Respecting The Source Material

Except When You Don't

I was going to make this about that second volume of Fate: The Winx Saga, but it stuck to other ideas.

Context

A fan of the Winx franchise and I had a few conversations on the directions the graphic novels take in contrast to the TV show Fate: The Winx Saga. One character was retconned to be the lead’s sister and they…

You know what that doesn’t really matter.

It pretty much turned into a bit of stuff that I wasn’t comfortable being in. Personally I never really watched the show these graphic novels were based on. Not because I preferred 4Kids or Nickelodeon’s takes on Winx. But because it felt like it was trying to be like Riverdale’s first season.

Basically more teen angst and the existential kind of weird with no fun. Even Riverdale had that in between. Instead I just knew the show’s reputation. Great acting and unique takes on characters with a weighty emotional core and momentum. But way too many times of trying to ground the more fantastic stuff. Basically trying to make the fairies more like the Celtic fae. You know, the stuff where fairies are basically aliens nobody can relate to. The show can be like that too, sometimes with human characters.

But that also meant I couldn’t connect with this fan on a familiar level. They loved that show with a passion. And they only found disappointment with graphic novels that I loved because it went in a direction they didn’t like. After I recommended it to them at that.

Why Does This Happen?

I was ready to meet people who wouldn’t get the same enjoyment that I would. Opinions are opinions. But when I couldn’t notice a certain character this fan wanted to know about because she wasn’t too important at the time, it felt like I let this fan down or betrayed their trust.

I didn’t have the same passions and from what they said, it looks like the writer of the GNs or Winx franchise owner Rainbow did either. Or at least, not the way they saw it.

Olivia Cuartero-Briggs wanted to include one character from the Winx Saga’s source material that didn’t appear in the show but was denied by Rainbow. Maybe that was the case with two other characters too. A lot of things were behind closed doors and off in their own world. Not even sharing space at one convention.

Put simply, they approved of some things like the direction this fan didn’t like.

This is really just something that happens all of the time in people’s favorite media. People expect them to go one way and complain that they’ve been cheated out of their anticipation. Star Wars deals with this all of the time.

Side Rant

But what broke the camel’s back with me about this fan was how they complained that Mad Cave should respond to the feedback and make the changes that would put them back on the tracks they want.

This is something I just don’t have patience for. I have seen great creative takes where some of the most out-of-the-box thinking ways of experiencing a story was changed in the climax because enough people prefer safer, familiar methods. At worst, this is bullying people who have worked their hardest to try and evoke their enjoyment of creating a story. At best, people were up against a wall because they couldn’t find a big enough audience. Often because of the people in charge of marketing and distribution.

I know from experience that when it comes to licensed content like this, publishers couldn’t care less about reception. This is just another way to extend their brand to another audience. It’s just that unlike Paramount+’s take on Halo, this sequel to the show focuses feeling consistent.

Only The Spirit Matters

I was originally going to insert something about the Witches and Flying Monkeys from the Wizard of Oz. But now I…just don’t think it will fit.

Instead I’ll leave some things about How To Train Your Dragon.

What's the Deal with Movies Changing the Original Story?

This is pretty much my experience with Fate: The Winx Saga as a casual observer. Rather than be attached to the show, I got to experience the emotional core that fans of said show enjoyed. All without context but feeling every effect that came before.

While I can understand things like the disappointment that comes from things taking another turn, does that really ruin the experience? Maybe in one way. But is that really so important?

Because if you think it is, what if you’re asking the wrong questions?

Like what? Did you love the idea of something more than what it really is? What it represents?

Here’s My Example

Now I can bring up the Wizard of Oz! When I was a kid, I saw the scene with the flying monkeys and it freaked me out quite a bit. When I saw Wicked (the musical), seeing them again in that painful and enraged state from growing wings brought out that fear.

Then I saw Skottie Young illustrating L. Frank Baum’s original story in comic form. I found out that even the Wicked Witch feared them and only kept them at bay with a magic hat. Something about an elemental part of Oz, fearing those simians brought out a connection I could never feel in those other adaptations.

She even had easier minions under her command

By that same token, I could see the Witches, Good and Wicked, in a new light. They were more like the fae that the original Fate: The Winx Saga was going for. A sense of morality that no human could hope to understand. They just…were.

Problem is, the dialogue and written words of Baum’s story were a chore to get through. So despite getting a sense of wonder of what Oz and its neighboring fairylands had in store, I couldn’t enjoy how the story was told.

How Mediums Tell The Story

It’s the same with How To Train Your Dragon, the book. While the book used the strengths of the written word to its advantage through Hiccup being able to speak with the dragons, Dreamworks’ movie couldn’t use that as effectively. They had to go with a visual spectacle as well as how characterizations would change.

Fate: The Winx Saga is the same. At least when it comes to working in limitations. Rainbow seems to have given up on investing any more than necessary into Fate. Hence why they let the IP be someone else’s problem and didn’t want any more familiar characters showing up.

So Cuartero-Briggs had to work out a new angle. Often using comics wide perspectives to evoke camera wide shots. As well as using whatever’s necessary to deliver the impact and sell the effects the show brings over.

Enjoy At Your Own Pace

At the end of the day, the most anyone can really do is enjoy something for what it is. It can be very hard when it could’ve been more. But maybe what sticks with you is more than enough.

Being a fan of something often means dealing with levels of enjoyment you just can’t relate to. Because how you reflect on what you love is a story only you can tell.