Hypothetical Book to Film Adaptations: Animation Edition

By Kiana Delsooz

As we know, there are many book-to-film adaptations. Some good, some mixed, and others you pretend never happened. Here, I wanted to delve into the animated portion as I think about several books that could go through the animation route. 

Now, before I go more into this post, I want to make things clear: I don’t hate live-action adaptations as a whole (each varies in quality). However, at a time where everything feels the need to be made into a live-action film, as animation is put in the sidelines, I wanted to ask two friends which books they could see becoming animated films. In addition, I ask why they chose these books for an animated adaptation as opposed to a live action one. 

The Inheritance Cycle 

The first friend I asked was Samantha Blaauw, who is currently in their fourth year at King’s doing an Honours Double Major in English and History, as well as a Certificate in the Teaching and Practice of Writing. She chose the book series The Inheritance Cycle (written by Christopher Paolini), since the 2006 live-action film of the first book (Eragon) did not live up to her expectations. 

“While I do think The Inheritance Cycle could be adapted into live action—after all I will say Saphira’s design is the one saving grace of that movie, it is so good—given that it has been attempted and fell flat, animation should have a chance to do better,” Blaauw explains. 

Blaauw then goes on to note that even if there were another attempt at live action for this book series, the creators would need to be at the same level as The Lord of the Rings films in terms of costuming and practical effects. However, given that the film industry is not as fond of making those types of grand films lately, Blaauw says that it's better to go the animation route: 

“The story is a fantasy about dragons, dragon riders, magic, rebellion and war, so given the scale that things expand to, animation might be a better option in terms of logistics to properly execute everything with the detail and attention they deserve.” 

Blaauw envisions The Inheritance Cycle as specifically a 3D animation: “I think 3D animation could achieve this in the right style. Something along the lines of Arcane (2021) or Green Snake (2021), both of which clearly demonstrate phenomenal texture. Think of the dragon scales!” She continues that “animation can fully encapsulate fantasy elements in all their glory because animation is built from the ground up by the artists; they are limited only by their imagination, tools, time, and money.”

Another reason Blaauw looks at animation so fondly is nostalgia. For reference, they list some shows they started to watch as a kid, including Star Wars: The Clone Wars (both the 2003 2D animated and 3D 2008 [film and show] animated versions), Teen Titans (2003), and Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005). In addition to nostalgia, these shows gave them a lasting appreciation of what animation can do:

“I remember being so confused and awed by the animation when my dad and I went to see the 2008 Star Wars: The Clone Wars film in theatres. I knew it wasn’t drawn, but it didn’t look like claymation, like in Tim Burton films, and I could not figure out what it was, just that it looked amazing.” 

For all these reasons, including the many ways for 3D animation to be executed, Blaauw wants to see a 3D animated adaptation of The Inheritance Cycle.

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Mary Barton

The second friend I asked was Lubna Abdallah, who is currently in their fourth year at Western University doing an Honours Double Major in French studies and English language and literature (she is also a blog writer at The Coterie). When asked which book she could see as an animated adaptation, Elizabeth Gaskell’s Mary Barton came to mind. It is one of the novels that we have been discussing (at the time of writing), in our English 3353 lecture, “The Woman Question: Nineteenth-Century Women Writers.” 

Abdallah says, “it could use a Disney-like animated adaption.” Some 2D examples that came to mind were Beauty and the Beast (1991), Aladdin (1992), Mulan (1998), and The Princess and the Frog (2009). She also says that not only could she see it as 2D, but also possibly a 3D animation. But when it comes to the stylization of 3D, she prefers it in the style of Tangled (2010) and “not like Shrek” she says jokingly. Abdallah prefers this type of 3D stylisation for her hypothetical animated film since it would better fit the tone and subject matter of Mary Barton. 

I believe that this type of stylization for Mary Barton could work well if done with proper care for the source material. To add to what Abdallah is saying, I could also see an influence from the animated short film The Little Match Girl (2006), which is based on the short story of the same name by Hans Christian Andersen. The melancholic tone of that short alone could be influential as Mary Barton takes place during the industrial revolution in the Victorian era. Additionally, The Little Match Girl also takes place during the 19th century. 

Live action could also be a potential for a Mary Barton film, but what makes animation interesting is that there are a variety of animation styles to envision. That’s not to say that live action can’t also portray a narrative in a variety of ways (if anything I’d love to see both), but it would be interesting to see what unique ways this story can be told through animation (i.e. through using stop motion, styles that resembles 19th century postcards, etc.). 

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Sense and Sensibility 

Lastly, I thought I’d say one of my hypothetical book-to-animated film adaptations (if I listed every idea I had it would be too long), and I chose Sense and Sensibility. Now, I understand that this novel has had a lot of adaptations (some I’ve seen and enjoyed). But I picked animation because surprisingly there’s never been an animated feature film adaptation of Jane Austen’s novels. 

I can picture a 2D animated film being in the style of illustrations (as shown above). These stylised illustrations wouldn’t just be showing the time period the film takes place in (i.e. the 18th century), but also the types of illustrations that often appear in Austen’s books. Alternatively, I could see a 2D animated version of Sense and Sensibility based on the type of paintings that were popular during the 18th century, such as Baroque and Rococo styles. Certain editions of Austen’s books even have covers featuring paintings related to those styles. Clearly, a story that has been told many times can still have a refreshing take in terms of art direction. 

Overall, I feel there needs to be more of a balance between live action and animated adaptations in film because, as stated, animation can be used in many different ways. My friends' answers demonstrate that these hypothetical animated films not only could happen but could also grab a lot of attention if done properly with passionate people behind them. Afterall, a good book-to-film adaptation that finds creative ways to interpret the source material is always fun to see!