Netflix Cancels Animated Adaptation of Jeff Smith’s Bone
Bone is one of those legendary success stories that just exists out there in the comic zeitgeist. Confession: I have yet to read any of Bone but that doesn’t mean I have no idea about what it is or it’s importance to cartoonists just like me. If anyone ever tells you they’re a cartoonist, and they don’t know about Bone, question everything. Still, Bone’s success story isn’t universal, so I’ll sum everything up right quick for those of you who aren’t cartooning.
Bone was an indy comic before indy comics were cool. Jeff Smith was writing and drawing this cute little character named Bone, a story about he and his two cousins who get lost in a fairy-tale valley, plot ensues. The importance of Bone is the perseverance of it’s creator Jeff Smith. I’ve heard the tale told like this: he was writing everything himself, drawing everything himself. Then he’d go to a print shop, print everything, staple it all together and then load all of his fresh comics into the trunk of his car and drive door to door, comic shop to comic shop, to put his comics on the shelves. No distributor. No publisher. No book deals. No Kickstarter. No internet. Just hard work, a great comic, and the drive to succeed.
Whether that narrative is true to the letter, or is told with some liberties, the lessons therein are plain, and they apply universally. Success is inevitable if you just keep going. Do whatever it takes. Make the thing. Show the thing to everybody. Sell the thing. Work hard. Be diligent. Persevere.
This is the story of Bone. Even now.
Netflix announced way back in 2019 that it was going to make an adaptation of the celebrated comic, to much excitement. Which is why it’s all the more disappointing that recently Netflix has canceled that adaptation amidst a company shakeup. Netflix has been making some headlines lately as they try to crack down on password sharing. Netflix’s profits dipped to the tune of $200,000 they reported for the first quarter. More losses are to be expected in Q2. As a result, its stock dropped 35%. This has been the first drop in subscribership since they began, they said.
Amid this panic it seems like the animation department is experiencing some of the collateral damage. Netflix laid off their director of creative leadership and development for original animation Phil Rynda and several of his staffers. And with that, went the Bone adaptation.
But fear not. Bone is sure to find its footing somewhere else, and hey-maybe even somewhere better. If we learn anything from Bone‘s success story it’s that if you just keep going, be diligent and persevere great things are bound to happen. We’ll get our Bone adaptation eventually and besides, now I’ve got even more time to get my hands on the Bone omnibus and finally read it.
