The Golden Trident

By Nyah Marquez-Dean

“How to Train Your Dragon,” “Snow White,” “Lilo & Stitch,” “Moana.” All adaptations of beloved animated films, announced to be coming to the big screen in live-action within the next couple of years. Often, these kinds of adaptations are heavily criticized. While it is undeniable that some live action adaptations are incredibly impressive films, simultaneously paying homage to the films they stem from, as well as creating an interesting new spin on the narrative, they often lose the charm and personality evident in their animated counterparts.

Some of the most well known and certainly beloved live action adaptations are the series of live action Marvel films. Marvel has more than 30,000 published comics, and more than 50 animated series (though not all of them are pinnacles of the medium) beginning in the 1960’s. Featuring hundreds of characters and storylines that even the most avid readers and watchers can have trouble piecing together, both Marvel comics and their animated counterparts are widely loved across generations.

 Most notably, the beloved X-Men animated series that aired in the 90’s, which even got a Disney+ reboot, “X-Men ‘97”, that began streaming earlier this year and gained Disney+ one of their biggest premiers of an animated series.

The series premiered with a 99% on Rotten Tomatoes, and an 8.8/10 on IMDB and, a few days ago, was nominated for Best Animated Series at the Critics Choice Awards. The storyline and the bold, colorful animation charmed both fans who remembered the original series and new watchers alike. However, even critically acclaimed series like “X-Men ‘97” are often forgotten in the shadow of the Hollywood blockbuster adaptations that have defined superhero media for decades. Both the wildly successful Avengers franchise, and the only slightly less so X-Men cinematic universe have gained millions of fans across the world, and not without reason. However, for stories that are communicated so heavily through visual spectacle and fantastical elements, there is no doubt that live action as a medium puts a damper on that effect. The beloved comics and cartoons are so because they allow these characters to remain just as absurd, just as wildly and unbelievably powerful as they have always been. 

The reliance on media being live action in order to consume it does a disservice to animation. Cartoons shouldn’t need an upgrade into live action in order to be taken seriously as pieces of entertainment and as pieces of art.    

In 2020, in the midst of a massive revival of the fandom surrounding the beloved 2005 animated series, “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” an adaptation of the series in live action was announced. It was met with uncertainty, after the massive failure of the 2010 film, but the knowledge that the series’ original creators were involved came as a comfort to fans, until they dropped out.

When the series officially dropped, it was clear that the “creative conflicts” largely stemmed from the focus the Netflix showrunners put on spectacle, rather than the character growth and worldbuilding that supported the animated series originally. 

It’s hard to translate fantastical powers and landscapes into live action because they are absurd, and that’s what they’re supposed to be. 

Animation allowed the original “Avatar” series to incorporate both the unbelievable nature of the world the story took place in, as well as the emotional and intricate character building that created such a timeless piece of media. The dependency on live-action remakes mocks animation as a medium, and further pushes the idea that cartoons and animation are juvenile, art that is not to be taken seriously. This stereotype is something that we must push past, opening the doors to thousands of both visually and emotionally beautiful stories.