A change in medium necessitates changes in how a story is told. Very few adaptations can follow the source material 100% and retain quality. This is something that is hotly debated on the internet: mostly under the trope "They Changed it, now it Sucks!" I've made that argument myself, many times.
Sometimes following something closely just doesn't work. Case in point: the 1980s BBC Chronicles of Narnia serial. The effects and acting don't help (Eustace, Jill, Puddleglum, and Reepicheep aside). It takes it's plot and lines almost wholesale from the books. And as much as I enjoy the adaption, there are many spots where it is horribly dull.
This is turned on its ear by the newer movies: the acting and effects are top-notch, while the plot varies so wildly its hardly the same story. I despised the new Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe the first time I saw it. I haven't re-watched it recently, so I can't speak to any modified views.
Where the series caught me was 'Prince Caspian' and 'The Voyage of the Dawn Treader' both of these add a LOT of new elements (a quest for magic swords on top of a quest for missing lords. WHY?!) but they felt like necessary changes. We explore how the kids feel about coming back to a ruined Narnia where the beings they knew are all dead (with the exception of Jesus). The very serialized feel of Dawn Treader was molded (albeit clumsily) into a confrontation with another incarnation of The White Witch. It was different, but it worked.
The lesson here is simple: change what you have to, but retain the feel. Fans won't forgive every change (and some will forgive none, yours truly included) but we will at least understand why they were done. I'd rather have something half-represent the actual source than something that takes just the name and slaps it onto an unrelated story.
Sometimes following something closely just doesn't work. Case in point: the 1980s BBC Chronicles of Narnia serial. The effects and acting don't help (Eustace, Jill, Puddleglum, and Reepicheep aside). It takes it's plot and lines almost wholesale from the books. And as much as I enjoy the adaption, there are many spots where it is horribly dull.
But you can't beat that music.
This is turned on its ear by the newer movies: the acting and effects are top-notch, while the plot varies so wildly its hardly the same story. I despised the new Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe the first time I saw it. I haven't re-watched it recently, so I can't speak to any modified views.
Where the series caught me was 'Prince Caspian' and 'The Voyage of the Dawn Treader' both of these add a LOT of new elements (a quest for magic swords on top of a quest for missing lords. WHY?!) but they felt like necessary changes. We explore how the kids feel about coming back to a ruined Narnia where the beings they knew are all dead (with the exception of Jesus). The very serialized feel of Dawn Treader was molded (albeit clumsily) into a confrontation with another incarnation of The White Witch. It was different, but it worked.
Yes, even the music grew on me. I still prefer the BBC though.
The lesson here is simple: change what you have to, but retain the feel. Fans won't forgive every change (and some will forgive none, yours truly included) but we will at least understand why they were done. I'd rather have something half-represent the actual source than something that takes just the name and slaps it onto an unrelated story.
FUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOU
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