As a child I read both The Cat in the Hat and Where the Wild Things Are. As I scrolled through YouTube not longer than 3 weeks ago I came across a Cat in the Hat DVD Trailer >>
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IL-NdQXyeE&feature=related
First let me begin with my dislike for any movie adaptation of these classic books. When you watch the movie you get the sense that something is left out and you feel empty when watching them. However, upon further analysis you may want to consider the opposite. It isn't that the film leaves out certain qualities or traits that leave us feeling empty. It's that they add certain features an effects that fill up our appetite for imagination. As a child, you are left free to "fill in the blanks" with your own imagination. Outside of what is concrete and written, you can imagine 'Things 1 & 2' and monsters any way you choose. It is this aspect of the books that trump any film adaptation. A great story is only half written. The other half needs to be imagined and connected with the reader. Looking back and re-reading these books I felt that the books were simple and not as complex or rich as I once believed them to be. I realized that the books never changed in X amount of years. I changed. I stopped filling in voids and could not make connections. Whereas I would before admire the Cat in the Hat's ability to fix any situation, I stray from that and ponder the unreasonable ability to clean a house with such grandeur. It never once occurred to me as a child that this was a talking cat roaming the world with gay abandon. My imagination let me fill in whatever voids this story had, and the empty crevasses were filled with my own plot "richeners", which led to a complete reading of these children books.
In a similar note, it wasn't too long ago, shortly after the film adaptation came out, but long enough for it to find it's way to Netflix, I watched Where the Wild Things Are. I was disappointed. I remember the transition from Max making his way to the Island took years in my head as a child. In the movie the plot moves so quick and it just didn't feel as special. These books were not meant to be recreated or fabricated in different ways. They are books. They are meant to be read and admired as such. I plan on bringing in one of my favorite books to class, one which connects adulthood with childhood, and is another favorite for children.
I felt the same way about the movie version of The Cat in the Hat. They butchered the book and the emotional attachment I had to it. The movie version of The Cat was boring and lame. The Cat in the book was fun and energetic, in the movie he was lackluster at best.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree. You make a good point when you say that it's the special effects used in the film that replace our imaginations and as a result leave us empty when we watch films that are meant to be left as books. One of the best parts of reading is being able to use your imagination. Unfortunately, with all of the movie adaptations of classical books that are out today I fear we may be heading into an era where books will no longer be needed, and as a result children may be robbed of the ability to really exercise their imaginations. It's really sad to think about, and I hope it never comes to that.
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