The story of Ibong Adarna is known all over the
Philippines and has been told in different languages and media.
Filming 1940s Narcisa "Doña Sisang" de Leon of
LVN Studios produced the first two
Ibong Adarna films. The first one, made in 1941, starred
Mila del Sol as Prinsesa Maria,
Fred Cortes as Prinsipe Juan, Ester Magalona, Vicente Oliver, Deanna Prieto, Ben Rubio and Angeles Gayoso who voiced the Ibong Adarna. It had a magical sequence that showed the singing of the bird. That used a painstakingly hand-painted process called "Varicolor", where the bird was colorized in this otherwise black and white film. LVN was able to archive copies of the film which was shown again in theaters after the war in the late 40s and 50s.
1950s Fifteen years later, in 1956, LVN produced a second version, this time under the full direction of an older Manuel Conde, and starred
Nida Blanca,
Nestor de Villa, Carlos Salazar, Cecilia Lopez, Nita Javier and Jose Vergara. The 1956 film was the first Filipino commercial film shot and shown in its entirety in
Eastman Color.
1970s Roda Film Productions produced two films,
Ibong Adarna (1972) and its sequel
Ang Hiwaga ng Ibong Adarna (1973) starring
Dolphy as the lead Prince Adolfo and comedians
Panchito Alba as Prince Alfonso,
Babalu as Prince Albano and
Rosanna Ortiz as the Ibong Adarna.
1990s Tagalog Pictures, Inc. produced the film
Si Prinsipe Abante at ang Lihim ng Ibong Adarna in 1990 starring comedian
Rene Requiestas as the lead Prinsipe Abante (
forward),
Paquito Diaz as Prinsipe Atras (
retreat), Joaquin Fajardo as Prinsipe Urong-Sulong (synonymous to
atras-abante;
back and forth) and Monica Herrera as Prinsesa Luningning/the Ibong Adarna. In 1996,
Star Cinema produced the film
Ang TV Movie: The Adarna Adventure.
Jolina Magdangal played the Ibong Adarna/Prinsesa Adarna. The cast included
Nida Blanca as Lola Binyang,
Tirso Cruz III as Prinsipe Diego, Dindo Arroyo as Prinsipe Pedro,
Gio Alvarez as Prinsipe Juan and Gamaliel Viray as Hari ng Berbanya along with the kids and teens of
Ang TV.
Adarna: The Mythical Bird which premiered on December 25, 1997, is the first Filipino full-length theatrical animated film. It stars Jolina Magdangal – who previously played the Ibong Adarna – as the voice of Princess Carmona along with other voice casts:
Marvin Agustin,
Martin Nievera and
Regine Velasquez. Nievera and Velasquez sung the soundtrack "Touched by Your Love" and "Nagmamahal", "Believe It" was performed by Velasquez and "Halakhak" by The Youth.
2010s A young man sets out on a dangerous quest for a magical bird with the power to heal any ailment in "Ibong Adarna: The Pinoy Adventure". The 2014 film starred
Rocco Nacino as Prinsipe Sigasig,
Joel Torre as Sultan Mabait,
Angel Aquino as Sultana Mabunyi,
Leo Martinez as Datu Maimbot,
Benjie Paras as Sipsipayo,
Ronnie Lazaro as Dulangkaw, Patricia Fernandez as
Diwata,
Lilia Cuntapay as Bruha, Gary Lising as
Nuno ng Lipi, Miss Intercontinental 2018
Karen Gallman as Adarna and Philip "Kohol" Supnet as Higante.
2020s MALA (Movies Adapted from Literary Arts): Ibong Adarna “MALA" (Movies Adapted from Literary Arts), an educational puppetry film series for children directed by actor
Xian Lim and written by renowned ventriloquist Ronaldo "Ony" Carcamo, is part of the
Cultural Center of the Philippines' "Sining Sigla", a season-long virtual outreach program of the CCP Office of the President Arsenio "Nick" Lizaso. Lim and Carcamo used muppets, visual effects and live action with music and poetry in the dialogue on their adaptation. MALA's production designers are shadowplay and puppet designer Aina Ramolete and production designer and art director Kaye Banaag. Joined by music composer Jem Florendo and sound designer Miguel Hernandez.
New 4K Digital Scan of Ibong Adarna (1941) In time for the 100th year of Philippine cinema,
Cinema One brought the film that was scanned in a high definition 4K resolution back via cable TV on June 30, 2019. Ibong Adarna was the opening full-length film of the 12th Cinema Rehiyon held on February 24–28, 2020, at Naga City, Camarines Sur.
Television In 2013,
GMA Network produced
Adarna, a contemporary television series adaptation starring
Kylie Padilla in the title role. In the 50th episode of season 1 of GMA's drama fantasy anthology series
Daig Kayo ng Lola Ko which aired on April 22, 2018, lola Goreng (
Gloria Romero) narrated the story of the Ibong Adarna. The episode starred
Kyline Alcantara as Ibong Adarna,
Jeric Gonzales as Juan,
Lucho Ayala as Pedro, Aaron Yanga as Diego and Rey 'PJ' Abellana as Fernando.
Theater Ballet Ballet Manila soloist Abigail Oliveiro took on the role of Ibong Adarna with Mark Sumaylo as Don Pedro, Romeo Peralta as Don Diego and Ballet Manila's Principal dancer Rudy de Dios as Don Juan. It featured music by Diwa de Leon, with Gia Macuja Atchison as the voice of Ibong Adarna, and script by Angela Blardony Ureta. Ballet Manila's CEO and Artistic Director
Lisa Macuja-Elizalde described the show as "a modern ballet with
neo-classical and
classical styles that serve as the cornerstone of the dance vocabulary." It even featured the
Alitaptap () Dance and the
Monkey Dance. It made its world premiere on August 26, 2017, at the
Aliw Theater stage.
Musical REP staged an English version of the epic which featured fun, child-friendly music, and bright and colorful costumes. == Art and literature ==