All of my favorite childhood movies were based on books. And I never even realized it.
I’m not exaggerating.
Every beloved movie that I watched and begged to rent again from Blockbuster the following weekend was based on a book. “The Hobbit” (yes, the old animated one!), “Watership Down”, “The Mouse and His Child” (which I’m still broken-hearted isn’t on DVD), “The Last Unicorn”, “Charlotte’s Web”, “The Secret of NIMH”, “Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory”, and “The Wizard of OZ”.
We talk about books being formative to a child’s soul as their mind inhabits those characters and stories. But movies can be just as formative to a child as books, and I believe these were to me.
I realized that The Hobbit was a book once I reached middle school, but I never knew about nor read most of the others until I became an adult (though I still haven’t tracked down a copy of The Last Unicorn).
Recently, my husband read The Hobbit aloud to our family. I’d read it before, but it was magical to hear it read aloud. The kids and I were spellbound. I had never really appreciated the poetry Tolkien wove throughout the book until I heard it spoken.
Once we finished the book, I was excited to share my cherished childhood version of The Hobbit with my eight and ten-year-old.
They were unimpressed.
And now I’m surprised I expected any different. What movie ever lives up to the book? As wonderful as these movies seemed to me, the books would have been immensely more good, true, and beautiful in forming my childhood imagination. I loved the movies because of their stories, but those stories are much better expressed in the actual books as realized through the imagination of a child.
So, while I still appreciate movies based on books, I realize their true purpose should be to lead kids to the delightful books they portray, as they eventually did with me, or to enhance the enjoyment of a beloved story.
In a way, I’m glad that “The Hobbit” cartoon didn’t live up to the grand visions my children have of Bilbo and Gandalf, Rivendell and Mirkwood. I hope their imaginations continue to surpass anything they might see on the Silver Screen.
And I trust those stories and images will follow them into adulthood as those from my own childhood followed me.
When she’s not writing, Carolyn can be found homeschooling her four wildly-creative kids in her house full of bookworms, which also happens to be the name of her blog.
You can find her at http://www.housefullofbookworms.com, and on Instagram.
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That was exactly my experience with the old animated version of “The Hobbit”! The animated versions of “Charlotte’s Web” and “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” were the same for me. I’ve heard people wonder if they should let their kids watch the movies before reading the books. For me, loving the movies already gave me more motivation to read the books!
Yes! I feel like my opinion changed while I was writing this post. Movies can be great jumping blocks into great books. At the same time, those movie images will always color your vision of that particular book (for good or ill). Glad to hear you had a similar experience!
So true!! I felt the same way most recently with Harry Potter.
Yes, the movies were definitely first there for me too and color my imagination.
i didn’t know that ‘the last unicorn’ was a book! my husband grew up on the movie (i grew up in ignorance of its existence, but he has since enlightened me to its wonders)…i will have to track that one down.
Yes! It’s by Peter S. Beagle. I don’t think my library has it, so I haven’t read it yet, but it’s on my to read list. 🙂
Thanks for sharing. I’ll have to check out that Hobbit cartoon. Maybe it’s what my son needs to inspire him to finish reading the book with his dad.
I hope it inspires a deeper love for the book in him, Leslie! 🙂