What do Snow White and Cowboy Bebop have in common? The live action adapations of their groundbreaking animated counterparts were terrible.
Yet, there are some short but sweet live action tributes animated favorites that are delightful.
The Simpsons Opening Sequence Promo
In 2005 a live action opening sequence promo for UK’s Sky One recreated the classic opening sequence of The Simpsons. The London area fills in for Springfield as live actors fill in for the family. It is nearly spot on, too, and Matt Groening later used it as an actual intro for one episode in 2006.
The Voices Behind SpongeBob
This one has circulated plenty of times, so it is likely you’ve already seen it. If not, this was done for the 20th birthday celebration of the character SpongeBob SquarePants in 2019 on Nickelodeon. It showed a mix of animation and the voices behind the characters — Tom Kenny, Bill Fagerbakke, Clancy Brown, Carolyn Lawrence and Rodger Bumpass. This is a good look at the talent of voice acting.
Sakomoto Days Live Action Battle
This one is a little different, because this live action adaptation of the current hit anime came out eight months ago..to promote the original manga. Now that the anime is popular, this is gaining popularity. It stars well-known Japanese stuntwoman Saori Izawa as the character Shin. Yes, a 31-year-old woman is playing a 20-year-old man, but her moves make her a high-demand stunt double. So really, this more of a tribute to a manga that is about to be an anime. Yet, it is still better than many live action anime adaptations.
Beavis and Butt-Head as “real people” on SNL
I know Saturday Night Live just isn’t the comedy lead it used to be, but there is a rare winner. Ryan Gosling and Mikey Day somehow managed to nail the look of Mike Judges’s Beavis and Butt-Head so well, they wore their Beavis and Butt-Head garb to the red carpet event for the movie Fall Guy. The actors in the skit couldn’t even keep a straight face. This is the kind of content SNL needs to do again, and for us Gen-X MTV viewers, well done guys.
Pokemon Nature Documentaries
An animator who goes by the name EnlargedKai, has a created a wonderful series of Planet Earth style nature documentaries about Pokemon, called Pokéarth. These are so adorable, and there are several different narrators that make it believeable. The ones with the proper British voiceover are especially nifty. You almost forget these aren’t real.
RE:ANIME’s One Punch Man short
I am ending with this one, because anime super fan and filmmaker Nik Shaw shares the frustration many of us have with poorly created live action adaptations of anime. His goal is to show how great these could be if a loyal fans of the source material created them. Since Season 3 of One Punch Man is coming out soon, this is a great opportunity to keep his fun content circulating. Special kudos to actors Alfred Hsing and Yoshi Sudarso for their portrayals of Saitama and Genos.
Keep in mind these aren’t made with big Hollywood production value, but the spirit is closer to the source than any big budget I’ve seen. These are “made by fans for fans.” and that’s what matters.
Yes, you can do a fun and respectful live action tribute to an animated source or comic. These rules seem to work: Keep it short. Keep it simple and keep it fun.