I recently started watching a series called Gankutsuou, an anime series that adapts Alexandre Dumas’ The Count of Monte Cristo and features a bizarre but wonderful mix of classical and rock music as well as a very distinct art style. However, while I knew beforehand that it was an adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo, I did not know until I started watching the show that it was set in the far future and incorporates sci-fi themes. This fascinated me and made me think of other adaptations of classic literature with a twist.
One of my first thoughts while thinking about the subject was the anime Romeo x Juliet, an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Rather than tell the same story like so many other adaptations have, Romeo x Juliet is set on a floating island called “Neo Verona” and actually begins with a massacre of the Capulet family by the Montagues. This setting and bold reimagining of the beginning made me wonder how the story would progress and gave the series a refreshing feel.
Another great anime adaptation of classic literature is Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water. Functioning as a loose adaptation of Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, the main characters of Nadia and Jean eventually encounter Captain Nemo and his vessel, the Nautilus. The show is great and I would consider it a masterpiece if it wasn’t for a terrible filler arc in the middle of it.
Moving a little bit away from anime, other examples of this would be Akira Kurosawa’s 3 adaptations of Shakespeare. His films Throne of Blood (Macbeth), The Bad Sleep Well (Hamlet) and Ran (King Lear) all moved these traditionally European stories to a Japanese setting (in the case of The Bad Sleep Well, he also moved it to a modern setting). Going beyond the aspects of directing, acting, cinematography etc, the Japanese setting infuses these films with a remarkably different style from the original stories.
Going to the West, another interesting adaptation of classic literature was Treasure Planet, an animated movie by Disney that told the story of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island through a sci-fi lens. Despite being a surprisingly loyal adaptation of Treasure Island and an enjoyable film, Treasure Planet was a box-office bomb and saw Disney lose an estimated $74 million.
It is also interesting to note that another famous Disney animated film was also an atypical adaptation of classic literature. While The Lion King had several inspirations for its story, the two main ones were the stories of Joseph and Moses from the Bible and the Shakespeare play Hamlet. I would recommend rewatching The Lion King with this in mind and I have no doubt that you’ll make numerous connections that you missed before.
So many adaptations of classic literature can come across as pompous and dry and, so, it’s refreshing to see reinterpretations in new and fresh ways (it also doesn’t hurt that many of them are fun and entertaining). Let me know your thoughts on adapting classic literature with a twist and what reimaginings of classic stories you’ve enjoyed.
Hopefully you have found this article interesting and informative and, if you wish to seek any of the works I mentioned, don’t hesitate to use amazon.co.uk and amazon.com for all of your needs!