Lost in Translation doesn’t normally touch upon anime and manga. Ganriki covers that field far better. In recent years, though, anime and manga have penetrated mainstream pop culture, leading to Western adaptations of works that have crossed the Pacific Ocean. Today, Lost in Translation looks at the 2008 film, Speed Racer.
Mach GoGoGo was created in 1966 by Tatsuo Yoshida and followed the exploits of Go Mifune, a young race car driver who helps his family keep his father’s designs from rivals. Go was inspired by Elvis Presley in Viva Las Vegas; his car, the Mach 5, was inspired by 007’s Aston Martin in Goldfinger. In 1967, Tatsunoko Productions adapted the manga as an anime series of the same name; a typical path for many manga titles. The anime was then picked up by Trans-Lux for airing as Speed Racer in the US.
Whether the name is Mach GoGoGo or Speed Racer, the characters remained consistent. Go/Speed is a young driver with a love of both racing and his family. His father, Daisuke/Pops, who built the Mach 5, went indie after being forced out of a corporation, keeping the designs for the car’s revolutionary engine for himself. Kurio/Spritle is Speed’s younger brother who, along with his pet chimp, Sanpei/Chim-Chim, gets into trouble by tagging along. Speed’s older brother, Kenichi/Rex, is estranged from Pops after a falling out, but reappears as The Masked Racer/Racer X to help Speed against his opponents. Speed’s girlfriend, Michi/Trixie, is also there to help, and bails him out as much as he does for her.
The series focused on action, especially racing, with gangsters and crooked corporate execs scheming to fix races, steal Pops’ designs, including the Mach 5, or just eliminate Speed himself. The anime lasted for 52 episodes, ending in 1968. The boom in specialty cable channels in the 90s saw the return of Speed Racer, with MTV, Cartoon Network, and the Speed Channel all airing the show. Fred Wolf, of Murakami-Wolf-Swenson, helmed a new series in 1993, lasting thirteen episodes. The original also became the basis of the Dexter’s Laboratory episode, “Mock 5”, and had the theme song sleepily sung by Tom Servo during a dull chase in the Mystery Science Theatre 3000 episode, “Danger!! Death Ray“.
As with any series that has been influential and is permeating the pop culture subconcious, studios wanted to turn Speed Racer into a feature film. Warner Bros. optioned the rights to Speed Racer in 1992. It wasn’t until 2006, when the Wachowski siblings took the helm, did production start. The movie, also called Speed Racer, begins with Speed (played by Emile Hirsch) preparing for a race, then heading into a flashback of his much younger self in grade school losing focus from the Scantron test in favour of his brother Rex’s upcoming race. The young Speed (Nicholas Elia) then dashes out of class at the bell to meet Rex and convinces him to take him to the track.
The race itself, the Thunderbird, showcases Speed’s abilities. While all the other drivers try to catch up to him, Speed is keeping up with his brother’s track time, slowing off just enough to ensure that the time Rex, now deceased, put up remains the record. In the stands, Speed’s family – Pops (John Goodman), Mom (Susan Sarandon), Spritle (Paulie Litt) with Chim-Chim (“Kenzie” and Willie”) – watch with Speed’s girlfriend, Trixie (Christina Ricci) and Racer Motors’s mechanic and Speed’s friend, Sparky (Kick Gurry). Speed and the Mach 5 come to the attention of E.P. Arnold Royalton (Roger Allam), owner of Royalton Industries. Royalton wants Speed to race for him. After some thought, Speed turns down the offer, wanting to remain with Pops. Angered by the refusal, Royalton threatens to destroy Racer Motors through having his drivers target Speed on the race course and through legal filings of intellectual property infringement against Pops.
Royalton’s threats come through, leaving Speed out of the Grand Prix. At the darkest moment, two people arrive at the Racer home, Inspector Detector (Benno Fürmann) and Racer X (Matthew Fox), the Harbinger of Boom. Inspector Detector is part of the Criminal Investigation Bureua, investigating corporate crime, and needs Speed’s help to reveal the race fixing Royalton and other firms are behind. To that end, the Inspector wants Speed to race in the Casa Cristo 5000, a two continent rallye race, the one that claimed the life of Rex. The Casa Cristo 5000 is also the only way Speed has to enter the Grand Prix; the winner of the rallye gets an automatic invitation. Pops is against it, but Trixie helps Speed by taking him “skiing”. Speed and Racer X join Taejo Togokahn (Rain), teaming up to race.
Pops has other reasons to not want Speed in the Casa Cristo 5000 beyond the loss of Rex. Rallye racing is a far nastier form of the sport, with teams fielding illegal modifications on their cars. One team, featuring Snake Oiler as their top driver, bribes three other teams, the Flying Foxes, Semper Fi-ber, and Thor-Axine, to take out Team Togokahn. Speed and Racer X manage to avoid the dirty play, thanks to defensive modifications to the Mach 5, but Snake Oiler wins the first leg of the race.
Back at the Racer household, Spritle has caught wind of the deception and is watching the Casa Cristo 5000. Pops forces him to shut it off and go out to get some sun and exercise. When Pops has to leave on an errand, Spritle sneaks back inside. He’s caught when Pops returns almost immediately having forgotten something. To deflect punishment, Spritle points at Speed and the Mach 5 on TV. Pops and the Racer family catch up to Speed during the downtime between race legs. Speed explains what he’s doing and, while not happy, Pops calms down enough to go rebalance the Mach 5.
That night, ninja stalk Team Togokahn. Taejo is given a dose of a drug meant to dull his reflexes. A second ninja tries the same thing with Racer X, who is ready for such treachery. A third tries to inject Speed with the drug and is stopped when Spritle wakes up after falling out of bed. Speed tries to fight off the ninja, but the commotion wakes up the rest of the family. The worst thing anyone could do is try to hurt a member of the Racer family; Pops is a champion Greco-Roman wrestler and proceeds to show the ninja the error of his ways.
The second leg of the Casa Cristo 5000 has Team Togokahn trying to catch up to Snake Oiler. With Taejo still under the drug’s effects, a switch has been made. Trixie, wearing Taejo’s jumpsuit, has taken his place. The plan is to make a switch in a section not covered by cameras. However, Oiler’s boss, Cruncher Block, is also heading there to make sure that Team Togokahn fails to finish the race. Block gets the drop on the team, but Racer X manages to disarm the goon guarding him, starting a massive brawl. When the dust settles, Taejo is back in his car but Snake Oiler has once again taken the lead. With effort, Speed forces Oiler off the mountain road and Team Togokahn wins the race.
Taejo, though, renegs on his end of the bargain. He uses the increase in his father’s company to get a better price for selling his firm to Royalton. Speed is dejected and, once home, tries to burn out his anger on the Thunderbird track. Racer X arrives to speak with him and after a racing duel, resparks Speed’s love for the sport, despite the problems it has. Speed notices that Racer X’s driving style is familiar and asks if the masker racer is his brother. Racer X takes off his mask; Speed doesn’t recognize the face and the Harbinger of Boom says that Rex did die in the accident at Casa Cristo.
While trying to figure out what to do next, Taejo’s sister Horuko (Yu Nan) arrives to speak with Speed. She gives him Taejo’s invitation to the Grand Prix; the chit is a guarenteed place in the race for the bearer. With the invitation in hand, Speed and his family get the Mach 6 prepared in record time.
Speed starts in the last position at the starting line. Royalton places a bounty on Speed’s head; any driver who can remove him from the race will get one million dollars. Drivers try, but Speed is the better racer. He goes head to head with Royalton’s driver, Cannonball Taylor. Taylor uses an illegal spear hook to latch on to the Mach 6. Speed can’t detach his car from Taylor’s, but manages to angle both cars so that cameras can see the illegal device. Once the cars land again, the speed hook breaks away from Taylor’s car as it disintegrates. The Mach 6, though, stalls out. Speed listens to the car and works out how to get the engine to restart. He winds up back in last place, but he finds his zone and wins. Inspector Detector arrests Royalton. Speed finally gets to kiss Trixie under the flashing of thousands of cameras. And Racer X is revealed to be, indeed, Speed’s brother, having undergone plastic surgery to change his looks.
The Wachowskis’ film tried to recreate an animated series, and the movie shows it. In a Full Frontal Nerdity strip, Aaron Williams describes the trailer for Speed Racer as, “Like playing Gran Turismo 3 while wearing glasses made out of LSD-laced Gummi Bears.” Even the studio titles before the movie starts are in a 60s-style kaleidoscope of colour. The movie is far more animated than the original Mach GoGoGo. Speed Racer has been called a live-action anime, and for good reason.
Beyond just the visual style, the Wachowskis put effort into recreating the look and feel of the anime. The cast reflects the original appearance of the characters. Emile Hirsch has Speed’s pompador. John Goodman looks like Pops Racer, and Christina Ricci looks like trixie. The Mach 5 is exactly the way it is shown in the anime. Of special note, Paulie Litt as Spritle not only looks the part, but manages to take a potentially annoying role and make the character fun to watch while acting next to a chimpanzee. The costumes also reflect what the characters wore in the original series, with the exception of Racer X. The Harbinger of Boom’s costume is black instead of white, reflecting Racer X’s work from the shadows of the racing world. Adding to the look of the film is the soundtrack, which uses the original theme as a motif throughout the movie. Added touches include Speed posing in front of the Mach 5 just like in the original opening credits and the use of the original sounds effects of the Mach 5’s jacks.
The above is just surface, though. The Wachowskis also pulled ideas from the anime. The Casa Cristo 5000 race can be found in the first epsiode of the anime, not by name but by setting. Snake Oiler also appeared in the series as the second head of the Car Acrobats, a team that clashed with Speed. Pops’ wrestling also appeared in the anime. The Racer X background is much like it is in the original, with the difference being that Rex is presumed dead instead of missing. The plot would fit in with the series and takes its cues from the original.
The only problem the movie may have is that it goes a little over the top at times. Beyond that, the Speed Racer movie works hard to reflect its origins in both style and substance. Once the audience gets past the wall of bright colour, the movie has substance to match and brings in the themes of the original work – family, honour, and the love of sport despite its problems.
Last week, Lost in Translation looked at the live-action Jem and the Holograms movie. The film lasted all of two weeks in theatres before being pulled because of poor attendance. Despite reviews, including the postmortem done here, the movie wasn’t the problem. If Jem hadn’t been tied to a popular cartoon*, the movie may have had a fighting chance, or may have become a cable channel’s movie of the week. With the Adaptation Fix-It series, Lost in Translation tries to figure out what went wrong and suggest corrections. The only correction that the Jem movie needs requires time travel.
Audience expectations are a risk with adaptations, more so than original movies. With original works, marketing can give potential audiences a sense of what to expect. When the marketing campaign backfires, it’s either because the advertising spoils the film for audiences** or misrepresents what the film is. When it comes to an adaptation, especially one based on non-traditional media like toys and theme park rides, the potential audience may already have preconceived notions of what the final work should look like. Deviation, especially when social media lets negative word of mouth to travel fast, could mean a quick end to the adaptation’s shelf life.
The best way to meet expectations is to be slavishly faithful to the original or to the definitive version. As seen many times here at Lost in Translation, sometimes that level of detail just isn’t possible. Technical issues and running time can prevent a full adaptation. There are works where there isn’t a definitive version. What the adaptation makers need to do is manage the audience’s expectations. This can be done through casting or through advertising.
Michael Bay’s Transformers took advantage of casting. Word of mouth was hesitant at best about a live action version of the Hasbro toy line. There have been a number of Transformers cartoons over the past thirty years, resulting in a number of continuities. Yet, when Optimus Prime spoke with the voice of Peter Cullen, the actor who first played the Autobot leader, fans were mollified. Bay’s casting reassured fans that the director was making the effort. Likewise, casting Alan Rickman as Severus Snape in the Harry Potter films kept to the vision of JK Rowling, who had pictured the actor in the role as she wrote the books.
Beware stunt casting, though. Studios will do what they can to pull an audience into a theatre, including stunt casting, or the hiring of a popular actor to draw in that person’s fans, whether or not that person fits the role. It can work, provided the actor in question has the chops. When the actor isn’t as capable, the stunt casting falls flat. Two examples reviewed by Lost in Translation are Battleship and The Dukes of Hazzard. Both films cast popular singers, Rhianna and Jessica Simpson, respectively. Rhianna’s role felt like it was expanded because she was cast in it, to give her more screen time. Simpson was placed in a major role and was not a good fit as Daisy.
If a proper adaptation isn’t possible and casting may be difficult for a any number of reasons***, the next best method is to provide an advertising campaign to show the new direction the adaptation is heading. Advertising is meant to entice an audience, give it a taste of the spectacle offered. The risk here is that the potential audience will see the new direction and be turned off from it. The Miami Vice movie wound up with this problem. Audiences wanted something similar to the 80s TV series and not the update for the the New Aughts. Same thing occurred with the 2014 Robocop; the original movie’s broad satire was missed despite the new film’s nastier, much closer to home, bite.
Adaptations come with a built-in audience. That is the main reason why adaptations have dominated popular film lists, with two decades the exception. In an industry as risk adverse as movie making, having a near-guaranteed draw is an easy decision to make. What some studios haven’t realized is that a shallow adaptation, one that uses the name of a work without getting into the substance, tends to leave audiences cold. The above ideas don’t replace making the effort to capture the core of a work, but can offset audience fears of the treatment.
* The animated Jem and the Holograms was the top rated syndicated cartoon when it was on, according to Nielsen ratings, more popular than Transformers, G.I. Joe, and He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, all on during Jem‘s run.
** At least one romantic comedy has had its entire plot shown in a trailer, with the decision of who the heroine chooses left unrevealed. Given the nature of the film, audiences could guess who the lucky guy would be with better accuracy than flipping a coin.
*** These reasons include the death of a key actor, budget considerations, and even age.
The 1980s saw the regulations about children’s programming relaxed, allowing toylines to have shows. These shows, mostly cartoons, were meant as advertising for the toys. Hasbro took advantage of the situation and had several animated series based on their toylines, with Transformers airing in 1984 followed by G.I. Joe and Jem and the Holograms in 1985*. However, no one informed Marvel Productions and Sunbow Productions, the companies behind the series, that the shows were meant to be just advertising. Each series left an impact on its viewers.
With Jem, Hasbro entered a doll market dominated by Mattel. To try to gain an edge, The Jem dolls took their cues from MTV and singers like Cyndi Lauper. The first of the dolls, featuring Jem/Jerrica, her sister Kimber, her foster sisters Aja and Shana, the rival Misfits, and Jerrica’s love interest Rio. Most of the dolls came with audio cassettes featuring four songs, two by Jem and the Holograms, two by the Misfits. The Jem cartoon came out in 1985, leading the way for the dolls in 1986. Mattel, though, released the “Barbie and the Rockers” line the same year, also taking advantage of the popularity of MTV. Rocker Barbie also came with audio cassettes, though with far fewer songs.
For Jem, Marvel and Sunbow recruited Christy Marx, who was already working for them on the G.I. Joe cartoon. Marx took the ideas that the doll designer had – two rival all-girl bands, the boyfriend, and Synergy, the holographic avatar of a supercomputer – and brought the concepts together to create Jem, the Holograms, Rio, and the Misfits. The series begins with Jerrica Benton inheriting half of her father’s company, the Starlight Music label. The other half, though, went to Eric Raymond, a scheming corrupt businessman out to control all of Starlight. The music label also supports Starlight Foundation, a charity funding a foster home for girls. Naturally, Eric wants to shut down the Foundation. Jerrica’s father, though, knew what sort of person Eric was and built a supercomputer, Synergy, to help Jerrica. With Synergy’s help, through the “Jemstar” earrings and the phrase, “Showtime, Synergy,” Jerrica becomes Jem.
Eric has his own girl band to counter Jem and the Holograms. The Misfits consist of Pizazz, Roxy, and Stormer, who all work to beat out the Holograms, by hook or by crook. While the Misfits are the Holograms main antagonists, it is Eric who is the villain. That said, the views of Eric and Pizazz don’t necessarily reflect the view of the rest of the Misfits. Stormer and Kimber, in one episode, become friends, bonding over a feeling of neglect by their respective bandmates. The friendship continues beyond that episode. Eric also has a henchman, Zipper, to do the heavy lifting and dirty work that the businessman wouldn’t sully his hands with.
Naturally, there is a love interest, Rio. The stage manager for the Holograms, Jerrica and Rio have a complex relationship. The course of true love never did run smooth, and the course of the love between Jerrica and Rio takes an added twist when Rio develops a crush on Jem. Jerrica is hesitant to tell Rio the truth, that she is Jem, because Rio has an odd aversion to secrecy. While love triangles involving superheroes and secret IDs is known, Jem gender-flipped the concept. Adding to the love triangle is Pizazz, who has a crush on Rio.
Jem and the Holograms became the top rated syndicated cartoon in the US. Over 150 songs were written and performed on the show, a third making it on to the cassettes sold with the dolls. In comparison, Barbie and the Rockers had four songs, total. Jem aired for three seasons and ended only because the doll line was discontinued. The Jem dolls, while popular, couldn’t compete with the Barbie behemoth, and the line was discontinued in 1987. Twenty-seven dolls were released over the short run. As a doll, Jem couldn’t overcome the name recognition Barbie had. Thanks to the cartoon, though, the name Jem permeated pop culture, leading to a DVD release and a re-airing of the series in 2011. In 2012, Integrity Toys licensed Jem for a collector’s edition line of dolls, with over twenty-five dolls now released. IDW picked up the comic license in 2015 for a modern take on the characters.
With the resurgence of Jem as a property, Hasbro, through its fill studio, Allspark Productions, and Universal brought the doll to the big screen as a live-action movie. The movie remained in theatres for two weeks before being pulled from distribution, grossing just $2 million on a $5 million budget. Reviews were expecting a different movie than what was released. What happened?
The Jem and the Holograms film opens with Jerrica Benton (played by Aubrey Peeples) narrating into a vlog about the nature of secret identities and public personae and giving a few details about her background. After her father (Barnaby Carpenter) died, Jerrica and her sister Kimber (Stefanie Scott) were sent to live with their Aunt Bailey (Molly Ringwald), who had already taken in two other fosters, Aja (Hayley Kiyoko) and Shana (Aurora Perrineau). Jerrica was close to her father, helping him in the garage as he tinkered with various things and learning out to play guitar from him. Kimber is the more outgoing of the two, and is constantly vlogging to YouTube. Jerrica, though, is more reclusive. When she discovers that her aunt only has thirty days to to pay the mortgage on her house, Jerrica tries to record a song about her feelings, but finds that she has to use a persona and pseudonym, Jem, to do so. Even after recording the video, she tries to delete it but has problems. Jerrica hands the camera to Kimber, who, instead of deleting the video, listens to it then uploads it publically.
The video goes viral, becoming even more popular than the waterskiing squirrel. Considering the number of musicians who have careers thanks to viral videos, it’s not unbelievable. The video’s popularity gets the attention of Erica Raymond (Juliette Lewis), the owner and CEO of Starlight Productions. Erica sends an email to the mysterious Jem, offering a contract deal. Jerrica pushes to have her sisters included on the deal, and Erica relents. Erica arrives at home to pick up her new stars and whisk them to Los Angeles. Jerrica, in her packing, brings along the last items her father gave her, a pair of pink star earrings and a half-finished robot, 51N3RG-Y, or Synergy. As the girls arrive in LA, Synergy, which has never worked, begins to power up.
The girls go through a process to get them ready for stardom, including hair, make-up, and wardrobe. Erica takes the star earrings from Jerrica, calling them a holdover from the 80s. Jerrica finds a way to hide herself as Jem for performances. Erica starts her marketing campaign as the girls settle in at Starlight’s manor. Jerrica meets Rio, the band’s manager and chief cat wrangler, and some sparks fly as Rio lays down the rules. That night, Synergy is up to full power, glowing under a discard sheet. The girls, unsure what is happening, uncover the robot, which then displays a map with coordinates as a hologram. Despite their midnight curfew, the girls leave the house, “borrowing” Rio’s truck to go to the coordinates. Jerrica recognizes where they are; she and her father had gone to the pier many times before he passed away. She finds one of the pieces missing from Synergy, who then displays another map coordinate, one for a nightclub that showcases hot acts.
Before the girls can leave, a flashlight shines on them. A male voice starts telling them about the laws they have broken, including breaking and entering and being out after their midnight curfew. Rio steps forward so they can see him and explains just how he followed them and that they tripped a silent alarm. He helps the girls escape. Jerrica explains why they were on the pier and wonders how they’ll ever get to the nightclub. She also discovers that Rio is Erica’s son.
In the morning, Erica Raymond announces that the mysterious Jem will make an appearance at that nightclub for her the first live performance. Jerrica and her sisters prepare for the night. The concert goes well until a blackout hits the club mid-song. Thinking fast, Jerrica, as Jem, gets the club goers to light the stage using their smartphone flashlights. She spots a familiar guitar and, as Aja and Shana get the club goers to clap and stomp a beat, she continues the song acoustically. After the concert, Jerrica inspects the guitar and confirms it is her father’s. Inside, there is another part for Synergy.
The day after, Bailey gets in touch with Jerrica to tell her that the house will be going up for auction in several days. Jerrica goes to Erica to ask for an advance. Erica agrees, with one condition – Jem performs alone, not with a band. In a tough spot, Jerrica agrees. Her sisters overhear the last part and are understandably upset. Jerrica tries to explain but the girls won’t listen. Jem’s next appearance is as a solo artist, but Jerrica isn’t happy about what happened. Upset, she wanders through LA and winds up at her old home. Through a window, she sees a young family enjoying each other’s company, further accentuating Jerrica’s feeling of being alone. To her surprise, Kimber arrives, followed by Aja and Shana. They’re still upset about what Jerrica did, but understand why. Rio also arrives, since he had to drive the girls there, and helps Jerrica make the connection to what the last pieces of Synergy are, the earrings. The earrings that are locked up by Erica.
Jerrica and Rio head to Starlight after first getting his mother’s car from Brad the valet, who only provides the keys if Rio can get his mother to listen to his demo CD. Rio, using the darkness of the night and one of Erica’s hats, gets by security in the car with Jerrica in the trunk. Kimber, Aja, and Shana distract the guards by pretending to be Jem fangirls and getting the guards to take their photos so that Jerrica and Rio can get into the building. In Erica’s office, Rio tries guessing the code for her safe. When Jerrica suggests entering what is most important to her, Rio types in Erica’s full name. The safe opens. Jerrica retrieves her earrings and Rio retrieves a legal notice addressed to him.
Erica discovers that Jerrica is up to something when she tries to get her car from Brad. With some encouragement from Zipper, Brad confesses to what happened. Erica and Zipper rush back to Starlight and review the security footage. She orders security to seal the exits and detain Jerrica and Rio. Rio delays Erica by playing Brad’s demo CD**, piping it to a conference room. On the ground floor, Jerrica puts on her wig to become Jem. Security, unaware of her dual identity, happily let her leave.
Safe, Jerrica places the earrings together. They start glowing with a purple light before she adds them to Synergy. The robot reacts, leaning back to project a hologram of her father. He explains why he created Synergy and why he had her go on a scavenger hunt.
The big concert arrives. Jerrica is determined that she goes out on stage with her sisters. All of them are ready, and Bailey arrives to watch the show now that the house is safe. Erica arrives backstage. She demands that only Jem go out, not the others. Rio, though, exercises the clause in his father’s will that states that he takes over Starlight when he is ready, and he is ready. Zipper escorts Erica out of the building and the girls take the stage. During the concert, an editor from Rolling Stone (Christy Marx) asks Rio about the band’s name so she can feature them on the front cover. He calls them “Jem and the Holograms”.
As the credits roll, a sequel hook comes up. Erica, thoroughly disgraced and humiliated, has tracked down one of her former acts. The group, understandably, isn’t interested, having been used and tossed away by Erica once before. Erica, though, mentions that Rio is in love with Jem, perking the interest of the band’s leader. Pizazz (Kesha) comes out and declares, “Our music is better. We’re gonna get her,” then leads Erica into the Misfits’ trailer.
The Jem cartoon was a product of the Eighties, with all the sensibilities of the time. The Jem movie is a product of the Teens, and also reflects the era. The movie integrates social media into the narrative. The film’s website allowed fans to upload audition videos, some of which got into the movie. The film also delves into the impact a star can have on the lives of fans. Jem’s music calls out to people to be themselves, even if Jem is just Jerrica’s public persona.
The main problem the movie has is not being the cartoon. The expectations were badly handled. Older fans saw that it wasn’t going to be the cartoon and stayed away, and since the older fans are the ones to bring the target audience to the movie, the film just didn’t perform at the box office. There is too much in the movie that ties into what has been established for Jem for the film to be generic. Producer John M. Chu made the decision to go a different route than the cartoon, acknowledging its existance and not wanting comparisons. Problem there is that comparisons would still be made. Looking at just the dolls, ignoring for the moment the classic cartoon series, the movies does work as an adaptation. Audiences were expecting the cartoon, though. As Lost in Translation has seen before, an adapation became the definitive work. The animated Jem joins the Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV series and the 1978 Christopher Reeve Superman. In Jem‘s case, this was caused by the marketing of the dolls using the cartoon.
The Jem movie isn’t a bad one. It is far better than its budget would suggest. The girls have an onscreen chemistry that helps sell the characters as sisters. Juliette Lewis as Erica Raymond brings in a veneer of respectability over the character’s greed and sleeze. The lack of Misfits isn’t a problem; in the cartoon, Eric was the mastermind, using the band for his ends. The best way to view the film is as an alternate universe Jem.
* My Little Pony had specials in 1984 and 1985, but wasn’t a series until 1986.
** Brad’s music is essentially death metal on cello and is decent enough, though not something Erica would bother with.
No review this weekend. Enjoy the holiday. Lost in Translation will return next week.
For the last survivor of a doomed world, Superman has a large family. Many Golden and Silver Age superheroes had a “family” – characters who share in the main hero’s adventures as, if not an equal, as a sidekick. Batman had the various Robins, the various Batgirls, Ace the Bat-hound, Batwoman, and, at times, Catwoman. Captain Marvel, of Shazam! fame, had Mary Marvel, Captain Marvel, Jr., and Uncle Marvel. Superman had Superboy*, Krypto, Beppo, and Supergirl. not to mention the various Kryptonian criminals in the Phantom Zone. Supergirl, Superman’s cousin Kara Zor-El, was first introduced in 1959, though DC had floated the idea in 1958 with Jimmy Olsen wishing a “Super-Girl” into existence. Kara has the same powers as her cousin, thanks to being under Earth’s yellow sun. She arrived on Earth in a different manner, though.
In her first appearance, Kara wasn’t sent off from the dying world of Krypton on a rocket. Instead, she lived in Argo City, which had survived the planet’s explosion only to have the ground it sat on turn into Kryptonite. Kara was sent off to follow her cousin, but arrived in Midvale instead. She took on the the secret identity of Linda Lee, an orphan at the Midvale Orphanage.
Being the comics, nothing stays simple. Kara, as Linda, gets adopted, graduates high school and college, and moves to the West Coast to work as a TV camera operator. A second Kara, from the alternate dimension of Earth-Two and becomes Power Girl. However, after Crisis on Infinite Earths, a 1985 crossover event to try to clean up the DC Universe’s massive convolutions, not is Kara killed off, the universe is rebooted, removing both Supergirl and Power Girl from continuity. A third Supergirl, Matrix, is a shape changer, appeared in 1988, and a fourth, Linda Danvers, is an Earth-born angel**. Also, being the comics, no character stays dead for long. Kara began reappearing through the late 80s and is reintroduced in 2004 by Jeph Loeb, first in Superman/Batman and then in a new Supergirl title.
Rewinding back to 1984, Alexander and Ilya Salkind still had the movie rights to not just Superman but related characters, including Supergirl. Superman was in the top ten grossing movies of the 70s and is the movie that people associate with the character. Superman III, with Christopher Reeve and Richard Pryor, came out in 1983 to poor reviews. Supergirl was a chance for the Salkinds to rebound. There were several cuts, including a domestic cut for the US and a longer international cut for the rest This review uses the 2006 DVD release, which was the international version of the movie.
Supergirl begins in Argo City, the home of the last survivors of Krypton, tucked away in an alternate dimension. Kara, played by Helen Slater in her first role, watches Zaltar, played by Peter O’Toole, use the Omegahedron, a powerful power source that uses imagination for creation. Such a powerful device needs to be used carefully, lest it falls into the wrong hands. Zaltar hands the Omegahedron to Kara to let her explore her own imagination. Kara’s creation, though, gets away from her and pierces the wall surrounding Argo City. The power source is blown out through the hole; its loss means Argo City’s time is limited. Zaltar, because he “borrowed” the device without permission, will be sent to the Phantom Zone. Kara chases after the Omegahedron to make up for its escape.
On Earth, Selena, a vain, impatient sorceress out for world domination (Faye Dunaway) and Nigel, her mentor and long suffering lover (Peter Cook***) are having a picnic while discussing invisibility spells. The Omegahedron falls into the potato salad and is picked up by Selena. The sorceress senses the power within and claims the power source as her own. She returns to her home, an abandoned amusement park she shares with Bianca (Brenda Vaccaro) and experiments with the Omegahedron.
Kara arrives not far behind. Now under Earth’s yellow sun, she discovers her new powers, including flight. She heads to the nearby town, Midvale, where she finds the girls of Midvale High. Kara changes into a similar uniform and becomes the new student, Linda Lee. She name drops Clark Kent when she arrives, and, when the headmaster, Mr. Danvers, is distracted, types up a letter from her cousin to make sure that she’s accepted. Danvers shows her to her new room and her new roommate, Lucy Lane (Maureen Teefy), the younger sister of the Daily Planet’s star reporter, Lois Lane. Lucy, while not thrilled about having a roommate, perks up when she discovers who Linda’s cousin is. Linda also sees the school’s buff groundskeeper, Ethan (Hart Bochner), and is impressed.
Ethan also impresses Selena, who comes up with a plot to force the groundskeeper to love her as part of her plot to rule the world. Selena drugs him with a love potion, which will make Ethan fall in love with the first person he sees when he regains consciousness. Unfortunately for the sorceress, Nigel interrupts. While he’s not allowed in, Nigel is enough of a distraction to let Ethan stumble to an escape. The groundskeeper, walking drunkenly down Midvale’s main street, avoids being hit. Selena uses the Omegahedron to locate him and enspells a backhoe to retrieve him. Lucy and Linda, along with Lucy’s boyfriend from Metropolis, Jimmy Olsen (Marc McClure, the only actor from Superman to appear in Supergirl), see Ethan in trouble. As vehicles avoid both Ethan and the backhoe, chaos ensues, leading to spilled gasoline, downed electrical lines, and a tire fire. Kara disappears to the bathroom and appears as Supergirl on top of the diner. Supergirl saves the day, cutting the electrical lines with her heat-ray vision, blowing out the fire with her superbreath, and rescuing Ethan from the animated construction vehicle. Ethan recovers, and, to Selena’s chagrin, sees Linda first.
Selena escalates against Linda and Supergirl, never realizing they are the same person. The sorceress lures Supergirl into a trap by kidnapping Ethan. Selena twists the knife; she kisses the groundskeeper before sending Kara into the Phantom Zone. Kara, lost in the darkness of the Zone, loses her powers and, as she wanders, falls into an oily bog. Zaltar, in self-imposed exile, rescues her and helps her return to Earth through a small rift.
On Earth, Selena has succeeded in taking over Midvale through her dark sorcery and has plans for the rest of the continent. Lucy and Jimmy try to lead a resistance, but are arrested by Selena’s ensorcelled police. However, Selena and Bianca are watching what is happening in the Phantom Zone and are amazed when Supergirl returns. In the final battle, Selena summons a shadow demon to tear Supergirl apart. Kara turns things around on the sorceress, who is pulled into a whirlwind and trapped inside a mirror. With Midvale returned to normal, Kara retrieves the Omegahedron and leaves to return home.
Supergirl was not well received and failed to recoup its $35 million budget. Dunaway and O’Toole each received a Razzie for the film. Slater, though, was nominated for a Saturn for Best Actress. The problems may stem from having an almost twenty minute difference in running time between domestic and international. The longer version gives the movie time to set itself up, showing the rift between Selena and Nigel and showing Kara getting used to being on Earth. The chemistry between Dunaway and Vaccaro as Selena and Bianca is worth seeing. The main problem is that the movie went for camp at a time when camp wasn’t appreciated. If the movie had been made in 1979 instead of 1984, Dunaway’s over-the-top performance wouldn’t have seen out of place, following in the footsteps of Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor.
As an adaptation, Supergirl took the character and presented her on the big screen. Her powers were influenced by Superman’s from his 1978 movie, though without the time travel. In the comics, Supergirl helped people at a personal level, and this does come through in the movie. The plot itself would fit earlier Superman comics, though not as much in the 80s. Kara’s origins, while meddled with, still reflect her background in her comics debut. The film does look like it came from a comic without being a cartoon.
Supergirl, while meant to be a stand-alone film, still leans heavily on Superman. Other than the villains, each character has a connection to the Superman cast, with Jimmy Olsen being brought over. However, as a character, Supergirl wouldn’t exist without Superman, so the links are expected. There were plans for a Christopher Reeve cameo, but that fell through; the lack of Superman is explained in a radio broadcast early in the movie, one ignored by Selena she’s taking Nigel’s car to return home.
Overall, some changes were made, more to take advantage of the medium than anything else. Despite the movie’s issues, it made an attempt to be faithful to the character, making this a successful adaptation despite the lack of theatrical success.
* Sort of. Superboy was originally the young Superman in Smallville, but later the name got attached to a different character believed to be a clone.
** Soap operas don’t get this complex.
*** Cook portrays a Snape-like character long before Snape was created.
First created in 1939, Batman has become a popular character throughout the 20th and 21st Centuries. His origin story tells of a young orphan, Bruce Wayne, who fights crime using an object of fear to strike at the hearts of criminals in Gotham City. Over time, Batman’s rogues’ gallery has grown, featuring criminals who are a reflection of the character, culminating in the Joker, the yin to Batman’s yang. However, the Caped Crusader doesn’t fight for justice alone; at his side are his young assistants, Robin and Batgirl.
Batman appeared in a number of media since his first appearance, from cartoons to movie serials to television to feature film and even to tabletop games. Each iteration has its own take on the character and on the franchise. The 1966 Batman TV series starring Adam West took a camp look at the character while most* movies made after the 1989 Tim Burton Batman film take a more serious tone.
While the transition from comic to both television and film can be relatively straightforward, though difficult, the further away from a story-based medium one gets, the more difficult it can get to keep the tone. Looney Labs took a further step, adapting the franchise to its card game, Fluxx. Batman Fluxx isn’t the first time a game publisher adapted a work to a game, as the various specialty versions of Monopoly can attest to. The goal, though, is to keep the feel of both games intact.
Fluxx is a deceptively simple game. Each player gets a hand of three cards, and the basic rules, draw a card then play a card, placed out on the table. There are several different types of card; Actions, giving a player instructions on what to do; Keepers, elements that may be needed to win the game; Goals, showing what Keepers are needed to win; and Rules, which change the game away from the basic set. Some published sets,** including Batman Fluxx, also have Creepers, which prevent a player from winning unless a Goal says otherwise, and Surprises, which allow a player to act outside his or her turn.
What makes Batman Fluxx related to Batman is how the Keepers, Creepers, and Goals related to the franchise. The Keepers focus on characters, equipment, and locations from the comics. There is both a Bruce Wayne Keeper and a Batman Keeper; if Bruce Wayne is out when Batman is played, the former gets discarded. After all, no one ever sees Batman and Bruce Wayne out together. The Creepers are the villains and include the classics like the Joker, the Riddler, the Penguin, and Catwoman among the ne’er-do-wells that can appear. In a change from a regular game of Fluxx, where Creepers prevent the players who received them from winning, no one can win while the villains are about unless the Goal requires a Creeper. As the rule pamphlet says, “[Y]ou are on Batman’s side and must first clean up crime in Gotham City”. Even some of the new the rule cards reflect the game’s focus; the Arkham Asylum Rule forces all discarded Creepers to be placed under it instead. If the Arkham Asylum Rule is discarded, the villains are dealt back out to the players, reflecting the revolving door the institute has in the comics.
The game pulls from several sources. The artwork on the Keeper and Creeper cards is inspired by Batman: The Animated Series, which took some of its tone and direction from both the Tim Burton films and the comics being published at the time. Some of the Goals reflect the darker version of the Dark Knight, including “I Am the Night”, requiring Batman and the Bat-Signal. Others, though, come from the Adam West TV series and the older, pre-Dennis O’Neil comics; for example, “Stately Wayne Manor”, requiring Bruce Wayne and Wayne Manor. Even the variant lyrics for “Jingle Bells” come up, with “The Joker Got Away!”, requiring the Joker and the Batmobile.
The proof, though, comes through playing the game. Fluxx is a fast paced card game, with the stated time on the box being five to thirty minutes. It’s possible to go through the deck several times, especially with rules like “Draw 5” in play. The new cards do reinforce the feel of a Batman comic, though. While there are villains out, no one can win as crime continues in Gotham City. The Keepers Batman, Batgirl, and Robin allow a player to remove a Creeper from play, but the Commission Gordon card does not. The Bank Keeper card provides a bonus to the player with it in front of him or her, a bonus that makes the card worth taking. The Batcomputer provides bonuses to its owner. The Batcave prevents Surprise cards from being played on its owner. Players can start getting the feel of being Batman as the game progresses, at first stymied by villains before getting ahead of them.
Batman Fluxx combines two franchises well, keeping the flavour of both without either being overwhelmed by the other. The game holds up to replays thanks to the randomness of the cards while not getting dull.
* The exception being the Joel Schumacher helmed 1997 film, Batman & Robin.
** Cthulhu Fluxx includes Ungoals, which, if the conditions are met and the signs are right, end the game as the world is unmade and everyone loses.
Last week, Lost in Translation looked at Night of the Demon, an adaptation of the MR James short story, “Casting the Runes“. The 95-minute movie wound up adding scenes and details to the story to fill the runtime. While “Casting the Runes” may be too short for a theatrical release, that still leaves a television adaptation open. Television schedules are set for 30-60 minute episodes, with TV movies running 90-120 minutes, ads included. Can television’s shorter time slots work in favour of adapting the short story?
A quick recap of the short story: Mr. Edward Dunning is cursed by Mr, Karswell after being given a piece of paper with runes enscribed on it. Dunning works with the brother of one of Karswell’s previous victims to turn the tables on the cultist. The movie adaptation, Night of the Demon moved the story from the Edwardian era to then-modern 1950s London, expanding on how the curse works and changing some of the characters. Notably, Dunning became Dr. John Holden, an American parapsychologist who debunks the claims of cultists.
In 1979, the anthology TV series ITV Playhouse adapted the short story, keeping the name “Casting the Runes”. There are some changes. The adaptation brought the story into the then-current year. Edward Dunning becomes Prudence Dunning, the host of a television series dedicated to debunking the claims of supernatural. Pru, played by Jan Francis, comes to the notice of Karswell, the “Abbot” of Lufford and occultist, after mentioning him on her show. Friends and co-workers make mention of Karswell, played by Iain Cuthbertson, trying to remember where they’ve heard the name before. After some digging, Pru hears that he wrote History of Witchcraft and sent it to a publisher. The staff gave the manuscript to John Harrington, whose death is shown at the beginning of the show.
The episode follows the story closely despite the changes above. The message that appeared on the tram’s window in the short story appears on a television as Pru watches the last episode of an older TV show that featured John Harrington. Pru meets Harrington’s brother, played by Edward Petherbridge, and realizes that she is cursed to die unless she can reverse it back on Karswell. The tone of the episode plays up the suspense, using mood music to add to the eerie nature of the story. Less is shown; the nature of the curse is left to the audience after seeing Harrington’s death. Karswell’s demise is off-screen, unlike in Night of the Demon, but the news of what happened is far more chilling.
“Casting the Runes” is a short story. The running time of a feature film forced the production staff to add to the story to get a movie long enough to be shown. The adaptation by ITV Playhouse keeps to the orignal short story more, though adding elements such as Harrington’s death to show instead of tell the audience. The shorter format of the TV episode works in favour of MR James’ work.
Short stories appear to have an advantage when it comes to being adapted as movies; their length lends themsevles to the needs of a film. Not only is the action kept concise, the number of characters needed is limited to just who is needed. This allows filmmakers to keep the budget under control. However, as seen in Lost in Translation, conciseness doesn’t necessarily lead to an accurate adaptation. Studios often take the core concept and expand it in a different direction. The movie Real Steel is a good example. In this two-part review, Lost in Translation looks at two adaptations of one short story, MR James’ “Casting the Runes” to see how the conciseness of a short story affects how the adaptation turns out.
“Casting the Runes” was first published in 1911 and is set in an unspecified year during the Edwardian era (1900-1909). The story opens with correspondence from the Secretary of an unnamed Association rejecting the submission of The Truth of Alchemy written by Mr. Karswell, a cultist. Mr. Karswell doesn’t take rejection well, though, having written several letters to convince the Association to reconsider and finally asking who reviewed it. The Secretary doesn’t reveal who the reviewer was to Karwsell, but Mrs. Secretary is curious about the author. She discovers that Karswell also wrote History of Witchcraft a decade prior, and that the reviewer of that book, John Harrington, had died under unusual circumstances.
The reviewer of The Truth of Alchemy, Mr. Edward Dunning, though, is one of the foremost experts in the field. On one of his trips home from doing research at the British Museum, he spies an unusual ad on the window of his tram car. Investigating, he discovers that the ad is an obituary for John Harrington, with a note that “three months were allowed.” Dunning points out the ad to the conductor, who discovers that the ad is etched on the window instead of being plastered to it. The following evening, the conductor and his supervisor pay a visit to Dunning. The supervisor looked into the ad and found it wasn’t on the car at all. The conductor wanted Dunning to explain to the supervisor what was there.
Unusual happenings follow Dunning. He receives a pamphlet from a man that is the same colour as the missing ad with Harrington’s name on it the flyer. The next day, he has an encounter with Karswell, who hands him some papers. That evening, Dunning’s staff – two women working as his maids – take ill with ptomaine poisoning, caused by shellfish bought from a street vendor who only stopped at Dunning’s home. With the odd happenings, Dunning looks up Harrington’s brother, Henry. Together, they work out what happened to Harrington and what is happening to Dunning, and devise a plan to turn the tables on Karswell.
Night of the Demon was released in 1957 in the United Kingdom; with edits, the movie appeared in the US the following year as Curse of the Demon. Dana Andrews stars as Dr. John Holden with Peggy Cummins as Joanna Harrington. The movie begins with Professor Henry Harrington pleading with Karswell (Niall MacGinnis) to call off his curse. However, it’s too late for Karswell to end the curse; the runes on the parchment he gave to the professor have burned. Harrington races home, where a demon appears. While trying to escape, Harrington crashes into a electric post and dies when the wires fall on him.
On board a red-eye flight to London, Dr. Holden, a noted parapsychologist is en route to a convention about the supernatural. Holden does not believe in the supernatural, having debunked witchcraft and demonology in a book he authored. Also on board the flight is Joanna Harrington, the late professor’s niece. Holden arrives at his hotel, where a colleague confronts him and his beliefs with the account of Hobart, a farmer convicted of murder who was able to draw a fiery demon who he says was the actual killer has that appeared in many ancient civilizations. Holden then gets a call from Karswell trying to convince the good doctor to change his mind about his book. The doctor is a stubborn man.
Holden heads to the library to continue his research. While there, Karswell finds him and tries again to convince Holden to refute his previous writings. Holden stays his ground, though. Karswell hands Holden a business card and bids him a good day. Holden reads the card. Mysterious writing appears, announcing Harrington’s death and “allowed two weeks.” Holden shows the card to someone else; the writing has disappeared.
At Harrington’s funeral, Holden and Joanna meet again, and arrange to talk in private later. Once alone, Joanna reads a letter her uncle sent to her, where he believes that Karswell placed him under a curse. Holden is skeptical; death by witchcraft is something he feels he has debunked. The next day, Holden and Joanna go to Lufford Abbey, Karswell’s home, and see him performing stage magic tricks for children. Karswell shows Holden around; the two men trade barbs while discussing an ancient book and magic. The cultist also explains that Holden has until the 28th, three days hence, to live unless he refutes his findings.
Odd happenings begin. Holden’s calendar has everything after the 28th torn out. Holden finds the temperature warm when it’s chilly and cool when it’s hot. An ominous storm causes the power to fail. While discussing the situation with Joanna, Holden realizes he had received something from Karswell. In his briefcase, Holden finds a strip of paper with runes drawn on it mixed in with his documents. The strip flies out of his hand; Holden blames the wind but even after he closes the window, the strip keeps trying to fly into the roaring fireplace.
Holden’s investigations lead him to Stonehenge, where he discovered the runes on the strip of paper also on one of the henges. The evidence builds, and even Holden starts believing when he is chased by a ball of fire through the woods near Karswell’s manor. Holden discovers the means to cancel the curse, through reversing it back to Karswell, and chases after the cultist.
The movie uses key points from the original story, such as the runes used for the curse and the warning to reconsider. However, the movie goes in its own direction, starting with moving the story to a contemporary period. The change in the era does have an effect; the supernatural isn’t taken as the default explanation as much in 1957 as it was in the Aughts. The new technologies discovered since “Casting the Runes” was first written also changes how the story can go. Psychology and parapsychology took over from the occultist, changing the tenor of the lead character from Dunning to Holden. Even the advent of the car has an effect; in the short story, Dunning uses the electric tram to get around while the characters in the movie drive everywhere except for the climax.
As an adaptation, Night of the Demon pads the story to fill the 95-minute run time. The point of view changes from Dunning’s in “Casting the Runes” to a broader angle, including Holden’s and Karswell’s. Again, this comes from the needs of film; the camera acts as a fourth wall, and sees everything in front of it. The demon is far more explicit in the movie; the short story has hints of the demonic around but nothing seen, while the demon has a grand entrance in the opening act as it chases Prof. Harrington.
“Casting the Runes” may be too short to adapt properly, even for a 95-minute film. The movie shows more interaction between Karswell and his victims that the short story had. Night of the Demon keeps the core of “Casting the Runes”, the key beats are hit, but the needs of a film required changes and expansion.
Next week, Part II looks at the 1979 ITV Playhouse adaptation of “Casting the Runes”.
It is surprising that a ground-breaking movie hasn’t been remade, 1984’s The Last Starfighter doesn’t have a remake even in pre-production. Turns out, the rights holder refuses to let the movie be remade. That still allows some speculation on how the film could be re-done today.
The plot of The Last Starfighter wasn’t complex. Alex Rogan, played by Lance Guest, is a young man living in a trailer park managed by his mother, helping her out. His responsibilities hold him back from having as full a social life with his friends, so he passes what free time he has by playing Starfighter, an arcade video game at the park’s tuck shop where players defend the Frontier from the Ko-Dan armada. To give an idea of how isolated the trailer park is, when Alex breaks the high score, the entire park is there cheering him on.
Turns out, though, that Starfighter isn’t just a video game. Starfighter is a recruiting tool, used by the Rylan Star League to find potential Starfighter recruits. Centauri, played by Robert Preston, placed the video game on Earth much like he placed a sword in a stone on the planet. Alex is contacted and taken to the Star League’s headquarters, where he meets, among others, Grig, played by Dan O’Herlihy. Alex turns down the offer, citing his responsibilities to his mother, and is returned home. While Alex gets back to his life on Earth, a traitor destroys the Star League’s HQ and most of the Gunstars and their crews. One ship remains, a prototype. Word gets to Alex, who leaves Earth to take up the mantle of the Last Starfighter to defend the Frontier from the Ko-Dan armada.
The first question when remaking or adapting is “Why?” Why remake? The Last Starfighter was one of the first movies to use computer graphics for special effects and the first to have CG effects interact with real objects, including actors. The Gunstar was solely a computer generated effect. The Death Blossom, while possible using a physical model and camera effects, is far easier to create using a computer model. The effects are showing their age, though they don’t look as old they should. A remake could use current CG effects, taking advantage of the improvements in technology and technique over the past thirty-two years.
The next thing to look at is how life, culture, and technology has changed over time. Video arcades, while still around, aren’t common. The home console has come a long way since the Atari 2600, with far better graphics and far games available. Alex is more likely to have a current generation game console in his home, reducing the need to go to the tuck shop and spend quarters on just one game. However, modern consoles connect to the Internet, allowing scores to be shared. A video game with code to call home, even a home that’s outside the solar system, isn’t far-fetched. This change doesn’t have an effect on the plot, just how it appears on screen. The only issue is that there are still areas in North America that don’t have high speed Internet access, mostly rural or isolated areas. Satellite Internet does exist, and could be a sell for a trailer park in the sticks, so, with some explanation on screen, the problem can be handwaved away.
The plot itself can stand by itself. The remake may be tempted to expand the cast a bit, add other Starfighters from Earth, turning the remake into The Last Starfighters. The core of the plot is the refusal of the call followed by answering after a disaster, and having two characters turn back on the call isn’t a problem. In the original, though, Alex realizes the scope of the danger from Grig and his willingness to die to save his family. Grig is needed as a mentor figure. Surviving the traitor’s destruction is possible, though. Adding a second Starfighter from Earth gives the remake room for diversity, with additional drama as Alex and the other Starfighter learn to work together.
If the rights were available, it wouldn’t be difficult to remake The Last Starfighter and keep the core of the movie intact. It’ll take an effort by the hypothetical filmmaker, but the simplicity of the original story will help.
There’s a known issue when making a photocopy of a copy. The resolution drops; the further generations of copying from the original, the worse the resolution gets. A second season Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, “Up the Long Ladder”, uses the term “replicative fading”, applying it to the fading of DNA in clones. While the problem doesn’t appear when copying digital media – ones and zeroes don’t degrade – the idea is still key to examining adaptations. Ideally, an adaptation begins with the original work, not another adaptation. Hollywood is nowhere near ideal. There have been works that have been based on adaptations of adaptations; the Frankenstein movie is a good example, coming from stage adaptations instead of from the original Mary Shelley novel. Another good example is today’s subject, The Green Hornet.
The Green Hornet began as a radio series in 1936. Britt Reid, a millionaire playboy* and newspaper publisher, and his sidekick Kato fought crime. The twist, though, was that the Green Hornet and Kato were seen as villains by criminals and the press alike. Reid, as the Hornet, used a gas gun to subdue his foes while Kato used martial arts. The pair got around the city in Black Beauty, a heavily modified sedan. Helping the duo was Lenore Case, who provided information to Reid to help him fight crime.
The Green Hornet has since been adapted in other forms, including movie serials, comics, and a TV series. The 1966 series introduced Bruce Lee to North American audiences in the role of Kato. Van Williams played Reid. The series lasted one season, but did crossover with the 1966 Adam West Batman series. Al Hirt provided the theme music, a jazz version of “The Flight of the Bumblebee” used by the radio series. The TV series, while considered to be camp, did take itself seriously.
In 2011, Seth Rogan co-wrote and starred in a film adaptation of The Green Hornet, playing millionaire playboy Britt Reid. Jay Chou and Cameron Diaz co-starred as Kato and Lenore, respectively. The movie acts as an origin story for the Green Hornet. Britt Reid begins the film as a layabout, living off his father’s wealth. When his father dies from a bee sting, Britt inherits his publishing empire. He discovers his father’s car collection and the mechanic who maintains it, Kato. Together, they get drunk and go to cut the head of the stature of Britt’s father. During their task, they hear calls for help from a couple being mugged and go to render assistance. The police mistake them for the actual criminals, though, and the pair escape without being seen.
Back at Britt’s manor, he gets the idea to fight crime by posing as criminals, making sure that innocents couldn’t be used against them. Kato modifies one of the cars in the collection, adding weapons and gadgets to it, calling the car the Black Beauty. Britt uses the files his father had on Chudnofsky, a Russian mobster that Britt believes his father was trying to expose. Using his newspaper, the Daily Sentinel, Britt begins to publish articles about the new criminal in town, the Green Hornet. Britt uses the criminology knowledge of his new secretary, Lenore, to plan the Green Hornet’s every move, taking out a number of Chudnovsky’s operations.
Chudnovsky, however, isn’t about to let a new criminal take over any piece of his empire, and has an ace up his sleeve. After a failed attempt on the lives of the Green Hornet and Kato, though, he offers them half the city if the Green Hornet kills Britt Reid. Meanwhile, Britt discovers that his father’s death wasn’t an accident but murder. The DA tried to bribe Britt’s father into downplaying the levels of crime in the city but was refused. He offers Britt the same bribe and, when rebuffed, tries to kill the millionaire playboy using the same bee venom that killed his father. Kato arrives at the restaurant, nominally to kill Britt, but rescues him while disrupting the meet.
Britt thought ahead, though. He had made a recording of the DA’s bribe, saving it to a USB memory stick. He and Kato escape the restaurant and race to the Daily Sentinel to get it on the paper’s website. The DA and Chudnovsky chase the pair, leading to the climactic fight in the paper’s offices.
The movie stays more or less faithful to both the original radio series and the 1966 TV series. However, there is a change in tone. The radio series was a serious crime drama. The TV series, while camp, was also serious and played straight, more melodrama than crime drama, but not intentionally a comedy. The movie, though, was a straight up action-comedy. The action portion would fit in with the TV series. The comedy, though, creates a situation where the uncanny valley effect comes into play. The movie feels off, but not in any way that’s obvious, much like a too human-looking robot or animated character feels off because it doesn’t quite have the proper responses expected. If the movie were less like the TV series while still using comedy, the problem would be obvious. Likewise, if the comedy was toned down, it’d feel closer to the original and the TV adaptation. The movie, though, hits a not-quite-right tone; it gets most of the details near-perfect, but the comedy becomes dissonant**. Thus, the movie isn’t a bad adaptation, in fact, it comes close to being ideal, except for the dissonance.
The movie adaptation of The Green Hornet shows some of the problems of copying a copy. The introduction of the comedy aspects threw off an otherwise near-perfect adaptation. Ignoring the comedy portions, though, the movie does adapt the TV series well.
* It seems that the best superpower to have is incredible wealth. While Bruce Wayne, aka Batman, is the best known millionaire playboy, other mystery men with the same background include Oliver Queen (aka the Green Arrow), Lamont Cranston (the Shadow), and, Tony Stark (Iron Man).
** It took several viewings and chatting with other members of Crossroads Alpha to figure out why the movie didn’t feel right despite hitting all the right notes, thus causing last week’s hiatus.
