Book vs Movie

1. Polar Express
Book: Chris Van Allsburg, 1984
Movie: Warner Brothers Entertainment, 2005

The book, Polar Express, is one that I always look forward to reading to my students around the Christmas holiday. I enjoy looking at the book's rich illustrations because I believe they are what makes the book so special and real. This book tells the story of a young little boy, who is questioning whether Santa is real. On Christmas Eve, this young boy boards a magical train outside of his home called the Polar Express. The train takes the boy and several other passengers aboard and travels on to the North Pole.

When the train arrives at the North Pole, the children leave the train and find themselves in the center of the city. They are surrounded by hundreds of elves, standing around Santa's sleigh, ready to send him on his way. The conductor of the train informs the children that this is where Mr. Claus gives out the first gift of Christmas. The children move closer to the sleigh and Santa chooses the doubting, little boy to receive the first gift. Surprisingly, the boy does not choose a gift out of the bag, but rather a silver bell from the sleigh. The boy places the bell inside his robe pocket and everyone cheers as Santa lifts off into the night sky.

The children all board the Polar Express again to head back home. Later, the other passengers ask to see the bell. To the little boy's surprise, the bell is missing from his pocket and all he feels is a hole. The children offer to help look for it, but it is too late, the train had already started moving. The next morning, the boy finds a small present behind the Christmas tree with the silver bell and a message from Mr. C inside. This story truly sends the message of the power of believing!

This is wonderful story about believing in the spirit of Christmas. When I first heard they were making this movie, I couldn't wait to see it because I absolutely loved the book. However, I was very anxious to see how they would develop the movie. I think the movie does a magnificent job of staying true to the story line in the book. The movie depicts the rich illustrations found within the book. The illustrations come to life in the movie through amazing animations. The movie does extend the plot of the story by adding a few extra characters and some action/adventure scenes, but these changes only enhance the story line. I think the book and the movie are both enchanting and engaging for people of all ages, including the young and young at heart. I can honestly say I was very impressed with how well the movie truly captured the spirit of the book.

2. Horton Hears a Who
Book: Dr. Seuss, 1954
Movie: 20th Century Fox Animation, 2008

This classic Dr. Seuss story tells of a courageous elephant and his determination to keep the "Whos" safe. The story starts out when Horton hears a small speck of dust, in which Whoville is located, talking to him. It is Horton's mission throughout the story to save the town of Whoville from the Kangaroo as requested by the mayor. The other animals in the jungle, where Horton lives, can't hear the speck of dust and think Horton is crazy. Because of this, they torment Horton, take the speck of dust, and cage him. Horton informs the Whos that they must make a loud noise to be heard by the other animals or they will be destroyed. The Whos do everything in their might to make a loud noise, but nothing seems to be loud enough. The mayor searches for anyone in the town that can help and finally finds, JoJo, a very small Who. JoJo makes a loud noise that ends up reaching the other animals in the jungle and saves the town of Whoville. After this, the jungle animals pledge to help Horton protect this tiny town.

This classic story was recently made into an animated movie. The plot remained the same in both the book and movie. The movie has a few differences in the characters and minor development of parts of the book. The book focuses mainly on Horton and his adventure to save Whovile; while the movie introduces the viewers to the mayor of Whoville and his family. The movie also recognizes JoJo, the savior of Whoville in both the book and movie, to be the Mayor's only son. This relationship is never mentioned in the story.

Another difference I noticed was the addition of the character Morton, Horton's small mouse friend. This character has a vital role in the movie, where he was never mentioned in the book. I believe the changes that were made in the movie, definitely enhanced the message and the story's plot.

3. Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
Book: Judi Barrett, 1978
Movie: Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animations, 2009
The book starts out with two children sitting at the breakfast table waiting for their grandpa to finish preparing their Saturday morning pancakes. After an incident with the dog and cat, Grandpa flips a pancake in the air, but it mistakenly falls and lands on the boy's head. This event prompts the grandfather to tell the children a bedtime story about a make-believe town, called ChewandSwallow. This mythological town has been blessed with the ability to rain food for all three meals, such as cheeseburgers and sunny-side eggs with bacon and toast.

Everything in town seemed good until the weather took a turn for the worse. It began raining food that people did not enjoy and the portion sizes began to get larger and larger. Everyone in town had to stay indoors for fear of being harmed. After the sanitation department gave up, all the townspeople left ChewandSwallow on large bread boats they made and sailed to new land, where it no longer rained meals. The book ends with the children waking up the next morning to snow on the ground, which they compared to mashed potatoes and the sun on the hill to butter. This book is imaginative and humorous and one that makes the reader laugh. It truly is a wonderful example of fantasy in children's literature.

This book and movie duo has the least similarities to the ones I compared. The animated movie has a slightly different plot than the book and many different characters. However, I understand to make a full length movie from a short picture book it does require some changes. The book mainly focuses on the grandfather and two children, but the movie does not ever mention any of these characters. The movie is centered around the life of a boy genius, Flint Lockwood, and his many inventions. He grows up in a town on an island located in the middle of the Atlantic ocean known as Swallow Falls. The town is pretty boring and known for having sardines, which everyone thinks are "super gross."

The town becomes more popular after Flint's invention. He invented a machine that changes water in the sky to food that rains down on the town. Everyone in Swallow Falls, including the Mayor, loves Flint as he is now seen as the town hero who is going to make the town a rich tourist attraction. After his success with this invention, the mayor renames the town ChewandSwallow, just like the town in the book. The next part of the movie follows the book pretty closely, as different types of food fall out of the sky for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. One part that is the same in the movie and book is the pancake that falls on the school and closes it for the day. There were many more details added to the movie, but just like the book states, the food in the movie begins to get larger and is seen as a danger to the people in the town.

Flint and Sam, an added character in the movie, go inside a giant meatball to try and save the town. This part of the movie was somewhat long and lose my interest. The two end up saving the town of ChewandSwallow with the help of Flint's dad, who had lost touch with his son. At the end of the movie, Flint finally gets the girl and falls in love with Sam, the town's meteorologist. Flint's father also finally tells him how proud he is of all his accomplishments. I enjoyed the movie, however, I think the additional material added to film loses some of the minimalist simplicity which was originally found in the book.