One Piece Live Action vs the Avatar the Last Airbender Live Action

For a while now, I have been thinking about whether it is better for an adaptation to focus on the fans or on a larger audience. Which is better for the overall story. I can think of adaptation which focused on what the fans wanted and were good properties

and adaptations which focused on the fans and were bad properties.

The same goes for the focus on the larger audience.

For me, I think the world has to feel like the same sort of world. Walden's LWW was not perfect by any means and I nitpick it a lot more readily than I did back in the day when I first watched it. I have grown to acknowledge the glaring problems although, when I watch it I can still enjoy it for the most part, and nostalgia can always take me back. Prince Caspian, I enjoy more now than I did back then, but, I still enjoy LWW more. Most of the time I cannot even watch VODT. 

These adaptations tried to give Audiences what they thought we wanted (spoiler alert they were wrong a lot of the time), but, it was not just for Narnia fans in general but, rather for generic fantasy lovers. 

Honestly, the Percy Jackson movie focused on the larger audience and cared little for the fans and although the fans bashed these movies for years, we may be seeing people warming up to these movies and them soon becoming classics (or at least the first one),  because the Percy Jackson tv show cared only about the book and made the adaptation long and drawn out somewhat boring and hard for new of casual fans to enjoy without general confusion. 

The one that confused me and started writing this post in the first place was One Piece Live Action and Avatar the Last Airbender. 

Eventhough, it seems to me that they did the same sort of things to these adaptations, it confuses me that they got completely different reactions from fans. 

I was not a fan of the Last Airbender and I loved the tv series, but, I have seen so many online who did not like it as fans. As for One Piece, I loved it and a big chunk of the first seasons of One Piece anime. And I have found no one online who did not love the series fans or not. 

But, this is what confuses me: These shows did pretty much the same things, they changed storylines, plot details, had some different character arcs and different script lines. To me, they are exactly the same in how they handled the material. So, why was general consensus different (although, my opinion was not different, I loved both.)? 

I still do not know but, I just wanted people to think about this and come up with some suggestions and ideas. Is it better to focus on the fans or stick with the larger audience, or focus on making a good story out of the adaptation or stick to the same beats as the story? 

What I would say from my research is there has to be some sort of spirit that the audience feels is close to the property the adaptation is from. In other words, it has to remind the audience of that property in a good way. 

As for Easter eggs in stories I find them completely useless unless they actually help the story in some way. (Why did they include the albatross in VODT if the albatross served no purpose to the movie story? This just seemed like an insult to fans because they took out all meaning out of that scene.) 

Some will argue that the characters for Avatar The Last airbender were not the same as the characters of the animated series, but, that cannot be the reason that it is disliked compared to other adaptations because I can point out several adaptations where the characters were different or had different character arcs and the fans and others still loved those adaptations. Walden's LWW is the first one that pops into my head, Peter was not a reluctant hero in the book like he is in that movie. In the One Piece Live action, Sanji  had quite a few different characteristics and characterizations from the anime. 

Last of all but not least,I am once again going to reference Anne of Green Gables (Kevin Sullivan 1st movie), Gilbert in this movie is not the same character in the book. He is more mature in the movie, in the book, he is teasing girls on a regular basis and calling them names not to mention pranking them. He and Anne both grow up during this book. In the movie, he starts at a different point then Gilbert. I would say that in the movie, I do not feel like he grows up and changes but, only Anne does. But, everyone praises this movie for being so book accurate.(Which is why I have another beef with the Anne with an e series, Gilbert is a perfect character in the series and can do no wrong, Anne on the other hand messes up all the time.)

Anyway, this was very interesting to note and I hope I can get others thinking about this and coming up with different theories. 

Anne with an E Netflix series by Rebekah Walton

Sorry, fans, this is not really Anne that we know and love from the Anne of Green Gables series. First to explain the problem and difference between this series and the books, I will have go back and compare the series side by side with the books. But, first let me rant a bit.

(Spoilers)

This Netflix series I feel does not understand who Anne of Green Gables or Anne Shirley Blythe is. Anne Shirley is more than just a red hair girl who loves her imagination. Infact, I don't think they even got her red hair down.

Anne's red hair was a complex issue about how Anne thought about herself. She thought she wasn't pretty and she always wanted to have nutbrown hair or even raven black hair like Diana Barry. In the Netflix series, Anne mentions her hair a few times and does get mad at Gilbert for teasing her and calling her carrots, but I got the feeling that was not the reason she hated Gilbert. She did not hold a grudge against him because he called her carrots like she did in the book, she just stayed away from him because she did not want to be bullied at school. Anne would never be bullied at school in the book, she would never allow herself to be bullied. Anne was too strong headed to allow herself to be bullied, she said what she thought and would not back down. Anne getting bullied in the books was impossible.

Plus, in the book, Anne only needed one friend to for herself to be  happy, and that friend was Diana Barry, her kindred spirit. In the Netflix series, The girls who bullied her at school told her not to talk to Gilbert. So, when the time came for her to get teased by Gilbert it only felt like she wanted to make the girls stop bullying her. In fact, there is one time she told Gilbert to go away and stop talking to her just because she saw the girls staring at them through a window. This is not the Anne of the book.

Anne in the book, hated Gilbert for quite sometime (a year only passed in the 1st season of the Netflix series, oppose to the amount of years that happen in the first book) (although it is unknown how long Anne held a grudge in the book, it definitely seems longer than a year.)

Anne in the book, makes a lot of decisions because of her red hair. This Netflix series barely spoke of her red hair, and although, they did have her dye her hair green accidentally like in the book, it does not have the same impact since she never held the grudge against Gilbert in the first place. Also, despite the fact that they tried to make this Anne a romantic, they failed and this does not feel like the true Anne romantic of the book.

To describe and compare the list of things book Anne was compared to Netflix Anne I have prepared two lists:

The thing that gets me the most about this series Anne oppose to the book is how damaged this Anne really is. She is not the bumbling girl that she is in the book, instead, she is a girl who needs psychological help from all her bullying and beatings she got in the past.

This series Anne confidently explains that she can do everything thing a boy can so they do not need a boy to help on the farm, and then proceeds to do nothing to help on the farm thus proving that they need a boy to help on the farm. Which is why they get a boy to help out, and then she gets mad at him because he is going to get her sent back to the orphanage or something. (They said if they hired a boy, that meant they were keeping her, she apparently wasn't listening.)

Not to mention, for some reason they make Gilbert lose his father in this series. This was quite annoying because now we have two depressed characters in the series. If this wasn't enough, they made Matthew almost commit suicide. Seriously, does everyone need to be depressed in this series?

Now I decided to do a case and point questionnaire comparing book to Netflix series:

 What would Anne do if this happened?

Overall, the Netflix series made me feel depressed where as all other versions of Anne I am excited and enjoy watching them. I have tried to gather enough courage to watch 2nd and 3rd season but, everytime I hear about the characters or plot being ruined I get depressed once again and cannot bring myself to start either 2nd or 3rd season. I have seen all of 1st season. Also, the most faithful adaptation I have seen so far is Anne of Green Gables the anime version. Yes, Japan made an anime for Anne of Green Gables. 

Here is a really good review on the Netflix series and how it cannot compare to the books:

https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/05/anne-of-green-gables-netflix-review-anne-with-an-e-bleak-sad-wrong

I also found a another review that has a particularly good line about the difference between book Anne and Netflix Anne:

''Walley-Beckett’s Anne walks around with a giant chip on her shoulder, ready to crumble at the slightest provocation.'' 

For me, this pretty much sums up the Netflix Anne.
                                            

   http://thefederalist.com/2017/05/16/anne-e-sucks-soul-anne-green-gables/             

Another review points out things that had me nodding and agreeing.

     '' In a world where Superman no longer smiles, Archie Andrews is an ennui-filled singer-songwriter and Belle’s mother in “Beauty and the Beast” tragically dies of the plague, of course Anne has PTSD.''

Although, I do not agree with their overall review I did enjoy this line.

Anne Shirley Blythe by Rebekah Walton

The Anne of Green Gables series is essentially the Pride and Prejudice of Canada with Gilbert Blythe and Anne Shirley being treated like Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet in all the girls minds. Girls from England want the Mr. Darcy to marry and Canadians want Gilbert Blythe to marry. American girls look at William Jasper Collins as the perfect guy( just kidding, I guess that is just me) to marry.

There have been many portrayals of this beloved character from the Anne of Green Gables series written by Lucy Maud( without an e) Montgomery. With the new Netflix series coming out on May 12 I thought it was best to do a review on the many different actresses that have portrayed her in the past years. First let’s look at all the descriptions we have of Anne and compare the looks of the actresses to the character Anne.

A child of about eleven, garbed in a very short, very tight, very ugly dress of yellowish-gray wincey. She wore a faded brown sailor hat and beneath the hat, extending down her back, were two braids of very thick, decidedly red hair. Her face was small, white and thin, also much freckled; her mouth was large and so were her eyes, which looked green in some lights and moods and gray in others. So far, the ordinary observer; an extraordinary observer might have seen that the chin was very pointed and pronounced; that the big eyes were full of spirit and vivacity; that the mouth was sweet-lipped and expressive; that the forehead was broad and full; in short, our discerning extraordinary observer might have concluded that no commonplace soul inhabited the body of this stray woman-child of whom shy Matthew Cuthbert was so ludicrously afraid.

This is the first description we receive about her and therefore is the most trustworthy since it is from the author herself about Anne rather than another character about Anne. Rachel Lynde also has an opinion on the looks of Anne, but what Rachel says should be taken with a grain of salt since she is a nosey busybody and her opinions are usually wrong in the books.

“She’s terrible skinny and homely, Marilla. Come here, child, and let me have a look at you. Lawful heart, did any one ever see such freckles? And hair as red as carrots! Come here, child, I say.”

The other factor is that the hottest boy in school, for that is what Gilbert was thought Anne was cute and teased her to try to get close to her. A note on Gilbert, he also was a year older than everyone in school because he was held back one year.

So, although Anne may have a terrible opinion of her looks, she was not in fact, ugly even though she may have not been the one to stand out in a crowd for her looks except maybe for her red hair.

It is also commonly accepted that Anne’s illustration on the front cover of one of the original books was a drawing of Gibson Girl, Evelyn Nesbit. This lady was an actress and a model and was known for her beauty so at least in later years we can expect that Anne herself was very beautiful.

http://anneofgreengables.com/articles/evelyn-nesbit-the-real-anne-shirley/

So, now on to all the actresses who portrayed this beloved character?

(1919)

Unfortunately, this silent film was lost and so no one knows how well this actress could have played Anne’s character.

Anne Shirley as Anne Shirley and Tom Brown as Gilbert Blythe (1934)

This black and white film did an okay portrayal of Anne and gilbert even though the story tried to combine too many things into one story. She is also the first portrayal I saw of Anne on film. There is now a colorized version of this film you can buy. There was a sequel to this film made in 1940 and it had Anne Shirley still play Anne Shirley but the Gilbert actor changed to Patric Knowles. (The sequel is essentially lost because there is no official copies left, but there may be some that people have because they taped it from tv, my family has a copy.)

The next film was the first one actually made by the Canadians with William Cole as Gilbert Blythe and Toby Tarnow as Anne Shirley. The film is still in existence as clips of it were used in "Lucy Maud Montgomery: The Many Mauds", an episode of the 1996 CBC Life & Times documentary.

http://anneofgreengables.wikia.com/wiki/Anne_of_Green_Gables_(1956_film)

In 1957, a French version of Anne Shirley was made and I cannot seem to find any real pictures of that film. But the actress was Mirielle Lachance and Gilbert was Hervé Brousseau.

In 1958, Kathy Willard played Anne.

In 1952, a six part tv series was released and is now thought to be lost.

Carole Lorimer played Anne and David Spenser played Gilbert.

In 1972, tv series was created by BBC with Kim Braden as Anne and there was also a sequel series called Anne of Avonlea. Anne of Green Gables the tv series was lost but the Anne of Anvolea series can still be bought. I like this series a lot because it was able to touch on other aspects that the movies missed and bring in some of my chacters who were my favorite from the books but were really over looked. So, I really treasure this sequel series and wish I could watch the original and not just the sequel. Christopher Blake played Gilbert Blythe.

In 1979, Japan made an anime based on this book series:

Up to date, it is the most faithful version to the books I can find!

Then in 1985, the Sullivan films began. Megan Follows played Anne Shirley and Jonathan Crombie played Gilbert Blythe, these two are still the best loved by fans and are the standard that most fans look to when describing the perfect Anne and Gilbert. I loved the first film and I loved the actors but the next film was only okay and the third film missed the mark. For me you need a mixture of the Sullivan films, the Kim Braden version and the black and white version to get the whole mix of Anne. Or just go watch the anime of Anne.

Because of large problems with copyright and other issues the last of the three Sullivan films with Jonathan Crombie and Megan Follows was filmed and released in 2000, which is around 15 years after the other two.

A few years later in 2008, Sullivan decided he wanted to make more Anne movies so he made a prequel called: Anne of Green Gables a New Beginning. This prequel starred two Annes, and older and younger Anne. The actresses were Hannah Endicott-Douglas as Young Anne and Barbara Hershey as old Anne. Gilbert Blythe died and Anne was thinking about old times. Since I have never watched this version I cannot say much.

In 2007, Sri Lanka decided to make their own Anne film. Since this film shows Anne growing up there are two Annes in this film as well. The two actresses were: Vinuri Ramanayake as Anne Shirley and Poorni Kamaladiwela as Older Anne Shirley.

There was even a modern version of Anne of Green Gables made and even though it is not strictly a film or tv version, but instead a web series with a twitter page and YouTube channel and a Tumblr page, I just had to include it. This modern version is not half bad and even had a second series because fans enjoyed it. The series is called Green Gables Fables.

(2014)

There is a second modern adaption made by Finland and it is called Project Green Gables. The story is conveyed in the form of vlogs. It is a modern adaptation of Anne, and many of the elements in it have been changed to better suit 21st-century culture. Laura Eklund Nhaga plays Anne.

My guess since I haven’t watched it yet is that it is like the Finnish version of Green Gables Fables.

Anne and Gilbert (note the stage musical of Anne is called this as well.) was also a themed episode of a show called Kissing in the Rain in 2014 on YouTube. Sean Persaud played Gilbert Blythe and Mary Kate Wiles played Anne of Green Gables.

L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables is a film that came out in 2016 and has a sequel coming this year. Although the film is supposedly about Anne it takes a sort of different perspective than most versions and comes off as a horrible adaptation missing most of the good parts of Anne of Green Gables by trying to make people relate to the adults of the story rather than Anne herself. Ella Ballentine plays Anne Shirley but I would not  place blame on her as an actress but rather on the script and director of this film.

Although, for the most parts up till now the Gilbert Blythe’s have all had dark hair and have been pretty handsome as he should be (for goodness sakes he is basically the Mr. Darcy of Canada), this Gilbert is neither tall, older or handsome as he was in the book. He is short and scrawny and has blond hair and not very good looking at all.

Not to mention, as my sister pointed out while watching the show there was a cute boy they could have used for Gilbert sitting right behind Anne in school but they went for this guy. Drew Haytaoglu plays Gilbert Blythe. Sorry, he was just not Gilbert, not to mention we only saw him like once or twice and we hardly knew Anne was mad at him.

In fact, I have images of the guy who should have played Gilbert Blythe in that film.

The next series which we are expecting of Anne of Green Gables is the Netflix series coming on May 12, 2017 and a musical version of Anne coming on DVD soon. The Netflix series is going to be a dark and gritty interpretation of the books including Anne getting bullied in school and that word I hate…..feminism. Anne in the books would have never gotten bullied by anyone since she hit Gilbert over the head with her chalkboard and she had tons of friends in school. Also, no one thought she couldn’t do something because she was a girl; she was one of the smartest in their class. The only girls who did something to her were just jealous because Gilbert Blythe liked her, but I would never say they bullied her. Anne Shirley is played by Amybeth McNulty and Gilbert Blythe is played by Lucas Jade Zumann.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5qJXYNNINo

That link is the trailer. So, in essence I think the Netflix series will be a very bad adaptation of this beloved series. Updated: Canadians already get to watch it and most of them say it is not as bad as the trailer makes it seem, so, plus there. That line,''Girls can do anything boys can do and better'' terrified me. It is such a stupid line and not something I feel like Anne would ever say, plus, they wanted someone to do farm work, Anne couldn't do that and they hired a boy to help out in the book. Strength wise boys would be better at the hard farm work then a girl that is just sense so, that line is incorrect anyway. I will update again when I have watched the show and review it myself, I hope the Canadians are right. 

What do you guys think?