Welcome to the new world, where the latest Hollywood blockbuster will be available for streaming right away. Unless the quarantine clears up and things return to normal (don’t count on it), this will be our reality for most of if not all of 2020. There have been a handful of big releases that have already hit platforms (it was just announced that the Hamilton musical is coming to Disney+), and this week marks the latest that is sure to please the kids and get them laughing as they wade through the misery of not being able to live a normal life.
Scoob (2020) is the latest film to adapt the Scooby Doo franchise into a cinematic form. From watching trailers, it looks like it will be the upbeat antidote that we need to at least laugh for an evening, taking in some time with everyone’s favorite crime-solving dog. There looks to be wacky hijinks and plenty of out of this world action.
While I can’t say that I’m the target audience for Scoob, it does seem like another delightful adaptation of a TV series. This got me thinking about what other great movies have been made from the boob tube, creating a feature-length episode that works as its own extended narrative. To be more specific, I wanted to look at ANIMATED adaptations, like Scoob, that take the subject matter and finds something meaningful enough to spend 90 minutes with. That is why I’m not going to look at films that have live-action components, such as SpongeBob SquarePants: Sponge Out of Water (2015) or Detective Pikachu (2019). It has to be entirely animated, simple as that.
So in honor of Scoob, the following is a rundown of some of my favorites that have made the leap to the big screen and brought with it a fascinating new perspective on a familiar story.
1. A Goofy Movie (1995)
Based On: Goof Troop
Thanks to a recent 25th anniversary celebration that included a watch-along with director Kevin Lima, love for this Disney offshoot has grown in recent weeks. Whereas we have yet to get a feature-length movie focused around any other Disney legend, the choice to look at the internal life of Goofy as he raises his son Max is a downright charming idea for a movie. While Max may be the quintessential 90s kid with a backward baseball cap and skateboarding, there is more to him than your typical rebel. This is a story of mismatched personalities doing everything in their power to not kill each other while on a road trip across America.
For Goofy, their destination is Lake Destiny. It’s a place where peace and quiet will allow them to bond in ways reminiscent of his own childhood. For Max, it’s a stop off in Los Angeles to see a Powerline concert to impress his friends. It’s a perfect film about the generation gap while servicing as a story of two disparaging personalities learning to understand and love each other’s differences. Even as Goofy bumbles his way through life clueless, he remains as charming as ever and reminds us how durable these characters are. Whereas films like Space Jam (1996) failed to contemporize a legacy property for all audiences, it’s easy for those young and old to appreciate what this story achieves.
Not only that, but it’s one of the secret weapons in Disney’s songbook. From the opening song, the last day of school anthem “After Today,” to its closing, we’re treated to one of the most kinetic books in their library. With songs about highways (“On the Open Road”) and possums (“Lester’s Possum Park”), no topic is off-limits and it makes for one of those adaptations that achieve the ultimate goal: making a film that works as more than another episode of Goof Troop. It may be a subsidiary released by Disney, but it deserves much more respect in their bigger canon.
2. South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999)
Based On: South Park
I want to see a show of hands. How many people were turned onto musicals because of this movie? The profane world of Matt Stone and Trey Parker has since become an institution for irreverent humor, producing some of the most biting social commentaries of the past 20 years. Even then, the chance to hear these cut-out characters go into an insane plot while singing parodies of everything from Beauty and the Beast (1991) to Les Misérables, it’s a showcase for how satire can be effectively used within the musical medium. It isn’t just that this film holds some records for profanity. It’s that it does so through songs that build a quasi-incest joke song into a closing motif directly out of Oklahoma!
It ultimately works and is only a teaser for Stone and Parker’s turn on Broadway with The Book of Mormon. Even then, the fact that this produced an Oscar-nominated song in “Blame Canada” showed how they were masters of songs that were equal parts hilarious and appalling. The story was equally strange, finding a story of Saddam Hussein in a gay love affair with The Devil while the parents of South Park are trying to ban a movie for its crude humor.
It’s ultimately a commentary on censorship by not allowing anything to go gently. As a result, it pushes buttons, offending just about anyone with a moral core, and does so with such confidence that you can’t just help but applaud. Even the tamer songs like “What Would Brian Boitano Do?” will get stuck in your head, finding emotion in dumb ideas like v-chip implants and Boitano fighting grizzly bears. If I’m being honest, even the closing credits are worth sticking around for if just to hear other joke songs like “Through the Eyes of Child,” which is wonderfully earnest and a good punchline for those patient enough to not just run out of a theater. While the show has arguably waned since this will always be the peak of what it sought out to do at a time when every last joke could have its full impact. It’s not just a great South Park movie. It’s a fun musical.
3. The End of Evangelion (1997)
Based On: Neon Genesis Evangelion
For American audiences, the ability to watch Neon Genesis Evangelion got a major boost in 2019 thanks to Netflix streaming the entire series as well as the concluding film. Unlike the other entries on this list, you will need to have an idea of what the show is about to understand anything that follows. It’s a manic conclusion, mixing everything that made the series an excellent mix of monster battles and deeper existential debates between characters. It was the surreal masterpiece, making one see the potential of animation in a more complicated and adult way.
With that said, most will feel the same way about its abrupt ending that could be described as happy. It wasn’t entirely satisfying and thus the need for The End of Evangelion became more than a cash cow rewrite. It’s the type of story that is so artful and strange, fitting in battles alongside a conclusion that couldn’t be spoiled if you try. Even if you understand what the show is about, it will not make sense because it’s beautiful but ultimately overwhelming in ways that make you see the potential of animation as this abstract way of dealing with our internal lives. There’s a good reason that the closing credits appear midway through the film. After the last 20 minutes, nothing could ever compare to what you just witnessed. It’s a satisfying conclusion to one of the most emotionally rich animated series ever created.
4. Shaun the Sheep Movie (2015)
Based On: Shaun the Sheep
While most will love Aardman Animation’s more popular Wallace & Gromit series, there’s something to be said about their Claymation counterparts that involve mischievous sheep who go on crazy adventures. In a time where every story has to be packed with witty jokes and broad humor, there is something to be loved about Shaun the Sheep Movie’s ability to turn this story into something rare: a silent film. That isn’t to say that music or sound effects don’t improve the story, but this is a work more in line with Charles Chaplin or Harold Lloyd than Disney or Pixar. It’s about what can be achieved visually, and you come out the other end feeling amazed that a film like this could exist.
It may not be the most revolutionary movie ever made, but there is so much to love about this day in the life that slowly unwinds. The sheep go on adventures into town and fight farmers in a way that will keep you delighted, finding ways to appeal to every audience member with a simple smirk and swing of a slapstick gag. There is a reason that it produced a sequel in Farmaggedon (2019), finding ways to expand this story and take them literally out of this world. For what it lacks in memorable dialogue, it more than makes up for in elaborate choreography made all the more impressive by a painstaking Claymation technique. Aardman always delivers, but even this is a high point in their lengthy career.
5. Beavis and Butt-head Do America (1996)
Based On: Beavis and Butt-head
To some, there is a struggle to explain what was so special about Beavis and Butt-head because on the surface it was the dumbest, most pointless show in the world. Even if its creator, Mike Judge, would go on to produce some of TV and film’s greatest satires, his debut series was this manic look into nihilism, more known for riffing on other people’s music videos than living a fulfilled life. It was anticlimactic and lacked any aspiration. The humor was almost drawn by how little got done in the span of any 5-10 minute segment. If you weren’t a young latchkey kid in the 90s, this is a foreign world. You either accept it as a satire of its generation or an indictment.
That is what makes the film such a fun oddity. It’s a road movie that hits all of the high notes in the characters’ lives. The story is prompted into motion when their TV gets stolen, forcing them to find out where it went. In that time they get involved with government conspiracies and become amused by motion sensor urinals. They party in Las Vegas, NV, and laugh at “Petrified Wood.” It’s that kind of movie, and rarely has its deadpan idiocy been this streamlined in a way that’s downright entertaining. It’s a story where Beavis and Butt-head become agents for the A.T.F. in a meeting with Bill Clinton. It’s very 90s, but not in a bad way.
With Scoob coming out today, I wouldn’t mind hearing what are some of your favorite animated movies based on TV adaptations. There are tons to pull from and I’ve only scratched the surface here. Do you think that Scoob will join the ranks of the all-time greats, or is it going to be another stinker? Feel free to share your opinions in the comments.
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