Adaptational Context Changes in Live-Action Films.
- Anne of Green Gables: In the book, Matthew collapses and dies from a heart attack in the doorway of Green Gables after hearing the news that the bank where the Cuthberts kept their money has failed. In the 1985 film, he suffers a heart attack while bringing the cows home from the pasture, and dies in Anne's arms after confessing how proud he was of "his little girl".
- Assol: In the original novella, Menners Jr. dismissively tells Grey that Assol is crazy and mocks her dream of the scarlet sails, for no reason other than Kick the Dog. Here, he is in love with Assol himself and calls her crazy to make Grey lose interest in her (instead, it has the exact opposite effect).
- Blood & Chocolate (2007):
- In the film Gabriel wants Vivian as his mate because she's considered the most eligible bachelorette in the pack and is possibly The Chosen One. In the book, while Gabriel does have a crush on Vivian, he wants her as his mate because she accidentally proposes to him by winning a fight against other female pack members (although in the book he respects her initial refusal).
- Aiden seriously injures Vivian in both the book and the film, though the circumstances are very different. In the book Aiden panics and shoots at Gabriel, with Vivian Taking the Bullet. In the film Aiden doesn't recognize Vivian in her wolf form (despite her having just saved him from another wolf) and he slashes her with a silver knife.
- Brideshead Revisited:
- In the novel Julia marries Rex Mottram over her family's objections, exemplifying her independent, rebellious spirit. In the movie, the marriage is the family's idea, and Julia's acquiescence demonstrates how subjugated she is to them.
- In the book, Charles' cousin Jasper warns him off of Anglo-Catholicsnote in general, saying "they're all sodomites with unpleasant accents". In the movie, Jasper makes a similar remark, "Sodomites, all of them!", in specific reference to the Roman Catholic Sebastian and Anthony Blanche. Thus a piece of rhetorical bigotry becomes a specific comment on the characters' sexuality.
- By making Bombalurina into Macavity's partner in crime, Cats twists Macavity The Mystery Cat from a song denouncing his crimes to glorifying them.
- In A Chorus Line, Diana and the other dancers sing What I Did For Love just after Paul's Career-Ending Injury as they ponder their lives should their careers end like that. The film version turns it into a solo for Cassie as she reflects on her career just before Paul's injury.
- Dune (1984): In the original novel Dune, Paul Muad'Dib notes that "[his] own name is a killing word", in reference to the violent fanaticism he has inspired. In the film, it instead refers to a sonic weapon invented by the Atreides in that version before their betrayal, and given to the Fremen. While teaching the Fremen how to use the weapon, one accidentally goes off when a Spear Carrier greets "Muad'Dib", making Paul's line literal as much as symbolic. (Inevitably, a few Fremen use the battle-cry in the final battle.)
- The climactic moment of The Fly (1958), revealing what's become of the fly with Andre's head, has the hybrid shrieking/buzzing "Help me!" as it is trapped in a web, about to be devoured by a spider. In The Fly (1986), which completely rethinks the story to have the protagonist undergo a Slow Transformation into a Half-Human Hybrid, this line becomes the now-disfigured Seth's desperate plea to his lover Veronica for emotional support.
- The final lines of the novel Grendel (after he has had his arm torn off by Beowulf) are "Poor Grendel's had an accident. So may you all,"- a final, spiteful snarl at the readers. In the Animated Adaptation from 1981, the line appears but emits the second sentence, fitting with the film's depiction of Grendel as an innocent child in a Crapsack World, not fully understanding what's happened to him.
- Harry Potter:
- The part of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets where Draco calls Hermione a Mudblood and the subsequent explanation of the term is played for far more drama in the film version. In the book Hermione doesn't know what the word means and the scene is an explanation of the general Fantastic Racism pure blood wizards have against Muggle borns. In the film Hermione already knows what the word means.
- The trial of Barty Crouch Jr in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. In the book, Harry already has foreknowledge that the man was sent to Azkaban and later died. Barty Crouch Sr is clearly shaken and his wife is sobbing away behind him. It's not until later that his guilt is revealed. The film instead has Karkaroff shouting Jr's name out as a shock reveal. Sr's I Have No Son! moment in the book is Played for Drama, where we're supposed to sympathise with Jr. In the film, we're meant to root for Sr. who is horrified and saddened by his deranged son, who is doing little to hide his culpability.
- In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Harry is shown a photograph of the original Order of the Phoenix by Mad-Eye Moody. Harry finds it disturbing, especially since so many of them died shortly after it was taken. In the film version, Sirius shows Harry the photo instead and it's a more tender scene - with Sirius reminiscing on the people he misses.
- Same movie changes context of Sirius's famous "the world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters". In the book Harry suspected Umbridge is a Death Eater because of her cruelty, and when he told Sirius about his suspicions he answered with said quote, meaning that Death Eaters aren't the only evil in the world. In the movie Sirius says it when Harry is doubting himself, and the quote is supposed to mean that no one is really pure good or pure evil. Ironically, substituting "Evil" for "Death Eaters" makes the quote opposite to the original meaning, since it suggests that Death Eaters are all the evil in the world.
- In the book Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Harry asks if Voldemort can feel his Horcruxes being destroyed, saying "they're pieces of his soul", but Dumbledore responds that Voldy has been separated from his fragments for so long that he can't feel them. In the film of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Ron instead says "they're pieces of his soul", but instead arguing that Voldemort should be able to feel their destruction, which in the film he does.
- In the Deathly Hallows book, Ginny intentionally calls Harry into her room to kiss him as a "happy birthday" / going away present and then Ron busts in. In the movie, she asks him to zip her dress up in the middle of the kitchen, they kiss, and then George walks in.
- In Heart of a Dog, Sharikov wants to marry his typist Vasnetsova, and when Preobrazhensky talks her out of it and Sharikov threatens to sack her, Bormental goes livid with rage and says he'll shoot Sharikov if Vasnetsova gets sacked. In the novel, it's simply Bormental being that sick of Sharikov's behavior. However, in the film, Bormental has a longstanding secret crush on Vasnetsova, which adds an explanation for his outburst as he is now being protective of the girl he's in love with rather than a random stranger.
- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005): In the radio series and book adaptation, Arthur tries to tell Marvin about a glorious sunset he's just watched, to which Marvin replies "I've seen it. It's rubbish." In the movie, Marvin says this about a video recording.
- Les Misérables (2012) swaps the order of a few songs around from the musical:
- Fantine sings "I Dreamed A Dream" after she's fired from the factory in the stage version. In the film "Lovely Ladies" happens first and Fantine sings it when she's in despair after becoming a prostitute.
- "The Runaway Cart" takes place after Valjean saves Fantine from arrest onstage, but in the film it takes place just after Fantine loses her job. (In the novel, it happens several years before either of those events, making both the stage and the screen versions examples of this trope to begin with.) Both versions of the scene eventually lead to the reveal that a lookalike has been wrongly arrested in Valjean's place. In the stage version, Javert simply mentions that he's only known one other man as strong as "the mayor," an ex-convict who happens to have just been recaptured; in the film, as in the novel, the earlier cart-lifting incident makes Javert start to suspect that "the mayor" is Valjean, eventually leading to his reporting him, only to learn that "Valjean" has already been caught.
- Javert's solo "Stars" was originally placed in the middle of Act I, before the time skip from 1823 to 1832, and centered on Javert vowing to find Valjean despite having lost track of him. But early in the London production's run it was moved to a later point, after the time skip; the new context was Javert vowing to find Valjean after regaining track of him for the first time in nine years. The film puts it back in its original placement and context.
- Éponine sings "On My Own" in Act II of the stage version, after the rise of the barricades and just before she decides to rejoin the battle despite Marius having sent her away. In the film she sings it after the "Rue Plumet" sequence, before the stage version's Act I finale "One Day More," and before she sets off to the barricade for the first (and in the film, only) time. This makes more sense in a way, as the film has her sing the song before its inclusion in part of the Massive Multiplayer Ensemble Number One Day More, whereas the stage show features it before, making it the only leitmotif from the show in the song we are not already familiar with.
- "Do You Hear The People Sing" happens much later in the film than it does in the stage version. Onstage its sung as the students whip up support for the pending revolution; in the film it's sung at the actual beginning of the revolution, as the barricade is built.
- The 1986 film Little Shop of Horrors gives Audrey and Seymour a happier ending than the stage musical. In the film, they survive to live out their suburban dreams as opposed to the stage musical, which ends with both getting eaten by the carnivorous plant, which goes on to take over the world. This changes the tone and implications of the work significantly. Originally the film's ending was the same as the play's, but test audiences responded so badly that much of the final half-hour had to be reshot; the Director's Cut restores the intended ending.
- The Lord of the Rings:
- Sam says the exact same line to Frodo at the end of both the book and movie version of The Fellowship of the Ring: "Of course you are, and I'm coming with you!" In the book, Frodo has just said, "But I am going to Mordor!", but in the movie the line is changed to "I'm going to Mordor alone!", which makes Sam's response a lot more humorous.
- In the book the whole "fear no nightly noise" speech was said by Tom Bombadil in his house in the Old Forest on the borders of the Shire. When they decided to cut Bombadil from the film adaption they gave this line and some others to Treebeard in Fangorn forest. This changes the meaning of the line from "no matter what you hear tonight, it won't harm you" to something more like "sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite".
- In the book, Sam interrupts Gollum at a moment when he is having second thoughts about his betrayal of Frodo. He accuses Gollum of "sneaking" about, putting Gollum on the defensive and hardening his resolve to feed the hobbits to Shelob. In the movie, the dialogue is the same, but the scene is very different, as Sam has surprised Gollum disposing of the lembas. Sam's accusation thus seems more justified, and lacks the negative consequences of the original.
- The mournful elegy Pippin sings to Denethor in the movie is actually adapted from Bilbo's cheerful walking song in the book. Some of the original lines are removed in the film version, but the only actual word change comes in the last line, which has been changed from an optimistic "Mist and twilight, cloud and shade, away shall fade! Away shall fade!" to a much more ominous "Mist and twilight, cloud and shade. All shall fade. All shall fade."
- In the book, Eowyn says the line "Do you not know?" to Faramir, in order to let him know that she has fallen in love with him. In the movie, her relationship with Faramir is downplayed, and her feelings for Aragorn emphasised, so the line is kept the same, but said to Aragorn instead.
- Sam's vision of the star over the Ephel Dúath shows up in the extended edition of the movies, but is given slightly different significance. In the book, the vision is a private experience of Sam's that gives him strength to continue the journey. In the movie, Sam points out the star in order to encourage Frodo, taking the focus off of Sam's inner struggle and shifting it to Frodo's need for support.
- The Martian: In the book, after the plan to send supplies to Mark Watney fails, Mark sends Major Martinez an email asking Martinez to talk to Mark's parents if he doesn't survive his ordeal on Mars. The movie keeps the request but has Mark ask Commander Lewis to do it instead.
- The Marvel Cinematic Universe:
- Captain America: Civil War: In the original Civil War storyline, Steve Rogers gives an impassioned, now infamous speech about how when you are told to change, even by the whole world, you have to stick to your guns. It was criticized by many by being a possible excuse for bigotry, racism, and more, and so in the film, the speech was attributed to Peggy Carter, who had to fight sexism in her field as a spy (she was typically given office work after Captain America's death) to eventually found S.H.I.E.L.D.
- In Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., the Superior says his LMD bodies are "designed only for killing", an obvious reference to M.O.D.O.K. However, while M.O.D.O.K. chose this name to show his willingness to kill, the Superior — while he is a killer — means the bodies were originally created as targets and he sees them as disposable; they're designed to be killed.
- Avengers: Endgame: The Secret Empire moment where HYDRA Captain America says "Hail HYDRA" is recontextualized in the film as a gag. Steve says it to a group of actual HYDRA agents to trick them into giving him the MacGuffin, then walks away with the smuggest grin you'll ever see.
- The Incredible Hulk (2008): In an exception to their usual stance on Gimmick Matches, CMLL B Show Universal Pictures Propaganda Event - Hulk el Hombre Increíble changed The Hulk and Abomination's battle in the climax of the movie into a sanctioned street fight.
- Mean Girls (2024):
- The verse in "Apex Predator" about Janis not having as much power as Regina is recontextualized here. In the show, Cady sings this as she compares the unpopular Janis to the all-powerful Regina, hinting at her Becoming the Mask later on. In this version, the verse is sung by Damian instead, with him simply telling Cady that Janis isn't as popular as Regina.
- Originally, Karen flubbing her words in "Sexy" led to a brief fourth wall gag where she halted the show, stepped offstage, and restarted the number from the top. Here, she sings the song while recording for TikTok, and when she messes up the words, she just cuts the recording and starts a new video.
- The U2 song "Pride" is about the power of individuals to effect social change, with particular reference to Martin Luther King Jr. In the movie Moulin Rouge!, the lyrics get changed from "one man in the name of love" to "one night in the name of love", and the song becomes a seduction ballad.
- The Name of the Rose: the novel's title is ambiguous, as it ends with the lines "Stat rosa pristina nomine, nomina nuda tenemus / the rose of old remains only in its name; we possess naked names." The film makes the title explicit; the "rose" is the peasant girl that Adso loved, but whose name he never learned.
- The film version of Oliver! turns the Irrelevant Act Opener "Oom-Pah-Pah" into a relevant number; Nancy sings the song to distract Sikes and Bullseye so Oliver can escape their sight.
- In Perfect Pie Marie's apology to Patsy is thought to herself in a diner in the play, but is said at Parsy's bedside while she's in her coma in the movie. This, combined with her sounding on the verge of tears and kissing Patsy's forehead before she leaves, makes her come across as far more horrified and in the throes of guilt and self-loathing than she did in the play, which implies she left as soon as she was well enough to walk.
- The Princess Bride: The novel The Princess Bride has a frame story narrated by an adult looking back nostalgically at his childhood (as represented by the times his father used to read him the story-within-the-story The Princess Bride), and he gets in a few cynical zingers about what he's learned from growing up. The movie has a more hopeful frame story, about a child being read The Princess Bride for the first time, but some of the cynical zingers are retained and given to characters in the inner story: Westley says "Life is pain... anyone who tells you differently is selling something" when he's angry at Buttercup for (he thinks) abandoning him, and Miracle Max, who's become very cynical after his mistreatment by Humperdinck, gets the line about True Love being the greatest thing in the world except a good sandwich.
- The novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, from Different Seasons, is narrated by "Red" who got his nickname because he's a red-haired Irishman. In the film adaptation, The Shawshank Redemption, Morgan Freeman plays the role of Red, and the nickname comes from his last name Redding. He still claims that he got the nickname because he's Irish, but here it's a bit of obvious sarcasm.
- Sonic the Hedgehog (2020):
- In the games, Dr. Ivo Robotnik is nicknamed "Dr. Eggman" based on his cartoony oval shaped body. In the film, where he is average sized, the "Eggman" nickname is instead derived from his flying drones which are ovoid and white.
- The Novelization makes a couple of changes from the film:
- Although they're never named in dialogue, a label in his mobile-lab confirms that like in the games, Dr. Robotnik has named his robots "Badniks". In the novelization, Dr. Robotnik has named his robots "Botniks", and it's Sonic who nicknames them "Badniks".
- In the film, Sonic mockingly calls Robotnik "Eggman", as a reference to his moniker in the videogames. In the novelization, this is absent; instead Sonic calls Robotnik "Robuttnik", the same derogatory nickname used in Sonic the Hedgehog (SatAM) and Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comics).
- The Sound of Music:
- In the play, Maria and the Mother Abbess sing "My Favorite Things", after Maria recalls that hearing the nuns at Nonnberg sing made her want to join them. In the movie, Maria sings it to the Von Trapp children during a thunderstorm, leading to a confrontation with the Captain when he catches everyone staying up past bedtime.
- In the play, Maria and the children sing "Do-Re-Mi" during her first day as the kids' governess. In the movie, Maria takes longer to earn the children's respect, so "Do-Re-Mi" doesn't begin until at least her second day as governess. The movie also has the song performed in a montage, indicating that the children took several weeks to learn how to sing, as opposed to the one day shown on stage.
- In the play, Maria and the children sing "The Lonely Goatherd" during the aforementioned thunderstorm. In the movie, they perform it as a puppet show for the Captain, the Baroness, and Uncle Max. The Captain and Liesl follow this up with "Edelweiss", which the play saved until the Kaltzberg Festival. (The movie also the Von Trapps sing "Edelweiss" at that festival, as a reprise.)
- In Sparkling Cyanide, Rosemary brags to Anthony about knowing his ties with criminals and says it's thrilling and she's not going to keep it a secret; the scene highlights just how stupid she is. In the 1983 film adaptation, she reveals her knowledge of Anthony's criminal past in an entirely different context: she has seen Anthony flirting with her sister and is worried about her. Blurting out dangerous information such as this to the very person it concerns is still rather silly, but here Rosemary acts this way because she is afraid for her sister. In addition, she gets some Adaptational Intelligence since she reveals the fact when she and Anthony are at an outdoor party with many people close by, while in the book, she revealed it when they were alone together in a room.
- Starship Troopers: Invasion: Starship Troopers opens with a monologue about why the narrator "always gets the shakes before a drop." Rico is delivering it and mentions that a doctor explains it as the same kind of excitement a race horse has before being let out the gate; Rico's inner monologue then concludes that he's really shaking because he's scared shitless every time he drops. The movie Starship Troopers: Invasion opens with the same lines; a new character gives the monologue and claims it's because he's excited, like a race horse.
- West Side Story:
- In the stage version, "Cool" is sung before the Rumble, while "I Feel Pretty" and "Gee, Officer Krupke" are sung afterwards. In the 1961 film version, to create a rising "line of tension" with no lighthearted moments after the Rumble, "Gee, Officer Krupke" and "Cool" switch places and "I Feel Pretty" is also moved to an earlier scene. The 2021 film version keeps "Cool" and "Gee, Officer Krupke" before the Rumble, but returns "I Feel Pretty" to afterwards.
- The lyrics to "America" in both films are almost completely rewritten from the musical. The original lyrics had been criticised for mocking Puerto Rico and Puerto Ricans. The films focus instead on the discrimination the Puerto Ricans had suffered in America. The song is also changed from an all-female number revolving around an argument between Anita and another girl to a male-and-female number with Anita vs. Bernardo; the latter was Sondheim's original intent, only rewritten because Jerome Robbins wanted an all-female dance number in the show.
- William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet:
- In the original play, Mercutio said "A plague o' both your houses" immediately after being stabbed. In film, he only says it after "Ay, ay, a scratch, a scratch", upon realizing the wound is fatal.
- Romeo originally said the line "Tempt not a desperate man" when confronting Paris in the Capulet family vault. In the movie, where Paris is Spared by the Adaptation, he says it when taking a Human Shield against the VBPD SWAT cops outside the vault.
