The Wild Things is easily the best book ever adapted from a movie that was adapted from a picture book — but it also succeeds in its own right. Dave Eggers has written a novel that is deeply imaginative, slightly strange, occasionally dark, and ultimately touching. Keep reading for our take and a chance to win a furry copy of the book.
On some level, we know the story. (Weren’t we all exposed to Maurice Sendak’s Caldecott winner in childhood?) And the world Sendak evokes is so gripping that it is easy to forget that the original book was built around nine sentences. Eggers, however, has produced a work of 300 pages that naturally includes many, many more sentences. He uses the original for inspiration, but leaps off to create a world of its own.
There is still a wild boy named Max, of course, and he still bites his mother. Max still visits an island inhabited by Wild Things. But before we meet one of the monsters, we spend time in Max’s home. We learn that Max has a sister who has grown too old for the games they once played, and we are introduced to his mother’s younger boyfriend, whom Max is not prepared to accept. When confronted with changes in his actual life, a place filled with Wild Things seems satisfactory by comparison.
On the island, Max is still a king, and he still leads the Things in a wild rumpus. But where Sendak’s monsters are distinct mostly for the way they are illustrated, each of Eggers’ monsters has a unique voice and personality. And where Sendak’s readers have the perspective to understand that Max is dreaming, in Eggers’ story, everything — no matter how strange — is all too real. When the Things suggest they’re ready to eat Max, it’s a threat we can believe.
With Sendak’s original, part of what works so well is the style in which it’s drawn. Anyone who has seen the trailer for Spike Jonze’s film knows that’s true for the movie as well. So too with Eggers’ adaptation. The writing is crisp and alive, and it works, perhaps better than an adaptation ever should.
And now for the contest: What other children’s book classic should be adapted into a movie? Tell us which one and why — and comment with your answer. Our five favorite responses win a limited-edition fake-fur covered copy of The Wild Things. (To our knowledge, no actual Wild Things were harmed in the process).
Comments (112)
Beatrix Potter, The Tale of Peter Rabbit. I would like to see stop motion animation like Ladislas Starewicz would have done and I think this would be splendid.
The Five Chinese Brothers by Claire Huchet Bishop and Illustrated by Kurt Wiese is one of my all-time favorites. Stunning and imaginative visuals are assured! It's cool that while the brothers all look the same to the townspeople, each boasts a very unique gift. And it is only when all of these gifts are added together are they able to overcome the adversity they face. Yep.
Tikki Tikki Tembo
The Phantom Tollbooth! But only if it's done as artfully as it appears the Wild Things adaptation has been.
Legend of Nezha – it's an ancient chinese story of a boy born from a ball of flesh. He was bestowed with superhuman strength by the goddess Nuwu grew to be the embodiment of justice. It should be made into a movie because this story has fascinated Chinese children for many many generations. And I doubt this story is widely known in the West, unlike the Monkey King…
I'd love to see The Celery Stalks at Midnight, perhaps with David Seymour Hoffman as Bunnicula. (OK, perhaps animation is a better alternative, but he could still be the voice.)
Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie. One of his best works and written for his son.
Andrew Henry’s Meadow!
Harold and the Purple Crayon. I absolutely loved that book as a kid. And while simple it led to many many crayon dreams.
Kim, by Rudyard Kipling. Exciting, enthralling, lots of fun with twists and turns and very difficult to put down.
The Giver by Lois Lowry. I absolutely loved that book.
pippi longstocking – the true swedish tales ala Tim Burton
Frederick by Leo Lionni. Would be a pleasant respite from our hyper-efficient national character.
Without a doubt, Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card would make an incredible movie. It's a gritty story of the future where humans are fighting aliens and doing everything they can to train fighters, including separating young kids with certain skills from their parents and friends and sending them off to battle school. The book follows Ender's trials and triumphs from being picked for the school to training to fighting the aliens. It's an incredible look at humanity through the eyes of a young boy growing up in harsh times. In years past, the technology wouldn't have done justice to this story, but today this story would shine. I highly recommend everyone read it.
The Cat in the Hat…oh wait. Ya, children's classics shouldn't be adapted into movies. The exception with this one is that Sendak himself asked Jones for the better part of seven years to help with this movie. I was lucky enough to see it at a test screening, and if they kept it as it was – then it's a dark but equally awesome movie. But definitely not the Where the Wild Things Are of my childhood.
This paired with all the clothing and other marketable crap for sale is greatly upsetting.
A Magic Eye for Ida by Kay Charao, so i can see the actors dressed up as new age cats.
Strega Nona; because a town overrun by spaghetti is a terrible thing to waste.
Another classic Sendak, In the Night Kitchen. How fun would that be – big screen, 3D, cinematic effect – I can see the dough rising already ;)
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle. The TV movie doesn't count. Her books are amazingly thought provoking and full of depth. They have kids with amazing abilities, time travel, other dimensions, other planets and dark malevolent forces that want to keep mankind in darkness. Her books are science fiction but deeply spiritual. They were way ahead of their time and so on target with what is happening in our times.
Nicholas by Jean-Jacques Sempe. Written in a time you could still get an innocent sock in the nose on the school yard, my son was all giggles.
Watership Down a CGI version and have Tim Burton direct
Any of the Oz books (there are many of them) would make a wonderful movie, but my all-time fave is The Emerald City of Oz. John R. Neill's illustrations in that book are the best of his career, and suggest myriad CGI effects that would make the movie pure eye candy (in addition to the great story!).
Incidentally, the Hollywood adaptation of The Wizard of Oz is widely recognized as a classic, but I'd love to see what Tim Burton might make of it. And Return to Oz, the adaptation of the second and third Oz books, is an unrecognized gem; see it, if you haven't!
"Oh the Places You'll Go" for the inspiration on top of the wildly imaginative fun!
Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney. My wife is an adoptions social worker, and she gives this book to every child that gets adopted off of her case load. She has given over 30 copies of it to children and it means so much to them, the families, and to my wife. The message is so important, and for that fact alone, I would nominate it for consideration.
The Tawny Scrawny Lion – This classic Golden Book was my favorite, a tale of a lion, a fierce warrior who could devour any creature in the forest. But instead, through the guidance of a group of small (and succulent) bunnies, the lion learned that carrot soup could be a lovely alternate – and an excellent way to make and keep (from eating) new friends.
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg. This is the “it could happen” version of Wild Things. Claudia and her kid brother, fed up with the adults in their life, run away to their own world: The Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC. This is a fantasy that has universal appeal, young or old. Hiding out and settling into life in the museum is only half the fun as they become enamored with the mystery surrounding one particular piece of art, a statue that may or may not have been sculpted by Michelangelo. Wes Anderson made a slight reference to this book in The Royal Tenenbaums, and in his hands Mixed-Up Files would be nothing short of a masterpiece.
Dear Mili by Wilhelm Grimm – so creepy, yet with beautiful images by Sendak. This long undiscovered tale mirrors hiding during the holocaust, and protection by saints and angels. It really is a grown-up story hiding in a children's book form, and would be amazing on the big screen.
Iggy Peck Architect, by Andrea Beatty. I can see someone like Michel Gondry getting his hands on this playful book and creating a beautiful, organic film. The book is about a kid that builds buildings with random, everyday materials, eventually saving his teacher’s life. Gondry has shown a propensity for making magical worlds feel human and approachable (Eternal Sunshine, Science of Sleep).
This book is perfect for an artsy, fun adaptation!
Madeline in the style of Tim Burton! What an awesome appendix scar that would make.
Not even close – we desperately need a real CGI movie of 'The BFG' by Roald Dahl – giants, captured dreams in jars, and the Queen – could there exist a better formula?!! And next, two of Sweden's classics – a new Pippi Longstocking and a spanking first time movie of Emil of Lonneberga! Here are just a few of the amazing moments we can look forward to: a girl with superhuman strength which carries a horse, a bag of money, magic trees for lemonade, and blood sausage incidents!
"The Little Engine That Could" by Watty Piper would be my choice. Growing up in a small town in the Rust Belt and with a father who worked for the railroad, trains were prevalent in my home and in my life. As a child, this tale of hard work and perseverance was a great message, and was all the more powerful for the anthropomorphic nature of the train…how thrilling that this little engine was alive! I would root for this underdog of a train each time the story was read to me….I think I can, I think I can, I think I can…!
The Phantom Tollbooth. A classic children's book and adventure. Once a 1970s Chuck Jones cartoon, now a Spike Jonze live-action mind-bender? Tollbooth is about paradox and illusion; it's just begging to be made into some kind of visual landscape with trompe l'oeils and tricky optics, a psychedelic soundtrack, surprising cameos, and companion Dictionopolis and Mathemagician puzzle books–for the kids.
The Rainbow Goblins by Count Ul de Rico is perfect for the big screen! This book pits devious, frightening goblins against a vivid rainbow. Ul de Rico paints stunning images, saturated with color, and provides for nature to win out over greed.
The rainbow goblins lasso color from rainbows, pouring it into their mouths like liquid. On the evening before their next attack, they settle into a cave to discuss their plan and then fall asleep, dreaming of filling their bellies with delicious, saturated color. Unbeknownst to the goblins, flower roots–reaching through the cave's ceiling–were listening to the plans and devising their own plan to assist the rainbow. The next day, the goblins, salivating over the beautiful rainbow, throw up their lassos only to have the rainbow disappear and the lassos boomerang back to entangle the goblins. The flowers had drunk in the rainbow to protect it from the goblins. While the goblins struggle to get loose, the flowers release the color and the goblins drown in the object of their desire.
Strega Nona, by Tomie dePaola, definitely. So that we could see a wave of spaghetti chasing Big Anthony out of Strega Nona's house. And as always, it's not only a story but a pleasing parable as well.
The Giving Tree, by Shel Silverstein; because this unique children's story is full of the wide range of emotions you experience in life & offers a universal truth that every one of us could be reminded of: selfless love…
I stilll cry when I read it and have given it to all the people I l♥ve!!
I am glad that they are finally making what appears to be a decent rendition of Roald Dahl's "The Fantastic Mr. Fox." I think they should make Dahl's "The Twits" also, but I think I would wait a couple of years. Of course, John Waters should direct making it like a "Pink Flamingos" for kids.
The Frog and Toad books by Arnold Lobel. Great stories about friendship and very recognizable moral dilemmas. The artwork in Lobel's other book, Fables, is wonderful.
Maurice Sendak's other brilliant children's tale 'Outside Over There' which is even more haunting and bizarre than 'Where the Wild Things Are.' For those unlucky enough not to have encountered this book as children, it is about a girl, Ida, whose baby brother is kidnapped by goblins and replaced with a baby made of ice. He's then forced to take part in a goblin wedding (where all the goblins are babies, too). I have such a vivid image of Ida in her mother's yellow rain coat billowing across the screen as she flies backwards out the window. Cinematic magic.
The Tale of Peter Rabbit. bunnies are totally going to be the new penguin. they're a symbol of like, fertility and stuff so as a women's right to choose becomes a more and more heated topic, the movie will even be THAT much more poignant. hip corporate stores like anthropologie can have a elaborate display. and its a series so its perfect for sequels.
The Poems of Shel Silverstein
Three friends set out on a quest. Peggy Ann McKay is a precocious girl who has the power to outwit danger through imaginative excuse ("I cannot go to school today said little Peggy Ann McKay…"). Danny O'Dare the dancin bear is always so happy he has no idea what fear is and he can't stop dancing even though he's a little clumsy and sometimes makes a mess of things ("Danny O'Dare the dancin' bear ran away from the County Fair…"). And the third of the trio is a boa constrictor ("Oh I'm being eaten by a boa constrictor…") who's a clever type that no one can quite trust but who's great at scaring away the bad guys (and the bad guys come from more poems, of course).
The three go on a quest to where the sidewalk ends to save a girl who's been swallowed by a lion ("I'm writing a poem from inside a lion and it's rather dark in here..").
*Poems alluded to in this pretty good idea for turning a children's book into a movie: Sick; Danny O'Dare; Boa Constrictor; Where the Sidewalk Ends; It's Dark In Here.
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin – the TV movie did not do this awesome children's classic justice!
"The Bear Who Wanted to be a Bear," by Jorg Steiner & Jorg Mueller. In the story, a bear awakes from hibernation to find that a factory has been built over the entrance to his den. Mistaken for an unshaven worker, he is forced into factory labor. Once he trims his beard and dons a jumpsuit, his old bear friends reject him as well. He struggles to conform in the human world, but can't find comfort in any setting. Confused and tired, the book ends as with a series of wordless panels: he sits on a hillside between the city and the woods; snow piles up on his back; his clothes and hat are left behind, and footprints lead to a new den.
Drawn in meticulous detail, with the rich dark colors of industrialized Northern Europe, the book is a touching allegory about the dehumanization of modern human society and the threats we pose to ourselves and our environment. Truffaut might have made it a brilliant film. Today, I think Jim Jarmusch or Kelly Reichardt could use the simple tone and nuanced visuals to capture the emotions of alienation and social decay.
Six dinner Sid — Live action, & DON'T make him talk! Sid was a black cat who lived in 6 different houses on a street, but everybody thought he was only there's b/c they didn't talk to each other…until he went to the vet 6 times for a cold. Gives kids a sense of adventure, comedy, & a message about the importance of community. Read it to my sister for years.
A live-action version of The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales by Jon Scieszka would be wonderful.
The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald. It was one of first fantasy style books I read as a child and it was a great platform for experiencing the genre in an exciting, but not overwhelming way. Every child will cheer for Curdie as he tries to rescue princess Irene from the goblins. I think this was also the first book where I began identifying with one of the characters which was of course Curdie. I think the type of book is very diffrent from Wild Things on many levels, but I think it still has some of that same endearing quality. There is enough plot and elements for it to be expanded to film length very easily.
Barbapapa.
I recall Barbapapa's New House more than the original Barbapapa, and I think it fits perfectly with our current global debate about the environment. In the book, this gooey, amorphous family, somewhat more liquid than clay, is driven from the city by loud, clanging construction machines. They build a villa on a hill in the country and live there happily until one day those construction machines come calling. Then there's a battle between the Barbapapas and the machines, essentially pitting nature against technology. The movie would best be made with clay or plasticene as live action with CGI and digital animation would be too smooth and glossy for the Barbapapas. Maybe it could be made similarly to the old Gumby shorts, but with in the real world rather than a toy one. I can imagine the gooey black tar gumming up the jaws of the crane and the Barbapapas fighting for their lives. It could be fantastic.
that's a fantastic book. especially the color in the illustrations. it would be beautiful to see on the big screen.
"Pat the Bunny", it's an all time classic with subtle colors and great texture. It has at least as many lines as "Where the Wild Things Are". Alternatively it could be adapted into a porno – "Pat the Hiney".
I would not want Tim Burton to direct though, he always has to make a project "his". He'd have the bunny made of leather (or vinyl…) and it would star Helena Bonham Carter of course.
The Newbery Medal-winning Maniac Magee, by Jerry Spinelli, would make an awesome movie! The titular character is so easy to identify with, and the story has a great combination of action, humor, tall-tale-like magic, memorable characters, and a lot of heart. An added bonus is that the morals of the story involving friendship, racism, illiteracy, etc. are truly integral to the story and don't feel tacked on or preachy. It would be worth the price of admission just to hear the book's classic chant brought to life: "Ma-niac, Ma-niac / He's so cool / Ma-niac, Ma-niac / Don't go to school / Runs all night / Runs all right / Ma-niac, Ma-niac / Kissed a bull."
"Guys from Space," by Daniel Pinkwater, because it made me laugh as an adult and made my daughter laugh even thought she was in kindergarten. Besides, aliens that look like golfers is just rich material!
Harold and The Purple Crayon — done in the magic realist style of Amelie, Big Fish and What Dreams May Come (remember that movie!) to create visually stunning and expansive backdrops that can be used to develop extended scenes and allow the film to expand upon the foundational story arc of the book. original animation of the story is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6TXz38DzDY
Phantom Tollbooth – yes!
Liza Lou & The Yeller Belly Swamp by Mercer Mayer. (1976)
It was my absolute all-time favorite as a little kid. The plot line is great, this little girl living in the swamp who outsmarts all these scary creatures including The Devil himself & still manages to make it home in time to have dinner with her mama.
It was beautifully & richly illustrated, so lush & detailed. And it had great rhymes, like this: "Yeller belly cottonmouth, Possum up a tree, You can catch the swamp fever, but you can't catch me."
And since the subject matter is somewhat eerie & fantastical, she's up against ghost, goblins, witches, etc., Tim Burton is the director who could totally run with this one & do it justice.
I am expecting a little girl this December, so I just bought an original edition off eBay, so that she can enjoy the same exact book as I did when I was her age.
And Tango Makes Three (2005) by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson (Illustrated by Henry Cole). Based on the true, 6-year (love) story of Roy and Silo, two male penguins in the Central Park Zoo. Zookeepers observed them "adopt" an egg-shaped stone, gave them a real egg (from another — hetero — couple who could not hatch/raise it), which they successfully hatched and cared for. The book has won many awards (for writing and illustration), sold well, and been consistently censored all over the US (eeewww! homos!). Many of my friends' children love it and have no idea (!) that it's immoral. And Tango Makes Three would be a fantastic movie (animated, of course)!
Most definitely The Phantom Tollbooth, by Norton Juster!
Oh the fantastical places you'll go! in this modern fairy tale:
To Dictionopolis, where all the world's words are bought and sold.
To Digitopolis, where numbers are dug up
To meet the Speling Bee and the Humbug
To meet Rhyme and Reason, the settlers of disputes
To The Mountains of Ignorance, to defeat the Senses Taker
All finally to reach the lands of Wisdom and to know the way
Wonderful for both children and adults
Abounds with opportunities for fantastic visual effects, rich character, clever wordplay and valuable lessons…
My Father's Dragon, by Ruth Stiles Gannet and illustrated wonderfully by Ruth Chrisman Gannett (her stepmom). It tells the tale of the narrator's father, Elmer Elevator, a boy who picks up a stray alley cat in the rain, then runs away when his mother refuses to let the cat stay. The cat tells Elmer of Wild Island, a place where a flying dragon is being held captive.
Little-known today, the book is, among other things, a Newberry Honoree. But let the writing speak for itself:
'When my father was crossing the back of the fifteenth crocodile with two more lollipops to go, the noise of the monkeys suddenly stopped, and he could hear a much bigger noise getting louder every second. Then he could hear seven furious tigers and one raging rhinoceros and two seething lions and one ranting gorilla along with countless screeching monkeys, led by two extremely irate wild boars, all yelling "It's a trick! It's a trick!" There's an invasion and it must be after our dragon. Kill it! Kill it!" The whole crowd stampeded down to the bank.'
And the illustrations are really some of the best I have ever seen.
Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein. Hands down.
I always thought the Dr Seuss book Wacky Wednesday should be adapted. A shoe on the wall . . . ? Shouldn't be there at all!
What I would love to see is a version of Carl Sandburg's _Rootabaga Stories_ — interlocking short stories, each only a few minutes long, in varying styles and media. Each of the stories is so haunting and reflective and descriptive and beautiful — seeing chapters like "How They Bring Back the Village of Cream Puffs When the Wind Blows It Away" animated in a gorgeous construction paper collage-style, and the chapter "How Gimme the Ax Found Out About the Zigzag Railroad and Who Made It Zigzag" animated with a sharp, black-and-white manga style, and then "How Henry Hagglyhoagly Played the Guitar with His Mittens On" in a sped-up stop-motion…it just boggles my mind how glorious it would all be. :)
Big Joe's Trailer Truck by Joe Mathieu. Because every child needs to learn to about the backbone of interstate commerce.
"Miss Nelson Is Missing!" by Harry Allard and James Marshall.
I'm not sure if the book was ever famous, but I know my 2nd grade class loved it to death.
The truth is: the picture book would make a really fun family film. Growing up I used to love the book and I'd laugh and laugh no matter how many times I read it. I think the idea of the story is so very generic and clever that it can easily be interpreted and expanded without having to sacrifice the original idea.
With a fun cast the movie could really come to life and easily get a 5 star rating.
'Indian Bunny' by Ruth Bornstein. As the other person I found who has read this book said (This blog it starts out simple enough:
One day a bunny said, "Good-by, I'm going to be an Indian."
It has much in common with Where the Wild Things are: the subtext is everything. The bunny is obviously crazy to just up and leave, but the journey he takes is incredible and as a kid it made me realize that not only will there be a time when you can get up and go wherever you want, but there will be a time when you have to. Most of all, there is a sense of wonder throughout the entire book that begs for big screen treatment. Granted, I don't know how much you do with a 32 page book, but I didn't think Where the Wild Things are could happen either.
Judith Viorst's "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day" We all have them, but Alexander reminds us that in the end we all survive whatever happens.
I think a film adaptation of A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L'Engle is long overdue. This is a book that won prestigious awards and contained subject matter far ahead of its time. It has a bit of everything: science, faith, fantasy, and friendship. And I realize it was adapted for tv in 2003 – but too many liberties were taken. It deserves to be done, and done right.
My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett. This book is not only a great adventure story but really vividly depicts each of the characters. By the end when 'my father' escapes with the dragon the entire cast of animals from the Island is his heels and it is only then that we first meet the dragon. And yet, through seeing the vanity and cruelty of each of the animals we someone feel that we have learned who this dragon is. Of course there are the two sequels as well.
the BFG by roald dahl!!
why?
snozzcumber and whizpoppers.
enough said.
also would LOVE to see pixar do animated shorts of shel silverstein’s poems.
Wouldn't that be wonderful? Iggy is waiting for his close-up Mr. Gondry!
Blubber by Judy Blume. You know you want it too!
Harold and the Purple Crayon. Great book from my childhood. Seemingly would allow a creative director to take the structure and run with it, much like what Jonze seems to have done with Wild things.
The Wolves in the Wall by Neil Gaiman. Maybe they'll do a better job than coraline.
The Bee on the Comb by Kit Williams. The paintings on each page are begging to be animated, and the story of the changing seasons is timeless. Not to mention the fact that the actual name of the book was a secret that you had to decipher from the illustrations, then send in to Kit without using the written word, and from these he picked the most inventive winner. My sister and I grew up with this book and only recently remembered that we never knew the title…a simple google search showed us how to find the answer! This book really is amazing. Now I need to track a copy down again…
"The Phantom Tollbooth," by Norman Juster, was a book that really awakened my imagination as a child. I remember that it was assigned reading in my sixth grade English class, and it is among the few pieces of literature that I was ever forced to read but adored. I think that there is a lot that they could do with it, either as full animation or as partial live action with some CGI. I am sure that it would be a spectacle that both children and adults could enjoy, if it were done properly.
Apologies, I meant Norton Juster.
The Lion, poem by Roald Dahl. The lion loves to eat meat. The narrator is trying to entice him from his lair, but the lion will not say which meat is his favorite. The lion finally answers, "The meat I am about to chew / Is neither steak nor chops. IT'S YOU. One can only imagine the gleeful squeals this poem might elicit from a library storytime crowd in the grip of a skillful storyteller, or better even, from a captivated audience in the movie theater.
Goodnight Moon. Twilight magical bedtime and red balloons.
Under the Big Sky, by Trevor Romain. "Always make certain your roots are planted firmly on the ground, because the winds of change will try to knock you down."
[...] now? This sounds fantastic (sort of a YA version of Where The Wild Things Are) and the reviews (that I could find) are great. It was just released Oct. [...]
Everybody Poops.
KIDDING.
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day or The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka
The Dark-Thirty: Southern Tales of the Supernatural by Patricia McKissack — although it's not as well-known as some of the others on this list, I remember reading it as a kid and spending the rest of the night looking over my shoulder for ghosts and ghouls. The title sets the mood for the book of short stories; it refers to that half hour between day and night when you'd take shortcuts to make it home before full dark, and all the fear the coming darkness evoked. A truly haunting set of short stories, and historical too.
Alternatively, a stop animation adaptation of Corduroy by Don Freeman would be cute beyond belief.
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg. An exciting, scary, fascinating adventure. This book made me want to run away from home and hole up at the Met, scaping together lunch money from the pennies in the fountains! This would make a lovely movie.
Le Petite Prince — by St Exupery it's a magical story for big and small.
Definitely "The Snowy Day" by Ezra Jack Keats. A great tale about how something as mundane as a snow day in the big city can become magical.
Either that, or anything by Leo Lionni, especially "The Biggest House in the World."
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The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales. This book was obsessed over by all the kids in my elementary school. However, the animation would have to evoke the wonderful illustrations.
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"The White Mountains". Awesome sci-fi for kids. Would be incredible.
the mysteries of harris burdick
the giving tree. my mom was a always busy working and not spending too much time at home, but one of my earliest memories with her when i was a child was her reading that book to me. along with her saying that Shel Silverstein looked like a caveman. my kids love it and i can't think of a better adaptation.
Harriet the Spy
–it was done no justice in '96 as a Nickelodeon flop.
I also second From the Mixed Up Files…, The Giver (how to manage the b&w/color shift?), Harold and the Purple Crayon and some Shel Silverstein adaptation. Unfortunately the first two are tied up with rights issues, yuck!
I would like to see, "The Wind in the Willows" by Kenneth Grahame and illustrated by Ernest H. Shepard, made into a movie. I have been a long time fan of "Where the Wild Things Are" and own one of the original stuffed animals that were made for this book (back in the late 70's). So I believe a director and screenwriter with good visionary skills can transfer Wind in the Willows into a good movie for the young and old.
Of course, my answer has to be Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina. I still remember the illustrations vividly and there is such great humor in the story. I also always love an absurdist tale, and would love to see a movie that expanded on that.
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery would be a great classic to be made into a film. Very much like Where the Wild Things Are, the original book illustrations are as equally imprinted in our memories and as the stories themselves. A wonderfully fantastical story with beautiful themes and images, done well, the film would definitely have international appeal.
My second choice would be The Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett. A childhood favorite, I watched the Shirley Temple version of the film over the weekend and was left so dissatisfied!
Island of the Blue Dolphins, by Scott O'Dell. It's a Newberry Award-winner from 1960, based on the true story of an Indian woman marooned on an island off the coast of California for eighteen years. I read the book in middle school, I think, and I still remember how she sewed clothing, made spears, and tamed a wild dog she called "Fox Eyes." It could be beautifully shot and staged, with the backdrop of the Pacific Island. AND O'Dell wrote a sequel, Zia, which could also be made into a movie! Did I win yet??
my favorite book as a child was the velveteen rabbit. i always imagined if i ever lost my bear growing up that i would one day see him playing in the woods with other old teddy bears. i STILL imagine this might happen.
The Once and Future King by T.H. White – I've always loved the images of Merlin transforming young King Arthur (Wart) into various animals: fish, hawk, ant, owl, goose, and badger, with each transformation meant to teach a lesson preparing him for his future life.
The Cricket in Times Square–such a great story! could be an amazing movie.
Imagining Antoine de Saint Exupéry's Le Petit Prince cinematically, it would be something really beautiful with real life actors (youth) and then the whimsical + fantastical qualities created like magic by these movie-makers who are working from inspiration, yet an originality in themselves — I'm happy backing that idea & putting it out into the universe.
I vote for none. Some things are better left to the imagination.
I would like to see an adaptation of The Mouse and the Motorcycle. I think they made after-school specials of this book series in the late 80s; but, a theatrical version would be so much fun. Pixar could do the story justice, or traditional animation could be the best fit. Either way, it would be enjoyable.
Everyone Poops, by Taro Gomi and Amanda Mayer Stinchecum. A classic. Maybe not a full length film…
Happy Man and his Dump Truck!!!! The loving retelling would focus on a man who is so happy with being a dump truck driver then has his feelings hurt about people's negative thoughts on driving a dump truck but then everyone needs him to save them!
[...] and Dave Eggers want to bring the book to life, to flesh out its brevity. Eggers has written a novel-length version of the book-and-now-film, called Wild Things All of this adaptation makes me nervous, but my [...]
Antoine de Saint Exupery's The Little Prince would be a good choice. Children love the most 'insignificant' things, a found rock, a make-shift fort, a lonely flower. But as they become adults they start wanting what others have, and they forget what made these things so special. Most adults become blind to what they have, seeing only with their eyes. Most seem to lose their imaginations. Although the story doesn't have a happy ending, it reminds us that we take what we have for granted, that things are material until we place a value on them, and that we are capable of being happy with what we've got. I love it from the very beginning when the Prince asks for a drawing of a sheep and instead gets a drawing of a box, and he's told that the sheep is inside. Children would enjoy the mystery, a little humor, the fantasy and the visual aspects, along with the different characters. Maybe the adults would get something from it too.
Were the winners chosen already? If not, when will we know?
Thanks!
Good Dog Carl. Let's see a black lab taking care of his human baby brother (or sister) and all the near misses and fun they have together come to life on screen! With a dog and a baby as the main characters, will this be a silent film? …Oh, no, I vote for a "Look Who's Talking" approach – hasn't been done for awhile, and can be very entertaining when done well.
Liza Lou and the Yeller Belly Swamp by Mercer Mayer – Liza Lou needs to take a bag of sweet potatoes to her grandmother's house but before she can get there she has to cross the Yeller Belly Swamp home to the swamp haunt, the witch, and the swamp devil. When I read this book for the first time I hadn't tasted a sweet potatoe but ohhh, how I wanted to sit at the table with Liza Lou and her gramma waiting for them to be ready while Liza Lou and I shared jokes. A clever, young, black girl who rids a swamp of evil after she tricks the monsters into doing her chores? That's an original and worthwhile story.
Everybody Poops by Taro Gomi. (http://www.kanemiller.com/book.asp?sku=25) Because everybody poops and yet it's still a source of shame, embarrassment. Empower the defecators! A motion picture adaptation of the artist's illustration style and color sense could be very cool.
‘East of the Sun,West of the Moon’,written and exquisitely
illustrated by Kay Nielsen.This book, based on an old Nor -wegian folk tale,tells the story of a Prince who has been transformed into a bear by his his wicked stepmpther.The
spell is broken when the Prince falls in love with a poor
peasant’s daughter and marries her.Sheer magic!
The Giving Tree….I'm sure someone could capture it's beauty and teach us the lesson again.
‘East of the Sun,West of the Moon’,an old folktale about a
handsome Prince who has been transformed into a bear by his wicked stepmother.The spell is broken when he falls in love with the beautiful daughter of a poor peasant,and takes her to live with him in his enchanted castle . A mag-
ical made for movies fairytale that will never be forgotten
The Little Engine that Could. now before you imagine some corny, children’s movie…i see this being adapted by someone like Guillermo del Toro. it would be very dark, and the moral…which is ‘if at first you dont succeed, try again’ i suppose…would be learned the hard way. it would be rated R, complete with del Toro’s creatures and monsters…im sure he can create a beautifully ugly choo-choo.
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