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Books Made Into New Movies!

by manz

Three new movies that came out this year were based on books and are now coming out on DVD and just hit the catalog! They are all great adventures for kids and families to enjoy together.

The BFG
This new animated film is based on the novel by Roald Dahl. A young girl named Sophie accidentally sees a giant out her window, and he then whisks her away to the land of giants. At first afraid, she soon learns that he is a Big Friendly Giant and not one who eats children like the other giants do.

Alice Through the Looking Glass
Loosely based on the classic Lewis Carroll novel, and is the sequel to the 2010 film, Alice in Wonderland. The film is produced by Tim Burton and once again stars Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter. Alice slips through a looking glass and finds herself back in the Underland and on more wild and trippy adventures.

The Jungle Book
Based on Rudyard Kipling’s 1894 book The Jungle Book. There have been many adaptations and this newest animated film features voices of Scarlett Johansson, Bill Murray, Sir Ben Kingsley, Idris Elba, and Christopher Walken. It’s a continuing adventure of Mowgli deep in the jungle with a band of animals with personality.

Comments

Submitted by sushai on Fri, 08/26/2016 - 11:10am

I am almost always disappointed after seeing the movie version of a book I love. Looking for reviews from people who've read the book as well as seen the movie.

Submitted by manz Staff on Fri, 08/26/2016 - 12:22pm

kathscot & Susan Haines, I had to train myself to look at the book and the movie as two separate entities. The movie that forced me to do that was Coraline. I liked the book but not the movie. It was then that I realized I couldn't compare books to movies in the same fashion that I used to. Case in point: Harry Potter and the Lord of the Rings. Enjoyed the books and the films, but drastically different! It's a hard thing to do!

Submitted by Fevvers - STAR473 on Fri, 08/26/2016 - 12:42pm

@ manz

I have worked to do the same thing, though I still find it hard not to have a knee-jerk reaction. And sometimes, even if I didn't even really like a movie, I can appreciate the thought and choices that went into the adaptation.

I did enjoy the Coraline movie myself, but I love the book and think it is significantly superior. There were some good ideas for differences for the movie, but it wasn't half as unnerving as the book.

On some rare occasions, movies or shows can be better than the books behind them. Or at least more palatable. I never enjoyed the book Jane Eyre, but I've since watched a couple of movie adaptations in which I found more to appreciate. Blasphemy, perhaps, but true in my case!

Submitted by ashflowtuff on Fri, 08/26/2016 - 9:56pm

I always make sure to read the book first, even if I've never heard about the story until the movie comes out. I find that I can enjoy both more that way.

Submitted by kferguson on Sat, 08/27/2016 - 10:44am

BFG movie was heartwarming. I'm reading the book now. I like the visuals in the new Alice movies. Jungle book is always a great story.

Submitted by jduffy12 on Sat, 08/27/2016 - 11:51am

I like when take movies and turn them into movies. It gives a new perspective on other imagination

Submitted by dahyatt on Sun, 08/28/2016 - 6:46pm

Agreed on the previous comments. Whenever a book is made into a movie it is almost always disappointing. Perfect example is The Shining. Great book, disappointing movie.

Submitted by chelsiegarrett on Mon, 08/29/2016 - 12:52pm

I have read all of these books, and I actually like some of the movies better. I especially like the movie version of Alice in wonderland. I was never a fan of those books for whatever reason.

Submitted by willow on Mon, 08/29/2016 - 9:57pm

I recently read Howl's Moving Castle and was greatly anticipating the movie....and I hated it! It was beautiful but so, so wrong! So much left out.

I am not sure about Johnny Depp in Alice. I haven't seen the first one because it reminded of him as Willy Wonka, which just disturbed me. I am not sure about Johnny Depp. He is just so odd. (Of course, so was Gene Wilder.)

By the way, I was never a huge fan of Alice but for some reason the edition by Helen Oxenbury
http://www.aadl.org/catalog/record/1260611
(Through the Looking Glass at http://www.aadl.org/catalog/record/1260612 )
was much more appealing than the older ones like Tenniel's
http://www.aadl.org/catalog/record/1377005

Submitted by tbbrown76@yahoo.com on Tue, 08/30/2016 - 10:27am

My buddy in Germany says The Jungle Book is excellent. CGI animals look real!
TBB

Submitted by ValerieL Staff on Wed, 08/31/2016 - 6:10pm

@willow

You're right, there are a lot of details from the book of "Howl's Moving Castle" that they left out in the movie. I saw the movie first and then read the book and I was able to pick up subtleties in the movie that aren't easy to pick up if you don't know the book well. Maybe that helped me not hate the movie.

It's one of my favorite Studio Ghibli films, not so much for the movie itself, but for the cinematography that Miyazaki utilized to make it look so real in places (one of the places that comes to mind is after Howl leaves Sophie at the baker's towards the beginning and the "camera" zooms out and you see the crowds in the street).

The only movie I've ever liked more than the book was "Beaches" with Bette Midler & Barbara Hershey. My mom thought I was a little young to read the book at the time (I was only 11 or 12 when the movie came out) and when I read it a few years later, I just hated it.

I actually stopped watching the Harry Potter movies after Goblet of Fire. Goblet of Fire is my favorite book in the whole series - lots of character development and little details important to the story. I absolutely *HATED* the movie because they cut so much of that out for sake of time. I still have never watched Order of the Phoenix, Half-Blood Prince, or either of the Deathly Hallows movies. I enjoyed the first three movies a lot, but I was so disappointed with Goblet of FIre. It just soured me on the rest. :(

Submitted by willow on Wed, 08/31/2016 - 7:48pm

I agree, Howl's Moving Castle was beautiful; we noticed such detail in the street scenes. But Howl's swirling hair got on my nerves, and I missed how weird he was in the book. He seemed very boring in the movie. Otherwise I like Studio Ghibli. I liked their version of the Borrowers fine.

I do like the old animated version of Alice.

I've never read Beaches, just seen the movie.

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