Science Fiction gets best both in reading(1*), filming(2*) or just watching(3*) when there is MAGIC TONIC vs. ANTIDOTE story structure in the concept. The original premise for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was merely an introvert scientist inventing a formula to prove his genius worth to be someone in life but he could not handle the Double Life of masking a calm doctor over a killer monster.
1* In Novels or Gamebooks(cyoa etc.) No amount of hero introduction is ever enough to withstand the necessity of a monster tonic so a casual medical doctor can become a better doctor than he was before. This means, story needs more visuals and actions than dialogues and backstory.
2* Sci-Fi submerges with Action through chase and suspenseful tension sequences of life-and-death battle when filming directly to video, or for TV which actually 1956 version of Zorro did just that in a perfectioned version Double Life Leading stories. Only the 1956 version of Zorro(TV). What worked was a simple trick: "The hero has a weak point which must be kept as a secret; if it is ever revealed then he needs to stop his Double Life" which indeed was the pioneer fuel behind all the Superhero genre today in 2022.
Friz Freleng may be just a simple animation director to all of you; but he was the pioneer of the Superhero/Nemesis genre for Marvel even before there was Marvel in 1956.
3* Antidote concept.... This is also used as an ANTI-NEMESIS storyline. So what is an Anti-Nemesis? We have to come back to Zorro once again. Zorro indeed was the only Superhero who lead TRIPLE LIFE - the nameless poor farmer only his family knows of during holidays; the town chief Don Diego De La Vega(based on real biography) during daytime; and the Zorro during night-time. In this antidote concept; the hero can give up every passion in his life when in danger to go back to being a poor nameless farmer again; in this case everyone would know Zorro dies when Don Diego De La Vega gets killed although through the antidote HE STILL LIVES (which gives a room for a franchise comeback). This antidote must always be a tangible matter:
- A tonic
- A pill or a syringable formula
- A transformator device like the Frankenstein's operation table
Otherwise the story will not be used of by Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde structure.
In Hyde And Go Tweet; Friz Freleng accomplishes it. But for the past 62 years ever since I always wondered why noone else could repeat it.
