Study Cases
The Shining
Stephen King
Blurb : Jack Torrance, his wife Wendy, and their young son Danny move into the Overlook Hotel, where Jack has been hired as the winter caretaker. Cut off from civilization for months, Jack hopes to battle alcoholism and uncontrolled rage while writing a play. Evil forces residing in the Overlook – which has a long and violent history – covet young Danny for his precognitive powers and exploit Jack’s weaknesses to try to claim the boy.
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Stephen King | The Shining [WWW Document], n.d. URL https://stephenking.com/works/movie/shining.html (accessed 5.2.23).
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Released in 1977 and adapted into a film in 1980 by Stanley Kubrick, The Shining is an example of a good book made into a good film (if the general opinion is to be believed). But a very bad adaptation.
The book was also given an adaptation in 1997 (The Shining, 2000. . Lakeside Productions, Warner Bros. Television.) which was poorly received by the public despite being more accurate.
It is surprising to note that when the adaptation of Doctor Sleep, the sequel to The Shining and adapted from the book of the same name, was released, many people hated it, even though it is faithful to the book.
We can deduce from this that fans wanted to see a sequel to Kubrick's Shining and not a Doctor Sleep adaptation/sequel to The Shining book.
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Blurb : Obsessed by creating life itself, Victor Frankenstein plunders graveyards for the material to fashion a new being, which he shocks into life by electricity. But his botched creature, rejected by Frankenstein and denied human companionship, sets out to destroy his maker and all that he holds dear.
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Frankenstein by Mary Shelley | Waterstones [WWW Document], n.d. URL https://www.waterstones.com/book/frankenstein/mary-shelley/9780141393391 (accessed 5.2.23).
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Written in 1818 by Mary Shelley, Frankenstein is a book that has been adapted more than once since its creation. The creature, like what happens to him in the book, has developed his own image and personality over time. And while it was James Whale's 1931 film starring Boris Karloff in the title role that fixed his image in the collective mind, it is important to remember that the creature did not look anything like this description in Shelley's texts.
Nevertheless, in our time, we still have in mind the image of this large, sallow-skinned creature whose limbs are sewn together with large stitches. And of course the bolts at the neck.
Even the youngest of our generation can recognise at first glance this monster that they should be terrified of. And yet his physique has become so branded that he has been adapted in enough media for children to have their own version. From Monster High to Hotel Transvilvania to Ninja Turtles to Alvin and the Chipmunks, since the 1931 adaptation, we've all grown up with our own version of the monster. We all have our own favourite and who can say they're scared of it?
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Frankenstein
Mary Shelley
Really known adaptations
Outside of the more widely known examples of screen adaptations of books that have been mentioned such as Harry Potter, The Hunger Games and Lord of the Rings, there are many more films that have adapted books in a less obvious way. The following examples outline how books can be adapted, updated, and modernised to make enjoyable films that aren’t so carefully critiqued as needing to follow the book down to specific details. In doing this a separation is created between the book and the film and they aren’t constantly compared with each other.
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One example is the 1990’s American classic ‘Clueless’. The iconic high school movie actually takes much of its characters and storyline from Jane Austen’s 19th century novel ‘Emma’. The film’s main character ‘Cher’ is actually based on the novel’s titular ‘Emma’. Both share the same family background with both characters living with an indulgent wealthy father after the death of their mother. Both characters try their hand at matchmaking as they take on a project of helping a lower-class friend find love with little success. In the book this lower-class friend comes in the form of ‘Harriet Smith’, in the film ‘Harriet Smith’ is represented as ‘Tai’. Similarly, the male love interests are mirrored with the books ‘Elton’ actually keeping the same name in the film. The only difference between the book and the film is the names of some of the characters and the setting of 19th century England is replaced with modern day Beverly Hills.
Another example comes in the form of hit film ‘Bridget Jones’ Diary’. This film brings the story of another Jane Austen novel ‘Pride and Prejudice’ into the present day. As well as following the basic plot of the book the film features various allusions and references to the original book, including the name ‘Darcy’ for the stoic male lead.