Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by the Broke and the Bookish. Book bloggers create their own lists based on the chosen topics and post links to our lists. It’s a way of all sharing our thoughts and our love of books. And who doesn’t love lists??
So this week’s challenge was to list the best/worst movie adaptations from books. To be fair, I only considered those where I have read the book and have seen the movie. There are many, many that I could add to both the lists of good and bad, but most are just mediocre – not fantastic, but not awful enough to offend me! You will see that my list is pretty heavy on children’s movies – having kids these are the movies I have seen the most often and typically multiple times so they are the ones that stuck with me!
The Good
- Harry Potter – I won’t try to pick the best of the movies – but they were all fantastic – some followed the books more closely than ever, but I never was disappointed after watching a Harry Potter movie.
- The Wizard of Oz – The movie may arguably be better than the book (ruby slippers are far superior to silver ones!).
- Gone with the Wind – A classic, beautiful costumes, wonderful cast, just a great movie if you have four hours to spare!
- To Kill a Mockingbird – Another classic – both the book and the movie are fabulous.
- Because of Winn Dixie – A wonderful family movie with a cast of great actors that closely mirrored the book.
- Charlotte’s Web – Both the 1973 animated movie and the 2006 movie were both fantastic depictions of this great childhood favorite.
The Bad
- Tale of Despereaux – I LOVED this book and I HATED this movie! It was the most awful depiction of a book that I have ever seen, even my kids could not sit through it. Don’t waste your time!
- The Cat in the Hat – Great children’s book, horribly overdone ridiculous movie.
Some of Both…
- How the Grinch Stole Christmas – The 1966 cartoon is still a favorite from my childhood and I eagerly watch it every Christmas, but I am not a fan of the 2000 movie – too annoying, overdone, and ridiculous.
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – I loved the 1971 version, a childhood classic, and an amazing world full of candy! But the 2005 version? I’m sorry, but Johnny Depp was far too creepy – I would never let my kids go into a candy factory with his character!
“The world is dark, and light is precious. Come closer, dear reader. You must trust me. I’m telling you a story.” This is how The Tale of Despereaux begins and you are completely enchanted until the very end. DiCamillo has written a modern-day fairy tale, the story of a mouse that is not like other mice, with his love of music, books, and the princess. The story of a rat that lives in the darkness but is enchanted by light. And the story of a slow-witted servant girl who simply wishes to be a princess. Their stories all come together as the author directly tells you, the reader, this intertwining story in beautiful and thoughtful language. While I loved all of her books, this was by far my favorite (a mouse that loves to read – how can you go wrong?). The movie? Don’t bother!
Edward Tulane is a conceited china rabbit (yes – you read that right, but trust me – it works!) who is lost by his owner and goes on a journey of redemption, to learn of love and loss, from garbage piles to the bottom of the ocean to a hobo camp and beyond. “Open your heart. Someone will come. Someone will come for you. But first you must open your heart…”
Opal moves with her father, the preacher, to Florida where she finds Winn-Dixie, a big, ugly, loveable dog who will be the friend she needs so desperately, while helping her to make friends in this new place. She spends the summer learning the stories of Otis (the ex-con running the pet store), Franny (the local librarian), and Gloria (the blind woman who sees into Opal’s heart), while also using Winn-Dixie to get her father to tell her about her long-gone mother. Opal will start to grow up, learn how to make friends, and begin to understand forgiveness, all with the help of a dog named after a grocery story. “It’s hard not to immediately fall in love with a dog who has a good sense of humor.” The movie based on this book is definitely worth watching AFTER you read the book (let’s face it – the book is ALWAYS better!).
Rob’s mother has died of cancer and he and his father move to Florida looking to find a new life. Rob is terribly unhappy when he meets someone else new at school, Sistine, who is also struggling with the hope that her father is going to come and get her. When Rob discovers a caged tiger in the woods, the events that follow will allow him to understand what it means to be free, to open up and forge a friendship with Sistine, learn to forgive his father, and deal with his grief. “Rob had a way of not-thinking about things. He imagined himself as a suitcase that was too full… He made all his feelings go inside the suitcase; he stuffed them in tight and then sat on the suitcase and he locked it shut. That was the way he not-thought about things. Sometimes it was hard to keep the suitcase shut. But now he had something to put on top of it. The Tiger. Rob imagined the tiger on top of his suitcase, blinking his golden eyes, sitting proud and strong, unaffected by all the non-thoughts inside straining to come out.”
Watching the Words 