Lousy adaptions.

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When was the last time something you really liked was screwed up really bad in an adaption?

I'm afraid it's my turn to get ripped off (rant time!).

http://www.deadline.com/2011/06/9-helmer-shane-acker-boards-feature-based-on-the-thomas-the-tank-engine-toys/



Okay, so as evident by my avatar i'm obsessed with trains, which I attribute to my love of Thomas the Tank Engine when I was a little kid. Well apparently the screenwriter for Shrek 4 and the director of 9 have been hired to make a Thomas movie to be released in 2014. This has been done before with an embarrassing film called Thomas and the Magic Railroad, which despite using the songs of the series and same filming design, it had a totally obscured version of W. Audry's world; portrayed as some magical fantasy land as opposed to a fictional island in the Irish Sea modeled after various British railways. I liked the movie as a kid, but looking at it now makes me a little sick (live actors and die cast models green screened together does not work).

And now they have this new film. Will this one be any more faithful? No; in fact it sounds pretty much the same as the Magic Railroad as far as plot: a live action kid finding another world. Seriously? Why can't it just be about the talking trains? And the thought of "accessible to more than pre-schoolers" as said by the director worry's me. However, the two filmakers mentioned earlier are good ones, and I'm sure it'll be much higher quality then the last featue film (the effects guys for Lord of the Rings are doing the CGI ). But the thought of something I grew up so close to being turned inside out in a live action/CGI adaption worries me a little.

Anyway, what about you guys?

Well the worst adaptations I have seen have been.

Ella Enchanted. The movie is nothing like the book, nothing about it is right, none of the additions help it in anyway. My biggest problem with it is the addition of an evil uncle (who killed the king and queen who are characters in the book) and his talking snake, yes, talking snake.

Blood and Chocolate was another bad one. The book is set in Virginia if I remember right, with high school aged characters. The movie is set in Rome, with 20 some year old characters. The plot is largely forgotten, and the ending is totally different. Where the book's ending was somewhat unexpected, and rather sweet. The movie's ending was just your usual dumb cliche.

The 1970s version of Black Beauty. Another one that only shares the same name as the book, the rest is totally different. In the book Ginger is a mare and is in it quite a bit, in this movie Ginger is a gelding and is in like one scene. In the book he goes through various homes, some kind, some cruel. In the movie he ends up in the circus, with gypsies, and goes to war (none of this is in the book). The most laughable moment comes at the very end, where Black Beauty somehow changes breeds, through most of the story he is a light-boned Thoroughbred type horse, in the last few scenes he is now a short, hairy, cob type horse. It makes the horse nerd in me mad.

At least in the case of Black Beauty, there is one good adaptation (1994 version), that remains faithful to the story.

I'm going to go with Prince Caspian, for the lone reason that Susan does not fall in love in that book. That was among the worst additions to any adaptation I have seen.

I expect that people are going to come into this thread and rip on Tim Burton's adaptations, so I'm just going to get this out of the way right now: I have loved nearly every franchise that man has touched. I love how he adds his quirky, creepy aesthetic touches accompanied by Danny Elfman's music and the fact that Johnny Depp usually gets to play the leading man. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Sweeney Todd, Sleepy Hollow, Alice in Wonderland - especially Alice in Wonderland - and most likely also Dark Shadows... all of them fill my heart to the bursting point with pure, unadulterated fangirl love.

However, I am totally fine with people ripping on his adaptations of Batman or Planet of the Apes, since 1) neither of them involved Johnny Depp 2) I don't care about Batman and 3) I think we can all agree that the Burton Planet of the Apes was the lowest point in his career

Huh. I watched Ella Enchanted without knowing that it was based on a book, and I absolutely loved it. I also loved Cary Elwes performance as the villain.

I guess this is comparable to how I was in love with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon not knowing that it was a watered down version of the original comic book.


Now, as for my least favourite adaptations: 'De stille kracht' (Dutch, 'The silent force'), a Dutch novel written by Louis Couperus around 1900, was recently adapted into a stage play, which I saw. I wasn't too impressed by it. I thought the director of the play emphasized the erotic aspect of the story too much. But then, I hear that that's an important aspect for many people who read the book, which I find odd, because for me it's not all that prominent at all.

Transformers live action movies. The cartoon, comic, and toys are my absolute favourite things ever. The live action movies do NOTHING for me. NOTHING.

I love all of the old Anne of Green Gables series from the 80's. The last couple of Green Gables movies that they made were totally different than the books and it really made me upset with how they were made. I remember in 2000 I was so excited to see the movie and it was such a disappointment, completely different than what I was expecting.

Another disappointment to me is Gossip Girl. I actually got addicted into the books believe it or not. When I heard that they were going to come out with a show I was ecstatic. I thought most of the cast members that they chose were good but a few were not what I was expecting at all. After watching a few episodes of the series and seeing how it was completely different from the books I just stopped watching it.

I like it when movies or television series follow the books, I mean it doesn't have to be to a tee but when they stray into a completely different direction with different plots that's where I draw the line. An exception to this rule would be Little House on the Prairie, it was loosely based on the books but I really enjoyed the television series, it was good quality television programming.