View source for Title: The Adaptation

{{trope}}
[[File:Tv tropes the movie 8950.jpg|link=Cracked.com|thumb|300px|[[media:Tv tropes the movie 8950.jpg|Click to enlarge.]]]]

When a work is adapted into a different medium, there is a tendency to subtitle that work with the format of the new adaptation. For example, a TV show called ''[[Alice and Bob|Bob And Alice]]'', when adapted into a movie, will be called ''Bob and Alice: [[The Movie]]''.

Because this is an uncreative and predictable method of naming something, it's a good sign that the adaptation is a cheap tie-in product knocked out to ride the coattails of a more popular work (this is especially true of things [[Licensed Game|adapted into video games]]). [[Tropes Are Not Bad|This is not necessarily true, however]], and just as frequently the system is simply used as a way to disambiguate different works in a franchise.

This is a fluid trope. Sometimes, if an adaptation becomes more popular than the original work, it'll drop the subtitle, while in other cases, if a new adaptation is produced, a show that didn't originally have a subtitle will have one added on. Many times, these are even added on by fans.

[[Colon Cancer]] is a frequent result of this trope, especially if an adaptation of an adaptation is made. Take, for example, this gem: ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]: [[Comic Book Adaptation|The Manga]]''.

Compare [[Trope 2000]], [[Super Title 64 Advance]]. Contrast [[Oddly-Named Sequel 2: Electric Boogaloo]]. See also [[The Foreign Subtitle]].

{{examples|Examples (listed by medium):}}
== Parodies ==
* ''[[I Wanna Be the Guy]]: The Movie: The Game''
* Parodied by ''[[The Critic (animation)|The Critic]]'' with ''Hee Haw: The Next Generation''
* ''[[AMV Hell]] 3: The Motion Picture''
** ''AMV Hell 3: The Motion Picture II: AMV Hell 4: The Last One.''
* ''[[Aqua Teen Hunger Force]] Colon Movie [[Shaped Like Itself|Film for Theaters]]''
* Parodied in-film for ''[[Spaceballs]]'': [[The Merch]]
* ''[[GU Comics|Lego Star Wars: The Movie]]''
* ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Abridged Series|Yu-Gi-Oh! The Abridged Movie]]''.
** ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Abridged Series|Yu-Gi-Oh! The Other Abridged Movie]]''.
* ''The [[Drawn Together]] Movie: The Movie!''.
* ''[[Penny Arcade (Webcomic)|Penny Arcade]]'''s [http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/2/25/ Dungeon Siege: The Movie] (directed by Uwe Boll)
* [[Futurama|Movie: The Game]]
* [[Futurama|Game: The Movie]]
* ''[[Homestuck]]'' Act 6 has ''[[Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff (Webcomic)|Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff]]: The Moive'' [sic]
** Also ''The Movovie'', ''The The Film'' and ''The Movle''.

==[[Animated Adaptation|The Animated Series:]]<ref>Animated "The Series" go here too.</ref>==
* ''[[Star Trek: The Animated Series]]'' (on screen title was merely ''Star Trek'', used on video releases)
* ''[[Batman: The Animated Series]]''
* ''[[Superman: The Animated Series]]'' (well before this one came out, there had been several Superman cartoons that didn't get this treatment)
* ''[[Spider-Man: The Animated Series]]''
** ''Spider-Man: The NEW Animated Series''
** ''[[The Spectacular Spider-Man]] Animated Series'' - That's what it says in the title sequence.
* ''[[Attack of the Killer Tomatoes]]: The Animated Series''
* ''[[Back to The Future (cartoon)|Back to The Future: The Animated Series]]''
* ''[[The Mask (animation)|The Mask: The Animated Series]]''
* ''[[Sabrina the Animated Series]]''
* ''[[Spaceballs]]: The Animated Series''
* ''[[ALF (TV series)|ALF]]: The Animated Series''
* ''[[RoboCop]]: The Animated Series''
* ''[[Clerks the Animated Series]]''
* ''Kong: The Animated Series''
* ''[[Azumanga Daioh]]: The Animation'' (Because Azuanime just doesn't sound right.)
* ''[[Godzilla: The Series]]'' ("animated" is missing in this one)
* ''[[Ragnarok Online|Ragnarok]] The Animation''
* ''[[Police Academy]]: The Animated Series''
* ''[[Persona 4: The Animation]]''
* ''[[Xenosaga]] The Animation'' (There's no colon)
* ''[[101 Dalmatians|One Hundred and One Dalmatians]]: The Series''
* ''[[Transformers Animated]]'' (More an [[Alternate Continuity]] than an adaptation)
* ''Kurokami: The Animation''
* ''[[Rayman]]: The Animated Series''
* ''[[The Mummy Trilogy|The Mummy]]: The Animated Series''
* ''Evolution: The Animated Series'', better known as ''Alienators: Evolution Continues''
* ''[[Zeiram|Iria: Zeiram The Animation]]'' (based on a Japanese live-action movie called "Zeiram")
* ''[[El Chavo del Ocho|El Chavo: La Serie Animada]]'' (or alternately, "El Chavo Animado")
* ''[[Fraggle Rock|Fraggle Rock: The Animated Series]]''
* ''[[Beetlejuice (animation)|Beetlejuice: The Animated Series]]''
* ''[[Calvin and Hobbes: The Series|Calvin and Hobbes The Series]]'' ([[Script Fic|which is actually a fan fic]])
* ''[[The Real Ghostbusters|S.O.S. Fantômes: La Serie Animée]]''<ref>Had the previous unrelated live-action series by [[Filmation]] not existed, the show likely would have invoked this trope in the U.S. as well.</ref>
* ''[[Green Lantern: The Animated Series]]''

==[[Comic Book Adaptation|The Comic Book]] or The Manga: ==
* The aforementioned ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]] - The Manga''.
** ''Likewise, [[Star Trek]] - The Manga''
* ''[[Clerks]]: The Comic Book''
* ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's]]/[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS|StrikerS The Comics]]''

==[[Licensed Game|The Game]] or [[The Board Game]]:==
* ''[[Up (animation)|Up]]: The Game''
* ''[[Miami Vice]]: The Game''
* ''[[Beowulf (film)|Beowulf]]: The Game''
* ''[[Hell's Kitchen|Hells Kitchen]]: The Video Game''
* ''[[Hannah Montana]]: The Movie: The Game''
* ''[[Peter Jackson]]'s [[King Kong]]: The Official Game of the Movie''
* ''[[James Cameron]]'s [[Avatar (film)|Avatar]]: The Game''
* ''[[Lost]]: The Game''<ref>You just did</ref> and ''Lost: The Video Game'' (also known as ''Lost: Via Domus'' in North America)
* [[Lego Adaptation Game]]s ''Lego Star Wars: The Video Game'' and ''Lego Batman: The Video Game''
* ''[[Hercules (1997 film)||Disney's Hercules]]: Action Game''
* ''TV Tropes: The Party Game. [http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/6381161#6381161 No, really.]''
* ''[[Black★Rock Shooter (video game)||Black Rock Shooter: The Game]]''
* ''[[The Simpsons Game]]''

== [[The Movie]]: (see also, [[The Film of the Book]]) ==
* ''[[Star Trek: The Motion Picture]]''
* ''[[Pokémon: The First Movie|Pokémon the First Movie]]'', ''[[Pokémon: The Movie 2000|Pokémon 2000]]'' and ''[[Pokémon 3]]: The Movie''.
* ''[[Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (film)|Mighty Morphin Power Rangers]]: The Movie'' and ''[[Power Rangers Turbo|Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie]]''.
* [[Transformers: The Movie|The Transformers: The Movie]]
* ''[[The Simpsons Movie]]''
* ''[[The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie]]''
* ''[[Superman (film)|Superman]] (1978)'' was also called ''Superman: The Movie''
* ''[[Santa Claus]]: The Movie'' (called that everywhere except in the opening credits)
* ''[[Batman: The Movie]]''
* ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha (anime)|Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]] The Movie 1st''
* ''[[Slugs]]: The Movie''
* Subversion: The live-action film adaptation of ''[[Street Fighter II]]'' is simply called ''[[Street Fighter (film)|Street Fighter]]''. However, the two video game versions that were released both carried the title of ''[[Street Fighter the Movie]]''.
** The anime version on the other hand, ''[[Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie|Street Fighter II the Animated Movie]]'', plays this straight.
* ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]: The Movie''
* ''[[Digimon]]: The Movie'' (Two ''[[Digimon Adventure]]'' films and one ''[[Digimon Adventure 02]]'' film edited together)
* ''[[Looney Tunes: Back in Action]]'' is [[retronym]]ed to have a ": The Movie" tag on its DVD case.
* ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist (anime)|Fullmetal Alchemist]]'' ''the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa'' and ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist (manga)|Fullmetal Alchemist]] the Movie: The Sacred Star of Milos''
* ''[[Naruto]]'' ''The Movie: Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow''
** ''Naruto The Movie 2: Legend of the Stone of Gelel''
** ''Naruto The Movie 3: Guardians of the Crescent Moon Kingdom''
** ''[[Colon Cancer|Naruto: Shippuden: the Movie]]''
* ''[[Bleach]]'' ''The Movie: Memories of Nobody''
** ''Bleach The Movie 2: The DiamondDust Rebellion''
* ''[[One Piece]] the Movie: Dead End no Boken'' (''Dead End Adventure'')
** ''One Piece Movie: The Desert Princess and the Pirates: Adventures in Alabasta''
** ''[[One Piece Film: Strong World|One Piece Film Strong World]]''
* ''[[Keroro Gunsou|Chou Gekijou-ban Keroro Gunsou]]'' (literally, "Sgt. Frog: The Super Movie")
** ''Gekijouban'', literally meaning Theater Edition, is commonly prefixed before movie adaptations of Japanese series.
* ''[[Zeitgeist The Movie]]'', technically not an adaptation of anything, but the name makes a lot of people think that it is.

== [[The Musical]] ==
* ''[[Evil Dead]]: The Musical''
* ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20170610091451/http://www.fellowshipthemusical.com/ Fellowship! The Musical]''
* ''[[Legally Blonde (theatre)|Legally Blonde: The Musical]]''
* ''[[In Case You Forgot Who Wrote It|David Warrack's]] Rob Roy - The Musical''
* ''The New Mel Brooks Musical Young Frankenstein'' (This is actually the official title of the musical. No colon. It's so official, they had to read out the whole name for each of its nominations on the Tony awards broadcast.)
* ''Vanities: A New Musical''
* [[Human Centipede the Musical]]

== The Next Generation: (and similar names) ==
* ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]''
* ''[[Degrassi High|Degrassi]]: [[Degrassi the Next Generation|The Next Generation]]''
* ''[[Beverly Hills, 90210|90210]]: The Next Generation'' (working/advertised title)
* ''[[Speed Racer]]: The Next Generation''
* ''[[Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation]]''
* ''[[Revenge of the Nerds]]: The Next Generation''
* ''[[Bonanza]]: The Next Generation''
* ''[[The Love Boat|Love Boat]]: The Next Wave''
* ''[[Poltergeist (1982 film)|Poltergeist]]: The Legacy''
* ''[[The Critic (animation)|Hee Haw: The Next Generation]]''. Worf can do a mean hambone solo.
* ''[[Saved by the Bell]]: The New Class''
* ''[[Castlevania Bloodlines|Castlevania: The New Generation]]'' (in Europe)
* ''[[Street Fighter III]]: New Generation'' (the first installment in the trilogy)
* ''[[Care Bears|Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation]]'' (a subversion; this movie is a [[Continuity Reboot]])

== The Series ==
* ''[[Highlander (TV series)|Highlander: The Series]]'' (later dropped when it became more popular than the movie)
* ''[[Lexx]]: The Series''
* ''[[Police Academy]]: The Series''
* ''[[Friday the 13th: The Series]]''
* ''[[FX the Series|F/X: The Series]]''
* ''[[Blade (TV series)|Blade: The Series]]''

== Other ==
* Several theme parks have "Batman: The Ride", "Batman: The Stunt Show" or both.
* The heavily mocked ''[[On Ice]]!'' phenomenon of the 1990s.
** Parodied on ''[[Homestar Runner]]'' with ''Dangeresque: Put 'Em on Ice!''
** Also parodied by the name of ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'' [[Milestone Celebration|20th anniversary]] documentary ''The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special: In 3-D! On Ice!''
* ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics Advance]] [[Radio Drama|Radio Edition]]''
* The Live Bloginations section of [[The Other Tropes Wiki]]'s forums has a number of "Title: The Liveblog" or variations thereof.
** Threads there sometimes get titles like "Subject of the Thread: The Thread."
* [[The Abridged Series]]: The whole genre.
* ''[[Michael Jackson]]: The Experience'' (a video game)
* ''[[Moyashimon]]: [[Live Action Adaptation|The Drama]]''

{{reflist}}
[[Category:Media Adaptation Tropes]]
[[Category:Title Tropes]]
[[Category:Title: The Adaptation]]