Can Children's Movies Be BETTER Than the Books They're Based On?

Posted by Michael Jung Feb 25, 2009

We've all heard people shout it as they're walking out of the movie theater:

"The book was way better!"

And in many cases, they're right. Whether it's due to a director's ego, too many script rewrites, or just the limits of filmmaking, most movies based on books don't enjoy a successful screen translation.

For many kids and children's lit enthusiasts, this can be particularly disappointing when they see the characters and plot of a favorite children's book or young adult novel torn to shreds on the scene -- just look at Babe: Pig in the City or director Doug Liman awful version of Steven Gould's Jumper. Even when a movie does a decent job of translating the book's story to the screen, many fans of the book are disappointed that all of their favorite scenes weren't included.

Every now and then though, a movie comes along that actually ends up being considered just as good if not BETTER than the book(s) it was based on. While these sort of observations are completely subjective, here are three films I thought deserved to be elevated to the level of true children's classic movies.

1. Mary Poppins (1964) -- Whether its Julie Andrews' singing, Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman's amazing songs, or Dick Van Dyke's incredibly bad Cockney accent, there's a magic to this movie that I haven't seen in most films -- children's or otherwise. Definitely one of Andrews' best performances.

2. The Wizard of Oz (1939) -- Now personally I still prefer the original book and the subsequent Oz series. (Anyone who doesn't know about the later books should check out my Review of Ozma of Oz) but any children's movie that's been around for seventy years definitely has something special. From Judy Garland's rendition of Over the Rainbow to Margaret Hamilton's classic take on the Wicked Witch of the West (can you believe the woman taught kindergarten before she got cast as the Witch?) MGM's film is definitely one people can enjoy year after year.

3. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001) (Also known as Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone outside of the U.S.) While later fims in the Harry Potter series don't always successfully capture the books' plots (not really the films' fault -- you try adapting 700 pages of plot into a 2 hour movie) the first film was one of the best literal translations of a children's book to the screen. Some might say Chris Columbus was too slavishly faithful to Rowling's novel, but I found it gratifying to watch a film that seemed to jump straight out of the book.

Anyway, those are my three choices for best children's classic movies. What are yours? Feel free to lay your two cents down!

Find out more interesting facts about movie versions of Mary Poppins and The Wizard of Oz at Children's Films Based on Popular Books for Kids and see lists of children's movies at Popular Children's Movies to Rent.