remake of the film of the play of the book of the ...
September 24, 2011 3:28 AM Subscribe
What's the longest chain of adaptations, like the remake of the film of the tv show of the novel of the play?
The longest chain I've come across is the Indian movie Dil Bole Hadippa which is a remake of She's the Man, which is an adaptation of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, which is, according to Wikipedia, based on Barnabe' Rich's novella Of Apolinus and Silla which drew on Matteo Bandello's Novella Nicuola and Lattanzio
(and there my research powers fail me).
I know the idea of a 'chain' of adaptation is complicated and it's often unclear what is owed to whom: maybe all 217 Dracula adaptations made some use of the previous film, as well as the novel, but that seems unlikely. Let's say the rule is that some important element in each work can only have come from one link before: what is the longest such chain?
The longest chain I've come across is the Indian movie Dil Bole Hadippa which is a remake of She's the Man, which is an adaptation of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, which is, according to Wikipedia, based on Barnabe' Rich's novella Of Apolinus and Silla which drew on Matteo Bandello's Novella Nicuola and Lattanzio
(and there my research powers fail me).
I know the idea of a 'chain' of adaptation is complicated and it's often unclear what is owed to whom: maybe all 217 Dracula adaptations made some use of the previous film, as well as the novel, but that seems unlikely. Let's say the rule is that some important element in each work can only have come from one link before: what is the longest such chain?
I don't have a direct answer, but the winner will be something that started in Babylonian mythology. Babylonian myth - Jewish story - Bible story - medieval interpretation - etc etc.
posted by Meatbomb at 4:33 AM on September 24, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Meatbomb at 4:33 AM on September 24, 2011 [1 favorite]
Continuing on what Sara C. said, the most recent rival of Cabaret on Broadway incorporated some elements of the movie into the rewritten book.
posted by JustKeepSwimming at 7:13 AM on September 24, 2011
posted by JustKeepSwimming at 7:13 AM on September 24, 2011
Both The Producers and Hairspray were movies based on musicals based on other movies - which I think should count for extra recycling points.
posted by Trurl at 7:57 AM on September 24, 2011
posted by Trurl at 7:57 AM on September 24, 2011
How about:
the song Out of the Silent Planet by Iron Maiden
based on and about about the film Forbidden Planet
which itself was a 'modern' retelling of The Tempest by Shakespeare
and, from wikipedia:
the song Out of the Silent Planet by Iron Maiden
based on and about about the film Forbidden Planet
which itself was a 'modern' retelling of The Tempest by Shakespeare
and, from wikipedia:
There is no obvious single source for the plot of The Tempest, but researchers have seen parallels in Erasmus's Naufragium, Peter Martyr's De orbo novo, and an eyewitness report by William Strachey of the real-life shipwreck of the Sea Venture on the islands of Bermuda. In addition, one of Gonzalo's speeches is derived from Montaigne's essay Of the Canibales; and much of Prospero's renunciative speech is taken word for word from a speech by Medea in Ovid's poem Metamorphoses. The masque in Act 4 may have been a later addition, possibly in honour of the wedding of Princess Elizabeth of Bohemia and Frederick V, Elector Palatine, in 1613.posted by bollockovnikov at 8:06 AM on September 24, 2011
Best answer: RecursiveAdaptation is relevant to your interests!
If the Wicked movie gets made, it will be a movie based on a musical based on a book based on a movie based on a book. All of which have been surprisingly faithful to each other.
posted by nicebookrack at 8:10 AM on September 24, 2011 [3 favorites]
If the Wicked movie gets made, it will be a movie based on a musical based on a book based on a movie based on a book. All of which have been surprisingly faithful to each other.
posted by nicebookrack at 8:10 AM on September 24, 2011 [3 favorites]
The video game Die Hard Trilogy 2 was the sequel to a game that was based on a movie series that was started by a movie (Die Hard) that was based on a book (Nothing Lasts Forever) that was written as a sequel to a book (The Detective) after the success of the film version of that book.
posted by Ian A.T. at 8:14 AM on September 24, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by Ian A.T. at 8:14 AM on September 24, 2011 [3 favorites]
nicebookrack: how do we know Wicked (the book) is based on the movie and not the book?
posted by madcaptenor at 8:18 AM on September 24, 2011
posted by madcaptenor at 8:18 AM on September 24, 2011
A chain of six works: The Lion King musical < The Lion King film < Hamlet < Belleforest's Histoires Tragiques < Saxo Grammaticus' Vita Amlethi < tale of Lucius Junius Brutus. (Relevant pages from Wikipedia.)
You could insert the Ur-Hamlet above, though it's a bit conjectural. Also, the last element in my chain is perhaps a bit weak — I don't know if Saxo can really be said to have adapted the tale of Brutus (by your standards or any other reasonable ones), or if he just included elements of it in his telling of the Germanic legend.
Your question seems to exclude sequels, but if you accept them, then remove the musical from the above and replace it with the two Lion King sequels. But then, if you accept sequels, I guess you can just use the Friday the 13th series, or Bond, or Zatoichi, or whatever.
posted by stebulus at 8:40 AM on September 24, 2011
You could insert the Ur-Hamlet above, though it's a bit conjectural. Also, the last element in my chain is perhaps a bit weak — I don't know if Saxo can really be said to have adapted the tale of Brutus (by your standards or any other reasonable ones), or if he just included elements of it in his telling of the Germanic legend.
Your question seems to exclude sequels, but if you accept them, then remove the musical from the above and replace it with the two Lion King sequels. But then, if you accept sequels, I guess you can just use the Friday the 13th series, or Bond, or Zatoichi, or whatever.
posted by stebulus at 8:40 AM on September 24, 2011
madcaptenor: Wicked (the book) is based on / contains elements of both the original L. Frank Baum Wonderful Wizard of Oz book AND the 1939 MGM movie, though IIRC it's only "officially" based on the (public domain) book, for copyright reasons.
A couple of obvious ways we know this:
- In the LFB novel, Glinda the Good Witch and the Good Witch of the North who sends Dorothy to the Wizard are different people; in the MGM movie and Wicked book, they're the same.
- Dorothy's magic slippers were silver in the LFB book; they were altered to ruby red in the MGM movie to show off shiny Technicolor. In the Wicked book, the shoes start off silvery glass and are changed to glowing red.
- Most importantly: the MGM movie introduced the idea that the Wicked Witch is green!
Aaaand I notice now that the 1939 movie is in based in part on the 1902 stage play. (And possibly the earlier silent film adaptations?) So label the potential Wicked movie/miniseries as a film based on a musical based on a book based on a movie based on a play based on a book, at LEAST?
I wonder if Japan has manga/anime/musicals/etc. based on Wicked yet? Japan looooves both Recursive Adaptations and The Wizard of Oz, so...
posted by nicebookrack at 8:51 AM on September 24, 2011 [2 favorites]
A couple of obvious ways we know this:
- In the LFB novel, Glinda the Good Witch and the Good Witch of the North who sends Dorothy to the Wizard are different people; in the MGM movie and Wicked book, they're the same.
- Dorothy's magic slippers were silver in the LFB book; they were altered to ruby red in the MGM movie to show off shiny Technicolor. In the Wicked book, the shoes start off silvery glass and are changed to glowing red.
- Most importantly: the MGM movie introduced the idea that the Wicked Witch is green!
Aaaand I notice now that the 1939 movie is in based in part on the 1902 stage play. (And possibly the earlier silent film adaptations?) So label the potential Wicked movie/miniseries as a film based on a musical based on a book based on a movie based on a play based on a book, at LEAST?
I wonder if Japan has manga/anime/musicals/etc. based on Wicked yet? Japan looooves both Recursive Adaptations and The Wizard of Oz, so...
posted by nicebookrack at 8:51 AM on September 24, 2011 [2 favorites]
There were many silent versions of Oz before the 1939 film.
posted by Ideefixe at 9:02 AM on September 24, 2011
posted by Ideefixe at 9:02 AM on September 24, 2011
Ideefixe: Yeah, but that doesn't necessarily mean the 1939 film is based on / remaking the silent films, rather than sharing source material. Unrelated example novels: Fool and A Thousand Acres are both adaptations of King Lear, but AFAIK neither is adapting each other.
OTOH, the 1902 Oz stage play has original material (Dorothy's last name, the poppy-nullifying snowfall) that later appeared in the 1939 film, so the 1939 film is in part based on that play.
The 1939 movie probably does contain elements from the earlier silent movies, but with the little I know about those it's hard to say.
posted by nicebookrack at 9:45 AM on September 24, 2011
OTOH, the 1902 Oz stage play has original material (Dorothy's last name, the poppy-nullifying snowfall) that later appeared in the 1939 film, so the 1939 film is in part based on that play.
The 1939 movie probably does contain elements from the earlier silent movies, but with the little I know about those it's hard to say.
posted by nicebookrack at 9:45 AM on September 24, 2011
Not a really long one, but one in which entry is notable: For A Few Dollars More is based on Yojimbo, which is in turn based on Dashiell Hammett's Red Harvest.
posted by Ian A.T. at 10:11 AM on September 24, 2011
posted by Ian A.T. at 10:11 AM on September 24, 2011
Yeah, I was thinking of Cabaret, too. Christopher Isherwood's Goodbye to Berlin (1939) --> I Am a Camera (1951 play) --> I Am a Camera (1955 movie) --> Cabaret (1966 theatrical production) --> Cabaret (1972 movie) --> Cabaret 2.0 (revamped 1993 theatrical production, which is the basis for most of the current theatrical revivals)
Fun trivia fact about Cabaret (the movie): it holds the record for most Academy Awards won (8) without winning Best Picture (it lost to The Godfather).
posted by scody at 10:22 AM on September 24, 2011
Fun trivia fact about Cabaret (the movie): it holds the record for most Academy Awards won (8) without winning Best Picture (it lost to The Godfather).
posted by scody at 10:22 AM on September 24, 2011
Rent (movie soundtrack CD containing bonus track(s) not in the movie) < Rent (movie) < Rent (Larson musical) < La Boheme (Puccini opera) < Madame Butterfly (Belasco play) < Madame Butterfly (J.L. Long short story). That's five or six links, depending upon whether you accept the CD as a legitimate link. Probably [1] [2] John Luther Long's short story was based in part on the French novel Madame Chrysanthème, which would make a sixth or seventh link.
This ignores all of the many pre-Rent remakes of the La Boheme story for stage, movies, and TV. I don't know whether any of them introduced elements that Larson adopted in Rent (which would make a seventh or eighth link, or more).
posted by Dave 9 at 11:08 AM on September 24, 2011
This ignores all of the many pre-Rent remakes of the La Boheme story for stage, movies, and TV. I don't know whether any of them introduced elements that Larson adopted in Rent (which would make a seventh or eighth link, or more).
posted by Dave 9 at 11:08 AM on September 24, 2011
Yeah, came to say Faust. I mean, beyond the Goethe and the Gounod (which is based actually on a play by Carre), which are the 'big' ones, the thing has more iterations than Genghis Khan's semen.
Here's Wikipedia's list.
posted by Lutoslawski at 11:17 AM on September 24, 2011 [1 favorite]
Here's Wikipedia's list.
posted by Lutoslawski at 11:17 AM on September 24, 2011 [1 favorite]
What about Romeo and Juliet? Started with Ovid's Pyramus and Thisbe and it's still going strong.
posted by jabes at 11:26 AM on September 24, 2011
posted by jabes at 11:26 AM on September 24, 2011
If we're talking about Rent, there's the novel People in Trouble, by Sarah Schulman,. that Jonathan Larson may have adapted/plagiarized from. (I don't know enough about the story to say whether this is true or false.)
Although that doesn't make the chain any longer, it makes it, well, not a chain.
posted by madcaptenor at 11:47 AM on September 24, 2011
Although that doesn't make the chain any longer, it makes it, well, not a chain.
posted by madcaptenor at 11:47 AM on September 24, 2011
I think Faust and Romeo and Juliet are less examples of "works with the longest chain of adaptations" than they are of "works with many adaptations using them as direct source material." There are lots of "starcrossed lover" stories riffing off Romeo and Juliet; there are fewer riffing off, oh, West Side Story. If you make West Side Story IN SPACE without the gangs, is it still West Side Story or now Romeo and Juliet IN SPACE?
posted by nicebookrack at 12:02 PM on September 24, 2011
posted by nicebookrack at 12:02 PM on September 24, 2011
Wait, what do La Boheme and Madame Butterfly have to do with each other, aside from both being operas? I've read/seen/heard both and they are TOTALLY different stories. I cannot see any way in which one could possibly be an adaptation of the other, unless we accept really bizarre rules for what it means for one work to be based on another work.
posted by Sara C. at 2:09 PM on September 24, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Sara C. at 2:09 PM on September 24, 2011 [1 favorite]
I remember one from my childhood: Wayne's World 2 was (1) a sequel to (2) a movie based on (3) a tv skit transparently lifted from (4) another movie (Bill & Ted).
It may not be the longest chain, but I bet it wins in links per year (1989-1993).
posted by bjrubble at 2:13 PM on September 24, 2011
It may not be the longest chain, but I bet it wins in links per year (1989-1993).
posted by bjrubble at 2:13 PM on September 24, 2011
Another chain of six works: Camelot (movie) < Camelot (musical) < The Once and Future King < Le Morte d'Arthur < Post-Vulgate Cycle < Lancelot-Grail.
posted by stebulus at 3:50 PM on September 24, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by stebulus at 3:50 PM on September 24, 2011 [1 favorite]
Best answer: According to the very detailed Wikipedia article on Troilus:
posted by stebulus at 8:30 PM on September 24, 2011
- John Dryden's Troilus and Cressida was explicitly a rewrite of
- Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida, which was based on several sources, including
- Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde, about a third of which was adapted from
- Boccaccio's Il Filostrato (where the name "Cressida" first appears), which was based on
- Guido delle Colonne's Historia destructionis Troiae, a Latin prose version of
- Benoît de Sainte-Maure's Le Roman de Troie (the origin of the element of Troilus as a lover), which was based on
- Dares the Phrygian's De excidio Trojae historia, popular in western Europe in medieval times, and putatively an eye-witness account of the Trojan War, but actually probably from the 5th century AD, and somehow ultimately based on
- Greek stories from the archaic period (Troilus is briefly mentioned in the Iliad, is the subject of a lost play of Sophocles, etc.).
posted by stebulus at 8:30 PM on September 24, 2011
Hairspray was a movie that became a musical that became a movie. (And the musical inspired a TV show).
The Producers was a movie that became a musical that because a movie.
posted by kirkaracha at 8:59 AM on September 25, 2011
The Producers was a movie that became a musical that because a movie.
posted by kirkaracha at 8:59 AM on September 25, 2011
This happens quite a bit with Doctor Who tie-in fiction: episodes are made into novelizations which (sometimes, decades later) are made into audiobooks.
posted by jbickers at 8:32 AM on September 26, 2011
posted by jbickers at 8:32 AM on September 26, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
But if you want to get serious, Faust is probably the ur-text for this sort of thing.
posted by Sara C. at 3:35 AM on September 24, 2011 [6 favorites]