The Best Movies Adapted from a Television Series

When South Park burst onto the scene in the late nineties, everyone had their own opinion about it. Hilarious and offensive. Witty and controversial. The TV show pushed the boundaries of the type of humor you could get away with on television more than the Simpson's and before Family Guy. After several seasons on the air, the creators decided it was time for a movie version. No bleeps, no edits, the movie would be a two hour version of the television show, only with an epic story peppered with creative musical numbers.

Virtually every character from the TV show is on hand to take part in the battle against Saddam Hussein and his lover, Satan. The movie is able to unleash its characters onto the audience like never before, setting the Guinness Book of World Records for The Most Swear Words in an Animated Movie with 399 profane words. Matt Stone and Trey Parker make sure that every major character has a turn in the spotlight, keeping certain themes from the TV show alive; Cartman's dislike for Kyle and his religion being one and Kenny's obligatory death being another. The animation is slicker, having a bigger budget gave them a lot of opportunity to make the animation sharper and even attracting a somewhat celebrity cast, something that was rare on the TV show. George Clooney, Minnie Driver and Dave Foley all lend their voices for different characters throughout the film, while James Hetfield of Metallica fame has a singing cameo.

South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut was a box office success, making $22,875,023 in it's debut during Independence Day weekend, making back it's budget within it's first four days of release. Not only is it a very funny film, it stays true to its roots. The characters still have their individual traits, which is what the show is all about. There were plans for a second film but it was scrapped and instead cut down to the Imagination-land Trilogy because Matt and Trey felt it wasn't working out as a full length feature film. I have a feeling in the near future a second film will be made, and with the shows turn in the last several years delving into parody and politics, it should make for quite an experience. Until then, we still have a couple more seasons left of the great television show.

Another film based off of a television series is Serenity, which was based on the short lived television series on FOX. Joss Whedon, hot off of Buffy the Vampire and wrapping up Angel, began a new television series unlike anything he had ever done before. Firefly was a sci-fi series that followed Captain Mal Reynolds, who led a team of space pirates aboard the Firefly-class space ship Serenity. The show had a western feel, and even though it had a space setting, there weren't any aliens. As with Joss Whedon's other projects, the story was about the characters. We got to see them at their highest and lowest points, but unfortunately, the series was canceled before the entire season could be aired. During the next couple of years Joss Whedon knew his series had a solid fan base, and set out to make a film to wrap up plot threads and to possibly branch out into making it into a film series.

All of the actors were on hand to reprise their roles from the television series, as well as the creative team behind the series. With a bigger budget, Serenity is able to up the ante when it comes to action and special effects, but like the television series, the focus is on the characters. Whedon is known for letting his characters achieve some sort of happiness, only to rip it away by either injuring, killing or breaking up certain characters. The film is no different as two major characters are killed and there isn't a single crew member aboard the Serenity that is left unscathed by the end of the film. Another trait Whedon is known for is leaving his characters with some sort of hope. Nothing comes easy for the characters, but there is always some semblance of hope by the end of the story. The film gives the fans closure on a lot of the dangling plot threads from the TV series, while keeping it open in case the film was a success and a sequel could be made.

Serenity didn't set the Box Office on fire, but it was made for the fans who had stuck by the series. The television series wasn't a huge hit, so the film version wasn't expected to make record breaking numbers. It sold very well on DVD so we may get some direct-to-DVD sequels someday, but most of the cast and creators have moved on to other things. For those wanting more stories on the crew of the Serenity, a comic series has been created to follow the adventures of the characters as well as special prequel issues to bring the characters and their stories full circle.

Sources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firefly_%28TV_series%29,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serenity_%28Firefly_vessel%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Park
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Park:_Bigger,_Longer_%26_Uncut