experienced it back when it was new tend to [[So Bad ItsIt'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.
** A new 3D CGI series is [http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118020718 in the works].
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** And in the early '80s, Donkey Kong and Mario starred in the [[Saturday Supercade]], along with Frogger, Q* Bert, and Pitfall Harry.
* Speaking of [[Saturday Supercade]], the second season also incorporated ''Kangaroo'' and ''Space Ace.'' {{spoiler|Sadly at the cost of Frogger and Pitfall Harry; Q* Bert was promoted from every-other-weekly to weekly though.}}
* ''[[DragonsDragon's Lair (Video Game)|Dragon's Lair]]'' also got a one-season run on ABC as well. Here, Dirk the Daring was played by veteran voice actor Bob Sarlatte (who was also Frogger on [[Saturday Supercade]]).
* ''[[Mortal Kombat (Video Game)|Mortal Kombat]]: Defenders of the Realm''
* ''[[Battletoads (Video Game)|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]).
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