We Didn’t Start The Fire — Part 2

How did we get here?

Esteban Valdez
Aug 22, 2017 · 6 min read

Art imitates life. Life imitates art. More recently, art imitates art. But it’s not as new a concept as you would think.

Rubens made paintings adapted from religion, mythology, history and life.

Samson & Delilah — Rubens
Neptune Calming The Tempest — Rubens

Paul Cézanne would often paint adaptations of life.

Landscape in Provence — Cézanne. Obviously ripping off nature.

The Victorians had a notorious habit of adapting poems, plays, novels, operas, paintings, songs, dances… Pretty much whatever they could get their hands on and possibly more. These days, with so many source materials out there from graphic novels, toys, other films — we kind of developed a bad habit of adaption so much so that it’s not very long before a remake, reboot, rehash of a popular story reaches the shelf.

Cinderella is a clear example of a story retold through adaptation. The original fairy tale The Little Glass Slipper by Charles Perrault was said to have been adapted from either Rhodopis — an ancient Greek story about a slave who marries the king of Egypt, Shakuntala — an ancient Hindu story about a poor girl who loses a ring and the memory of her love would only remember her should he find it, or Cenerentola — translates to “Cinderella” which was supposedly in the collection of stories in the Italian book Pentamerone. In either case, the popular version of Cinderella adapted by Charles Perrault, which was then adapted to film in 1899 by French director Georges Méliès which was released as a 6 minute film, and then adapted again by Walt Disney in the 1950 animated feature film which we all know today.

In 1939, nearly every film up for an Academy Award was an adaptation. Of Mice and Men, Goodbye, Mr. Chips, The Wizard of Oz, and Wuthering Heights. Between 1927 (when the awards were created) and 1977, three fourths of awards for “Best Picture” went to adaptations. Some of the most popularly adapted authors included Balzac, Hugo, Dickens, and Sienkiewicz. Film adaptations remained popular in the following decades. Source

It’s common for studios, producers, directors and writers to adapt — or sometimes straight out — plagiarize other stories in order to make their money.

A question posed by Tom Worth…

“Can you crunch the data on the number of films that are original screenplays and those that are based on some other source be it a book, comic, another film, etc. We all know Hollywood has gone franchise crazy recently but I’d be interested to see that actual data.”

According to Stephen Follows

My favorite director, Stanley Kubrick, was also notorious for making book-to-movie adaptations, and if there wasn’t a book he found interesting; he went out of his way to publish a book to adapt as in the case of Arthur C. Clarke’s The Sentinel, which went on to become 2001: A Space Odyssey.

So while the practice of adaptation is common place amongst creators near and far, young and old; the question that comes to mind is how adaptation affected our industry as a whole?

As we move closer and closer to an all streaming/subscription based model for consuming films, studios, producers and directors are tirelessly looking for the next available IP.

“If characters are the new movie stars, then the franchise is the new coin of the Hollywood realm. Movie studios live or die by how many franchises — connected universes, sequel factories, spin-off machines — they have in their stable.” — Marc Bernardin

It’s gotten to the point where even the source materials — books — are approaching novel writing with movie adaption and franchise in mind.

Damien Walter writes how franchise adaptation novels rise above the noise in todays busy and crowded world of content stating that more people will read the latest Star Wars franchise novels than all of the short listed prizewinning books of last year. Sad, but most probably true. Walter seems to be a supporter of the franchise world and suggests that writers try to create better art within said franchise.

And it’s not to say that I’m not for adaptations or having a source of inspiration. In fact, I’m an avid reader — currently reading a lot of Seneca’s works for an script in progress — and would encourage others to seek a source of inspiration. But, for me, it’s about using source material as a means of getting your creative spark lit. And not just from books, but life in general.

“Everything has already been done. Every story has been told. Every scene has been shot. It’s our job to do it one better.” — Stanley Kubrick

I can agree to a certain extent, but then I can also see a few more issues from constantly making adaptation after adaptation.

For example, when your favorite novel goes film, and it sucks, you’ll hear yourself — or someone who read the book first — complain about how the book was better. How they should have stuck to the material more, or how the director should have stuck to the material a little less. No one’s really going to ever get it right to begin with and trying to satisfy every single patron really isn’t the point of art to begin with.

But aside from the fan’s disappointment, what about the creators?

Pamela Travelers, creator and writer of Marry Poppins, cried throughout the screening of Disney’s rendition of her novel because she felt Disney had destroyed her vision and voice.

“I cried when I saw it. I said, ‘Oh, God, what have they done?’” Travers said years later.

With so many studios, producers and filmmakers scouting the New York Times best-sellers list for their next project, or in our world of animation — seeking the after the best toy or remake of a popular show — we face an epidemic of Neophobia — the fear of anything new.

As the history of cinema recedes, its works and its artists tend to fall into an undifferentiated glow of veneration — an idealization of styles, manners, and practices arising from the very fact that they’re of the past. The history of cinema often veers toward nostalgia, in overt resistance to the modern.

“People are innately attracted to the familiar, what they know won’t let them down is comforting. This is the reason directors and producers keep churning out adaptations, because they know they will sell.” — Linda Hutcheon

I know, I know… I’m focusing too much on the economics of it all. But, when you strip away the reasoning for why so many remakes, reboots and adaptations are green lit than are new concepts and ideas — or even new adaptations — it comes down to a very basic concept of business survival. From the independent artist pedaling their hat on Kickstarter, to the large media conglomerate with heavy overhead and payroll; everyone is beholden to their responsibilities.

However, if left unchecked — which we are at right now — many new and refreshing ideas and concepts will end up in the void of the unknown and rather than pushing the rock forward; it’ll roll backwards and then over us in our pursuit of all things monetary.


This is part 2 of 4 in my on going essay on our current media trend. Read the previous article here.

Script To Screen

“Script to Screen” (STS) is a monthly blog on the Art and Business of Animation, and general thoughts on the animation industry at large. Formerly the official blog of the animation studio, Echo Bridge, STS, is now its own independent platform.

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Esteban Valdez

Written by

A 20-year practitioner of hand drawn animation, creating and producing 2D animated content for various media platforms. Founder of Echo Bridge.

Script To Screen

“Script to Screen” (STS) is a monthly blog on the Art and Business of Animation, and general thoughts on the animation industry at large. Formerly the official blog of the animation studio, Echo Bridge, STS, is now its own independent platform.

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