“Percy Jackson and the Olympians,” the New York Times number-one best-selling series, has made its way to Hulu and Disney+ as a TV show for fans to watch all over the world. Created by the original author, Rick Riordan, and starring Walker Scobell as Percy Jackson, the series is already surmounting expectations.
With new episodes being released weekly, fans are already loving how closely the show follows the books compared to the movies.
It is true that people often forget that Percy is supposed to be a twelve-year-old kid with ADHD, because the critically-panned movies didn’t portray that element well. The show has done a good job casting a more age-appropriate actor.
Although the show does deviate from the book in minor ways – for example, some of the fight scenes between Percy and Miss Dodds, Percy’s teacher, play out differently on screen vs. on the page – the cast and crew have said that they have made a concentrated effort to remain accurate to the source material. Riordan also had more involvement in the making of the TV series compared to the movies, which is ultimately why the show gives off that more familiar feeling to the book.
“[The] TV format is one of the things that I love the most because it gives us time and space to tell the whole story of the book, ‘The Lighting Thief,’ in a way that’s a little more true to what I wrote,” Riordan said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. “It’s just so great that I can finally tell all the readers over the years, ‘This is it, this is the adaptation you have been wanting and waiting for.’”
The thing I loved about the Disney+ adaptation was how it provided more insight into Percy’s childhood, giving us more of his backstory. The show’s casting was excellent and greatly contributed to the overall quality of the production. The cast embodied their characters, and any changes made in the story were minor and necessary to the plot.
The settings also brought the story to life. The crew went above and beyond with their set design, and it paid off—especially with scenes at Half-Blood Hill. The wardrobe designs are also exceptional. The costume designers kept the outfits simple yet effective, which worked out perfectly.
My favorite part of the show was the animation. The end credits scene never failed to amaze me, as the showrunners incorporated monsters from the books into it and kept graphics from the book covers.
There is no doubt that, as more episodes come out, the love fans have for the show will only grow. I also think the show will serve to bring new fans to the book series.
