Yes, it’s almost an established fact by now that HBO f*cked up the last season of Game of Thrones. Even though David Benioff and D.B. Weiss did a decent job for seven seasons, they messed up when it mattered. But, if one executive had not stood up George R.R. Martin for lunch, then the show would have taken a completely different path, an animated one!
George R.R. Martin refused to turn A Song of Ice and Fire into an animated adaptation
This is an old one, but a website recently unearthed a LiveJournal Post, where Martin answered a fan’s question. The fan asked if he was ever approached by anyone to turn the Game of Thrones books, A Song of Ice and Fire, into an animation. To that, he replied:
Yes. Often.
In fact, one of the proposed feature deals I turned down before HBO was from a major animator. Odd thing is, I might have accepted that offer… I was on the fence… until an exec I was supposed to meet failed to turn up for a lunch we had scheduled to discuss their approach. I did get an apology, later… but being stood up pushed me off the fence back into “No” land.
But, George R.R. Martin was happy about Game of Thrones not going animated, as he further said:
And boy, am I glad of that. Maybe things do happen for a reason.
And so, a missed lunch meant that we weren’t able to see how a Game of Thrones animated adaptation would have looked like. Who knows, maybe that executive was stuck in traffic? Or maybe his reminder didn’t ring? Or he overslept? We’ll probably never find out. But, with more hindsight about how the show ended, would it have been a wise option for Martin to consider?
Would an animated Game of Thrones adaptation be successful?
First thing’s first, it’s foolish to think that an animated adaptation of Game of Thrones would come close to the success the HBO Original achieved. But, in terms of accuracy to the source content, the fans might have loved it! In an animated series or movie, you’re no longer bound by aging actors, extremely expensive CGI, expensive cast and actors, huge and costly sets, etc. Yes, it would not have given the series the Earth-shattering popularity that Game of Thrones did. But, many of the book fans who wanted a series true to the source content would have been happy. But, it’s never too late, is it? Now that the show and the series are popular, HBO can very much invest in an animated adaptation of Game of Thrones.
