At the heart films like John Carter and Avatar are about fleshing out a world none like we have ever seen, whereas fantastical dramas, such as Lord of the Rings feature more character development and allegory. That isn’t to say that no allusions or allegories are present in Avatar or John Carter there are just far more in The Lord Of the Rings, a film series that contains less ridiculous plot devices and more historical texture. 

Fans of Princess of Mars may take issue with this film; it’s a highly condensed and estranged adaptation of Burroughs’s works. What may seem the highest crime in this development is how the original text is not featured faithfully a la Lord of the Rings. Consider this;The Lord of the Rings was released during World War 2, Princess of Mars was released during World War One. That is an entire generation. The original fans of pulps are ancient by the time fantasy films and sci-fi become feasible with the rise of Star Wars.Furthermore Lord of the Rings had an almost ungodly surge of popularity during the hippidity 60’s and 70’s. Franchises that are given the most faithful representations are the ones that maintain material for their enormous fan-bases; Lord of the Rings has been adapted more than once (as animated films in the 80s) and has been featured in board games, video games and toys. In addition to this I dare you to try and find a medium that Star Wars does not exist in. It is no wonder that the studio execs at Disney felt that this story had to be changed as it has; it’s long, complicated and as far as they know nobody who read the original pulps where it was published are still drawing breath.

Now for fans of the story here’s what’s changed:  The title from Princess of Mars to John Carter of Mars. An intro of a new story line; Carter has some deep regret over a slaughtered wife and child. An edit of the original story- Tars Tarkas is the high Jeddak of theTharks, right from the start of the story and subsequently his mistreatment of Sola makes little sense. Carter is not instantly in love with the Princess Dejah Thoris nor does he treat her like a lover. The story seems to take place over the course of a week rather than a few months. The blue men of Mars are featured as the ultimate baddies who give Sab (the main antagonist) the ‘Ninth Ray’as a weapon …  as you can see there are a shit ton of alterations, and while I understand that Disney made these changes in an effort to avoid confusing the audience I am (as a fan of the original story) not happy with any of them.