The following features a discussion on suicide.
Movie adaptations of musicals don't always fully reflect the source material. As seen in films like Little Shop of Horrors and The Wiz, musicals often become adapted with audiences in mind and a bigger Hollywood budget. However, although not every adaptation makes it to the big screen, and some elements never leave the development stages, they often have a bigger story to tell about what it took to make cinematic history.
Released in 1978 and based on the stage musical of the same name, Grease became an iconic film. Featuring catchy songs, a talented cast (headlined by Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta) and a healthy dose of tongue-in-cheek nostalgia, Grease left a legacy as one of the most successful musicals of all time. Followed up by a sequel, Grease 2, and a prequel series, Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies, the original movie served as a platform for a franchise and arguably one of the most influential musicals in history. But that wasn't all there was to the story.
How Grease Almost Became a Dark Animated Movie
Performed on stage as a more risqué and surreal parody of the 1950s, Grease as a film took more than a few creative liberties with the source material. However, Grease almost would've been unrecognizable and probably would've failed to make the same impact had it debuted as a dark animated musical. As strange as it sounds, a more depressing animated feature was on the table at one point in Grease's development, leaving many to wonder what led to these bizarre circumstances and how audiences ended up getting the movie as it's known today.
When Grease became bound for Hollywood, one of the first people interested in adapting it was controversial director Ralph Bakshi. Known for works like the X-Rated cartoon Fritz the Cat, Cool World and an animated feature based on Lord of the Rings, Bakshi had his take on Grease in mind with the same kind of shocking content that made his career as a filmmaker. "They wanted to do it as a cartoon-like Fritz the Cat, and they had certain changes with the script," original Grease co-creator Jim Jacobs recalled in an interview with Yahoo!, later revealing that the film originally ended with protagonist Danny Zuko ending his life. Ultimately, however, the film wound up in the hands of director Randal Kleiser, and Grease became the live-action musical spectacular that won the hearts of audiences within its opening week.
Why Bakshi's Grease Wouldn't Have Worked
While Bakshi ended up making Hey Good Lookin', a period piece superficially resembling Grease and seemingly featuring his ending intended for the Danny Zuko role, the film faded into obscurity. Bogged down by production issues, heavy edits and Bakshi disowning the film that Warner Bros. eventually released, Hey Good Lookin' never reached the heights or accolades garnered by Grease as the highest-grossing musical at the time. While achieving a minor cult following in later years, Hey Good Lookin' gave insight into the kind of adult movie Bakshi wanted to toy with and why it wouldn't have worked. Although not as raunchy as the original musical, the campy creative liberties taken by Kleiser's Grease turned it into a classic whose legacy continued in its follow-ups, media like Glee, and of course, auditoriums worldwide.
What comes out on the other side of an adaptation isn't always going to be the same as what went in. It's strange and oddly fascinating how dark something like Grease could be, depending on who's telling it. Whether a Broadway musical or movie, Grease, at its heart, encapsulated the trappings of the 1950s, a time and place that went beyond a mere singular experience. Beyond the fast cars, Pink Ladies, and the allure of "Summer lovin'," Grease is a story of nostalgia and how people reflect on it, which is why it'll always be timeless regardless of the various tinted shades see it through.