There are many movies that should be made into films, and there are many films that have translated well from print to celluloid (or, if we’re being technical, digital). But then there’s the category of films that were great books but didn’t translate well at all to the movie format. In fact, it probably would have been better if they didn’t get the greenlight at all. Here’s a list of ten such films–a small smattering, if you ask me.
#1 “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”: I have the Dr. Seuss films at the top of the list because I hate them the most. I especially hate the live-action “Grinch” and “Cat in the Hat” films. Where to begin? Introducing a back story for the Grinch is interesting, but it isn’t needed. The audience didn’t need to know why the Grinch hated Christmas in the books, did they? We were perfectly fine with him just hating Christmas. Yes, some could say that he hated the commercialism of Christmas in the books, too–that’s really what he hated the most, along with the noise the Whos made when they went caroling. But was it necessary to politicize the film by explicitly addressing that? No. And making it so that the Grinch was picked on in school and had a crush on the popular girl? Ugh. JUST STEAL THE PRESENTS! That’s all I wanted to see. It takes so long just to get to that point, as well.
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If you know more films that ruined the books they’re based on, write it in at the bottom of the post in the comments section. Or, if you have to contest some of the choices listed above, sound off in the comments section.
Great article. I honestly disagree with SOME of what you said, but I don’t wanna get into that.
As for more films that ruined the books they’re based on, I would say “the Shining”. I know it’s a classic and it’s a great movie, but it was completely unfaithful to the book.
Also, “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory”.