History PragmaticAdaptation / WesternAnimation

* The Franchise/{{DCAU}} has a lot of this. Most of the time when a characters and their origin were changed, it helped to enhance the essence of the original comics. In several cases, changes in the DCAU were so well-received that they were actually integrated into the main DC universe. ([[CanonImmigrant Harley Quinn]] and Mr. Freeze's backstories are probably the two most well-known cases.) One episode of ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' was an adaptation of the Creator/AlanMoore story, ''ComicBook/ForTheManWhoHasEverything''. They took out some of the darker aspects which gave it its own unique effect while sticking to the overall idea. Notably, this is the only adaptation of his work that Moore actually likes.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfSamAndMaxFreelancePolice'' was given a very LighterAndSofter treatment, but it kept a lot of the strange hijinks and ideas that the duo are known for.

* Nearly every adaptation of ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} in a [[Franchise/MarvelUniverse Marvel TV series]] tends to focus more on building his characterization (notably ''WesternAnimation/XMenEvolution'') than on his violent berserker rages, because of {{Media Watchdog}}s and their attitude towards violence in [[AnimationAgeGhetto children's TV.]]

* ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' started as [[ComicBook/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesMirage a violent and gory (if satirical) black and white independent]] ComicBook with an ongoing storyline. ([[spoiler:Shredder dies messily in the very first issue; later his surviving minions feed what is left of him to a colony of worms that take his form and his intelligence. Worm-Shredder destroys the Turtles' and April's home, and nearly kills Leonardo. After a year of healing, Leo heads back to New York, chops off Worm-Shredder's head, and burns him.]]) In the early process of licensing and adaptation, the Turtles developed a litany of catch phrases, color coded costumes, a ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}-like food fetish, and an army of ineffective recurring villains; Raphael changed from a sociopathic {{Jerkass}} to "cool but rude", Baxter Stockman was changed from a homicidal black man to a feeble white guy, Splinter's whole backstory was rewritten to avoid the question of death; they abandoned character and plot development for syndication-friendly standalone episodes... and yet it all kind of worked. The 2003 series is a much closer adaptation of the comics (even bearing some traits of AdaptationDistillation); any carry-over from earlier adaptations (such as Michaelangelo's use of lingo from the earlier show) is generally [[LampshadeHanging Lampshade-hung]]. There's still much conflict over which cartoon was actually better -- ratings and profit wise, they did the same.
** In the comics, Splinter is the mutated pet rat of a ninja murdered by Shredder. In the (first) cartoon, Splinter is a human ninja (and rival to Shredder) mutated into a rat. This change feels less like a [[{{Bowdlerise}} bowdlerization]] (even though it is) and more like an AdaptationDistillation. It simplifies Splinter's back story, gives the turtles a more direct tie to ninjas (trained by an actual ninja as opposed to the pet rat of a ninja), and gives scenes between Splinter and Shredder a personal edge. The show even did a good, touching episode where Splinter briefly regained his human form. Even in the [=2010s=], Hamato Yoshi and Splinter still tend to be [[CompositeCharacter combined]] into one character, particularly in ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2012'' and ''WesternAnimation/RiseOfTheTeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'', albeit [[InternalDeconstruction taking a closer look]] at how his mutation affected him.

* ''[[WesternAnimation/SamAndMaxFreelancePolice The Adventures Of Sam And Max Freelance Police]]'' was given a very LighterAndSofter treatment, but it kept a lot of the strange hijinks and ideas that the duo are known for.

* ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice2010'' does this with many characters, usually with positive effects. Artemis Crock for instance went from being a Caucasian supervillain to a biracial superhero, with the big twist being that her older sister (she never had one in the comics) is the Vietnamese assassin Cheshire. The decision to reimagine ComicBook/{{Zatanna}} as a teenager also went over well with fans. As a neat way of explaining her size-changing abilities, Bumblebee was made into a student of ComicBook/TheAtom, despite the two having literally no connection in the comic books. ComicBook/{{Icon}} was also made into a member of the [[Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica JLA]] in order to justify his sidekick Rocket's ([[EleventhHourRanger temporary]]) inclusion in The Team.

* The 1990s ''WesternAnimation/XMen'' cartoon makes a number of tweaks and alterations for the sake of pragmatism, often going into full-fledged AdaptationDistillation. Particularly notable examples include working Bishop into the ''ComicBook/DaysOfFuturePast'' adaptation as the time-traveler, changing the assassin Bishop is after from ComicBook/{{Onslaught}} into ComicBook/{{Mystique}} disguised as ComicBook/{{Gambit}}, removing the unnecessary distinction between the Phalanx and the Technarchy for the ''ComicBook/PhalanxCovenant'' adaptation, and shortening the Legacy Virus storyline immensely.
* ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManTheAnimatedSeries'', much like its ''WesternAnimation/XMen'' counterpart, also made many pragmatic tweaks and went for full-on AdaptationDistillation. The most notable example is that the symbiote was presented as an aggressive, domineering alien entity that wished to take over and subsume a host, controlling them instead of simply being a passive partner like in the original comics.

* ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' started as a violent and gory (if satirical) black and white independent ComicBook with an ongoing storyline. ([[spoiler:Shredder dies messily in the very first issue; later his surviving minions feed what is left of him to a colony of worms that take his form and his intelligence. Worm-Shredder destroys the Turtles' and April's home, and nearly kills Leonardo. After a year of healing, Leo heads back to New York, chops off Worm-Shredder's head, and burns him.]]) In the early process of licensing and adaptation, the Turtles developed a litany of catch phrases, color coded costumes, a ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}-like food fetish, and an army of ineffective recurring villains; Raphael changed from a sociopathic {{Jerkass}} to "cool but rude", Baxter Stockman was changed from a homicidal black man to a feeble white guy, Splinter's whole backstory was rewritten to avoid the question of death; they abandoned character and plot development for syndication-friendly standalone episodes... and yet it all kind of worked. The 2003 series is a much closer adaptation of the comics (even bearing some traits of AdaptationDistillation); any carry-over from earlier adaptations (such as Michaelangelo's use of lingo from the earlier show) is generally [[LampshadeHanging Lampshade-hung]]. There's still much conflict over which cartoon was actually better -- ratings and profit wise, they did the same.

** [[http://www.angelfire.com/la3/goldenroad15/episode36.html Frank Maggiore]] commented on a change made to an episode; in the dub, Sky went from being killed (it's never explicitly said, but Flora mentions his lack of pulse at one point) to being [[NeverSayDie put into a deep sleep]] (by having the Trix, who "killed" Sky, explicitly mention this a few times). It seemed to him that it made a lot more sense when Bloom revived Sky; this changed a never-before-seen magical BackFromTheDead ability to a ''Sleeping Beauty''-style awakening that seemed more [[MagicAIsMagicA 'probable']], especially since that these new powers were played as "healing powers" in either version. The kicker? The change was made by [[Creator/FourKidsEntertainment 4Kids Entertainment]]. Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.
** The girls (except Flora) cut school and go to Earth, where Aisha/Layla, Stella and Musa are stopped by a police officer and asked why they're not in school. In the original, Aisha gives the excuse that they have permission from their parents to be out of school and offers to give the cop the phone numbers, but the cop declines and lets them go. In 4Kids, Layla speaks a different language, making the cop think they're not from Gardenia and so he lets them go. The 4Kids version is more believable because, by law, the cop should've taken in all three girls and called their parents (not that he could call them, but you get it) since skipping school (aka truancy) is illegal.

* ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' does this with many characters, usually with positive effects. Artemis Crock for instance went from being a Caucasian supervillain to a biracial superhero, with the big twist being that her older sister (she never had one in the comics) is the Vietnamese assassin Cheshire. The decision to reimagine ComicBook/{{Zatanna}} as a teenager also went over well with fans. As a neat way of explaining her size-changing abilities, Bumblebee was made into a student of ComicBook/TheAtom, despite the two having literally no connection in the comic books. ComicBook/{{Icon}} was also made into a member of the [[Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica JLA]] in order to justify his sidekick Rocket's ([[EleventhHourRanger temporary]]) inclusion in The Team.

* The ''WesternAnimation/MegaMan'' cartoon had the decision to change Proto Man from Mega Man's AloofBigBrother Mysterious Ally to his WorthyOpponent on Wily's side. Given that Dark Man, Proto's impersonator from the fifth game, shows up in the series, it's more likely this was a conscious decision in order to give Mega Man an appropriate rival (Bass from the seventh game didn't exist yet).

* ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManTheAnimatedSeries'', much like its ''WesternAnimation/XMen'' counterpart, also made many pragmatic tweaks and went for full-on AdaptationDistillation. The most notable example is that the symbiote was presented as an aggressive, domineering alien entity that wished to take over and subsume a host, controlling them instead of simply being a passive partner like in the original comics.

* ''WesternAnimation/SonicTheHedgehogSatAM'': at the time this show was made, the ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'' franchise consisted of only three games, all of which [[ExcusePlot didn't have much plot or characterization to work with]] aside from a [[GreenAesop vague message about preserving nature]] and a hint of CyberPunk genre. So, the writers decided to [[PragmaticAdaptation exaggerate the core plot of the first two games]]: Sonic's little animal friends are now [[AscendedExtra equally anthropomorphic co-stars with Sonic]], the nature message is made into a [[GaiasLament major subplot]], and the villain Dr. Robotnik is made [[AdaptationalVillainy substantially more dangerous]] and [[VillainWorld powerful.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooOnZombieIsland'' is often praised as one of the best efforts in the franchise, with legitimately frightening villains and scenes. And yet, its origins lie not in ''Scooby-Doo'', but, of all shows, ''WesternAnimation/SwatKats''; it was an [[RecycledScript unfinished script]] that involved a succubus. In-between the cancellation of ''SK'' and the production of ''Zombie Island'', it was also partially recycled for an episode of ''WesternAnimation/JonnyQuestTheRealAdventures''.

* ''WesternAnimation/WolverineAndTheXMen'' takes elements of the vast, contradictory mythology surrounding the Phoenix Force that look like they might work well together, and constructs a new story out of them. Likewise, it combines a number of the various {{Bad Future}}s of the comics into one.

** In the comics, Splinter is the mutated pet rat of a ninja murdered by Shredder. In the (first) cartoon, Splinter is a human ninja (and rival to Shredder) mutated into a rat. This change feels less like a [[{{Bowdlerise}} bowdlerization]] (even though it is) and more like an AdaptationDistillation. It simplifies Splinter's back story, gives the turtles a more direct tie to ninjas (trained by an actual ninja as opposed to the pet rat of a ninja), and gives scenes between Splinter and Shredder a personal edge. The show even did a good, touching episode where Splinter briefly regained his human form.