back in 2005, when i told my kids the premise of my story, my eldest son said, "if your book were a movie, i'd watch it."
to which i adamantly replied, "i don't want hollywood going anywhere near my book." after watching enough movies from books, i know better. granted, some have to be changed to work as movies, some are actually better (in my humble opinion), and some are awful.
as part of the Novel Films Blogfest at Scribble and Edit, i thought i'd not only list the movies from books i've read, but give you my quick opinion on which i preferred if they were different. (as a sidenote, when i looked at this list of novels that had been made into movies, i was very surprised. more than i'd ever imagined.)
Beauty and the Beast – this is my favorite Disney movie of all time and one of my very favorite stories. i much prefer the movie to the various versions of the story.
Ever After – this is my favorite telling of the Cinderella story
Batman – similar, like both
Spiderman – similar, like both
Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll – different, prefer the book
101 Dalmations by Dodie Smith – different, prefer the movie
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judi and Ron Barrett – shared the same title, that was it. preferred the book
The Black Cauldron by Lloyd Alexander – could have been better, preferred the book
Charlotte's Web by E.B. White – different, preferred movie
Congher by Louis L'Amour - similar, preferred the movie
Crossfire Trail by Louis L'Amour - different, preferred the movie
Eragon by Christopher Paolini – loved the first book, and except for the dragon scenes, hated the movie (what a waste of film)
The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkein – similar, preferred the movie
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien –haven’t seen the movie yet, but i like Peter Jackson's take on Tolkien, probably will be different
Jumanji by Chris Van Allsburg – very different, enjoyed both
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis – similar, like both
Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis – similar, like both
The Princess Bride by William Goldman – tried the book and couldn’t make it past the first page. love the movie
The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo – two very different stories, preferred the movie
The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkein – similar, preferred the movie
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen – Jane Austen’s books and I don’t get along, but i love the movies
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen – see above comment
The Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett – different, love the movie
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl – different, prefer the 2nd movie version with Johnny Depp
Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss – preferred the book
Horton Hears a Who by Dr. Seuss – preferred the book
16 comments:
The entire LOTR series was excellent and definitely prefer it to the books. And who doesn't prefer the Dr. Seuss books over the movies? Cat in the Hat was a creepy and horrible film.
I love the Princess Bride film. It's quirky and fun. I've not tried reading the book, but it was milling around somewhere low on my to read list. It might stay there for a while :-)
Great list. It's interesting to see your preferences.
Oh yes I'd forgotten about Dr Suess and Charlotte's web. Great list thanks for taking part :O)
I haven't seen The Tale of Despereaux; just read the book, which is one of my favorites. I should get around to watching it sometime . . .
Great list!
Michelle, good luck with your move to beautiful Montana! You are in for a treat.
Love your list! Beauty & the Beast is one of my faves too. I mean, what girl doesn't just love Belle. She's such a great character.
Hi,
I'm with PK, loved B&B!
I've read a quarter of your list and seen the movies, but I'm still an advocate for books over movies. ;)
best
F
Love Dr. Seuss and have seen the movies. Loved the Little Princess, too. And Willy Wonka.
Thanks for sharing. My list will be up later this evening.
If you get a chance, check out a fellow writer's zombie story and help me make him wear an embarrassing shirt next year! It's the ultimate grudge match between social media and the zombies. Details are here:
http://kelworthfiles.wordpress.com/2011/07/19/prove-the-zombies-wrong-social-platforms-can-build-readership/
Gosh, I almost never like the movies better than the book, but I'm satisfied when a movie does the book justice and many on your list do. Some of the later Harry Potter movies do justice to the books - when I saw the first one I was disappointed, but I just watched it again recently, and liked it better than I had before. Go figure.
I like your taste in movies! I love A Little Princess and Ever After.
Great list! I had the same feeling about The Princess Bride. How could such a great movie come from such a boring book?
And I agree with you about Jane Austen.
But Willy Wonka? Much as I'm a Johnny Depp fan, I'm too stuck on Gene Wilder's portrayal of WW.
Great pics. I forgot about 101 Dalmations.
I must say that the film versions of Pride and Prejudice helped me appreciate the book much more and now I do like the book. But it was a chore to get through and I haven't rushed out to read anything else by Austen.
Lee
Tossing It Out
Yay, another Princess Bride fan! It's one of my favorite movies ever. Agree that the book plods a little in the beginning, but if you can manage to stick it out, it does get better and it's very, very funny.
Great list!
So true about the Princess Bride! My first reaction is to say the book is always better, but that's not true. Sometimes they tighten up the plot or add funny touches to the movie versions... the one thing I don't like though is how they change your mental image of what the characters look like. The Lord of the Rings movies changed my mental image of Aragorn, not cool! But I loved Gandalf because they matched my mental image of him perfectly!
Love the post. I like to read the book prior to the movie. For me it is to see the 'pure' work of the author.
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