Some believe that adapting a beloved classic piece of literature is sacrilege. Can you imagine, for instance, a remake of Casablanca? But I suggest that there is an art to working with legacy IP and striking a balance between honouring the original and providing a fresh take for a new generation. There is no other genre more popular for desecrating the altar of cherished IP than animation, with Walt Disney being the apex predator for reshaping classic texts. When it comes to the Sherlock Holmes books, the most-adapted IP in Hollywood, there couldn’t be source material riper for a newfound adaptation into animation. And yet it has never been done.
From Basil Rathbone’s measured precision to Benedict Cumberbatch’s high-functioning approach, the live action adaptations Sherlock Holmes have stood the test of time.
In developing True Sherlock, an animated reworking of The Unexpurgated Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, our focus has been to redefine how these world-renowned stories are experienced as part of an episodic, globally distributed TV format. The ambition was to balance preservation and reinvention, whilst staying true to the qualities that made the original source material a global phenomenon for generations.
Establishing a foundation
The live action versions of the last 40 years have focused upon character definition, particularly Sherlock, but I think that there is always an expectation from an existing fanbase for an adaption to capture the essence of the original story, including all specific moments and major plot points. We have condensed and modernised the original Conan Doyle stories for True Sherlock but never lost track of the main plot or its nuances.
In this vein we believe that all successful adaptations, particularly animated ones, require a degree of editorial rigour, but not everything can, or should, be carried across. The starting point is always the same: what is the irreducible core of the story and what drives the narrative? What is the key element that has given it longevity and stuck in readers’ minds for 140 years? We perceive the detective’s intellect to be the defining trait of the IP, but what could make True Sherlock different? We decided that the more compelling anchor lay within the dynamic between Holmes and Watson and by elevating Watson’s intellect and intuition we could enhance that relationship to provide unique emotional growth across episodic storytelling.
Once that foundation has been established, stories can be modernised to suit contemporary television pacing, and character arcs can stretch across episodes or even seasons. Our goal was not to replicate but reinterpret, and this is where animation enabled us to strip the story back to its core and develop a post-modern version.
Leaning into the strengths of animation
For television, animation offers freedom of expression as a direct narrative advantage. Fresh takes on reality can be stretched further than live action ever could be, all of these in a contemporary, original style.
There is often an assumption that animation introduces limitations such as shorter runtimes, over-reliance on voice performance, or a notion that an animated adaptation cannot compete with the “prestige” of a live-action retelling. But animation introduces a special kind of authorship that get the writer’s endorphins buzzing! Style becomes inseparable from story, tone is embedded in every frame, and it allows a property to establish its own identity.
Paying homage to the past without restrictions
One of the central challenges is managing viewers expectations. There is an innate sense of ownership where your built-in fanbase will always be the harshest critics. Borrowing too many elements from past versions and leaning into the nostalgia the IP contains can limit and narrow the appeal, isolating newer viewers from partaking in the series. Meanwhile, moving too far in the other direction risks losing the original allure and DNA that made the original property so cherished in the first place. For instance, for me Tintin has been a lifelong treasure of mine and I was in great trepidation of Spielberg producing The Adventures of Tintin in 2011. To my great relief, I loved his film.
The most productive approach is to treat the source material as a living framework rather than a fixed blueprint, and by Spielberg mixing stories together, he achieved this aim. He directed the adaptation rather than changing its form completely. That means asking oneself which elements still resonate with modern audiences, which parts need restructuring and whether any new perspectives can be introduced. Animation provides the freedom to explore those questions in a bold, nuanced way, offering space to reinterpret tone, character and even structure in ways that feel both loyal and progressive.
Appealing to a global audience
Content by nature is now becoming completely universal thanks to global streaming platforms, making even niche topics capable of flourishing into internationally watched content. Animated series are often designed to have cross-market appeal from the outset and attaching that to a classic IP helps boost and attract views. But relying on reputation alone will not cut through the noise.
It is important to consider design choices as a strategic element to your production, to create something authentic and distinctive to entice views. Colour palettes, animation types and character stylisation all lend itself to how accessible a show is across different territories. The ability to morph stories while keeping the soul of the original alive can enable an animated version to travel across borders without losing its sense of identity.
Planning for longevity
There is no longer a singular notion of what ‘television’ is, as audiences now engage with content more fluidly across multiple devices, moving increasingly towards ‘mobile-first’ viewing habits. For animated adaptations, this shift has practical implications. Shot composition and pacing must be considered for varied screen sizes and viewing contexts. What works on a larger screen, must also remain legible on a smaller device.
Equally, we must consider the narrative scalability and whether an adaptation has what it takes to sustain multiple seasons, evolve with audience’s media consumption patterns and even extend into new formats or spin-offs, in an effort to keep the IP as fresh as possible. By building this type of flexible storytelling, it ensures that the property has room to grow.
Why reinvention matters
The real value of animation lies in its ability to unlock new dimensions within familiar material, allowing creators and producers to revisit established worlds without being bound by the constraints of previous interpretations – opening up space for tonal shifts, visual innovation and narrative expansion.
In that sense, the most enduring properties are not those that remain unchanged, but those that continue to evolve, and animation ensures they can do exactly that.
