# Turning books into animation **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 25, 2013, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turning-books-into-animation/674760 "2013-11-25T16:27:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2013, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turning-books-into-animation/674760/21 "2013-11-26T15:48:29Z")
Once the stink of John Carter has wafted away, Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Barsoom series. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2013, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turning-books-into-animation/674760/22 "2013-11-26T16:03:25Z")
**The Fairy’s Mistake** by Gail Carson Levine. It’s a new, very funny version of an old fairy tale called “Diamonds and Toads.” ---
**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:** [November 26, 2013, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turning-books-into-animation/674760/23 "2013-11-26T16:06:13Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > Once the stink of John Carter has wafted away, Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Barsoom series. Back in 1936 (two years before Disney’s **Snow White** was released!) animator Bob Clampett suggested doing John Carter of Mars as an animated feature. He eventually turned out some footage, some of which still exists: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/bTAlgZlqwnQ/hqdefault.jpg "John Carter of Mars Animation (Rare) Bob Clampett") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTAlgZlqwnQ) This pre-dates the first commercial feature-length movies, and pre-dates the _character_ of Superman (not to mention the Fleischer Studios animation of him). Pretty far-ahead vision Clampett had. Too bad he wasn’t able to get it “sold”. By the way, lots of us think that the Disney **John Carter** didn’t stink, and certainly didn’t deserve the bad press it received. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2013, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turning-books-into-animation/674760/24 "2013-11-26T16:07:16Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > Maybe it could work as a sort of trippy art-project, but as a story I think it’d leave a lot to be desired. Mainstream appeal was not one of the criteria in the OP. ---
**Author:** ![MacSpon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@MacSpon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacSpon)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2013, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turning-books-into-animation/674760/25 "2013-11-26T21:49:17Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > The **H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society** has made excellent adaptations of _The Cal of Cthulhu_ I saw what you did there. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2013, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turning-books-into-animation/674760/26 "2013-11-26T22:45:34Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I wouldn’t mind seeing Robert E. Howard’s stories done in animation. Lord knows, nobody’s ebven _tried_ to do a faithful adaptation of Conan for the screen – they cut out all the stuff that makes it interesting. For the immense monsters and exotic sorcerors, the Mighty-Thewed Cimmerian Giant, and the gtravity-defying voluptuous leading ladies, animation might be the best way to go. It’s be like the Frazetta/Bakshi effort **Fire and Ice** from thirty years ago. Onloy better, because you’;d have a real Robert E. Howard plot. > > [Fire and Ice (1983 film) - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_and_Ice_(1983_film)) > > For that matter, animation might be the best way to do H.P. Lovecraft’s stories. Imagine _The Dunwich Horror_ done with complex, computer-aided imagery. Or _The Shadow over Innsmouth_, culminating in hordes of stampeding Innsmouth denizens, and a view of the undersea city. While you’re at it, let’s do all of the classic fantasy authors: Moorcock, Zelazny, Leiber, Dunsany, Eddison, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2013, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turning-books-into-animation/674760/27 "2013-11-26T23:34:23Z")
I’d give a _Doc Savage_ series a try… ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2013, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turning-books-into-animation/674760/28 "2013-11-27T01:15:32Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > I’d give a _Doc Savage_ series a try… I never thought of that, but you are right. I’d be afraid of Tom Cruise getting the part in a live-action film. ---
**Author:** ![ricksummon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ricksummon/32/3333_2.png) [@ricksummon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricksummon)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2013, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turning-books-into-animation/674760/29 "2013-11-27T04:02:31Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > But I was thinking more along the lines of computer-aided color animation adaptations of everything in the story. It could truly _rock_. For that, we need a big-budget adaptation of **The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath.** With **The White Ship** as a short film preceding it. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2013, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turning-books-into-animation/674760/30 "2013-11-27T05:46:37Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > What books would you like to see transformed into either an animated movie or maybe an animated television series? I could see Robert Asprin’s _Myth_ series as an Adult Swim project, and Sapir and Murphy’s _Destroyer_ as an anime-style series. I think a lot of Heinlein’s works would work best as animated movies, but Dicksons _Dorsai/Childe Cycle_ might take both an animated series _and_ a movie or three. > > What say you? Phil Foglio did a couple of comic books/graphic novels of the first Myth book (_Another Fine Myth_), and you can read them online for [free](http://www.airshipentertainment.com/mythcomic.php?date=20100109). I have the original dead tree version somewhere. Also, let’s limit the _Destroyer_ stories to just the ones by Sapir and Murphy. The writers who took over really didn’t understand the series, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2013, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turning-books-into-animation/674760/31 "2013-11-27T06:36:55Z")
I’ve often thought that the Thursday Next series would be fun to watch. It’s pretty much a cartoon in my head, anyways. (I just can’t imagine a real person acting like Thursday, especially at her age.) ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2013, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turning-books-into-animation/674760/32 "2013-11-27T19:15:55Z")
Another good choice would be **Copper** , by Rebecca Lisle. It’s a children’s fantasy novel. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turning-books-into-animation/674760.md?page=1)