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Well, the trope page clearly says that it "may even be made by the same creators." Not that it has to. I think you misunderstood.
Upon rereading SS again, isn't the trope about sequels, not remakes? If anything, I'd argue that this example is more in the Better by a Different Name category (although I wouldn't, ROSF is way more saccharine than AOGG and I'd argue that Montgomery's novel Emily of New Moon fits the accusation better than Anne).
mudshark: I don't expect Nate to make sense, really.
The trope isn't about an outright sequel, but about a work that uses different characters, may take place in a different universe, and may have different creators than the original, but still can be seen as some kind of follow-up to the original.
It could made by the same creator as the original, who wants to try something new while still keeping the same spirit as the original (hence the name). "I won't make just a sequel with the same characters, because I'm tired of them, so I'll use new characters keep the concept".
Or it could be made by a different creator who wants to follow in the footsteps of some well-known work without plagiarizing it. So they write the same kind of work but in a different setting.
EDITED: The similarity needn't be very close. The other day, I saw that somebody here on TVT called Treme a spiritual successor to The Wire, but that might be stretching it a little.
Edited by GnomeTitan
I actually did a Spiritual Successor Wick Check if anyone is interested.
Current Project: The Team
Could you describe a followup that is not a sequel?
mudshark: I don't expect Nate to make sense, really.
A prequel? Midquel? Spinoff? AU story?
Current Project: The Team
Warjay: Those miss the point. Like... Imagine if the writer of Tuesdays with Morrie wrote a book about a woman who talks to an old lady about life. That wouldn't be a sequel per se—it doesn't feature any of the original characters—but it's still a Spiritual Sequel.
How did I miss the point? I was responding to the question as asked, not about what would constitute a spiritual successor. If the question was more specific they shouldn't have asked it in such a broad way.
Edited by WarJay77 Current Project: The Team
Fair enough.
The AOGG page has an example that says that AOGG is a Spiritual Successor to Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. I thought Spiritual Successor meant the same creator who can't use the original work for some reason. I can see the parallels between AOGG and ROSF, but you could equally argue that these tropes go back to Heidi or Little Orphan Annie. Should this example be removed?