The Book-to-Film Adaptation

Stories have existed since the beginning of the world, but the mediums in which they are told have been created, developed, and adapted throughout history. This medium may be oral, as seen the legends and traditions passed down from the mouths of griots in West Africa and the wandering minstrels of medieval Europe. As technology advanced, so did the means to tell stories in various writing systems on stretched animal skins, on parchment paper, and, eventually, in print. However, it was not until the early 19th century when the idea of the moving picture first emerged in the form of sequences of images projected in rapid succession by rudimentary equipment. It would only grow from there.

A scene from Cinderella (1899)

While initial motion pictures captured scenes from everyday life, simple acts of movement, and circus performances, filmmakers soon turned to literature for inspiration. It’s hard to be certain, but many consider the earliest known book-to-film adaptation to be French director Georges Méliès’s Cinderella from 1899. In its mere six minute runtime, it was able to tell all of the familiar riches-to-rags beats and magical transformations of Charles Perrault’s classic fairy tale on screen for the first time. It also proved that one could recreate a story from written text in a completely new medium, one that featured a full cast, multiple sets, special effects, and accompanying background music.

One of the original posters for The Wizard of Oz (1939)

More book-to-film adaptations arrived on the screen soon afterwards, but it was during the Golden Age of Hollywood in the 1930s and ’40s that their potential was fully realized. Major studios began to take advantage of turning already well-known, popular novels into film, and their endeavors were met with critical commercial success. This is seen in the releases of The Wizard of Oz (1939), Gone With the Wind (1939), The Grapes of Wrath (1940), and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945). Since then, many more of the most iconic and beloved films in cinematic history have been adaptations. Here are several recommendations for books whose stories have been told in this celebrated visual medium!

THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY

by Jean-Dominique Bauby

NOTE: The film adaptation contains mature content. It should not be consumed by young viewers.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is the haunting memoir of the editor-in-chief of Elle, who woke up twenty days after a stroke with locked-in syndrome. This rare disorder meant that he would be mentally aware but completely paralyzed apart from slight movement in his head and eyes. Thus, while imprisoned within his own body, Bauby decided to narrate his new life to a world he could not partake in. With wry humor and moving vulnerability at times, he takes the reader through his daily routine of struggle and loneliness at the hospital as well as inside his remarkable mind. This was only made possible through a complicated process where a transcriber would repeatedly recite the French frequency-ordered alphabet until Bauby blinked with his one functioning eyelid to choose the letter. It took him around 200,000 blinks to write at an average of two minutes per word. Sadly, two days after his months of tireless work were published, Bauby died of pneumonia. But his story would outlive him, becoming a bestselling book and critically acclaimed film adaption.

“I am fading away. Slowly but surely. Like the sailor who watches his home shore gradually disappear, I watch my past recede. My old life still burns within me, but more and more of it is reduced to the ashes of memory.” – Jean-Dominique Bauby

FANTASTIC MR. FOX

by Roald Dahl

Roald Dahl is loved by young and old readers alike for his children’s stories, and nowhere is his charm more evident than in Fantastic Mr. Fox. It revolves around the titular Mr. Fox and the tricks he plays on three evil human farmers—Boggis, Bunce, and Bean—to feed his hungry children. However, when the farmers join together to hunt him down and stop his thievery once and for all, he must use all of the cunning he has to evade their capture and save his family. This thrilling cat-and-mouse adventure is told through clever, darkly comical writing and Quentin Blake’s colorful illustrations that simply burst with whimsy. Years later, American director Wes Anderson would be able to perfectly translate the essence of Dahl’s storytelling to the silver screen in the form of stop motion animation. Along with Anderson’s own signature style of dollhouse-like set designs, brilliant colors, and eccentric, dry characters, the result is nothing short of a delightful treat!

“Mr. Fox looked at the four Small Foxes and he smiled. What fine children I have, he thought. They are starving to death and they haven’t had a drink for three days, but they are still undefeated. I must not let them down.” – Roald Dahl

FOSTER

by Claire Keegan

As the title suggests, Foster follows an anonymous young girl who is sent to spend the summer with relatives she’s never met before on their farm in rural Ireland. She comes from a family with too many children and not enough money and is consequently unused to the comforts she finds in her new home. There, she receives warm baths, new clothes, and gentle, patient love from her foster parents. For the first time, she is able to feel like a child capable of joy and wonder-and not a burden. The uncertainty of her future, though, creeps up on her and threatens to shatter the dreamlike world she’s slowly come to embrace. While Keegan’s prose is simple and minimalistic, she possesses an insight into the deeper emotion behind every small glance, exchange, and touch. Foster is a subtle story of love, never forceful or loud, and these qualities were captured by its film adaptation that is aptly called The Quiet Girl.

“My heart does not so much feel that it is in my chest as in my hands, and that I am carrying it along swiftly, as though I have become the messenger for what is going on inside of me.” – Claire Keegan

Works Cited

Kasim, Inci. “Transformations of Books All Around the World: Film Adaptions.” Motaword, 18 Aug. 2022, https://www.motaword.com/blog/transformations-of-books-all-around-the-world-film-adaptations#:~:text=The%20first%20known%20footage%20of,be%20based%20on%20Shakespeare’s%20works.

Parry, Rosalind. “Georges Méliès’s Dancing Clocks: On Cendrillon (Cinderella), 1899.” Bright Lights Film Journal, 7 Jun. 2023, https://brightlightsfilm.com/georges-meliess-dancing-clocks-on-cendrillon-cinderella-1899/

“The Art of Book-to-Movie Adaptions.” The University of Texas Permian Basin, 11 Jan. 2024, https://online.utpb.edu/about-us/articles/humanities/the-art-of-book-to-movie-adaptations/

Bauby, Jean-Domonique. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. Vintage, 2008.

Dahl, Roald. Fantastic Mr. Fox. Viking Books for Young Readers, 2007.

Keegan, Claire. Foster. Grove Press, 2022.

Photo Credits

https://www.goodreads.com/blog/show/2674-14-new-upcoming-book-to-screen-adaptations

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0000230/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:WIZARD_OF_OZ_ORIGINAL_POSTER_1939.jpg

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0401383/

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/fantastic-mr-fox/8d6kgwzl5q4c

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15109082/