Adapt or Perish

With Episode 134, we're back with a new co-host and a look at the many adaptations of Super Mario Bros., one of the most popular video game franchises of all time!

In this episode, we discuss:

• The Super Mario franchise, which kicked off with 1985's Super Mario Bros.
• Super Mario Bros.: The Great Mission to Rescue Princess Peach!, the 1986 animated movie directed by Masami Hata and written by Hideo Takayashiki
• Amada Anime Series: Super Mario Bros., the 1989 live action/animated series of animated specials written and directed by Juri Yagi
• The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, the 1989 series created by Andy Heyward, developed by Bruce Shelly, Reed Shelly, Bob Forward, and Phil Harnage, and starring Lou Albano and Danny Wells
• The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World, the 1990 and 1991 animated series developed by Reed Shelly and Bruce Shelly
• Super Mario Bros., the 1993 theatrical movie directed by Rocky Morton and Annabel Jankel, written by Parker Bennett, Terry Runté, and Ed Solomon, and starring Bob Hoskins, John Leguizamo, Dennis Hopper, and Samantha Mathis
• The Super Mario Bros. Movie, the 2023 animated theatrical movie directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic, written by Matthew Fogel, and starring Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Day, and Jack Black

Footnotes:

• "Doki-Doki Do It" by Mirai Douji
• Captain N: The Game Master
• "Do the Mario!"
• Super Mario Bros: This Ain't No Video Game (2014)
• David Byrne's self-interview for Stop Making Sense
• "Elvis is Everywhere" by Mojo Nixon
• Super Mario Bros: The Morton Jankel Cut
• Videogamedunkey's review of The Super Mario Bros. Movie

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

We're also on Patreon! You can find us at patreon.com/adaptcast. We have multiple reward levels, which include access to a patron-only community and a patron-only, bonus show! We hope to see you there.

If you want to send us a question or comment, you can always email us at [email protected].

Season's greetings and happy holidays from Adapt or Perish! It's that time of year, so we're back with our fourth look at A Christmas Carol, and 10 more screen adaptations of the Charles Dickens classic.

Our previous Christmas Carol episodes:

• Part 1 on the web, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Overcast
• Part 2 on the web, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Overcast
• Part 3 on the web, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Overcast

In this episode, we discuss:

• A Carol Christmas, the 2003 Hallmark TV movie directed by Matthew Irmas, written by Tom Amundsen, and starring Tori Spelling, Gary Coleman, and William Shatner
• Barbie in A Christmas Carol, the 2008 animated movie directed by William Lay, written by Elisa Allen, and starring Kelly Sheridan and Morwenna Banks
• Doctor Who: A Christmas Carol, the 2010 Doctor Who Christmas special directed by Toby Haynes, written by Steven Moffat, and starring Matt Smith, Michael Gambon, Karen Gillan, and Arthur Darvill
• It's Christmas, Carol!, the 2012 Hallmark TV movie directed by Michael M. Scott, written by Christopher Sey and William Penick, and starring Emmanuelle Vaugier and Carrie Fisher
• The Man Who Invented Christmas, the 2017 theatrical movie directed by Bharat Nalluri, written by Susan Coyne, and starring Dan Stevens, Christopher Plummer, and Jonathan Pryce
• A Christmas Carol, the 2020 modern dance adaptation written and directed by David Morris and Jacqui Morris, starring Simon Russell Beale, Carey Mulligan, Andy Serkis, Daniel Kaluuya, Martin Freeman, and Siân Phillips
• Christmas Carole, the 2022 TV special directed by Ian Fitzgibbon, written by Anil Gupta and Richard Pinto, and starring Suranne Jones
• A New Diva's Christmas Carol, the 2022 TV movie directed by Rusty Cundieff, written by Aydrea Walden, starring Ashanti, Vivica A. Fox, and Robin Givens, and adapted from A Diva's Christmas Carol (2000), which we covered in Part 3
• Scrooge: A Christmas Carol, the 2022 animated movie directed by Stephen Donnelly, written by Donnelly and Leslie Bricusse, starring Luke Evans, Olivia Colman, Jessie Buckley, Johnny Flynn, and Jonathan Pryce, and adapted from Scrooge (1970), which we covered in Part 2
• A Christmas Carole: A Ghost Story, the 2022 filmed staging directed by Adam Penford, written by Mark Gatiss, and starring Gatiss and Nicholas Farrell

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

We're also on Patreon! You can find us at patreon.com/adaptcast. We have multiple reward levels, which include access to a patron-only community and a patron-only, bonus show! We hope to see you there.

If you want to send us a question or comment, you can always email us at [email protected].

In Episode 132 of Adapt or Perish, we're taking a trip to Skid Row for a visit to the Little Shop of Horrors!

In this episode, we discuss:

• The Little Shop of Horrors, the 1960 movie directed by Roger Corman, written by Charles B. Griffith, and starring Jonathan Haze, Jackie Joseph, Mel Welles, and Dick Miller
• Little Shop of Horrors, the 1982 musical, book and lyrics by Howard Ashman, music by Alan Menken
• Little Shop of Horrors, the 1986 movie musical directed by Frank Oz, written by Howard Ashman, and starring Rick Moranis, Ellen Greene, Vincent Gardenia, Steve Martin, and Levi Stubbs
• Little Shop, the 1991 cartoon developed by Mark Edward Edens and Ellen Levy-Sarnoff

Footnotes:

• The Little Shop Archive on YouTube
• Hey, Mr. Producer! (1998)
• Hugh Jackman recalls the first time he ever met Dame Judi Dench (from The Graham Norton Show)
• Little Shop of Horrors: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert
• The Filmmaker's Guide to Creatively Embracing Limitations by William R. Pace and Ingrid Stobbe

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

We're also on Patreon! You can find us at patreon.com/adaptcast. We have multiple reward levels, which include access to a patron-only community and a patron-only, bonus show! We hope to see you there.

If you want to send us a question or comment, you can always email us at [email protected].

It's spooky season yet again, so with Episode 131 of Adapt or Perish, we're taking a look at The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde's classic work of Gothic horror!

In this episode, we discuss:

• Oscar Wilde's original 1891 novel
• The 1915 silent movie version, directed by Eugene Moore, and starring Harris Gordon, Helen Fulton, Howard Hickman, and W. Ray Johnston
• The 1945 theatrical movie, written and directed by Albert Lewin, and starring Hurd Hatfield, Donna Reed, Angela Lansbury, and George Sanders
• The 1961 episode of Golden Showcase, directed by Paul Bogart, written by Jacqueline Babbin and Audrey Maas, and starring John Fraser, George C. Scott, Susan Oliver, and Louis Hayward
• Dorian Gray/The Secret of Dorian, the 1970 theatrical movie, directed by Massimo Dallamano, written by Dallamano, Marcello Coscia, and Günter Ebert, and starring Helmut Berger, Herbert Lom, Richard Todd, and Marie Liljedahl
• The 1973 TV movie, directed by Glenn Jordan, written by John Tomerlin, and starring Shane Briant, Charles Kidman, Nigel Davenport, and Fionnula Flanagan
• The 1976 episode of Play of the Month, directed by John Gorrie, written by John Osborne, and starring John Gielgud, Jeremy Brett, and Peter Firth
• The Sins of Dorian Gray, the 1983 TV movie, directed by Tony Maylam, written by Jerome Coopersmith and Peter Lawrence, and starring Anthony Perkins, Belinda Bauer, Olga Karlatos, and Michael Ironside
• Dorian/Pact with the Devil, the 2004 theatrical movie, directed by Allan A. Goldstein, written by Ron Riley and Peter Jobin, and starring Malcolm McDowell, Ethan Erickson, Jennifer Nitsch, and Christoph Waltz
• The 2004 theatrical movie, written and directed by Dave Rosenbaum, and starring Josh Duhamel
• Dorian Gray, the 2009 theatrical movie, directed by Oliver Parker, written by Toby Finlay, and starring Ben Barnes, Colin Firth, Ben Chaplin, Rachel Hurd-Wood, and Rebecca Hall

Footnotes:

• Dorian Gray syndrome
• Stealth Friend of the Pod Billy Bevan
• Monty Python: The Oscar Wilde Sketch
• "Lion Song" by Rosin Coven

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

We're also on Patreon! You can find us at patreon.com/adaptcast. We have multiple reward levels, which include access to a patron-only community and a patron-only, bonus show! We hope to see you there.

If you want to send us a question or comment, you can always email us at [email protected].

With Episode 130 of Adapt or Perish, we're finally tackling the story of the only child who never grew up: Peter Pan!

In this episode, we discuss:

• J.M. Barrie's original 1904 play (Peter Pan; or, the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up) and 1911 novel (Peter and Wendy)
• The 1924 silent movie, directed by Herbert Brenon, written by Willis Goldbeck, and starring Betty Bronson, Ernest Torrence, and Mary Brian
• Walt Disney's Peter Pan, the 1953 animated movie, directed by Hamilton Luske, Clyde Geronimi, and Wilfred Jackson, and starring Bobby Driscoll, Kathryn Beaumont, Hans Conried, and Bill Thompson
• The 1954 musical (and '55, '56, and '60 TV specials), originally directed by Jerome Robbins, music by Moose Charlap and Jule Styne, lyrics by Carolyn Leigh, with Betty Comden and Adolph Green, and starring Mary Martin and Cyril Ritchard
• The 1976 musical TV special, directed by Dwight Hemion, written by Andrew Birkin and Jack Burns, music by Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse, and starring Mia Farrow, Danny Kaye, and John Gielgud
• The 1989 animated series, directed by Yoshio Kuroda, and written by Michiru Shimada and Shun'ichi Yukimuro
• Hook, the 1991 movie, directed by Steven Spielberg, written by Jim V. Hart and Malia Scotch Marmo, and starring Robin Williams, Dustin Hoffman, Julia Roberts, Bob Hoskins, and Maggie Smith
• The 2003 movie, directed by P.J. Hogan, written by Hogan and Michael Goldenberg, and starring Jeremy Sumpter, Jason Isaacs, Richard Briers, and Rachel Hurd-Wood
• Finding Neverland, the 2004 movie, directed by Marc Forster, written by David Magee, and starring Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet, Dustin Hoffman, and Julie Christie
• Peter Pan Live!, the 2014 musical TV special, directed by Rob Ashford and Glenn Weiss, written by Irene Mecchi, and starring Allison Williams and Christopher Walken
• Pan, the 2015 movie, directed by Joe Wright, written by Jason Fuchs, and starring Levi Miller, Hugh Jackman, Garrett Hedlund, and Rooney Mara
• Peter Pan Goes Wrong, the 2016 TV special, written by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, and Henry Shields, and starring David Suchet and Mischief Theatre
• Wendy, the 2020 movie, directed by Benh Zeitlin, written by Zeitlin and Eliza Zeitlin, and starring Devin France, Yashua Mack, Gage Naquin, and Gavin Naquin
• Peter Pan & Wendy, the 2023 movie, directed by David Lowery, written by Lowery and Toby Halbrooks, and starring Jude Law, Alexander Molony, Ever Anderson, Yara Shahidi, Alyssa Wapanatâhk, and Jim Gaffigan

Footnotes:

• Steven Spielberg's mother meets the Rebbe
• Mischief Theatre, creators of The Play That Goes Wrong, Peter Pan Goes Wrong, The Goes Wrong Show, and more.
• "The Play that Goes Wrong performing at The Royal Variety Performance 2015" (our introduction to Mischief Theatre)
• This American Life 699: Fiasco!

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

We're also on Patreon! You can find us at patreon.com/adaptcast. We have multiple reward levels, which include access to a patron-only community and a patron-only, bonus show! We hope to see you there.

If you want to send us a question or comment, you can always email us at [email protected].

We had so much fun discussing Mansfield Park earlier this year, that we made sure to get back to Jane Austen as soon as possible. We're doing that with Episode 129 of Adapt or Perish and a look at Persuasion!

In this episode, we discuss:

• Jane Austen's original 1818 novel
• The 1971 series, directed by Howard Baker, written by Julian Mitchell, and starring Ann Firbank, Bryan Marshall, Basil Dignam, Richard Vernon, and Morag Hood
• The 1995 movie, directed by Roger Michell, written by Nick Dear, and starring Amanda Root, Ciarán Hinds, Corin Redgrave, Fiona Shaw, Samuel West, and Sophie Thompson
• The 2007 TV movie, directed by Adrian Shergold, written by Simon Burke, and starring Sally Hawkins, Rupert Penry-Jones, Anthony Head, Alice Krige, Tobias Menzies, and Nicholas Farrell
• Rational Creatures, the 2019–2022 web series, created by Aileen Barrios Ruiz Pagano, Hazel Jeffs, Anya Steiner, and Jessamyn Leigh, and starring Kristina Pupo, Peter Giessl, Derek Quesada, Gabriela Diaz, and Benjamin Mills
• Modern Persuasion, the 2020 movie, directed by Alex Appel and Jonathan Lisecki, written by Lisecki and Barbara Radecki, and starring Alicia Witt, Shane McRae, Bebe Neuwirth, Mark Moses, and Liza Lapira
• The 2022 movie, directed by Carrie Cracknell, written by Ronald Bass and Alice Victoria Winslow, and starring Dakota Johnson, Cosmo Jarvis, Henry Golding, Nikki Amuka-Bird, and Richard E. Grant

Footnotes:

• Just look at what they did to Sally Hawkins.
• Carrie Cracknell's Wikipedia page

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

We're also on Patreon! You can find us at patreon.com/adaptcast. We have multiple reward levels, which include access to a patron-only community and a patron-only, bonus show! We hope to see you there.

If you want to send us a question or comment, you can always email us at [email protected].

Welcome to the party, old sport! Pour yourself a drink and settle in for Episode 128 of Adapt or Perish, our look at another nominee for Great American Novel™, The Great Gatsby!

In this episode, we discuss:

• F. Scott Fitzgerald's original 1925 novel
• The 1949 theatrical movie, directed by Elliott Nugent, written by Richard Mailbaum and Cyril Hume, and starring Alan Ladd, Betty Field, Macdonald Carey, Shelley Winters, and Howard Da Silva
• The 1974 theatrical movie, directed by Jack Clayton, written by Francis Ford Coppola, and starring Robert Redford, Mia Farrow, Sam Waterston, Bruce Dern, and Karen Black
• The 2000 TV movie, directed by Robert Markowitz, written by John J. McLaughlin, and starring Toby Stephens, Mira Sorvino, Paul Rudd, and Martin Donovan
• The 2013 theatrical movie, directed by Baz Luhrmann, written by Luhrmann and Craig Pearce, and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan, Joel Edgerton, Elizabeth Debicki, and Isla Fisher

Footnotes:

• The lost 1926 Great Gatsby
• Ginevra King (1898–1980)
• William Goldman and Which Lie Did I Tell?

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

We're also on Patreon! You can find us at patreon.com/adaptcast. We have multiple reward levels, which include access to a patron-only community and a patron-only, bonus show! We hope to see you there.

If you want to send us a question or comment, you can always email us at [email protected].

In Episode 127 of Adapt or Perish, we're taking to the high seas for a look at Moby Dick, the classic tale of obsession, revenge, and chapters upon chapters of whale anatomy.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Herman Melville's original 1851 novel
• The Sea Beast, the 1926 theatrical movie, directed by Millard Webb, written by Bess Meredyth, Rupert Hughes, and Jack Wagner, and starring John Barrymore
• The 1930 theatrical movie, directed by Lloyd Bacon, written by Oliver H.P. Garrett, and starring John Barrymore
• The 1956 theatrical movie, directed by John Huston, written by Huston and Ray Bradbury, and starring Gregory Peck, Richard Basehart, Friedrich von Ledebur, and Orson Welles
• The 1998 miniseries, directed by Franc Roddam, written by Roddam, Anton Diether, and Benedict Fitzgerald, and starring Patrick Stewart, Henry Thomas, Piripi Waretini, Ted Levine, and Gregory Peck
• The 1999 animated short, directed by Natalya Orlova, written by Brian Sibley, and starring Rod Steiger
• 2010: Moby Dick, the 2010 direct-to-video movie, directed by Trey Stokes, written by Paul Bales, and starring Barry Bostwick and Renee O'Connor
• The 2011 miniseries, directed by Mike Barker, written by Nigel Williams, and starring William Hurt, Ethan Hawke, Charlie Cox, Eddie Marsan, and Gillian Anderson
• Age of the Dragons, the 2011 theatrical movie, directed by Ryan Little, written by Gil Aglaure, Anne K. Black, and McKay Daines, and starring Danny Glover, Vinnie Jones, and Corey Sevier

Footnotes:

• "The King of the Geezer Teasers: Inside Randall Emmett's direct-to-video empire, where many Hollywood stars have found lucrative early retirement"
• The 1999 animated version of Moby Dick on YouTube
• Ahab's Wife: Or, the Star-Gazer: A Novel by Sena Jeter Naslund

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

We're also on Patreon! You can find us at patreon.com/adaptcast. We have multiple reward levels, which include access to a patron-only community and a patron-only, bonus show! We hope to see you there.

If you want to send us a question or comment, you can always email us at [email protected].

In Episode 126 of Adapt or Perish, we're back for a second discussion about William Shakespeare's Hamlet! This time we're focusing on a selection of what can best be described as the many Hamlet "derivatives" that have been brought to the stage and screen.

In this episode, we discuss:

• To Be or Not to Be (the 1942 theatrical movie), directed by Ernst Lubitsch, written by Lubitsch and Edwin Justus Mayer, and starring Jack Benny, Carole Lombard, Robert Stack, and Sig Ruman
• The Bad Sleep Well (the 1960 theatrical movie), directed by Akira Kurosawa, written by Kurosawa, Hideo Oguni, Eijirō Hisaita, Ryūzō Kikushima, and Shinobu Hashimoto, and starring Toshiro Mifune, Masayuki Mori, and Takashi Shimura
• To Be or Not to Be (the 1983 theatrical movie), directed by Alan Johnson, written by Ronny Graham and Thomas Meehan, and starring Mel Brooks, Anne Bancroft, Charles Durning, Christopher Lloyd, and Tim Matheson
• Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (the 1966 play and the 1990 theatrical movie), both written by Tom Stoppard, who also directed the movie, which starred Gary Oldman, Tim Roth, and Richard Dreyfuss
• The Lion King (the 1994 movie), directed by Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff, written by Irene Mecchi, Jonathan Roberts, and Linda Woolverton, and starring Matthew Broderick, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Jeremy Irons, James Earl Jones, Nathan Lane, and Ernie Sabella
• In the Bleak Midwinter (or A Midwinter's Tale) (the 1995 theatrical movie), written and directed by Kenneth Branagh, and starring Michael Maloney, Richard Briers, Joan Collins, Nicholas Farrell, Celia Imrie, and Julia Sawalha
• Mystery Science Theater 3000 Ep. 194: Hamlet (the 1961 TV movie and the 1999 TV episode), directed by Michael J. Nelson, and starring Nelson, Mary Jo Pehl, Bill Corbett, and Kevin Murphy (while this Hamlet was written and directed by Franz Peter Wirth and starred Maximilian Schell)
• The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) (the 1987 play and the 2000 filmed stage performance), written by the Reduced Shakespeare Company (Adam Long, Daniel Singer, and Jess Winfield) and starring Long, Reed Martin, and Austin Tichenor
• Slings & Arrows (the first season of the 2003–2006 TV series), created by Susan Coyne, Bob Martin, and Mark McKinney, directed by Peter Wellington, and starring Paul Gross, Stephen Ouimette, Martha Burns, McKinney, Coyne, and Rachel McAdams
• Hamlet 2 (the 2008 theatrical movie), directed by Andrew Fleming, written by Fleming and Pam Brady, and starring Steve Coogan, Catherine Keener, Amy Poehler, and Elisabeth Shue
• The Lion King (the 2019 theatrical movie), directed by Jon Favreau, written by Jeff Nathanson, and starring Donald Glover, Chiwetel Ejiofor, James Earl Jones, Beyoncé, Billy Eichner, Seth Rogen, and John Oliver
• Ophelia (the 2019 theatrical movie), directed by Claire McCarthy, written by Semi Chellas, and starring Daisy Ridley, Naomi Watts, Clive Owen, Tom Felton, and George MacKay
• The Northman (the 2022 theatrical movie), directed by Robert Eggers, written by Eggers and Sjón, and starring Alexander Skarsgård, Nicole Kidman, Anya Taylor-Joy, Willem Dafoe, and Ethan Hawke

Footnotes:

• The Spanish Tragedy
• Saxo Grammaticus and the legend of Amleth
• Sir John Everett Millais' "Ophelia"
• Alan Johnson's Solarbabies as covered in Ep. 135 of How Did This Get Made?
• Due South and Passchendaele

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

We're also on Patreon! You can find us at patreon.com/adaptcast. We have multiple reward levels, which include access to a patron-only community and a patron-only, bonus show! We hope to see you there.

If you want to send us a question or comment, you can always email us at [email protected].