Is nothing sacred, not even worms?
 

I just heard that there was a movie coming out based on a favorite childhood book "How to Eat Fried Worms."

Most that I've read about it is that it is nothing like the book, save for the kid's name and some worms.

What were your favorite kid's movies based on childhood books? What movies disappointed you?

In some ways I think kids today miss so much because of sophistication in technology and exposure to much more at a younger age.

If the old Charlie Brown specials had never been made until this day, would we have missed the innocence, the sweet humor, the caring lessons? If Winnie the Pooh and Tigger and Eeyore made their screen debuts as 3 dimensional computer-enhanced figures, would something be lost in the translation?

What are your opinions? Am I just an old fogey, or has our whimsy gone?

"Matilda" was pretty good.

I'm really hoping "Coraline" is good.

The very first movie I recall going to (with my mom) was SNOW WHITE. We ate nonpareils. I loved it. I was the most special girl in the world just then. :)

The next movie I recall is Jaws--I think there might have been a willful lapse of memory there, I dunno.

I LOVED Matilda. I love all the Harry Potter books and movies. I loved the first Freaky Friday (with Jodie Foster) and I loved Bedrooms and Broomsticks... I may not have all that in order!

I also loved that ballerina movie of the late 70's or early 80's--Turning Point!

i am SOOO Girly. Sigh.

No wonder you all hate me.

Little Miss Sunshine ROCKED.

That's "Bedknobs" and Broomsticks, sweetie. Bedrooms and Broomsticks was the porn version, I think.

Anyone else excited to see the big screen "Transformers" movie? I wasn't a kid when it was out, but my kid was a kid then.

:lol:

Willie Wanger and the Chocolate Pushers

Titti Longsloppy

Shitty Chitty Gang Bang (by the way I LOVE Chitty Chitty Bang Bang)

Sorry, went off on a tangent!

I loved the Pippi Longstocking movie when I was a kid. I rubber-banded wet sponges to my feet and tried to skate around "cleaning" the kitchen like they did in the movie.

Oh, there are so many ... Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was one of my favorite books in childhood, and I love both movie versions, for different reasons. The Gene Wilder because it's so joyous, and the Tim Burton because it retains more of the creepy moral teaching of the book.

The Phantom Tollbooth, although I liked the book better than the cartoon.

The new Narnia movie did not disappoint me at all ... thought that was like someone took the pictures out of my head and popped them up onto the screen.

The Black Stallion was phenomenal!

However, there are a lot of disappointing versions of Black Beauty out there ...

I was always disappointed that none of the CW Anderson horse books ended up being made into movies ... and I still haven't seen the film version of Marguerite Henry's Misty of Chincoteague. There are several other of her books that would have made good movies too, but I guess that she's fallen out of favor with young girls who are mad about horses, it's all internimably long series of boring stories about girls in Saddle Clubs or whatnot these days.

I always wanted to see a movie about Ramona the Pest (Beverly Cleary), but given what happened to Harriet the Spy (Louise Fitzhugh), I'm not so sure that's a good idea.

I didn't like the cartoon. However, that was my absolute favorite book as a kid, and still is one of my favorites. I still have a copy. Back in our 'salad days' I would read a chapter at a time to my ex (yes, he could read, it was just fun!) My sis-in-law also read it to my nieces/nephews at my recommendation. What an awesome book.

A friend of mine in college and I used to read children's books to each other. It was quite cool. I like audiobooks for the same reason.

One of my friend's reads to her kids every night. I occasionally get pressed into service as a pinch reader when I'm over around bedtime.

That reminds me of another series of children's books that I would love to see made into a movie, but I know it would get screwed up somewhere along the way ... the Green Knowe books by L.M. Boston. I'd be happy with just the first one, Children of Green Knowe.

Speaking of "of Green", the Anne of Green Gables movies were great, especially the first one.

Mrs Elspode and I often share audiobooks together. We are now listening to The Color of Magic. I don't know how I managed to get to this age without reading Pratchitt, but there it is. I'm an idiot. This stuff is seriously, seriously entertaining.

It is a shame you are getting into him so late in the game ... there are a lot of books to catch up on!!

(Reaper Man is excellent, and I'm sure that you'll like the Wyrd Sisters for a variety of reasons. You might also want to check out The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch)

the current wife and wicked stepdaughter are into Pratchitt in a big way. TBH, not my cup of tea.. I've read a few, but I like my sci-fi hard. They could make good films, though.

Childhood books? I loved the 'Biggles' books, but was so disappointed with the film. Time-travelling helicopters? The Captain would surely be spinning in his grave.

You mean that wasn't just a Monty Python bit?

I am always scared when I hear one of my childhood favourites is going to be made into a film.

Books I resented sharing with the non-reading world include:
The various Winnie the Pooh books - yup, my Dad read them to me. My Winnie the Pooh had a gruff East London accent, not a high pitched American one.
The Black Cauldron - Taran & Eilonwy were my Posh & Becks. I didn't appreciate them getting the Disney treatment.
Little House on the Prairie - Laura's life was hard work and strong morals, not talking back to her parents and rescuing people.
Archer's Goon - a TV series over here based on the wonderful book by Diana Wynne Jones. It just wasn't as subtle and complex as the book. And the magical siblings just didn't have the presence on screen that my mind gave them.
Howl's Moving Castle - again by Diana Wynne Jones. It was a beautiful cartoon, but no Howl could live up to my expectations.

The one I fear the most is a screen version of The Changeover by Margaret Mahy. I read that book to pieces in my early teens and would just hate to see Sorenson Carlise and Laura Chant as just another two whiny Kiwi kids.

I'm NOT looking forward to Coraline, but I would really like to be proved wrong.

There was a short series of books about the wild ponies on Chincoteague and how they had to swim across the bay to.....Assateague, I think? I haven't thought of these books in years, so I'm having a hard time remembering...

I loved em at the time though.

I read those all as a kid. Misty was made into a movie but I don't remember if it was any good.

I was a branch librarian in CA before we moved and my branch served mostly child patrons from the grade school across the street, so we had a large collection of Young Adult and children's books.

Holes by Louis Sachar was a great book and made a wonderful movie. The major change between book~movie, was the main character in the book was overweight, and in the movie, he was not...though he was "soft". Great supporting cast, too.

Holes is a fave movie of mine and my husband's. There is a line a character repeats, saying "I can fix that..." ...and when I'm feeling down, that is what my hubby says to me.

I know, syrupy sweet, I'll move on...
hh

Nice mention! Holes worked both ways.

Oh yeah! Thanks Griff.

Misty of Chincoteague

Were the books any good? I remember thinking so at the time.

I liked them a lot. My kids like them as well. We actually drove down to see the ponies.

We went to Chincoteague every summer for the beach when I was a wee lad.

I wish I could let you guys hang out with movie executives for a while so you could get an idea of just how amazingly stupid 99.999% of them are.
The thing is that no matter how good the original story is they are incapable of fucking with it because they believe that by doing so they are making it "better"... the more they fuck with it, the "better" it is.
It never occurs to them that the reason that they are making it is that the original work has a fan base because it is good the way that it is... again, they are monumental idiots. That is all.

Agree on Holes - read the book first, avoided the film until my parents decided to watch it last week. As a guest in their house I kept my lips zipped shut about the differences and did enjoy it.

Of course I agree with that too. But I wonder sometimes if my high ideals of book-to-film come from the author's descriptions (cruel yet attractive, powerful presence, magical aura) and the subtleties available when you can read character's thoughts.

Back when MTV started out, I was about the only one in my high school class who was not impressed. My thinking was that it was "prefabricated imagination." I figured whatever images I came up with during a certain song were my own, and if I saw a video, to have to see their interpreted images from then on...it just seemed wrong.

Which, in some ways, reflects how I feel about books to movies. Movies cannot replace books, but yet I've seen so many great movies based on great books. To Kill A Mockingbird comes to mind first.

So I guess it can work both ways.

Ha! That movie just arrived from netflix last night!

A most annoying rip off was the film version of Ludlum's Bourne Identity. I'm getting irritated right now just thinking of it. It isn't as if the story was high art but why throw away a good storyline?

YES! :borg:

Internet killed the video star
 

http://www.tsl.pomona.edu/?page=life...=1622&issue=57

(Sorry, don't know how to turn the link into other words.)

The books were fantastic. Misty of Chincoteague, Stormy Misty's Foal, and Sea Star Orphan of Chincoteague. I generally loved Marguerite Henry's books ... lots of good horse lore in there. The one about the Godolphin Arabian, King of the Wind, is good, so was Gaudenzia, Pride of the Palio. And Born to Trot. And About Horses. Treasure trove for horse crazy kids. The stories were always about more than the horses too ... like Santo Domingo: The Medicine Hat Stallion

I have never seen the movie about Misty, it hasn't been on television in a very long while. Seems to be available through Netflix

The book series I remember most from my childhood is Freddy the Pig, which was actually a generation old when I discovered them. These books were the most incredible blend of semi-adult adventure plots with characters a child could identify with. I read every one which was available in our majestic Victorian hometown library with wooden floors and high windows back in North Carolina of the 1950s. In those days, libraries were solemn and silent places, full of endless stacks of books which could open any place and time in the world to you and encourage you to use your imagination.

As far as I know, none of these books (26 in all according to the Freddy the Pig website) were made into movies. But these classics still have a rabid following even today, a time when children do not learn to read and use their imaginations, and more's the pity.

http://www.freddythepig.org/whowas.html

They are soiling another precious part of my childhood.
The Dark is Rising was one of my favourite series of books growing up. I spent my 30th birthday in Wales in the shadow of Cader Idris because of the book The Grey King.

How do I know they are going to spoil it? They just are. This gives me an indication anyway:

From here:
What? Will Stanton's is the youngest of a large family with a comfortable and protected home life and close knit family. This makes the wild and unpredictable nature of the world outside a direct contrast. Now he has a rebellious older brother and family conflict at home. Right.

I quite like Chris Ecclestone as The Rider though.

Not impressed by the Coraline teaser.
It's American to start with. I know I should expect it by now but it still bugs me. Which means for a start the name is pronounced differently than I hear it in my head (and how Neil Gaiman pronounces it when he reads).

And there's a shot of her crawling through a tiny door.
Why?
This isn't Alice in Wonderland. The door was full size - it was orginally a door to connect two rooms when the flat was a house.

Oh I know it's petty. I just wish they'd commissioned Gaiman to write an original script, then Coraline could have stayed in my head in the perfectly formed version that he wrote in the first place.

Then again, I might just avoid it. I did with The Dark is Rising and The Golden Compass after all.

that movie they made out of The Dark is Rising (which was called something totally different) sucked mondoly.

Have to say the most satisfying movie make of a childhood fave would be the Lord of the Rings movies. Very faithful to the book, despite the Arwen re-write.

No offense intended, Cloud, but ..... are you #$%&ing INSANE?

Just wondering.

If the movie were titled, "The War of the Ring" I might have liked it as a substantially modified retelling of roughly the same events. Calling it "The Lord of The Ring" made me anticipate something fairly close to the books (which I love), thus leading to great disappointment.

I can forgive a lot of the plot editing - Bombadil gone, eg - it had to be shortened. But they ripped out some of the most important themes - why the three hobbits insist on accompanying Frodo, eg - and dumbed down a lot of the rest, especially the confrontations between Gandalf and Saruman. Those should have been high drama a la A Few Good Men - "I WANT THE TRUTH!!!" "YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!!!!!!", not cheap magic fights.
Instead all we got was fight after fight after fight. Ok the visual effects were awesome, especially the Balrog. That was not, imho, enough to redeem it.

:2cents:

Hang on, isn't "The Lord of the Ring" a gay porn film?

I sorely missed Bombadil too.

nah. very peripherally related to the main story. I always skim the first part of FOTR until they get to Bree.

I'm sorry to disagree, but I think they did a fantastic job of converting a very, very lengthy and difficult series of books to a different medium. I was sold when I saw the horses in the whitewater of the Ford.

True, the visual effects were excellent, and quite a bit of cutting was necessary. It was the dumbing down that ticked me off. I was really looking forward to Gandalf Vs Saruman in The Voice of Isengard, or Gandalf Vs Wormtongue in The King of the Golden Hall.

I encourage your disagreement - the only bit I freaked about was were you said it was "very faithful to the book".

well, as much as any movie can be. Maybe I didn't notice the dumbing down 'cause I'm already dumb enough!

I think the Harry Potter movies followed the books damn near word for word. Anal little kids (unlike me, an anal grown up) spot things like that, and they'll know they got it wrong!

I also think the HP movies are done well. The casting, especially, continues to impress.

:Chuckles:
IMHO The casting of the tall, handsome Daniel Radcliffe as the short, weedy Harry Potter was the only major inaccuracy in those movies.

Ok, I'll stop now. And really, those movies were pretty good.

Personally I think they messed up with Emma whatsit as Hermione, and the Weasley body shapes are all wrong. And I miss Peeves. Oh and the Gryffindor common room is FAR TOO SMALL to take the whole of Gryffindor house. And they have all the students taking lessons together which implies there is only one class of about 25 per year at Hogwarts, goodness those wizards don't have many kids do they?!

The casting I like is McGonagall, Snape, the Fat Lady, Luna, Oliver Stone oh and the splendid Argus Filch.

It is fun to have a major movie where all the cast have to be British. Thank all that's holy that Jo didn't need the money from the films and wasn't persuaded to have them set in America.

[anal little kid]
Harry's eyes are green, not blue, which has pissed me off since the first film. I read an article in nickelodeon magazine when the first movie came out saying that they didn't feel it was necessary to give the actor contacts to change that inaccuracy, but it always pissed me off because they make such a big deal in the books about how he looks like his father, but has his mother's eyes.
[/anal little kid]

I have a hard time watching movies from books because I'm one of those people who remembers evvvverything they read. It can be a good movie (I do like the harry potter movies) but it's just not the same.

Well ok, Harry Potter movies are pretty damn close, I need a better example...

I really liked the book Eragon, but the movie hardly followed the plot at all. Good book, good movie, bad adaptation of a book to a movie.

yeah, the eye color thing is troublesome. Nevertheless, I'm very impressed with Daniel Radcliffe. Remember, Zengum, that these kids were cast when very young, and a very young Daniel was very cuddly and cute. Not his fault he grew up to be kind of a hunk! But what a difficult casting that would be--not only to cast for cuddly and cute at the beginning, but to cast for the hero he would become in the end, and Daniel is going to be able to pull that off. Still amazing casting, imo.

Ok. :)

:sits down now:

.

Do I win a prize for the most entries in this thread?
Or get a punch because I just can't let go...?

Where the Wild Things Are.

Why?

No, I haven't seen it - it's not out here yet.
No, I won't see it.
It was a b.e.a.utiful book.
Perfect for it's adherence to the art of short story writing - omit unnecessary words.

The night Max wore his wolf suit
And made trouble
Of one sort or another

(quoting from memory, but there's not a lot to get wrong thanks to Sendak's spare prose)

THE WORLD IS FULL OF WRITERS! GET AN ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY!
STOP PISSING ON MY CHILDHOOD!

Yeah, I know I said I was calmer these days.
But not when it comes to this.

Great big fat gusty sigh. And with pickled onion breath. Ner.

Oh, yeah? Here's what Maurice Sendak has to say to you!

I own the part of my life that the book occupied. And I'm an atheist. So fuck him right back.

But sensibly - good that he is behind it. It would be an even bigger kick in the teeth to me if he was dead and not getting anything from it. On a similar note - found out Acker Bilk was alive just the other morning. And white. And English. I was eating Shredded Wheat at the time and warm milk fell dowm my chin.

ANYway. Gaiman wrote the screenplay for Coraline as far as I remember - still didn't go see it.
I've supported both authors financially (drops in their respective oceans I know) but I will not pay to see the films.

I hope they make Halloween costumes just like Max's jammies this year. And if they do, I hope the kids don't fight me too bad, beauase that's what they'll both be going as...

They aren't pissing on your childhood. They can't, it's long gone.
They are creating new childhoods for the kids that like this movie. I suppose for the kids that don't also.

I respect what they're trying to do by turning the old kids classics into movies. Even the ones that suck, I respect their effort. It's a new era, a new generation. And at least even shitty movie versions of old kids books are better than most of the shitty original stuff disney and their ilk come up with nowadays.

Actually I'm glad Disney has stopped making cartoons of fairy tales.
At the end of Snow White, the wicked stepmother is laced into red hot boots and dances herself to death. Now that's a proper story!

You're right Bruce. No-one can touch what the books originally meant to me.
(Unless I get taken to Room 101 of course)

Would it be weird for me to make wolf suit pyjamas for Diz?

I can't believe no one has seen this yet. Ahem ahem....



Every worm is saaaacred
Every worm is great
If any worm gets waaaasted
God gets quite irate!

Can someone post an image of 'Matilda' to confirm that we're thinking of the same Matilda.

I'm assuming Matilda as in, the Roald Dahl story with the telekinetic girl... i do recall that movie being more or less up to par.

And I liked Coraline as well. One of the first three Blu-Rays I just bought.

If you enjoy reading to your kids, Heckedy Peg is excellent. Modern, but reads like a folk tale.