# Changed to a Happy Ending **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 10, 2015, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changed-to-a-happy-ending/714686 "2015-03-10T13:27:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changed-to-a-happy-ending/714686/21 "2015-03-10T16:49:10Z")
The musical **Wicked** gives a Happy Ending to the story that the book _Wicked_ doesn’t have, but I’ll say no more about it ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changed-to-a-happy-ending/714686/22 "2015-03-10T16:52:44Z")
**JAWS** In the novel, Hooper is killed by the shark. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changed-to-a-happy-ending/714686/23 "2015-03-10T17:00:08Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > In Forester’s book _The African Queen_ her mission fails – she doesn’t sink the _Louisa_. In the Huston movie, of course, she succeeds, if somewhat belatedly. Well, sorta. In the Novel, the Germans actually release them, and then the RN sinks the Königin Luise. There’s some indication, iirc, that Allnutt & Rose, by showing up, etc help the RN locate the Königin Luise. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changed-to-a-happy-ending/714686/24 "2015-03-10T17:06:41Z")
> [@Poysyn](#): > > _The Little Mermaid_ - in the original story she becomes sea foam at the end since the prince doesn’t return her love. Also, having legs is compared to walking on knives. > > Definitely Disney’d up. It’s not a bummer ending in the original: \*However the Little Mermaid cannot bring herself to kill the sleeping prince lying with his bride, and she throws herself into the sea as dawn breaks. Her body dissolves into foam, but instead of ceasing to exist, she feels the sun; she has turned into a spirit, a daughter of the air. The other daughters tell her she has become like them because she strove with all her heart to obtain an immortal soul. She will earn her own soul by doing good deeds and she will eventually rise up into the kingdom of God. \* ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changed-to-a-happy-ending/714686/25 "2015-03-10T17:07:05Z")
> [@oft\_wears\_hats](#): > > The original _Frankenstein_ film with Boris Karloff. IIRC, in the books, Dr. Frankenstein’s fiancee was murdered by the Creature and the doctor died at sea during an attempt to find and destroy him. > > The movie ends with the Creature going on a rampage and tossing Dr. Frankenstein off of a building. But then the doctor recovers and goes on with his life. Was the Creature killed by the villagers? I don’t even remember it being shown on screen. Pretty sure his fiancee(wife?) isn’t killed, either. > > Also, the tones of the two works were very different. The book developed the Creature as a tragic figure, a hideous but articulate person, and hated by his creator and anyone who saw him. Driven to violence out of frustration and rejection. The . Oh, don’t get me started on _Frankenstein_. It’s a classic film with a truly iconic Monster, but its departures from the novel are so extreme that it’s a completely different work. It didn’t help that it was rewritten by at least four different hands (at four different times) from a stage adaptation of the original novel. And they took successive iterations to get the ending they did. Originally the Monster died in the burning windmill and Henry Frankenstein was killed falling from the windmill blades. But they changed their minds and let Henry live. The film should’ve ended with the rescued Henry alive on the ground and the windmill burning with the Monster inside. But they wanted to assure the audience that Henry was alright, so they shot _another_ scene that showed him in bed while his father-in-law drinks a toast. And, of course, they couldn’t leave the Creature dead. They reveal in **Bride of Frankenstein** that the Monster fell into the water under the Mill, and survived. I’;ll allow them that, because it let them make that wonderful sequel. The sequel itself suffered from Happy Ending disease, too. As originally filmed, the FRankienstein Monster grabs The Lever (“Don’t touch that! You’ll blow us to atoms!!” shouts Dr. Pretorius) and pushes it down, killing them all. Henry included – in the long shots you can see that he’s still there. But the studio had second thoughts, and they shot scenes were the Creature uses his new-found speech to say to Henry and his wife “You go! We stay! We belong dead!” (for no good reason that I can see), then showing Henry and Elizabeth escaping before the destruction. Not that it did a huge amount of good. There was a hiatus before the next film, and Colin Clive died. He never appeared in another Frankenstein film. But at least the audience felt good for the Happy Ending. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changed-to-a-happy-ending/714686/26 "2015-03-10T17:08:13Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Then there’s _Return of the King…_ things turned out pretty well for The Shire in the movie version. Turned out just fine in the books, too. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changed-to-a-happy-ending/714686/27 "2015-03-10T17:08:29Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > The stupid happy ending goes way further back than the movie (actually, way further back than the musical), but _My Fair Lady_ is an example. In Shaw’s original play, _Pygmalion_, Eliza actually DOES leave Higgins high and dry. The ending was changed by the producer of the very first stage production, against Shaw’s vehement objections. That ending has followed through to the musical adaptation and the movie that was made from it. Shaw did the movie adaptation and won an Oscar for it (the only Nobel Prize and Academy Award winner ever) so I don’t think he should be complaining. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changed-to-a-happy-ending/714686/28 "2015-03-10T17:12:04Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Shaw did the movie adaptation and won an Oscar for it (the only Nobel Prize and Academy Award winner ever) so I don’t think he should be complaining. As I point out above, although Shaw did adapt his own work, he didn’t write that anomalous Happy Ending. (There are other things in the script not by Shaw, as well – they didn’t simply shoot Shaw’s script, but felt compelled to fiddle with it. See the Wikipedia article I link to.) ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changed-to-a-happy-ending/714686/29 "2015-03-10T17:13:05Z")
The one that sticks in my mind starring, Bert Reynolds, Gene Hackman and Liza Minnelli is Lucky Lady. The film was in the can and ready to distribute. Then the test audience reacted negatively to the sad ending. They called everybody back and gave it a happy ending. I always how the negative ending would have done on the open market. The happy one always struck as, “Ehh, so there’s a happy ending just slapped on and it is very inconsistent with the rest of the film.” ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changed-to-a-happy-ending/714686/30 "2015-03-10T17:14:38Z")
> [@TV\_time](#): > > The one that sticks in my mind starring, Bert Reynolds, Gene Hackman and Liza Minnelli is Lucky Lady. > > The film was in the can and ready to distribute. Then the test audience reacted negatively to the sad ending. They called everybody back and gave it a happy ending. I always how the negative ending would have done on the open market. The happy one always struck as, “Ehh, so there’s a happy ending just slapped on and it is very inconsistent with the rest of the film.” IIRC they actually went back more than once to that ending and changed it multiple times. The original ending was a real downer. ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changed-to-a-happy-ending/714686/31 "2015-03-10T17:16:36Z")
> [@Typo\_Negative](#): > > **JAWS** > > In the novel, Hooper is killed by the shark. But Hooper in the novel was such a jerk that it wasn’t a totally unhappy thing. Very different character. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changed-to-a-happy-ending/714686/32 "2015-03-10T17:19:06Z")
> [@Labdad](#): > > And of course in "The Natural, " Roy Hobbs wins the big game with a climactic home run. In Bernard Malamud’s book, Hobbs strikes out. The movie ending was worlds better. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changed-to-a-happy-ending/714686/33 "2015-03-10T17:23:13Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > IIRC they actually went back more than once to that ending and changed it multiple times. The original ending was a real downer. Here, unspoiled, is what imdb has to say: > [@](#): > > The original ending had Kibby Womack and Walker Ellis gunned down by government agents with Claire watching, and was followed by scenes ten years later of Claire, now married to her wealthy but dull boyfriend and with a son, reminiscing about her romantic youth. Director Stanley Donen felt the finished film was too comedic in tone for such a downbeat ending so Donen, Hackman and Reynolds went to Rome where Minnelli was shooting A Matter of Time (1976) and filmed a new ending. The trio were shown with “old age” make-up still together in bed at age 70. This ending wasn’t satisfactory to the actors involved, so footage shot earlier of the threesome young and happy was substituted instead. Some of the unused ending footage ended up on the syndicated Fox TV show That’s Hollywood (1976). > **[Lucky Lady (1975) - Trivia - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073317/trivia/?ref_=tt_trv_trv)** > > Lucky Lady (1975) - Trivia on IMDb: Cameos, Mistakes, Spoilers and more... ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changed-to-a-happy-ending/714686/34 "2015-03-10T17:24:04Z")
The most notorious instance of this is probably **The Vanishing**. It’s about a man whose girlfriend is kidnapped and he spends years agonizing over what happened to her. Finally he’s contacted by her abductor who promises to tell him what happened — if he agrees to undergo exactly what she did. In the original Dutch version: The man agrees, is drugged by the kidnapper, and awakes to find himself buried alive in the kidnapper’s backyard. The film ends with no reason to thnk the boyfriend escapes what seems his inevitable fate. The American remake changed that ending: Same as above, but the man revives in time to dig his way out of the grave and kill the abductor with a shovel. Roger Ebert was [suitably outraged](http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-vanishing-1993). ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changed-to-a-happy-ending/714686/35 "2015-03-10T17:31:05Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Shaw did the movie adaptation and won an Oscar for it (the only Nobel Prize and Academy Award winner ever) so I don’t think he should be complaining. He was also the first person to refuse his Oscar, predating George C. Scott and Brando by decades. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changed-to-a-happy-ending/714686/36 "2015-03-10T17:39:48Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > **The Chocolate War**. In the movie version, Jerry wins the fight. Everyone cheers. Brother Leon gives him a thumbs-up :smack: Obie takes over as the Assigner and Archie submits. > > Granted, the novel as it’s written is horribly pessimistic, and probably not the best message to send to middle/high schoolers. But if you don’t like it the way it is, don’t make a movie of it. Seriously? I never saw the movie, but we read the book in high school, and I found it extraordinarily eerie and uncomfortable, considering that I went to a catholic school where we had to sell raffle tickets for fundraising. No secret societies, or faculty/bully collusion going on, but since days off school were tied to raffle sales targets, there was a lot of intra-student-body pressure to sell your minimum. I can’t imagine a happy ending to the book; seems like it would change the tone of the whole thing. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changed-to-a-happy-ending/714686/37 "2015-03-10T17:52:27Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > It’s not a bummer ending in the original: \*However the Little Mermaid cannot bring herself to kill the sleeping prince lying with his bride, and she throws herself into the sea as dawn breaks. Her body dissolves into foam, but instead of ceasing to exist, she feels the sun; she has turned into a spirit, a daughter of the air. The other daughters tell her she has become like them because she strove with all her heart to obtain an immortal soul. She will earn her own soul by doing good deeds and she will eventually rise up into the kingdom of God. > \* You don’t call that a downer ending?! ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changed-to-a-happy-ending/714686/38 "2015-03-10T17:57:05Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > It’s not a bummer ending in the original: \*However the Little Mermaid cannot bring herself to kill the sleeping prince lying with his bride, and she throws herself into the sea as dawn breaks. Her body dissolves into foam, but instead of ceasing to exist, she feels the sun; she has turned into a spirit, a daughter of the air. The other daughters tell her she has become like them because she strove with all her heart to obtain an immortal soul. She will earn her own soul by doing good deeds and she will eventually rise up into the kingdom of God. > \* > [@Miller](#): > > You don’t call that a downer ending?! I don’t! When I was a little girl, I thought that was the most beautiful ending of any fairy tale I had heard. I thought it was perfect. In fact, it never occurred to me that it was a “bad ending” and I was surprised when Disney changed it. I realize that was naive, but that’s because I loved original ending. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changed-to-a-happy-ending/714686/39 "2015-03-10T18:18:40Z")
> [@bump](#): > > I can’t imagine a happy ending to the book; seems like it would change the tone of the whole thing. It did, and it also changed the characterizations. Archie’s reaction and Brother Leon’s reaction are completely inconsistent with the way they’d been portrayed up to then. When I saw it, I thought, “Well, this must be Jerry’s Owl Creek Bridge hallucination…whaaaa?” ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changed-to-a-happy-ending/714686/40 "2015-03-10T18:23:00Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > You don’t call that a downer ending?! Well his name is **DrDeth**. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changed-to-a-happy-ending/714686.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changed-to-a-happy-ending/714686.md?page=3)