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A prequel is a work that portrays events which include the structure, conventions, and/or characters of a previously completed narrative, but occur at an earlier time. The word is a neologism, dating to the early 1970s; its first known, traceable use is in the original press pack for The Godfather Part II.* were it is used to describe the sections of the film which take place before the events of The Godfather. Francis Ford Coppola credits George Lucas with devising the term which Lucas and Steven Spielberg later used to describe their joint project Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom during publicity for its release.
The word is a portmanteau formed from pre-, meaning before, and sequel, a work which takes place after a previous one. While the word is eytomologically flawed ('sequel' derives from 'sequence') its meaning is easily grasped and it has passed into common usage. Lucas's own Star Wars prequel trilogy greatly popularized the term in American culture."The term has recently slipped into common usage with its popularization by the advent of The Phantom Menace" wrote Chris Deever. Truth in Cinema, May 28, 2001 The term distant prequel refers to a long interval between the prequel and its original.
Another popular cinematic prequel is The Godfather, Part II. This film is both sequel and prequel, since it intercuts the further story of the Corleone mafia family under the leadership of Michael Corleone with the story of his father Vito Corleone in his youth.
Like sequels, prequels may or may not concern the same plot as the work from which they are derived. Often, they explain the background which led to the events in the original, but sometimes the connections are not as explicit. Sometimes, prequels play on the fact that the audience knows what will happen next, using deliberate references to create dramatic irony.
The idea of a prequel is not new. The libretti for the four operas of Richard Wagner's Ring Cycle -- Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, Siegfried and Götterdämmerung -- were written in reverse order, making each opera a prequel to the following one.
Another example of a prequel in C. S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia is The Magician's Nephew, a prequel to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe which was written first.
The term prequel is often used to describe any work with a sequel. This is contrary to the term's original meaning, which defines a prequel as a type of sequel, not the converse of a sequel. For example, The Phantom Menace (1999) is a prequel to Return of the Jedi (1983), but not to Attack of the Clones (2002).
Prequels can be often be viewed as both a positive and a negitive. In the case of Star Wars, many saw the prequel trilogy as a positive since the original trilogy's setting was in middle of the saga while many others saw them as a negative, criticising the numerous times that they broke continuity and the fact that the original trilogy had to be revised in order to make the prequels properly fit. Star Trek: Enterprise has also attracted similar criticism - the series was charged with making many continuity errors, and also many felt there was no need for a Star Trek prequel since the Original Series had already established the saga's roots and that the decision to make a prequel series was capitalising off the idea from the Star Wars prequels.
List of prequels
Literature
| Prequel | Original |
|---|---|
| Wide Sargasso Sea (1966) | Jane Eyre (1847) |
| The Magician's Nephew (1955) | The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950) |
| The Silmarillion (1977) Many would argue that the principal plot structures in The Silmarillion were devised long before The Lord Of The Rings, and that the latter was incorporated into an existing structure, meaning the work, although published later, is not a prequel in the strict sense of the word. | The Lord of the Rings (1954, 1955) |
| The Dark Elf Trilogy (1990, 1991) | The Icewind Dale Trilogy (1988, 1989, 1990) |
| First King of Shannara | The Sword of Shannara (1977) |
| Prelude to Foundation (1988) | Foundation (1951) |
| Prelude to Dune (1999-2001) | Dune (1965) |
| Wicked (1995) | The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) |
| New Spring (1999) | The Wheel of Time (1990-) |
Films
Television
| Prequel | Original(s) |
|---|---|
| Enterprise (2001-2005) | |
| First of the Summer Wine (1988-89) | Last of the Summer Wine (1973-) |
| Etheria (2005-) | Encantadia (May 2005-December 2005) |
Video Games
Cross-media
| Prequel(s) | Original(s) |
|---|---|
| Fire Walk With Me (1992) (film) | Twin Peaks (1990-1991) (television series) |
| Smallville (2001- ) (TV series) | Superman franchise (comics, movies, etc) |
| Ewoks (1985, 1986) (animated cartoon series) |
See also
Notes
Portmanteaus | Narrative forms
Prequel | Precuela | Préquelle | Prequel | Prequel | Prequel | Prequela | Prequel | Prequel
"Prequel"