Top 10 Worst Movies Based on Cartoons

The Top Ten
The Last Airbender

I'm honestly not bothered too much by the skin color that everyone else bashed the film for, but there are many other issues. Awful acting, designs that look nothing like the originals, random pronunciation changes, surprisingly cheap-looking visuals, boring action, no emotion or character, incredibly bad acting (the guy who plays Zhao was once the pizza man in Spider-Man 2, where he was good), and a few other things that really bother me.

The main things need more discussing. First of all, the pacing is the worst of any film I've ever seen. They spend half the movie on 18 of the 20 episodes, cutting out important characters like Suki, Bumi, Jet, Teo, and the Cabbage Man (who is not necessary but also appears in later seasons like the other characters). The fact that Agni Kai, the winter solstice, and the storm are left out is stunning because these are great moments that define the show. Instead, all information gained from those scenes is just spoken in out-of-order exposition. They even forget to mention Aang's name when they meet him and never even say Haru's name. They scarcely mention Ba Sing Se and Avatar Roku.

The second half, however, focuses on the other 2 episodes and is nearly the length of them, but it's still slow. The strong gender equality message is left out, Sokka and Yue have no chemistry, and the final battle leaves out all of the emotional moments. For example, one of my favorite moments in the show is when Zhao is grabbed by Aang in spirit form, Zuko offers his hand, and Zhao pulls away, choosing to die instead of letting Zuko, his rival, save him. Instead, Zuko leaves, and random benders drown Zhao in a bubble before dropping his corpse 30 feet to the ground. This film sucks.

While cutting out stuff sucks, my true least favorite part of this film is the random changes to the basics of the show. For example, people in the show now speak to each other differently from in the movie. There are many other random changes, but... more

Dragonball: Evolution

If someone's mother, who listened to her kid watching cartoons in the other room, wrote a movie, this would be it.

WatchMojo did a list called "Top 10 Ways Dragonball Evolution Got Everything Wrong." That's how bad it is.

I hate this movie.

This movie also deserves to be on the list.

I give it a skip over Mr. Magoo, which is a meh film.

Alvin and the Chipmunks

This movie is just a shameless cash-in, filled with terrible CGI, corny jokes, endless pop cultural references getting shoved down our throats, and unnecessary fart jokes to top it all off. Not to mention it wasted very talented actors, and our protagonist cares more about stupidity rather than David. Definitely stick to the 1983 cartoon instead of this one. I'm not a huge fan of the cartoon, but at least it wasn't this pandering.

I love the original 80s cartoon of the same name, but this movie is torture to sit through.

Imagine seeing this in the cinema and having to endure the annoying high-pitched voices of the chipmunks. What a nightmare!

Also, that one joke with Simon eating Theodore's feces... Why? Just... Why?

Mr. Magoo

This is my least favorite movie based on one of my favorite cartoons ever made.

This makes the live-action Scooby-Doo look like George of the Jungle!

The Smurfs
Masters of the Universe

Did you grow up watching He-Man? Did you ever imagine that his feature film adaptation would transport him and his friends to California? Neither did we.

Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked

The first two were much better than this garbage. They didn't follow much of a plot and basically sang pop songs the whole time.

They just farted! Isn't that funny?

Jem and the Holograms

Just when you thought there would never be an adaptation worse than Last Airbender, along comes this. Even if you're like me and you've never seen the show, this movie is still horrible. It took a sort of sci-fi musical cartoon and completely grounded it in reality. Why the hell would you do that!?! It's like making a live-action Danny Phantom movie, completely removing the ghost stuff, and just having him dress up in the black suit and put on a grey wig, and he just goes out fighting other people dressed up as ghosts.

And what did they do to Synergy? Why would you take a gigantic supercomputer and make it look like some kind of Eve knock-off? And why did they have to keep cutting to all those pointless YouTube videos? It was incredibly annoying. Also, why did they modernize the movie? What Jem fan would ever in a million years want to see all the characters talking about Twitter or Instagram?

But you wanna know what the worst part about this movie is? The ending. Before the movie was done, they asked a bunch of classic Jem fans if they wanted to be in the movie. All they had to do was make a video saying how much they love the original cartoon. BUT, the editors of the movie then took all those videos and tried to edit them to make it look like they're talking about the movie. WOW! That is downright cruel! It's so bad that it's still hard to comprehend. That's like having a bunch of DragonBall Z fans make a video saying how much they love the original cartoon and editing it to look like they're talking about Dragonball Evolution. That is just insulting.

And the edit is so bad that it's clear they're talking about the cartoon, not the movie. They're dressed like the characters from the cartoon and they have the cartoon playing in the background. It's so clear that they're not talking about the movie that it just makes the sequence look even more pathetic. Move over Last Airbender, we have the new crowning jewel of crappy live-action movies based... more

A Fairly Odd Summer

No one likes these movies. Nick is just making them when they get bored. Why? You have a ton of other shows to make movies from, and they're just continuing to make these godawful Fairly OddParents movies.

It would be perfectly fine if they were animated. It would probably get some people watching, but no, they just make these stupid live-action movies with horrible CGI fairies that no one watches. Also, the casting is really crappy. Drake Bell has always acted like he's just phoning it in when he does these movies. Trina from Victorious has proven in these movies that she is one of the worst actresses of this decade. Cosmo in these movies sounds like he's trying to irritate you. Wanda is just like she has been in the show since Poof came along, the fun killer. Poof is still the godawfully annoying abomination that has been in every episode since Fairly OddBaby.

Jorgen is the worst-looking fairy in these movies. He looks so fake. Granted, so do the others, but he is the worst looking of them all. These movies need to stop being made because no one watches them, and they're just awful wastes of time.

Scooby-Doo: The Movie

This movie is bad. I mean really bad. Okay, it's not the worst kids' film or the worst movie of all time, but it's definitely one of the worst movies ever based on a cartoon, and it should be number one! It's not watchable for long-time fans of the show.

It has a dozen pointless jokes, a dozen pointless catchphrases, and just... I don't know. If you like it, good for you, because for me it's not a god-awful film, it just doesn't respect the source material of the cartoon. That's the same issue with a lot of films based on cartoons - they just don't stick to the source material. They change the formula, and that really pisses me off, along with a lot of fans of the cartoon.

I mean, Scooby-Doo... or Scooby-Doo 1 and 2. They actually made a sequel, and surprisingly, it's better. It's longer, more colorful, more charming, and there's more action. The CGI got a little better this time, but it was still cheesy. Did I forget to mention the effects in this are terrible? I agree with the other guy - even Superman 4 had better effects. These are just as bad as the effects in the live-action Inspector Gadget movies.

For the early 2000s, these effects were already getting old. The monsters in the show were never real. It was always a guy in a mask or something. But here, they pop out of nowhere, and the monsters may be a little creepy for kids who are like 3 years old. But for people my age - 13, 14, or 15 - it's just too stupid for us.

Yeah, I grew up watching Scooby-Doo, mostly the new ones, but sometimes reruns from the '80s and '90s. I like the cartoon and still do - I just watched it recently over the summer. I don't like the movie as much as the cartoon, but it still doesn't deserve all the hate everyone gives it.

The Newcomers

? Teen Titans Go! vs. Teen Titans

This is when people realized that the first TTG movie was a big scam.

? A Really Haunted Loud House
The Contenders
Teen Titans Go! to the Movies
Inspector Gadget

This made it onto Doug Walker's worst movie list, and it's also on mine. I mean, this movie has no respect for the source material of the cartoon. For example, Penny, who was Gadget's niece and the one who always solved the mysteries, doesn't even have a role in this.

I agree with everyone that Broderick was a terrible Inspector Gadget, but from what I've heard, the guy who played Gadget in the second film did a better impression than Broderick ever did. And really, Rupert Everett as Dr. Claw? Okay, we have two problems here:

1. They show Dr. Claw.
2. It's Rupert Everett. Seriously, that guy from Friends? Even though I don't watch that show, I know he's in it.

And the dog, Brain, doesn't even talk until the very end, when they're rolling the credits. Why couldn't they CGI him like they did with Dino from The Flintstones movie or Garfield from the Garfield movie? Oh, that was a terrible movie, by the way, but it's still not as bad as this.

The effects are bad. Doug Walker even said so. And because he was around during that time, he knows what effects were like in the '90s. I think even the old Superman movies had better effects than this. And the car talks? It never talked! And the car is so annoying.

Bratz: The Movie

This whole movie is like if Mean Girls was made by someone less talented than Tommy Wiseau.

This one needs to be Number 1! It's worse than The Last Airbender and Mr. Magoo!

This is a big insult to teenage girls everywhere!

Alvin & The Chipmunks: The Squeakquel

The worst Alvin and the Chipmunks movie.

Underdog
The Flintstones

Sure, the movie kind of sucks, but it's not the worst thing ever. Still, it's pretty stupid. I've seen the cartoon, and yeah, Barney isn't the smartest guy. He does a ton of stupid things with Fred. I didn't think it was a God-awful film, though. I got a few laughs here and there.

That said, why cast someone like Rosie O'Donnell, a larger person, as the slim cartoon character Betty Rubble? It doesn't really add up, and I know a lot of people had an issue with that casting. On the other hand, John Goodman as Fred Flintstone? I think he was born for that role! He was a very good Fred, and the same goes for Rick Moranis. If you don't know him, he was the nerdy guy from Ghostbusters and the father with glasses from Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. Surprisingly, he made a good Barney!

That red-haired woman from Big wasn't a great Wilma, though. I found the bird-like character in the film very likable and funny. They also included the kids, Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm, and they get married and have children later on in the cartoon. For some reason, the live-action Bamm-Bamm looks like Jake Lloyd.

I do think this film sticks to the source material better than a lot of other movies based on cartoons. It's better than films like Scooby-Doo, The Last Airbender, Smurfs, Alvin and the Chipmunks, or Inspector Gadget. I can't say it's a terrible movie, but there are a lot of flaws.

The script isn't great, but it still has some charming scenes. However, the plot starts to fall apart when Fred becomes rich and turns into a jerk. There's this whole stupid plot with Fred's family and friends leaving him. There's also a scene where Barney and Fred almost get hanged, but that's where they forgive each other.

The movie is cheesy and weird, much like the cartoon. Sometimes I wonder if it even belongs on this list. Honestly, I'd rather watch this than the Tom and Jerry movie any day. That movie was awful and changed the formula, which really pissed me off. This one... more

The Smurfs 2
The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle

This is one of the more "not bad but not good either" movies I watched. I can tell that most of the production tried, except for the actors. They're bad. But it has the charm of the original and is not the worst movie based on a live-action cartoon. "Cough" Dragon Ball and Last Airbender "cough."

I hated Fearless Leader, Boris Badenov, and Natasha Fatale so much. They were jerks to Rocky and Bullwinkle.

A Fairly Odd Movie: Grow Up, Timmy Turner

This movie is just stupid and forgettable!

Death Note
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Sorry, but this movie destroyed the franchise. The movies should have been based more on the show.

Love it, love it, want more of it, but it's unwatchable.

Boris and Natasha

This is a ripoff of Rocky and Bullwinkle.

Inspector Gadget 2

A little better than the first one but still kind of bad. At least Gadget is a lot more incompetent here.

The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas

Even though this movie seriously reaches the mark of what is considered to be the worst movie based on a cartoon, it still reaches it. The main problem is how predictable and been-there-done-that both the story and characters are. I predicted who the villain was, what the twists were, and even how it was going to end.

Also, Fred's "stupidity" didn't affect me at all because I knew he wasn't doing it. The fact that the writers thought they would fool me is irritating. I've heard people talk about dealing with loss being the central theme of the movie, but maybe if the movie put more logic into it, I would actually care.

Transformers: Age of Extinction

Dear Michael Bay, make something original and without explosions, you fool.

Dear Michael Bay, please leave these movies alone.

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