Mar
See the Book! Read the Movie!
Disney was a master of the tale retold.
Be it Cinderella, The Little Mermaid or 101 Dalmatians, the powers-that-be at Disney were uniquely successful in transferring classic and contemporary stories from print to film.
Studio animators used light and shadow to establish mood and paint scenes. Casting directors found pitch perfect voice talent to breathe emotion into scripts. Writers infused familiar plots and themes with new ideas and timely twists.
Yes, Disney took liberties with folk tales, de-emphasizing the darker elements. But the emotional cores and themes remained, which is why the films still resonate.
Like anyone who elevates skill to art, Disney made reimagining stories look easy.
The film industry will tell you it isn’t.
No longer content to poach fables and fairytales, Hollywood has moved to a new stalking ground–the New York Times Bestseller List. In the last year alone, Harry Potter, Coraline, The Lovely bones, The Time Traveler’s Wife, Sherlock Holmes and Rick Riordan’s sword-swinging Percy Jackson have leapt from page to screen.
The results?
Mixed.
Lovely Bones came under fire from readers when a key scene from the book was excised from the film. Some Conan Doyle aficionados avoided Holmes for fear of seeing their Baker Street sleuth transformed into an action-adventure hero. And here at home, despite loving the Percy Jackson books, my children are still undecided about seeing The Lightning Thief after hearing lukewarm reviews from friends.
The migration from publishing house to production company is a hero’s journey, fraught with mangled plots, clipped character arcs, changes in tone and pace and mood, memorable lines shoehorned into ill-fitting exchanges of dialogue, and–on rare occasion–retellings that are somehow both faithful and fresh, satisfying stalwart fans while drawing new readers into the fold.
In the quest to mine blockbuster gold from a literary favorite, many have tried, and many have fallen.
Now it’s your turn.
On the heels of a Hollywood disaster, a producer is running away from home. He’s passing through your town, standing in line behind you at Gas n’ Go. He comments on the book tucked under your coat.
“Some nitwit made a move from it and botched it,” you say.
He introduces himself as the nitwit. He’d like to know:
*How he botched it.
*What he got right.
*And another book, new or classic, that would make a great film.
Leave your thoughts in the comment section. But be quick about it. By the time you post, your pick already may have hit the production listings of imdb.
~Joe
Joe Richardson has written for newspapers, magazines, trade journals and broadcast media. When not at his desk, he can be found photographing his family and other forms of wildlife. He lives in rural Illinois.
March 9th, 2010 at 2:17 am
I ended up unable to watch the movie version of “The Little White Horse” by Elizabeth Goudge, The title is “The Secret of Moonacre” and it’s a British effort. You may recall I listed that as my “comfort” book in a previous post. Well, after half an hour into the movie when they’ve ruined two characters, and completely rewritten the plot, I was yelling at the screen so loudly that my husband insisted I turn it off and the cats were hiding under the bed. As far as I could tell, the only thing they got right was the surroundings. THAT was fairly true to the book, at least! As for something they should make into a movie, assuming they didn’t completely try to rewrite it, I’d choose Alan Bradley’s first novel, “The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie”. The challenge there would be finding someone to play Flavia that the audience didn’t end up hating.
March 9th, 2010 at 6:57 am
You are right about Disney, I can’t think about Cinderella without seeing her in the blue dress and blond hair from the Disney film. And Sleeping Beauty it’s all about the three good fairys who keep turning her dress during the dance with the prince – an excellent way to end a movie HEA.
Botched movies – anything they did from Stephen King that wasn’t a short story. Best example IT. They should have left that one alone…
Movie I want them to make? Maybe? The Talisman. Although I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t bring the other world to life like King and Straub did. Maybe I just need to stop at the bookstore this weekend.
Great subject Joe….
March 9th, 2010 at 9:53 am
He botched Michael Connelly’s BloodLines. He took my favorite character in the book, Buddy, and made him the killer in the movie. Awful move. Just awful.
A movie I want them to make? Would it be self-serving to say, Forecast of Evil?
I think that would be a FUN movie.
March 9th, 2010 at 10:25 am
Shel, lol! Well, at least the movie stirred up strong feelings, in both you and your cats. Just…not the feelings the filmmakers intended. And thanks so much for mentioning Bradley. He’s been on my TBR list for some time. From everything I’ve heard, I’d love Sweetness. That book was on the Dilys Wynn Award list, keeping company with other outstanding titles. Looks like a trip to the library is in store…
March 9th, 2010 at 10:38 am
Lynn,
Someone needs to form a support group for Stephen King fans disappointed by movies made from his books. You are legion.
My sister read IT when she probably was too young for the material. Her copy had a clown on the cover. Years earlier, my grandmother had given us a handmade clown that stood about three feet tall. It was a little craft-mall horror all its own. My brother and I would pop into our sister’s room when she wasn’t around and reposition it a little, just enough to make her wonder, but not enough so she’d be sure. I think she finally buried it in a closet.
King knows what presses our buttons. Pity that seldom translates to film.
Elizabeth,
They did something similar with one of the Mission Impossible movies, when they moved it to the big screen. Who thinks betraying the spirit of a character will win the hearts and minds of readers–the film’s core audience? That baffles me.
We’re still on the fence with Percy Jackson. My son says he’ll go Wednesday night. My daughter is still steering clear. We’ll see…
March 9th, 2010 at 11:10 am
Evil big brother…. No wonder she’s punishing you now with the fake marathon training schedule… I bet the USPS commercial gives her the creeps even now….
March 9th, 2010 at 12:03 pm
If I ran into David Lynch under these circumstances you describe, only my regard for his other films would prevent me from pummeling him into a greasy spot by the Gas N’ Go snack racks for what he did to DUNE. He got everything wrong except, maybe, the casting of Patrick Stewart as Gurney. He made everything in the movie visually ugly, even when it doesn’t have to be. And rain at the end? On Arrakis? AAAAARGH!
I could go on for hours. I often do.
BookS I’d love to see turned into a movie (other than my own)? Victor Gischler’s GO GO GIRLS OF THE APOCALYPSE, Lee Child’s BAD LUCK AND TROUBLE, Robert Crais’ LA REQUIEM, George Pelecanos’ SOUL CIRCUS.
March 9th, 2010 at 12:40 pm
Forecast of Evil would make a great movie.
March 9th, 2010 at 1:24 pm
I’m the only person I know who doesn’t get upset by film adaptations. And that’s partially because of how well Disney could tell a story – even if it’s a different one from the book they started from. Their adaptations of Big Red, Smoky (the German Shepherd), 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Johnny Tremain, The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh, Mary Poppins, That Darn Cat, and so, so many more, were movies I loved. I hadn’t read the books (except Big Red), so I was able to watch without preconceptions and prejudices. Later on, when I did read the books, I understood that the movies weren’t bad because they were different from the books, and I could often see reasons why a different viewpoint was chosen. Everyone ‘sees’ stories slightly differently. What is most important to one person isn’t the same to another. It’s been very seldom that I don’t enjoy seeing a different viewpoint to a story I like, because I don’t take it at a personal affront.
Two examples – James Bond movies are usually very different from the books whose titles they use – and yet, because they’re plain old entertaining, we accept them for what they are.
Sherlock Holmes is both a larger-than-life character, and in many ways a very precisely drawn one. But because of the many, many allusions to other cases, and many quirks in Holmes character that Watson hints at, it’s easy to imagine that there could be more to ‘his’ story. I loved the new movie version of Holmes and Watson for many reasons, but the biggest one was that I like more ‘flesh and blood’ characterizations because it’s even easier to live in that world in my mind. And while I know and admit that Jeremy Brett’s version is perfectly accurate down to the last details – and I do appreciate that to a point – I resent that his striving for nit-picking accuracy helped drive him to destruction. (Yes, I know he had other demons, but still….)
March 9th, 2010 at 1:48 pm
JD,
LOL! Remind me to never dabble in a story-world that’s near and dear to your heart. Or if I do, I’ll be sure to have a full tank of gas before I pass through your town.
I’ve seen part of DUNE. It didn’t work for me at the time, but it’s been a lot of years twixt now and then. I should give it another go. It would be an interesting exercise.
I think Kevin Anderson has taken a lot of heat for adding to the DUNE series. That frustrates me, because he’s a genuinely kind person, and his passion for DUNE is what drew him to write in that world.
Your wish list of books to film reminds me of how little I’ve read in the mystery and thriller genre. I need to focus.
March 9th, 2010 at 2:22 pm
Kate,
You offer so many good thoughts, there’s material here for several discussions.
I really like the point you make, when you say that a director or script writer can retell a tale from a fresh point of view, bring something new to it, change it, and that change alone isn’t bad.
I’m with you there, 100 percent.
I do have a problem with a script that destroys the spirit of a story or the integrity of a character. In the example Elizabeth mentioned, a film essentially rewrote a character and made him do something he’d never do in the book. Why not introduce a new character to the film, have him play that part? If I had to guess, I’d say the screenwriter made Buddy the killer solely for the “aha-gotcha!” moment.
Stories can support that kind of twist, but they need to set it up really, really well, and take a long time subtly adjusting the character arc.
I love the Bond books. And I really enjoy the films. But I never walk into a Bond flick expecting to meet Fleming. That said, I think Casino Royale did a fine job of putting Fleming back in the story. And it was my favorite Bond movie since Connery played the part.
I thought the Holmes movie was right on the mark. And I just had to shake my head at the folks who said it wasn’t really Sherlock Holmes. How many times in the stories did Holmes reference some act of derring-do? The only difference here: The film put all of those acts on screen.
I’m a sucker for Brett and Rathbone, both. And back in the day when A&E was about Arts and Entertainment, I found the Lovejoy books via the TV series. Now, when I read Gash, the narration is always Ian McShane.
March 9th, 2010 at 2:52 pm
Dru, if you know a film maker…
March 9th, 2010 at 3:13 pm
Joe, when I started reading the Lovejoy books I envisioned someone completely different from Ian McShane, and when I saw the TV stories they weren’t like what I’d imagined in my mind. However, Ian McShane is so … good that I enjoyed them for what they were. Same thing with the Sid Halley character by Dick Francis. There was a short series called The Racing Game, and I was just glad to have a few more Sid Halley stories – and Mike Gwilym was great even though that’s not how I imagined Sid Halley to be either.
I didn’t really like the Rathbone Holmes movies – but that was mostly because Nigel Bruce’s Watson always seemed weak and doofus-y.
I do understand that sometimes a picture really goes off kilter with characters and plot points – the 2005 War of the Worlds is a good example. That’s one movie I went to see because of the book’s story and was very unhappy with it trying to use H.G. Wells as a marketing partner.
March 9th, 2010 at 4:38 pm
Kate,
No kidding–there are TV episodes based on the Dick Francis books?!? That just went on my DVD wish list. Along with the Lovejoy series (which is pretty pricey).
Nigel Bruce was a bumbling Watson, but I loved him anyway.
Gash was in Chicago a few years back. I should have went. *sigh*
March 9th, 2010 at 4:44 pm
I just realized, I didn’t name my “botched it” movie.
My son loves the Alex Rider series (think young James Bond). I bought him the Alex Rider movie for Christmas. I was so…strange. The plot was an Alex Rider plot, but the characters and direction were all cartoonish. We couldn’t identify with any of it. Haven’t watched it since.
My book(s) to film: The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud. He’d give Harry Potter a run for his money. The visuals would be killer, and the characters would rock the big screen.
March 9th, 2010 at 5:58 pm
Oddly enough, I didn’t hate the Kevin Anderson DUNE books. The only one I read was HOUSE ATREIDES, and I found it, as I do all Anderson’s books, an entertaining read. It just wasn’t Frank Herbert. It was a fun paperback, but it didn’t have the scope or depth of Herbert’s work.
March 12th, 2010 at 11:27 am
I was so disappointed when I saw the movie version of The Notebook. I would get teary-eyed at the previews because the book was just so awesome. The movie ended totally different and messed up the timeline for the follow up book, The Wedding. It’s taken me a while to get over that one. I understand taking some liberties, but to change the major plot or the outcome just doesn’t seem right. I didn’t read My Sister’s Keeper, so I liked the movie; but my friend was furious when we left the theatre.