# Simplifying the name for the movie **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 30, 2009, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simplifying-the-name-for-the-movie/494907 "2009-04-30T23:54:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 4
**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:** [May 5, 2009, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simplifying-the-name-for-the-movie/494907/61 "2009-05-05T23:34:13Z")
I was just reading Jabootu’s review of **The Island of Dr. Moreau** , and it points out that the ostensible hero, named “Edward Predick” in Wells’ book, gets his name changed to “Andrew Braddock” in the 1977 version and “Edward Doughas” in the 1996 version. The reviewrer hadn’t seen the 1932 classic “Island of Lost Souls”, so he didn’t know that in that version he was “Edward Parker”. Looks like no one wants to keep the name fixed. I guess the name “Prendick” amused their inner 13 year olds. On a related note, Wells’ book **War of the Worlds** never does name its narrator, so people are free to choose their own name for the protagonist. Orson Welles’ Mercury Theater on the Air, in Howard Koch’s script used the astronomer, named Richard Pierson. The 1953 George Pal movie named his Clayton Forester, but MST3K has pretty much killed that possibility. In 2005 Tom Cruise played Ray Ferrier ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2009, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simplifying-the-name-for-the-movie/494907/62 "2009-05-06T06:28:51Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > Disney’s 1950s adaptation of _Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland_ was titled _Alice in Wonderland_, misleading generations thereafter into thinking the latter was the name of the book. Similarly, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz somehow became less wonderful in the MGM adaptation. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2009, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simplifying-the-name-for-the-movie/494907/63 "2009-05-06T07:25:57Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > A couple more title examples: > > The first film version of Roald Dahl’s _Charlie and the Chocolate Factory_ was called _Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory_. I guess they thought it sounded more whimsical or something. > > Stephen King’s short story _Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption_ was just _The Shawshank Redemption_ on screen. Nobody still knew who Rita Hayworth was is 1994, I guess? Maybe they wanted to avoid paying her estate royalties for using her name in the title? They probably had to do it for the poster anyway, but it would probably have been a lot more for the title. ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2009, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simplifying-the-name-for-the-movie/494907/64 "2009-05-06T13:07:37Z")
Not really a simplification, but the movie **Road to Perdition** changed the character name from the book (and real life gangster) John Looney to John Rooney. They thought Looney would sound too cartoonish for the character in the movie. But that really was his name in real life, though the story is so fictionalized that the name was just about the only real thing left in it. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2009, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simplifying-the-name-for-the-movie/494907/65 "2009-05-06T13:15:21Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I was just reading Jabootu’s review of **The Island of Dr. Moreau** , and it points out that the ostensible hero, named “Edward Predick” in Wells’ book, gets his name changed to “Andrew Braddock” in the 1977 version and “Edward Doughas” in the 1996 version. The reviewrer hadn’t seen the 1932 classic “Island of Lost Souls”, so he didn’t know that in that version he was “Edward Parker”. Looks like no one wants to keep the name fixed. I guess the name “Prendick” amused their inner 13 year olds. psst! Post #6! ---
**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:** [May 6, 2009, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simplifying-the-name-for-the-movie/494907/66 "2009-05-06T14:02:35Z")
> [@](#): > > psst! Post #6! Sorry about that – missed it ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simplifying-the-name-for-the-movie/494907/67 "2009-05-07T23:39:30Z")
> [@johnspartan](#): > > Q: “What do they call the original Star Trek in China?” > > A: “Mr. Sulu, Master Navigator” Trivia: In Japan, the character Sulu was renamed Kato. I’m not sure if there was any reason for this beyond the fact that “Kato” is a Japanese name and “Sulu” is not. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simplifying-the-name-for-the-movie/494907/68 "2009-05-07T23:42:54Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > Trivia: In Japan, the character Sulu was renamed Kato. I’m not sure if there was any reason for this beyond the fact that “Kato” is a Japanese name and “Sulu” is not. Could he kick four bad guys asses for every one the [del]Green Hornet[/del] Captain dealt with? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simplifying-the-name-for-the-movie/494907.md?page=3)