Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe - tt0032475

This title is currently incorrectly formatted as a standalone feature film. Adventures of Captain Marvel (1941) is a classic 12-chapter movie serial produced by Republic Pictures. According to IMDb guidelines for Movie Serials, these titles must be formatted as a TV Series so that the individual chapters/episodes can be properly attached. Please approve the title conversion to a Series format. Comprehensive evidence of its 12-chapter episodic structure and historical preservation can be verified through the official Library of Congress records, commercial distribution catalogs, and archives provided below. PROOFS: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adventures_of_Captain_Marvel> <https://archive.org/details/TheAdventuresOfCaptainMarvelSerial194112Chapters> <https://kinolorber.com/product/adventures-of-captain-marvel-12-chapter-serial-dvd> <https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/gdc/gdcfindingaidpdfs/mi025002/mi025002.pdf> Note: This comment was created from a merged conversation Link : https://community-imdb.sprinklr.com/conversations/data-issues-policy-discussions/adventures-of-captain-marvel-tt0033317/6a21c1471d7c2161cfacb480 Title : Adventures of Captain Marvel - tt0033317

• A serial is a film released in parts or chapters and should be listed as a standalone feature film title with the keyword serial. They are generally screened one chapter each week at a cinema where the story structure has each chapter ending with a cliffhanger to entice the audience to watch the following chapter when released. For example, Flash Gordon (1936).

https://help.imdb.com/article/contribution/titles/title-formatting/G56U5ERK7YY47CQB?ref_=helpms_helpart_inline

Unfortunately, Flash Gordon (1936) has been changed so that the example doesn't make sense.

I see that AnimeXCloud has been informed of the guideline here last year but is still pressing ahead.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0027623/ Somebody just changed the title type for Flash Gordon (1936) from film to TV series. It is not a TV series. IMDb should have created a separate title type for film serials years ago, but mislabeling it as a TV series is not a solution. That is all. Note: This comment was created from a merged conversation Link : https://community-imdb.sprinklr.com/conversations/data-issues-policy-discussions/film-serials-are-not-tv-series/6a1b39ab7b0dec502382cf01 Title : Film serials are not TV series.

Hi everyone,

Thank you for the insights, Maya, Peter, and @majfoalbkeopaza. I completely understand and respect the guidelines pointed out by Peter regarding the traditional classification of classic theatrical serials. However, I would like to propose a deeper discussion regarding data integrity, modern user experience, and the current state of preservation on IMDb for these specific titles.

As @majfoalbkeopaza perfectly stated: "Listing it as a stand-alone film is just a different way of being incorrect."

When we strictly force a 12 or 15-chapter movie serial (like Flash Gordon or Adventures of Captain Marvel) into a single "Feature Film" runtime slot, we create three major data-structural problems on the platform:

1. Loss of Episodic Metadata: A movie serial is inherently episodic. Each chapter has its own official title, distinct crew/writer credits, specific segment runtimes, and historic cliffhangers. Formatting them as a standalone film completely erases the ability to attach and catalog these individual chapters, which goes against IMDb's core mission of being the most comprehensive entertainment database.

2. Modern Streaming Reality: Today, major global platforms like Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video, and historical archives distribute and stream these works exactly as multi-episode "TV Shows" or "Seasons" due to their episodic nature. Users coming from these platforms cannot find chapter-specific information on IMDb because the data has nowhere to live.

3. The Precedent of Evolution: IMDb has already evolved to allow Web-Series, YouTube episodic content, and direct-to-streaming miniseries under the "TV Series/Mini-Series" technical umbrella because the underlying mechanism is the only one that supports an episodic breakdown.

While I agree that a dedicated "Film Serial" title type would be the absolute ideal solution for the future, maintaining them as standalone feature films in the meantime actively damages the database by preventing contributors from documenting hundreds of historic cinematic chapters, directors, and actors.

If the system currently allows Web Content to utilize the TV structure for the sake of cataloging episodes, why shouldn't classic theatrical serials be allowed the same technical solution to preserve cinema history?

I kindly ask the team to reconsider this rigid stance, or at least open a ticket with the product team to evaluate the implementation of a proper "Serial" structure, rather than leaving these titles stripped of their episodic data.

Best regards, AnimeX