Jarad  Tansley     The  Walking  Dead  

 

Text Original & Adaptation Success of the Adaptation Legal & Ethical Issues The Walking Dead (AMC TV Adaptation)

• The original version of The Walking Dead is a series of comic books released by Image Comics. The comic started on October 2003 and is still being produced today.

• The comic book has been successful on its own: it received an Eisner Award for Best Continuing Series at the San Diego Comic Con.

• The success has brought media companies to adapt it to different formats: novels, animated comics and video games are notable, however the best-known adaptation is the TV series.

• AMC adapted the comic book series into a television series. The idea was picked up in 2009 while the TV show was released in 2010.

• The show is loosely based on the comic, introducing new characters. The genres of the TV show revolve around drama and horror.

• It does not however change the core areas of the original story, such as the time or the main characters.

• The adaptation of The Walking Dead has been well received.

• IMDB reports an average rating of 8.7 out of 10 from user ratings and reviews on the website, which is considered a high rating.

• The TV show has been nominated for a Golden Globe award and a Writers Guild of America award.

• Nielsen ratings in America show that the Walking Dead’s highest viewing figure was 16.1million on the premiere of season 4.

• It has also received success in the UK; FX UK (now FOX) has received 659,000 viewers for the show.

• AMC reports that the TV and film streaming service Netflix has boosted ratings for The Walking Dead. On Netflix’s website, The Walking Dead has an average of 4.5 stars.

• The Walking Dead is still copyrighted, being created in 2003. If anyone were to adapt the comic, they would have to reach the publisher in order to obtain a license to use the copyright.

• In the intro sequence for the TV show, the movie’s protagonist Rick Grimes shoots a child-age zombie in the face. This would not be the first instance of children acting as zombies in the show. These children have to be protected under the Child Protection Act and US equivalents otherwise the production could be stopped due to lack of child protection.

• The above example is also an example of how one can get away with more on a book than on a TV series. Television shows are strictly regulated, while books are very rarely banned from shelves. For instance, the amount of blood and gore in the TV show can be severe compared to the drawings on the comics, which meant that the series had to be aired at a later time at night.