June 28, 2005 Rick Riordan released the first book in his soon to be award- winning series, The Lightning Thief. It soon launched off to sell 1.8 million copies in the first five years of its release. Seeing as it did so well, there was soon talk of a movie adaptation, and fans had high hopes. 

In 2010, 20th Century Fox released the anticipated film, and reviews came rolling in quite quickly. 

“The movie is a disrespectful piece of garbage, true fans of Percy Jackson refer to them as Peter Johnson movies.” Gavin Mcmanigal, grade 8, said. 

The author was quite displeased with the film, refusing to watch it after reading the script. “To me, it’s my life’s work going through a meat grinder when I pleaded with them not to do it.” Riordan said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. 

However, it was revealed almost ten years later that Disney Plus would be adapting the series, and Riordan would be directly involved with it. 

So what makes an adaptation good? 

MOVIE

PLOT: 

The main point of contention for the awful ratings that came with the movie adaptation, tended to focus on the plot. Seeing as the books were chapter books, there were bound to be some things that the directors overlooked. 

However, one of the main problems the general public had with the movie was the amount of plot holes that the movie had by erasing important moments from the novels. 

For example, taking out characters such as Clarisse and Ares from the first movie, meant that the writers had to almost completely rewrite the ending of the story to fit their narrative. 

CHARACTERS: 

Seeing as the novels originally consisted of twelve year olds as the main trio, many were shocked to find when the movie decided to age up the characters to seventeen. 

Readers of the novels were nostalgic for the child-like wonder they felt reading the books for the first time, however the act of aging the characters took a lot from that. In doing this, it also created several plot holes and overall just didn’t make sense for the series.

Another way this affected the movies was that the characters couldn’t really develop in the way Riordan had planned for them. Many fans also raised concerns that aging the characters took the basic storyline away, seeing as the development of the characters also came with them growing up from kids to teenagers.

HUMOR: 

One of the things the books were known for was the witty humor throughout the novels. From iconic chapter titles to inside jokes between characters, it overall appealed to the average reader. 

When the books were adapted into movies, they aged up the characters and a lot of the humor was lost with it. The franchise was now geared for older teens and adults, with lots of sexual tension. 

Seeing as these were originally children’s books, the loss of the kid-friendly jokes really took away from the experience. 

SHOW

PLOT: 

With the release of the Disney Plus show, many fans anticipated the fact that they would get more content with a series than the movies that they’d despised so much. 

As the first season was made available for streaming, it was announced that there would be eight episodes in season one, all of which Riordan had been able to contribute with writing on. 

The episodes, running about thirty minutes long each, allowed viewers to get more detail than a ninety minute movie. Having the episodes allowed for there to have less plot holes than the movie, and overall just made more sense. 

CHARACTERS: 

May 2022, fans of the series breathed sighs of relief when the main trio cast was revealed as three 12 year olds. Walker Scobell as Percy Jackson, Leah Jeffries as Annabeth Chase, and Aryan Simhadri as Grover Underwood. 

Not only were they the same age as the book characters, the author of the series hand picked them and said that they were what he envisioned for his work of art. 

Riordan selecting these characters meant a lot to fans, and though some changes in diversity were made, many have already fallen in love with the characters in the show. The characters have been able to grow, and a newer, younger audience has grown to like the show due to the development of the teenagers. 

HUMOR: 

Riordan was known for his clever humor and storytelling, which was able to shine in the tv show. One thing fans adored was the iconic chapter titles that thankfully made an appearance as episode titles. 

Not only that, but the cast embraced the sarcastic teenage wit that their characters often portray in the books. The jokes in the series geared to a younger audience and also provided older viewers a laugh at some of the inside jokes of the series. 

CONCLUSION: 

All in all, most fans agree that although nothing will replace the originality of the books, the adaptation the majority of them turn to is the Disney Plus series. 

In fact, the tv series set off well enough that season two was announced to be in the making in February of 2024, and the success speaks volume. 

Despite all of the adaptations being different, it can be seen with certainty that the movies are horrendous and that the show will be the adaptation most fans turn to.