Adapt or Perish

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**Adapt or Perish**

Whether it’s stage to screen, book to television, comic to blockbuster, or movie to musical and back again, this podcast leaves no adaptation unturned.

Latest Episodes:

Mary Poppins (Ep. 36) Feb 12, 2019

Show notes

In this practically perfect episode of Adapt or Perish, we discuss P.L. Travers' Mary Poppins!

For this episode, we read and watched:

P.L. Travers' original novel, published in 1934, the first in the Mary Poppins series which ran until 1988. Read it on iBooks or Amazon.
Walt Disney's Mary Poppins, 1964, directed by Robert Stevenson, written by Bill Walsh and Don DaGradi, with music by Richard and Robert Sherman. Starring Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke, and David Tomlinson. Watch it on iTunes or Amazon.
Saving Mr. Banks, 2013, directed by John Lee Hancock, written by Kelly Marcel and Sue Smith, and starring Emma Thompson as P.L. Travers and Tom Hanks as Walt Disney. Watch it on iTunes or Amazon.
Mary Poppins Returns, 2018, directed by Rob Marshall, written by David Magee, music by Marc Shaiman, and starring Emily Blunt, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ben Whishaw, and Emily Mortimer. Pre-order it on iTunes and Amazon.

Footnotes:

Mr. Snuffleupagus and "The Child Psychology of Sesame Street"
Our own episode on A Wrinkle in Time
Also, our very own episode on Roald Dahl and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Mr. Rogers reads the lyrics to "What Do You Do With The Mad That You Feel?" for the United States Senate Subcommittee on Communications in 1969
The Pleiades and Neil Gaiman's Stardust
Bedknobs and Broomsticks
"Dick Van Dyke: 'Someone should have told me to work on my cockney accent'" from The Guardian
Dick Van Dyke's 90th Birthday Flash Mob + Sing-A-Long
Marni Nixon (not to be confused with Marti Noxon)

You can follow Adapt or Perish on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, and you can find us and all of our show notes online at adaptorperishcast.com.

If you want to send us a question or comment, you can email us at adaptorperishcast@gmail.com or tweet using #adaptcast.

Airplane! (Ep. 35) Jan 29, 2019

Show notes

In this episode of Adapt or Perish, we discuss Airplane!

You can also hear us on the Sherlock Holmes-themed podcast I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere to discuss our own Sherlock Holmes episodes. We appeared on Episode 160: "Adapting Sherlock Holmes," and we hope you give their show a listen!

For this episode, we watched and discussed:

Airplane!, the 1980 spoof, written and directed by Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, and Jerry Zucker, and starring Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty, Leslie Nielsen, Peter Graves, Lloyd Bridges, and Robert Stack. Watch it on iTunes and Amazon.
Zero Hour!, 1957, directed by Hall Bartlett, written by Arthur Hailey, and starring Dana Andrews, Linda Darnell, and Sterling Hayden. Watch it on iTunes.
Airport 1975, 1974, directed by Jack Smight, written by Don Ingalls, and starring Karen Black, Charlton Heston, and George Kennedy. Watch it on iTunes and Amazon.

Footnotes:

AFI's 100 Years…100 Laughs
The Airport movie series: Airport, Airport 1975, Airport '77, and The Concorde…Airport '79
Mel Brooks' The Producers (1967)
Billy Wilder's The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970)
The Kentucky Fried Movie (and Robot Chicken)
The combined filmography of Zucker, Abrahams, and Zucker
Leslie Nielsen's screen test for Ben-Hur
Side-by-side comparison: Zero Hour! (1957) Vs Airplane! (1980)
CDC: Say No to Raw Dough!
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)
Helen Reddy, and our episode on Pete's Dragon

You can follow Adapt or Perish on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, and you can find us and all of our show notes online at adaptorperishcast.com.

If you want to send us a question or comment, you can email us at adaptorperishcast@gmail.com or tweet using #adaptcast.

So there.

Romeo and Juliet (Ep. 34) Jan 15, 2019

Show notes

In this episode of Adapt or Perish, we discuss William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet!

For this episode, we watched and discussed:

Romeo and Juliet (1936), directed by George Cukor, and starring Leslie Howard and Norma Shearer, with John Barrymore and Basil Rathbone. Watch on iTunes.
Romeo and Juliet (1968), directed by Franco Zeffirelli, and starring Leonard Whiting and Olivia Hussey, with Michael York and Robert Stephens. Watch on iTunes and Amazon.
BBC Television Shakespeare: Romeo & Juliet (1978), the first episode of BBC Television Shakespeare, which ran from 1978 to 1985, and attempted to film and televise the complete works of Shakespeare. This episode was directed by Alvin Rakoff, and starred Patrick Ryecart and Rebecca Saire, with Alan Rickman and John Gielgud.
Romeo + Juliet (1996), directed by Baz Luhrmann, and starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes, with John Leguizamo and Pete Postlethwaite. Watch on iTunes and Amazon.
Romeo & Juliet (2013), directed by Carlo Carlei, adapted by Julian Fellowes, starring Douglas Booth and Hailee Steinfeld, with Stellan Skarsgård and Paul Giamatti. Watch on iTunes and Amazon.

Footnotes:

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged), written by Adam Long, Daniel Singer, and Jess Winfield. Watch it on Amazon. Seriously, watch it.
Reynard the Fox
Our episodes on The Princess Bride and Sherlock Holmes
ADR or automated dialogue replacement

You can follow Adapt or Perish on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, and you can find us online at adaptorperishcast.com.

If you want to send us a question or comment, you can email us at adaptorperishcast@gmail.com or tweet using #adaptcast.

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (Ep. 33) Jan 01, 2019

Show notes

In this episode of Adapt or Perish, we discuss C.S. Lewis' The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe!

For this episode, we read and watched:

C.S. Lewis' original novel, part two of The Chronicles of Narnia. Read on iBooks or Amazon.
The 1979 animated TV movie, directed by Bill Melendez.
The 1988 BBC series, produced as part of a larger Chronicles of Narnia series, also including Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and The Silver Chair.
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, the 2005 feature film, written and directed by Andrew Adamson, and starring William Moseley, Anna Popplewell, Skandar Keynes, Georgie Henley, Tilda Swinton, James McAvoy, Jim Broadbent, and Liam Neeson. Watch on iTunes or Amazon.

Footnotes:

Here's a bunch of kids killing it in a performance of "Murder Today" from the musical Narnia.
Bedknobs and Broomsticks
Bill Melendez's television work on Peanuts, including A Charlie Brown Christmas.

You can follow Adapt or Perish on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, and you can find us online at adaptorperishcast.com.

If you want to send us a question or comment, you can email us at adaptorperishcast@gmail.com or tweet using #adaptcast.

The Hunt for Red October (Ep. 32) Dec 18, 2018

Show notes

In this episode of Adapt or Perish, we discuss Tom Clancy's The Hunt for Red October! Merry Christmas, everyone!

For this episode, we read and watched:

Tom Clancy's original novel, first published in 1984. Read on iBooks and Amazon.
The 1990 theatrical adaptation, directed by John McTiernan, written by Larry Ferguson, and starring Sean Connery, Alec Baldwin, James Earl Jones, Scott Glenn, Sam Neill, and Courtney B. Vance. Watch on iTunes and Amazon.

Footnotes:

The Naval Institute Press
Judgment at Nuremberg
The many faces of Jack Ryan
Senator Fred Dalton Thompson of Tennessee (and Law & Order)
John McTiernan's relationship with the law
Ghost Recon Wildlands: The Red Dot trailer, directed by John McTiernan
Jeffrey Jones' legal troubles

You can follow Adapt or Perish on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, and you can find us online at adaptorperishcast.com.

If you want to send us a question or comment, you can email us at adaptorperishcast@gmail.com or tweet using #adaptcast.

Where the Wild Things Are & Fantastic Mr. Fox (Ep. 31) Dec 04, 2018

Show notes

In this episode of Adapt or Perish, we discuss Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are and Roald Dahl's Fantastic Mr. Fox!

For this episode, we read and watched:

Maurice Sendak's original picture book, first published in 1963. Buy on Amazon.
Spike Jonze's 2009 live-action feature adaptation. Written by Jonze and Dave Eggers, and starring Max Records, Catherine Keener, Lauren Ambrose, Chris Cooper, James Gandolfini, Catherine O'Hara, and Forest Whitaker. Watch on iTunes or Amazon.
Roald Dahl's original book, first published in 1970. Read on Amazon or iBooks.
Wes Anderson's 2009 stop-motion feature adaptation. Written by Anderson and Noah Baumbach, and starring George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, and Michael Gambon. Watch on iTunes or Amazon.

Footnotes:

Adapt or Perish Episode 22: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
The first trailer for Where the Wild Things Are
Oskar and the Eight Blessings, written by Richard Simon and Tanya Simon, illustrated by Mark Siegel.
Glen Keane Live Animates The Little Mermaid's Ariel
Where The Wild Things Are - Early DISNEY CG Animation Test
"Vern's WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE review 'monsterpiece'!!!!"
A look at the recording of the dialogue in Where the Wild Things Are and Fantastic Mr. Fox
Yes, Roald Dahl was a bigot.

You can follow Adapt or Perish on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, and you can find us online at adaptorperishcast.com.

If you want to send us a question or comment, you can email us at adaptorperishcast@gmail.com or tweet using #adaptcast.

Sherlock Holmes (Ep. 30) Nov 20, 2018

Show notes

In this episode of Adapt or Perish, we discuss Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes! This is the second of three episodes that we're releasing on the character. We covered The Hound of the Baskervilles here.

For this episode, we watched 15 different actors portray the world's greatest detective. Here they are in chronological order, with the piece or pieces that we watched:

Arthur Wontner. He played Holmes in five movies between 1931 and 1937. We watched him in The Sleeping Cardinal (or Sherlock Holmes' Fatal Hour (1931).
Basil Rathbone. He starred as Holmes in 14 movies between 1939 and 1946. We watched him in The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939) and The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939).
Peter Cushing. He starred in movies and television as Holmes from 1959 to 1984. We watched him in The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959) and multiple episodes of Sherlock Holmes (1968).
John Neville. He played Holmes once in A Study in Terror (1965), going up against Jack the Ripper.
Robert Stephens. He starred in Billy Wilder's The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970).
Nicol Williamson. He played Holmes in the film adaptation of Nicholas Meyer's The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (1976), with Robert Duvall as Watson and Alan Arkin as Sigmund Freud.
Christopher Plummer. He played Holmes in Murder by Decree (1979) alongside James Mason as Watson. This was a Jack the Ripper story, too.
Tom Baker. He played Holmes in the serialized BBC production of The Hound of the Baskervilles (1982).
Ian Richardson. He played Holmes in two TV movies, both in 1983: The Sign of Four and The Hound of the Baskervilles.
Peter O'Toole. He provided the voice for Holmes in three animated movies in 1983. We watched Sherlock Holmes and a Study in Scarlet.
Jeremy Brett. He played the character in 41 episodes of Sherlock Holmes for Granada Television between 1984 and 1994. This show has been watched multiple times by our hosts.
Charlton Heston. He played Holmes on stage (1980) and TV (1991) in The Crucifer of Blood.
James D'Arcy. He played Holmes once in the TV movie Sherlock: Case of Evil in 2002.
Rupert Everett. He starred as Holmes in the BBC One TV movie Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stocking in 2004.
Robert Downey Jr. He starred with Jude Law as Watson in both Sherlock Holmes (2009) and its sequel, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011).

You can follow Adapt or Perish on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, and you can find us online at adaptorperishcast.com.

If you want to send us a question or comment, you can email us at adaptorperishcast@gmail.com or tweet using #adaptcast.

Pete's Dragon (Ep. 29) Nov 06, 2018

Show notes

In this episode of Adapt or Perish, we discuss Disney's Pete's Dragon!

For this episode, we watched and discussed:

The original 1977 movie musical, directed by Don Chaffey, written by Malcolm Marmorstein, and starring Helen Reddy, Jim Dale, Mickey Rooney, Red Buttons, and Shelley Winters. Watch on iTunes or Amazon.
The 2016 remake, written and directed by David Lowery, starring Bryce Dallas Howard, Robert Redford, Karl Urban, Wes Bentley, Oona Laurence, and Oakes Fegley. Watch on iTunes or Amazon.

Footnotes:

The Passamaquoddy
World record-holder Jim Dale
"From My Own True Love (Lost At Sea)" by The Decemberists
The Disney remake craze, including Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, The Jungle Book, The Lion King, and Aladdin
The post-Disney career of Don Bluth
The films of David Lowery: Ain't Them Bodies Saints, A Ghost Story, and The Old Man & the Gun
Okkervil River

You can follow Adapt or Perish on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, and you can find us online at adaptorperishcast.com.

If you want to send us a question or comment, you can email us at adaptorperishcast@gmail.com or tweet using #adaptcast.

Frankenstein (Ep. 28) Oct 23, 2018

Show notes

Happy Halloween! In this very special, spooky episode of Adapt or Perish, we discuss Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus!

For this episode, we read, watched, and discussed:

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's original 1818 novel, celebrating it's 200th anniversary this year! Read it on iBooks or Amazon.
Frankenstein, 1931, directed by James Whale, starring Colin Clive as Henry Frankenstein and Boris Karloff as the monster. Watch it on iTunes or Amazon.
The Bride of Frankenstein, 1935, directed by Whale, starring Clive and Karloff as Frankenstein and the monster, with Elsa Lanchester as both Mary Shelley and the titular bride. Watch it on iTunes or Amazon.
The Curse of Frankenstein, 1957, the Hammer Film Production, directed by Terence Fisher, starring Peter Cushing as Victor Frankenstein and Christopher Lee as the monster. Watch it on iTunes or Amazon.
Frankenstein: The True Story, the 1973 made for television movie, directed by Jack Smight, and written by Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy. It starred Leonard Whiting as Frankenstein, Michael Sarrazin as the monster, James Mason as Dr. Polidori, and Jane Seymour as "Prima." Don't watch it on Amazon.
Victor Frankenstein, 2015, directed by Paul McGuigan and written by Max Landis. It stars James McAvoy as Frankenstein and Daniel Radcliffe as Igor. Watch on iTunes or Amazon.
Young Frankenstein, 1974, directed by Mel Brooks and written by Brooks and Gene Wilder. Starring Gene Wilder as Frederick Frankenstein and Peter Boyle as the monster. Also starring Marty Feldman, Teri Garr, Madeline Kahn, Cloris Leachman, Kenneth Mars, and Gene Hackman. Watch it on Amazon.
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, 1994, directed by Kenneth Branagh and written by Steph Lady and Frank Darabont. Starring Branagh as Frankenstein, Robert De Niro as the monster, and also starring John Cleese, Tom Hulce, Ian Holm, and Helena Bonham Carter. Watch on iTunes or Amazon.

Footnotes:

Illustrator Bernie Wrightson's Frankenstein, originally published in 1983. Buy it on Amazon.
An epistolary novel, a novel "written as a series of documents."
Gods and Monsters, starring Ian McKellen as James Whale.
You think I'm an idiot, don't you?: Frederick Kerr in "Frankenstein"
Son of Frankenstein, 1939, starring Basil Rathbone as the younger Frankenstein, Karloff as the monster, and Bela Lugosi as "Ygor."
The "Universal Classic Monsters," including Dracula, Frankenstein, The Wolf Man, The Invisible Man, and The Mummy.
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein
Max Landis, of Chronicle, American Ultra, Bright, and Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency.

You can follow Adapt or Perish on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, and you can find us online at adaptorperishcast.com.

If you want to send us a question or comment, you can email us at adaptorperishcast@gmail.com or tweet using #adaptcast.

One Year Spectacular (Ep. 27) Oct 09, 2018

Show notes

In this episode, we look back on one year of Adapt or Perish in our One Year Spectacular!!!

For this episode, we read, watched, and discussed:

Everything ever.

Footnotes:

The McElroy brothers, and their menagerie of podcasts, including: Sawbones, The Adventure Zone, and My Brother, My Brother, and Me.
Buffering the Vampire Slayer, a bi-weekly podcast discussing every episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer in order.
How Did This Get Made?, one of the original bad movie podcasts.
I'm Horrified. "Enter an abyss of lighthearted panic and heartfelt hysteria with a podcast that explores the ups and downs of being alive in 2018 (all through the lense of two unconscionably anxious women). The world is chaos: be horrified with us."
Serial and 99% Invisible, two of the best produced podcasts we've ever heard.
Smodcast, Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier's podcast.
Doug Loves Movies, Doug Benson's movie podcast.

You can follow Adapt or Perish on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, and you can find us online at adaptorperishcast.com.

If you want to send us a question or comment, you can email us at adaptorperishcast@gmail.com or tweet using #adaptcast.

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