The Opening Scene
Hi everyone!
Welcome to TV-Wordy! The first reason I created this blog is for a space to review my (rambling) thoughts on films and TV shows. My second reason is my blog’s theme: adaptations.
Film adaptation has been an ongoing medium since the creation of film and continues to be the creative force today, drawing inspirations from novels to animations. Even though I may not have known the term ‘adaptation’ growing up, I can say I have been watching them. Disney animated films such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) and The Little Mermaid (1998) were among the first fairy-tale film adaptations I watched. Now, as I got older and are aware of original works, I began to comment on the success of the adaptation. I would consciously do it by comparing the medium and the standards of the film medium to meet my expectations as a reader. That’s not a bad thing; it’s just that I didn’t take into account that mediums have an impact on how the story is told. What works in a novel may not translate well on-screen.
In 2025, I was lucky enough to take a unit on adaptation for my degree, which shifted my view of film adaptations. It isn’t the simplicity of copying the written source onto the screen; there are more key aspects to consider when crafting an adaptation, but it also taught me not to be so quick to judge a film adaptation that didn’t stay close to the original source. Although, I do still sigh in annoyance when Disney announces another live-action remake of an animated film. The purpose of this blog is to better understand adaptation and learn from others about what makes a good adaptation by reviewing released films or TV adaptations.
What is a film adaptation?
Film historian Brian McFarlane (1975, as cited in Cartmell & Whelehan, 1999) defines adaptation as the process of transforming a narrative source, such as novels and plays, into a visual medium, in this case, film. This definition can be applied to many released films adapted from past works by Shakespeare, Brother’s Grimm, Jane Austen, and contemporary writers such as Stephen King, James S.A. Corey, and Leigh Bardugo.
Geoffrey Wagner (cited in Cartmell & Whelehan, 1999, p. 8) identifies three types of adaptations:
Transposition — a film that is produced as close as possible to the textual source (e.g. The Lord of the Rings trilogy).
Commentary — the source is purposely or inadvertently altered respectfully in accordance with the filmmaker’s interpretation (e.g. V for Vendetta).
Analogy— a film that shifts the story forward in time or changes its essential context. (E.g. Clueless).
Understanding these three types of adaptations helps us better evaluate the film and its fidelity.
What is fidelity?
Fidelity simply means the faithfulness to the source and it is often discussed in the adaptation discourse. Film theorist Robert Stam (2000) stated that fidelity is problematic in itself because, if the audience is so worried about the film being faithful to its source, they are then ignoring the process of filmmaking and the reasons for the changes.
I want this blog to review the film as a film, then as an adaptation. Sometimes it can be faithful to the source but not be a good film, or vice versa, a great film but unfaithful to the source.
Other forms of adaptations
While I agree with McFarlane’s definition of adaptation, I still view adaptation as an ambiguous term. Even with its complexity, I find myself leaning towards Deborah Cartmell’s (2012) view that adaptation is intermedial, meaning the transfer of a work from one medium to another. It doesn’t have to be a novel or a play adapted into a film. It could be an animation adapted into a live-action film, also known as a remake. One medium into a film medium is film adaptation, because I do view animation as a medium. In the words of Guillermo del Toro, “I think animation is not a genre for kids. It’s a medium for art, it’s a medium for film.” (BAFTA, 2023, 0:58).
TV-Wordy’s film rating criteria
As of right now, the films will be rated out of five and explored further in the review on the following:
Narrative: I will rate the adaptations based on the type of adaptation, the concept of what has been transferred (adapted) according to McFarlane’s narratological approach [based on Roland Barthes’s narrative structure], and the film/TV series’ narrative flow.
Cinematography: Rating the adaptation’s mise-en-scène and camera shots/movements/angles. I will add a favourite shot as I will always have one.
Fidelity: While there will never be true fidelity, adaptations will be rated on how close they are to the original source in terms of plot, characters, and themes.
Followed by the Yes/No question:
- Does it have the essence of the source?
Thank you for reading this introduction, and hope we all enjoy the path of learning about film adaptations together. Shall I leave you with a conundrum I have always pondered on?
Do we count sequels/prequels as forms of adaptation?
References
BAFTA. (2023, February 20). Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio Wins Animated Film | EE BAFTAs 2023 [Wideo]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzMQYyEwcNI
Cartmell, D. (Ed.). (2012). A companion to literature, film, and adaptation. John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated.
Cartmell, D., & Whelehan, I. (Eds.). (1999). Adaptations : From text to screen, screen to text. Taylor & Francis Group.
McFarlane, B. (1996). Novel to film: an introduction to the theory of adaptation. Clarendon Press, Oxford.
Stam, R (2000). Beyond Fidelity: The Dialogics of Adaptation. In Naremore, J (Ed.), Film adaptations (pp. 54-76). Rutgers University Press.
