The transition of animated properties to live-action film often tends to misfire gravely. Things that might work or look appealing in a cartoon may not always be so in real life. As such, the mere announcement of live-action adaptations tends to draw the ire of many audiences.
However, many live-action adaptations of iconic cartoons contain altered elements that are well within the creative team's abilities to keep true to the original. These changes draw even further exasperation from viewers and drag down the movie's quality. Moreover, it raises the question of why the changes got made in the first place.
10 Fat Albert (2004) Settled For A Basic Fish-Out-Of-Water Story
Despite its tainted legacy due to the actions of its creator, the Fat Albert cartoon had plenty of legitimate life lessons across several episodes. On top of that, its characters carried enough likability to convey those lessons for audiences to appreciate.
The Fat Albert movie had the cartoon characters jump through the portal, where they learn about various real-world things not featured in their fictional one. Unfortunately, despite a promising cast and a solid foundation for a story similar to the original show, it goes in a somewhat predictable direction with its ideas.
9 Scooby-Doo (2002) Featured Real Monsters
Some audiences lauded Scooby-Doo (2002) due to its amusingly dated quality leading to some decent jokes. Its cast, for the most part, did well to bring the cartoon characters to life.
However, part of the fun of the original Scooby-Doo cartoons was seeing the gang discover the culprit and how the villains pulled off their schemes. Usually, it was through logical or scientific means. While some incarnations were known for having real monsters before the film, they weren't always as memorable. The movie has more supernatural occurrences, which felt less in line.
8 Inspector Gadget (1999) Misrepresented Dr. Claw
Although the Inspector Gadget cartoon didn't offer much outside its young demographic, it was still an entertaining show. A part of its fun value came from its villain Dr. Claw, who had a bone-chilling voice and whose face audiences never saw.
The movie revealed Dr. Claw's face early on in the film, which upset fans, but was understandable as it would be strenuous to craft a feature-length film without fully showing a significant character's face. However, Claw's nature and characterization are not the least similar to what made his animated counterpart so enjoyably despicable.
7 The Dinobots In Transformers: Age Of Extinction Received No Character
Transformers: Age of Extinction fell victim to the problem that plagued its predecessors: too much focus on the human characters rather than the titular robots. However, even the Autobots were not without poor portrayals, and nowhere was this issue more evident than with the appearance of the Dinobots in the climax.
The Dinobots in the original series were amusing due to being small in brains but behemoths in brawn. Age of Extinction has Autobot leader Optimus Prime recruit them as reinforcements. Unfortunately, while the imagery of Optimus riding them is imposing, the Dinobots don't speak, thus removing a significant part of their character.
6 Garfield (2004) Removed A Significant Part Of Nermal's Character
The Garfield comic strip and the cartoon Garfield and Friends always portrayed Nermal as a cute kitten, though he wasn't above treating Garfield with disdain. Nermal wasn't above using his adorable qualities to his advantage, much to Garfield's dismay.
However, Nermal's portrayal in Garfield (2004) makes him a Siamese cat (whereas the show had him as a gray tabby kitten) that lacks the same cuteness as his animated counterpart. He is also far less devious and somewhat regarding specific matters, which Garfield uses to his advantage, but has little reason for genuinely hating him.
5 Scooby-Doo (2002) Made Scrappy-Doo The Villain
During the 80s, Scooby-Doo's creators added Scooby's nephew, Scrappy-Doo, to boost the show's ratings. But unfortunately, the fanbase hated him despite being a loyal friend and loved by the main characters and vice-versa.
Scooby-Doo (2002) revealed him as the movie's villain, wanting revenge for Mystery Inc. for them marooning him on the side of the street years ago after he threatened to leave due to not being appointed the leader. This choice could have been a clever satire on the fandom's hate for Scrappy, but instead felt forced due to Mystery Inc.'s and his actions being out of character.
4 The Premise For Jem And The Holograms (2015) Went A More Hackneyed Route
The Jem and the Holograms cartoon could occasionally be somewhat outlandish and cheesy but did well to promote individuality among its demographic. Its plots and science fiction elements were entertaining and riveting, which expanded its appeal to a broad audience.
The movie adaptation in 2015 removed most of the cartoon's sensationalism in favor of being more down-to-earth. On top of that, it went with an all-too-familiar route of kids becoming modern pop singers, which was not only anathema to the original series' core but also an overdone cliché that went against a big part of the show's era.
3 Earthbenders In Avatar: The Last Airbender (2010) Received A Confusing Portrayal
Avatar: The Last Airbender (2010) made several unnecessary changes to what was already a beautiful and funny cartoon. However, the oddest alteration was the portrayal of the Earthbenders and their prison.
The show imprisoned the Earthbenders on a metal ship, thus undermining their spirit and ability, whereas the movie imprisons them in a place surrounded by Earth. Moreover, the cartoon showed just one Earthbender pulling astounding feats and several capable of even more, whereas the film laughably shows it taking five Earthbenders to lift a rock.
2 A Fairly Odd Movie: Grow Up Timmy Turner Deviated From A Significant Rule Of The Lore
A significant story element in The Fairly OddParents cartoon was that when Timmy grew too old, he would have to give up his fairies, Cosmo and Wanda, and forget he ever had them. Despite his initial fear, Timmy accepts the inevitability.
In 2011, Nickelodeon released a live-action TV movie where a 23-year-old Timmy has refused to grow up and continues to keep his fairies and is somehow still in elementary school, despite this premise going entirely against the rules. Moreover, this aspect would start a slippery slope for the cartoon, leading to it forgetting the idea of Timmy accepting growing up.
1 Kim Possible (2019) Misunderstood Its Title Character
Disney Channel's original Kim Possible series was loved by many due to its witty humor backed by stellar voice actors. Despite the titular hero being the ace at virtually everything and not a particularly compelling character, she was relatable due to her slew of emotions.
In 2019, Disney Channel released a made-for-TV live-action movie 12 years after the cartoon ended. Despite the trailers showing little promise, the film didn't turn out as poorly as people expected. However, a significant part of its problem lies in Kim's character, which is too forgettable to connect with the audience due to lacking the various emotions associated with her animated counterpart.