Going slightly off-topic today. Technically, Spaced Invaders isn’t an adaptation, but it owes its existance to the Orson Welles radio broadcast, The War of the Worlds. The radio play itself is an adaptation, based on the HG Wells story and transplanted to the United States.
The Mercury Theatre production of The War of the Worlds was a live broadcast in an age where radio was the entertainment system of the masses. Breaking news could be aired without too much trouble, allowing critical events to be heard far and wide shortly after they occurred. The War of the Worlds presented itself, at first, as just another music program, featuring a live orchestra. However, news kept interrupting the show, first of meteor strikes, then of oddities occurring. The station is then commandeered by the US Army to help broadcast their own messages. The audience is then treated to calls for help from a soldier as alien machines march forward unrelentlessly. The act ends with the soldier asking, “Is anyone there?” as background sounds fade. The rest of the radio play, for listeners who hadn’t panicked, picked up with a survivor, played by Welles, wandering the blasted countryside and finding other people who had also survived the onslaught. One man turned insular, not trusting anyone. Others weren’t as distrusting. The reveal of the fate of the Martian invaders showed that they were still vulnerable, if not to the mighty weapons of war that mankind fielded, than to the tiny bacteria and viruses omnipresent in our air.
I mentioned “panicked” above. Listeners who hadn’t paid attention at the beginning or assumed that Mercury Theatre wasn’t on air for some reason got a shock when the Martian attack began, all from the view of soldiers on the front line. Confirming a news story today is easy; there are multiple TV channels including twenty-four hour news channels, radio stations, and online news papers, all capable of updating as news breaks. Even social media will explode with news as it happens*. In 1938, radio was it. Tuning a radio station in took some effort, so changing the station to get a second feed meant time lost. Few people would see a need to change the station during breaking news**. Someone turning the radio play on after it had started would have no idea that what he or she was hearing was a work of fiction. With tension building in Europe, the breakout of a war was a strong possibility. The reaction was unprecedented and became breaking news itself. The War of the Worlds is memorable, thus it became a classic radio play.
As with so many other classics seen over the run of Lost in Translation, The War of the Worlds was remade and adapted to other media. There has been two movies, one in 1953, the other in 2005, and a TV series in 1988. The radio play has been influential, leading to works like the 1983 NBC TV movie, Special Bulletin, and the 1989 movie, Spaced Invaders. The latter was a comedy, released in 1990, starring Royal Dano, Douglas Barr, and introduced Arianna Richards. The cast comprised of solid comedy character actors. Douglas Barr was best known from his work on the TV series, The Fall Guy, as the sidekick to Lee Majors’ bounty Hunter, Colt Seavers.
The movie begins with the Imperial Atomic Space Navy Battle Group Nine. The admiral in charge has been replaced because of how poorly the Martian fleet is faring against the Arcturans. A new edict is in place; all Martian ships, no matter the size, are to be equipped with an Enforcer Drone, to ensure that all orders are carried out to the letter. A Martian who fails to follow those orders to the letter will, like the admiral was, be subject to “disciplinary termination”.
In the space between the orbit of Mars and Earth, a small scout ship carries our little green heroes – Captain Bipto, the commanding officer; Lt. Giggywig, the second in command; Blaznee, the ship’s pilot; Dr. Ziplock, the ship’s scientist, and Corporal Pez, the designated redshirt. They pick up a broadcast of The War of the Worlds, mistake it for a cry for help from the pathetic humans, and decide to go help the invading forces. Even the ship’s Enforcer Drone agrees with this plan of action, provided that it succeeds. Failure, as always, would result in a disciplinary review.
The source of the “distress call” is traced to Big Bean, Illinois, an agricultural town celebrating both Hallowe’en and the opening of their new exit on the Interstate. The town’s deputy, played by Fred Applegate, waiting for the town’s first speeder, finds it, clocking at 3000mph, well over the speed limit. The speeder crashes on the Wrenchmuller farm and the group, except Blaznee, exit the ship. Bipto takes the lead thorugh fields to a long black patch on the ground. Pez is volunteered to cross it, but he refuses, citing that the patch could be a minefield. Fortunately, Ziplock has a solution, a mechanical scout launched from a mortar. Shortstuff, as the robot gets named, walks out on to the long black patch and promptly fails to explode. Bipto takes the lead and boldy strides on to the patch, where he gets hit by a Cadillac. Giggywig immediately takes command, and orders the rest of the Martians to march on.
Mr. Wrenchmuller (Dano), the owner of the farm where the Martian ship crashed, is facing the loss of his farm. The crops were terrible this past season, and he’s about to lose the only home he knows. The crashing of the Martian saucer gives him a bit of hope. If he can get photos or even capture a live Martian, he could get the money to save his home. With the help of his dog, he sets up a booby trap to catch a Martian.
The invaders find a group of small humans being loaded into a car. The trick-or-treaters include the sheriff’s daughter Kathy (Richards), who dressed as an Alien, and Brian, played by JJ Anderson, who is dressed as a duck. Kathy and her father are new to Big Bean, and neither have quite integrated into town culture yet. The Martians try to threaten the Earth scum, but Mrs. Vanderspool, the evening’s chauffeur played by Patrika Darbo, thinks the costumes are adorable and doesn’t recognize the weapon that she shoves up from Giggywig’s hands. The weapon still discharges, into Giggywig instead.
The Cadillac that hit Bipto goes to the town mechanic. The car’s owner, Klembecker, leaves the Cadillac behind and picks up his truck. Vern, the mechanic, removes the roadkill from the Caddy’s front grille and gets to work repairing the vehicle. Bipto recovers from his injuries, and takes Vern as prisoner. The mechanic is turned into Verndroid, Bipto’s loyal servant, doing everything the Martian bids.
The deputy manages to track the speeding spaceship to the Wrenchmuller farm. Still dazed, he falls back to basics and starts writing tickets – no headlights, no taillights, no license plate, no wheels, and going 2945mph over the speed limit. Blaznee, well aware of the traps set out by Wrenchmuller, gets the deputy to step back to realize just what is happening and to set off one of the traps. The deputy has a moment of clarity just before the bale of hay hits him.
Kathy, who may be the most on the ball person in Big Bean, finds Shortstuff and discovers that the three new kids in alien costumes are really Martians. She covers for them, calling them her surfer cousins from California. Giggywig is still dazed, but Ziplock and Pez get into the tasty ritual they’ve lucked into. Kathy lets Brian in on the secret, that the new kids are invaders, so that she has some help keeping an eye on them. Giggywig recovers, though, and threatens Mrs. Vanderspool again, this time launching a missile. Rightfully upset, Mrs. Vanderspool kicks Giggywig, Ziplock, and Pez out of the car. Kathy says she should go, too, and drags Brian with her. Brian isn’t happy with this; he has to share any candy he gets with his younger sister and his bag is only half full.
Back on the ship, while Blaznee is making repairs, he hears the end of the “distress call”. He gets a sinking feeling, one that gets worse when the Enforcer Drone mentions that there will be a mission review after they leave the planet. Blaznee heads out, more to escape the Drone than anything else.
The townsfolk are starting to piece things together. Wrenchmuller, with photos of the ship, speeds to town to tell people about the invasion. The deputy recovers and heads to town as well. The sheriff tries to keep the calm, but Giggywig makes his television debut. Giggywig has found a target to attack to cow the townsfolk. His first target, though, riles the locals; the new exit is destroyed. The second target, though, lets the townies know exactly where he is. Giggywig has Ziplock and Pez set up a heat ray to attack what he thinks is a missle silo. The attack backfires, and Giggywig hits the emergency summons for the ship.
The rest of the Martians eventually realize that what they heard was fiction, there was no Martian attack on Earth, and that they messed up badly. The ship’s hyperdrive malfunctions, requiring it to return to zero gravity before it implodes, making Big Bean some other universe’s problem. The Enforce Drone decides that the crew needs to be subjected to disciplinary termination. The sheriff listens to Kathy, and, after a call to Strategic Air Command that goes nowhere, becomes the voice of sanity and helps the Martians with their ship. He realizes, with Kathy’s help, that they’re more a danger to themselves than to Big Bean. To quote Kathy, “They’re not evil, just stupid.” By the end, the Martians are back in space. They had to dump everything to achieve orbit. The last item dumped helped out Mr. Wrenchmuller, providing the fertilizer needed to give him a crop to sign over, saving his farm.
Spaced Invaders is a comedy at its heart, and doesn’t try to overreach. The creators, though, did toss a few little details for flavour. The opening credits have Gustav Holst’s Mars, the Bringer of War, from The Planets. There are off-hand references to the TV series, My Favourite Martian, including Bipto’s line, “What in the name of my Uncle Martin…” Giggywig marches out at the co-op like George C. Scott did in Patton. The movie may not be in any great movie lists, but it is a fun watch.
As to The War of the Worlds, the radio play appears every so often, acting as counter-point and as punctuation to what is happening in the movie. The movie takes the ideas in the radio play and twist them. What if the Martians weren’t competent? What if the human townsfolk weren’t cowed by Martian weapons? What if the heat ray was used on a corn silo? It’s not a faithful adaptation of the radio play or even of HG Wells’ original work, but Spaced Invaders uses those works to create its own fun story.
Next week, The Bionic Woman.
* With social media feeds like Twitter and Facebook, it’s best to find another source. The general populace isn’t known for wise decision making.
** This still happens today. When major news breaks, people tend to flip to their preferred news provider, be it television, online, or radio. NBC experience this in 1983 while airing the TV movie, Special Bulletin. The movie was set up as a news broadcast, though with fake network names, about a terrorist threat that involved a nuclear bomb. Even with disclaimers, people were fooled into believing that the movie was a real news broadcast, thanks to the use of videotape and the actors adding verbal tics before speaking.
OK gang, yes, I know people have asked me to do more than just speak at cons. Well Lauren Orsini asked me to be part of a webinar and I accepted! It’s a chance for you to join us and talk . . . careers! We’re doing a discussion about how people build geek careers realistically, covering seven major steps that you’ll want to follow. I figure that fits a lot of you folks here at the sanctum. So, you can read more at Lauren’s blog (which is well worth following), or just go and . . .
Sign up now!
It’s free, but seats are limited. So go on, sign up, and we’ll get a chance to talk careers Sunday, November 8th at 9am Pacific, (12pm Eastern).
Now the big thing with this? This is an experiment for me. If it works, I want to try other Webinars, including ones on creativity, writing, and more. So hopefully this’ll work out and I’ll try some Sanctum-themed Webinars on creativity, worldbuilding, etc. I’ve been a bit iffy on Webinars, but Lauren sold me on trying it out – and now I can’t wait!
- Steve
During a discussion with Steve, the question whether there is a cycle happening, one first started in the Fifties. During the History of Adaptations, the Fifties were discovered to have a low number of original works, something that the Aughts shared. The Fifties also had a number of movie remakes, something the New Teens is seeing.
With the movies remade in the Fifties, the new versions took advantage of the change in filming technology. The Ten Commandments and Ben Hur: A Tale of Christ were both black and white silent films when they were released in the Twenties. Their remakes in the Fifties took advantage of the major advances in movie making – sound and colour. With both films being period pieces, nothing on screen needed to be changed beyond what was essential for the new technologies and grander scales available. The spectacle of both epics were enough to draw in the younger audience while those who saw the originals could see them again with the new dimensions of full colour and sound. Thirty years made a huge difference in the film industry.
Fast forward to now. The entertainment news is filled with remakes. Just from the older news posts for Lost in Translation, I get the following list:
Jem and the Holograms
The Equalizer
Ghostbusters
Predator
Indiana Jones
Blade Runner
Big Trouble in Little China
That doesn’t include films like 21 Jump Street, remaking a TV series, and all the Ninties movies being remade like Stargate. Again, the difference is thirty years. The advances in film technology aren’t as obvious, though. The use of computers for special effects has grown over time, but not all the works being remade will benefit from the advance outside the budget. Cecil B. De Mille remade The Ten Commandments because of the sound and colour. The movies listed above and the others are being done because of nostalgia.
It’s the thirty years that raised the question. Thirty years is enough time for a young man to work through the system to get to the point where he can make decisions on what to film. Thirty years ago was 1985, the middle of the decade with the most original popular works made. The chart from last week may help here.
As pointed out last week, part of the issue with the complaints about adaptations is that the Eighties and Nineties, where the original works outnumber the adaptations, were anomalous. Today, if someone wanted to watch a movie from the Eighties, it’s not difficult. Between television reruns, home video and online streaming, chances are good that a movie from the Eighties is available. In the Fifties, those options weren’t available. Movies from Hollywood’s early years might make an appearance on television or appear at repertory cinemas, but the ease of finding them did not exist like it does today.
Is there a cycle restarting? It’s hard to tell. There isn’t enough data yet to make that call. The chart above shows that the New Teens are behaving in a similar manner to the Sixties, but this decade is only half over. A backlash against adaptations is building, but, again, the Eighties and Nineties were exceptions, not the norm, when it comes to original works. It is something to keep an eye on, though. If a cycle is repeating, noting the speed at which the elements appear helps work out how long a given segment will last.
So Way With Worlds is off to the pre-readers! I’ll be back to editing it in December, after a well-needed break.
Now one big change? It’s definitely going to be two books. When I realized the final book would be some 500 pages long, it just wasn’t going to work unless I made it bigger, or broke it up. So now it’ll be two books, a basic/essential and a detailed one. It breaks up pretty well.
Still editing it as one block though so it stays consistent. You’ll see them both this summer!
– Steve
Well, after a “final run” the Plot Twist generator is done. Well, “done.”
I made a big push to flesh out data, and improve and enhance some of the existing data patterns and basic plot types. I’m going to consider it “done” for now because I really can’t think of much else to do. I’m sure there’s plenty more, but I won’t be doing it for now.
Now that I’ve done both this and the Writing Prompt Generator, I’ve had a pretty useful insight about these kinds of generators.
The short form? These seemingly inspirational generators would work better if done a bit more “scientifically.”
At first, I figured both Writing Prompts and Plot Twist Generators would be best created in a kind of free-form, inspired way. Surf examples, try ideas, play around, integrate feedback, get creative. That seemed to make sense at the time.
But when I look back to it, it actually made things more complicated. I might “go down the rabbit hole” and get lost in one kind of plot twist. I’d try some data structures that turned out to not be quite right. I’d revise data, which gets a bit complex once you’ve already set so much information up.
The end result is that, if I’d taken time to break the data down more carefully, analyze deep structure, and look for common patterns this would have gone easier. I wouldn’t have been able to jump right into it, but it would have been faster, easier, and probably better.
Also I could have written it up for people’s reference.
So, lesson learned. Now onward to some other generators after a bit of a break . . .
- Steve
The History of Adaptations
Twenties
Thirties
Forties
Fifties
Sixties
Seventies
Eighties
Nineties
Aughts
New Teens
Welcome to the history of adaptations. I’ve been looking at the top movies of each decade, analyzing them to see which ones were original and which ones were adaptations, and of the adaptations, what the source material was. I’m using the compiled list at Filmsite.org as a base. With the New Teens completed up to now, it’s time to figure out what all this means.
First, though, my methodology. I needed a start point, thus my use of the list at Filmsite.org. The list provided me with a base to work from. I chose the popular films, as according to box office, because the films should be memorable enough and have lasting impact on films even today. Even Ingagi, released in 1930 and pulled when it was discovered that the found footage was found in other movies, still has ripples in the form of Gorilla Grodd, who has appeared in the current TV series, The Flash. While box office takes reflect how much money a movie made at the theatres, it does ignore the effects of television airings and the sale and rental of home videos, both video tape and DVD/Blu-Ray. Some classic films, including Casablanca and Psycho, gain an audience long after leaving theatres. Popular films also may not be representative of the films released. There aren’t many Westerns on the list, yet the genre was a staple for several decades.
Going through every film released, though, would be a huge undertaking. The goal of the project was to discover whether movie adaptations were a recent approach or if it was something happening throughout the history of film. The Filmsite.org list starts with 1915’s The Birth of a Nation. One hundred years of film history to examine. I needed a way to get a sample of what was released. Again, the popular films may not be representative. Statistically, I haven’t run the numbers. In the more recent decades, studios have shown a tendency to follow the leader; if one studio has a breakthrough hit featuring an alien invasion/romantic comedy, every studio will make a similar film to get a piece of the action. Whether that holds true for the earlier years of Hollywood remains to be researched.
Throughout the project, I broke down the films into original and adaptations, making note of where a film didn’t quite fit into either. I placed sequels under original unless the sequel itself was based on another work. Movies like Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire are both sequels and adaptations, both being based on books in a series. The categories aren’t perfect, though breaking the movies into finer categories would dilute the numbers to the point of uselessness. The most films in one decade was 29, in 1915-1929 and 1930-1939. The fewest, 13, came in 2000-2009, which was also the decade with the fewest original works on the Filmsite.org list. The graph below shows the number of original movies versus the number of adaptations by decade. On the left, in blue, is the number of original works. The right, in orange, is the number of adaptations.
As the above shows, only two decades had the number of original movies outnumbering the adaptations. With all the complaints about the number of adaptations, the Eighties and Nineties, still fresh in people’s minds, were the exception. My expectation when I started was that the early years would have a large number of adaptations as scripts for stage were repurposed for film, but the Fifties showed otherwise. The Fifties were the first decade to have a huge number of remakes, too.
If the Eighties and Nineties were the exception, then why the complaints? The next few graphs might shed some light. I chose three separate decades, the Early Years, the Fifties, and the Aughts, to show what sources were used for adaptations.
Novels and plays are the bulk of the adaptations. Neither take over half, but the literary tradition is there. The other three sources, poems, myths and legends, and the Bible, aren’t that much different. The era is literary.
In the Fifties, novels and plays are major sources in adaptations, but other works are appearing. The number of remakes equal the number of movies using plays as a source. Myths and legends have a larger piece of the pie than in the Early Years. Children’s literature is a new source, thanks to Disney, but poems are still being used.
With the Aughts, the literary sources drop. Novels and plays combined equal the number of movies based on children’s literature. Comic books are a bigger source. The Aughts also had movies based on sources not seen in the previous decades – toy lines and theme park rides.
The Aughts may be showing why there is a complaint about the number of adaptations. The source work is far better known today. A movie based on one of Shakespeare’s plays passes the acceptance test. A movie based on a line of action figures is being made because either the toy line is selling well or the toy company wants to sell more of the toys, and thus can irk people. The same holds with using children’s literature and Young Adult works; there’s a feeling of catering to a younger audience that alienates older viewers.
Adaptations aren’t a new phenomenon. They’ve been around since the beginning of the film industry and will be around until the industry collapses. Film making is expensive. Studios need to pull in an audience, and, if done well, adaptations of popular works will draw in the crowd.
OK first, the Way With Worlds book is through it’s second edit. Done. It goes out to pre-readers tomorrow, and in general I plan not to think about it for about two months. I need a break.
My impression is that this version is a heck of a lot better. Tighter, smarter, a bit less overblown, something you can read and reread as you want. After pre-readers and my editor go through it it’s definitely going to be worth your time.
Also if you want to be a pre-reader, well, contact me . . .
Now, that leads on to the Plot Twist generator! I’m going to make one more big stab at it and call it a go. I think one more push is what I need – and like the Writing Prompt generator it won’t be perfect, but it’ll be enough to really help people.
Then after that a break and something fun, and possibly very, very silly. The idea I’m kicking around is not just a fun and silly generator, but documenting it.
Finally, I added a link to my Newsletter in the menu. That’s a place to go to get updates and insights on my projects, here and elsewhere.
OK, long day, lots of editing done, time to rest . . .
- Steve
The History of Adaptations
Twenties
Thirties
Forties
Fifties
Sixties
Seventies
Eighties
Nineties
Aughts
Welcome to the history of adaptations. I’ve been looking at the top movies of each decade, analysing them to see which ones were original and which ones were adaptations, and of the adaptations, what the source material was. I’m using the compiled list at Filmsite.org as a base. Last time, the Aughts had fewer original movies than the Fifties, which had three, including the two Cinerama demo films.
The decade isn’t over yet, but the general trend has been for big budget adaptations based on comic books and Young Adult novels, or so it feels. Does this feeling hold out when looking at the popular movies so far this decade? Both Marvel and DC have a number of movies scheduled over the next few years, with Valiant getting in on the action. Movies adapted from Young Adult novels soared with the later Harry Potter films and the Twilight adaptations. Sustainability is in doubt, but the studios are making too much money to ignore the cash cow.
The top movies of the decade, by year, up to 2015:
2010
Toy Story 3 – sequel. Pixar’s approach to storytelling means that they won’t create a sequel unless there is a proper story to be told.
Alice in Wonderland – adapted from the 1872 Lewis Carroll story, Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There.
Iron Man 2 – sequel of an adaptation and part of the lead up to Marvel’s The Avengers.
2011
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 – both an adaptation and a sequel. The movie covers the latter half of the last book of JK Rowling’s Harry Potter series.
Transformers: Dark of the Moon – sequel of an adaptation of the Hasbro toy line.
2012
Marvel’s The Avengers – adaptation of the Marvel superhero team.
The Dark Knight Rises – sequel of the adaptation, The Dark Knight.
The Hunger Games – adaptation of the novel, The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins.
2013
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire – sequel and adaptations of the second book in the Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins, Catching Fire.
Iron Man 3 – sequel of an adaptation.
Frozen – adaptation of the fairy tale, “The Snow Queen”, by Hans Christian Andersen.
Despicable Me 2 – sequel. The first movie, Despicable Me was an original work.
2014
American Sniper – adaptation of American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History by Chris Pyle
Guardians of the Galaxy – adaptation of the characters and team as seen in Marvel comics.
2015
Jurassic World – adaptation. While intended as a sequel to the first three Jurassic Park movies, there are only two returning characters, including the island.
Avengers: Age of Ultron – sequel to the adaptations, Marvel’s The Avengers.
Inside Out – original but inspired by the daughter of the director
Furious 7 – sequel and part of the Fast and Furious franchise.
Of the eighteen movies listed above, four are original, including the sequels Toy Story 3, Despicable Me 2, and Furious 7. There are nine adaptations, including both Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, which are also sequels. The remaining five films are sequels of earlier adaptations. Naturally, the divisions weren’t easy to define. Jurassic World could be seen as a sequel of the previous Jurassic Park movies. I placed it as an adaptation because of how little it shared with the previous films. While Universal Studios counts the film as part of the Jurassic Park franchise, Jurassic World only has one character returning, and he was a minor one in the original movie. Thus, I’m placing Jurassic World into the adaptation category.
The source of the adaptations isn’t as diverse as the Aughts. Six movies were adaptations of comic books. Three were based on Young Adult novels. One came from a Michael Crichton work. Disney was the only studio to reach into the literature of the past for adaptations, using works by Lewis Carroll and Hans Christian Andersen. While comics haven’t had this strong a showing in previous decades, they aren’t a new medium. The Avengers #1 was published in 1963, bringing together characters from other titles, including Iron Man, who first appeared in Tales of Suspense #39 in 19591963*. Jurassic Park, published in 1990, is more recent.
Along with the above breakdown, there were ten sequels in the popular list. While Lost in Translation treats sequels as original works, continuing a story started in a previous film, the general movie audience may not agree with the assessment. The number of sequels, adaptations, and the combination of the two leads to the complaints that there are fewer original works. Yet, the Aughts had fewer popular original movies than this decade.
Next week, wrapping up the series.
* I misread the information at the link. Iron Man’s debut was in 1963; Tales of Suspense started in 1959.
The History of Adaptations
Twenties
Thirties
Forties
Fifties
Sixties
Seventies
Eighties
Nineties
Welcome to the history of adaptations. I’ve been looking at the top movies of each decade, analysing them to see which ones were original and which ones were adaptations, and of the adaptations, what the source material was. I’m using the compiled list at Filmsite.org as a base. Last time, the Nineties saw a slight slippage of the originality of the Eighties, but original works still outnumbered adaptations.
If the early days of AOL and the creation of the World Wide Web* allowed people to discuss films indepth, the normalization of the Internet meant that word of mouth could make or break a movie. A movie featuring two hot actors – Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck, linked via tabloids as “Bennifer” – should have had a good opening weekend. Instead, Gigli bombed at the box office as word of mouth sent warnings to avoid the film. Gigli set a record in 2003 for the biggest drop between opening and second weekend box office totals.**
I used “Weird Al” Yankovic as a barometer of popularity in the Eighties and Nineties. In the Aughts, he only had one song, “Ode to a Superhero“, released on the first album after Spider-Man hit theatres. His focus turned to the Internet, where popular memes now start. That change of focus is emblematic of how far into daily lives the Internet has become. Movies aren’t the trendsetters as they were in early days of Technicolor.
The top movies of the decade, by year:
2000
How the Grinch Stole Christmas – live-action adaptation of the Christmas story by Dr. Seuss.
2001
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone – adaptation of the popular children’s novel by JK Rowling. Harry Potter was a huge phenomenon, with people lining up outside bookstores when the new installments were released, something seen in the past for concert tickets for the biggest of the big name rock stars and with geek-friendly movies.
2002
Spider-Man – adaptation of the Marvel character seen in Spectacular Spider-Man and The Amazing Spider-Man.
2003
Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King – adaptation of the third book of JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King. Also counts as a sequel.
2004
Shrek 2 – sequel of an adaptation. The first Shrek movies was based on the 1990 children’s book, Shrek!, by William Steig.
Spider-Man 2 – sequel to the 2002 adaptation, Spider-Man, above.
The Passion of the Christ – Mel Gibson’s controversial Biblical adaptation of the last days of Christ.
2005
Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith – the last of the Star Wars prequel movies.
2006
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest – adapted from the Disneyland ride, “Pirates of the Caribbean”.
2007
Spider-Man 3 – like Spider-Man 2, a sequel of an adaptation.
2008
The Dark Knight – adaptation of the DC Comics character, Batman, as seen in a number of titles, including Legends of the Dark Knight and Detective Comics
2009
Avatar – original. James Cameron created an immersive world using 3D filming techniques, reviving the film process.
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen – sequel of an adaptation of the Hasbro toy line, Transformers.
That makes a grand total of one original movie, Avatar. Of the remain films, there were six adaptations, five sequels to adaptations, and one movie, Return of the King, that counts as both sequel and adaptation. The obvious question, “What is the difference between a “sequel of an adaptation” and “a sequel and an adaptation”? The answer – source material. Return of the King was still based on an existing work, in this case, Tolkien’s novel. The movie relied heavily on the original work, which itself was a continuation of a story started in a previous novel. With the Spider-Man sequels and Shrek 2, the movies built on the previous movie but wasn’t necessarily based on the original work. The distinction is academic, but it does exist and will come up again.
The sources of the adaptations is another difference from previous decades. Literature and plays were the prime sources up to the Eighties. In the Aughts, three movies were based on children’s literature, with only one being animated. In the past, it was typically an animated Disney film that covered children’s books. Four movies were based on comic book characters, though three of those films featured Spider-Man. The Bible returned as a source, the first time since 1966’s The Bible: In the Beginning. Rounding out the literary sources is The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien’s fantasy epic.
What makes the Aughts unique is the use of unusual original sources, a toy line and a park ride. In the Eighties, Hasbro took advantage of a relaxing in regulations governing children’s programming, allowing them to work with Marvel and Sunbow to produce cartoons for several lines of toys, including Transformers, G.I. Joe, and Jem and the Holograms. Of those three mentioned, Transformers kept returning to television in one form or another, with little continuity between series***. With the animated series being a near constant, a live-action movie version wasn’t a surprise. The park ride, on the other hand, is Disney leveraging one of their existing properties in another field. The Pirates of the Caribbean wasn’t the only ride turned into a feature film. The Country Bears, The Haunted Mansion, and the recent Tomorrowland all began as Disney rides.
With just one more decade to go, it’s easy to see where complaints about Hollywood’s lack of originality comes from. After two decades where original works were in the majority, even taking into account sequels, the sudden turn around back to the level last seen in the Fifties makes the Aughts seem abnormal. As seen in this series, The Aughts and, as shall be seen, the New Teens arent’t unusual. The Eighties and Nineties were the exceptions, but since they are within recent collective memory while the earlier years are outside the pop consciousness, it’s difficult to realize how unique those decades are in the history of film. The Aughts also pull from sources not previously used as extensively. Prior to the Eighties, only animated films meant for children used children’s novels as a source. The Harry Potter phenomenon changed how people see children’s literature and opened the doors for movies based on Young Adult novels.
* Best cat photo distribution method ever created.
** The record has since been broken, first in 2005 by Undiscovered and then in 2007 by Slow Burn.
*** I’m simplifying this a lot. Transformers continuity is flexible and depends on the writer. Oddly, Beast Wars/Beasties is in continuity with the original Transformers cartoon despite the differences in time and in animation styles.
