This is actually a post I've been wanting to write for a long time, so I carved out a couple of workdays to put it together. It's long, but I hope you enjoy it and find some new books to read since you've watched the films... and maybe even vice versa!
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Movies You Might Not Have Known Were Based on Books
Books and movies tend to overlap. For example, for decades, it was quite common for a novelization of a film to be released around the same time a film was. I myself have read a lot of novelizations of films, and I'll recommend some at the end of this post. Those books were penned by famous authors such as Alan Dean Foster (Alien and Terminator universes), a well-known and highly respected sci-fi/fantasy author. And some authors focused nearly entirely on creating film novelizations, such as Gordon McGill (Spies Like Us, many of The Omen film novelizations).
Hollywood has always turned to the written word to find inspiration for films. The very first full-length feature film in America was Les Misérables, based on the novel by Victor Hugo, and was produced in 1909. The very first horror novel to be interpreted onto film in America was Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Lewis Stevenson, produced in 1908. I could certainly give a really long list of books to film, but I'm sure you can find one yourself if you're curious. In lieu of said list, here's a cool article detailing the first ten films to be based on novels from Reel Rundown.
I think we can rightly assume that everyone knows the Harry Potter films are based on the YA novels, and classics like The Godfather, The Exorcist, Jaws, and Jurassic Park were all based on novels. We all pretty much recognize when Philip K. Dick, Michael Crichton, or Ray Bradbury's work is on the screen. But you might find that some films you've seen were based on novels that you've never heard of or read. Here's are some that might surprise you.
(On a personal note, I was the weird kid who would read the novelizations of films, and I used to have stacks of them. I honestly can't remember how many novelizations I've read. So many, in fact, that sometimes I'll watch a movie and find that I think a scene is missing, until I look it up and find out it was in the novelization, not actually in the film! Books and movies are my favorite forms of entertainment - I don't really watch TV, and I'm certainly no gamer. So these are also examples of what I've learned over the years in my brain accumulating movie and book trivia!)
The Birds (1963) - "The Birds," included in the collection The Apple Tree by Daphne du Maurier (1952). Ms. du Maurier's most well known novel is Rebecca, about a woman who marries a widower who is haunted by his deceased wife, the title character. But few realize that her short story was Alfred Hitchcock's inspiration for his terrifying film. Quite a lot of the film is different - the main character in the story is a male war veteran, and the ending is very bleak. But the themes remain the same, and certainly the performance by Tippi Hedren still shows that women can be strong characters in films.
The Bone Collector (1999) - The Bone Collector by Jeffrey Deaver (1997). The '90s were certainly filled with crime thrillers, both as books and as films. With The Silence of the Lambs sweeping the 1991 Academy Awards, the popularity of such stories took off. Deaver's novel introduced Lincoln Rhyme (played in the film by the legendary Denzel Washington), a quadriplegic and ex-forensic criminologist, who became his lead detective in thirteen subsequent novels. I couldn't find much about the backstory as to how the book was translated to film, but the film does change some of the story. The themes and elements are the same, but quite a few characters and the murderer are quite different. The film was met with lackluster at the box office, but for some reason, I really enjoy it. Probably because of the acting - Angelina Jolie and Queen Latifah were real treats to watch before they became so famous. I also remember it being a big deal that Ed Neill was playing a dramatic role, as most people only knew him from the sitcom Married With Children. And many horror and sci-fi fans will recognize Leland Orser, who always plays a minor but incredibly important role in most of his films. I haven't read the novel yet, but it's in my TBR pile, and I honestly look forward to going back in time of sorts to the world of '90s detective novels.
Die Hard (1988) - Nothing Lasts Forever by Roderick Thorp (1979). The novel is actually a sequel to the book The Detective, Thorp's first story starring Joe Leland - changed to John McClane for Die Hard. The Detective had been made into a film starring Frank Sinatra as Leland. Thorp wrote Nothing Lasts Forever as a sequel specifically so Sinatra could reprise his role as Leland in the film. But Sinatra turned it down, and after being offered to Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, and several other actors, the unassuming Bruce Willis was hired for the role. The novel is a lot grittier with a dark and upsetting ending, so the story was lightened for the film. And it worked, because the film certainly did well, launching Willis's career as a sarcastic and reluctant action hero.
Forrest Gump (1994) - Forrest Gump by Winston Groom (1986). A friend of mine loaned me the book she picked up in a bookstore after both of us had seen the film. She told me it was nothing like the film and was quite dark. She was right. The book originally only sold about 10,000 copies then faded into oblivion. So it's probably a good thing that the character of Forrest was completely changed, the subplot of Forrest and Jenny's relationship was brought to the forefront, and the darker chapters of the book were skipped over. Certainly, the changes worked, for the film won six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor (Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump), and Best Director (Robert Zemeckis).
Jumanji (1995) - Jumanji by Chris Van Allsburg (1981). Jumanji was originally a children's picture book, both written and illustrated by Van Allsburg. Being a children's book, the plot is fairly simple, and it only involves the two children, Judy and Peter (played by Kirsten Dunst and Bradley Pierce in the film). But the original story was woven into a more complex film starring Robin Williams that involved more characters and bigger dangers, and it was a huge success. It inspired an animated series and two sequels starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. It also endeared Williams to a large audience of children, who grew up watching him in this film and in Aladdin. Jumanji is currently Sony's highest grossing film of all time.
The Planet of the Apes (1968) - La Planète des singes by Pierre Boulle (1953). Quite possibly one of science fiction's most well-known films, many people had and still have no idea it was based on a novel. You might recognize Boulle's more famous work, Bridge Over the River Kwai, but he was also a prolific science fiction novelist and short story author. He used fiction as a way to comment on social injustices, the perils and perceived absurdity of war, and animal welfare issues, as presented in Monkey Planet (the UK title, the American title being The Planet of the Apes). The film follows the basic plot of the novel, but the beginning and ending are quite different. However, the novel's original themes are still intact: the dangers of space exploration, the inhumanity of using animals for experimentation, and the lack of respect for lives other than ours. The film has inspired eight sequels, and there are also comic books based on the story.
The Prestige (2006) - The Prestige by Christopher Priest (1995). I learned this film was based on a novel simply by seeing it in the credits. I still haven't read the novel, but it is in my TBR pile. It is written as diary entries, switching back and forth between the two magicians, Rupert Angier (Hugh Jackman in the film) and Alfred Borden (Christian Bale in the film). I have loved the film for quite a long time - it's one I tend to watch over and over again because of the acting and how perfectly each actor was chosen for their role. The turn of David Bowie as Nikola Tesla is one of my favorite bits. This was Christopher Nolan's first film after Batman Begins, which started his pattern of using his staple actor, Michael Caine. The film and the book are extremely similar, including the ending, though there are differences that clearly separate the two works. Overall, I think Nolan chose an excellent novel to bring to film, and I certainly can't get enough of it.
The Princess Bride (1987) - The Princess Bride by William Goldman (1973). Most people didn't know about Goldman's novel until after Rob Reiner had released the film. Reiner loved the novel ever since his father gave him a copy to read, and he wanted it to be his next project after This is Spinal Tap. 20th Century Fox already owned the rights to the film, so Reiner bought the rights from them with his own money. He had Goldman write the screenplay for the film in order to keep the spirit of the novel intact. Oddly enough, even though the film had good critical reviews, it had mediocre box office success. However, it seems the release of the film on VHS and subsequent mediums is where its current success came from. Many of us grew up with the film and it's dry comedy, and "As you wish" has become a staple quote in modern pop culture.
Psycho (1960) - Psycho by Robert Bloch (1959). Bloch was encouraged by H.P. Lovecraft to write short fiction in the 1930s, and I am so glad he did. In the year Bloch wrote Psycho, he also won the Hugo Award for a short story. Funny enough, even though Ed Gein had been caught in 1957, Bloch didn't know the extent of Gein's actions, just that he had seemed the quiet guy next door, which Bloch alluded to in the novel. He was shocked to realize that his novel ended up being so similar to the real-life killer. Alfred Hitchcock turned to the disturbing novel as his next film after North by Northwest, and he mostly stuck to the original story. What made his film so groundbreaking was threefold: a carefully crafted marketing scheme that kept audiences from revealing the twist ending, killing off the lead character only about thirty minutes into the film, and leaving the audience so upset by said killing that they thought they saw a bloody massacre... when really, they didn't. I won't go into the incredible background of Pyscho, but I recommend reading more about it. I also recommend watching the film Hitchcock (2012), an under-the-radar delightful movie that is full of the rumors and truths about the making of Psycho, starring Sir Anthony Hopkins as the director himself (not to mention the incredible performance of Michael Wincott as Ed Gein). We won't talk about the shot-for-shot (which really wasn't) remake by Gus Von Sant in 1998.
The Secret of NIMH (1982) - Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien (1971). I hope many of you recognize this fantastic animated Don Bluth film from the 80s. I discovered this book as a kid in one of those wonderful Scholastic Book Fairs, and I think the description explained it was the novel that inspired the film. I was honestly really excited to find it as I'd seen the film in the theatre and quite a few times on VHS. I also learned that the novel has a lot more depth to it than the film does. It goes into detail both about the injections and the training the rats received at NIMH, and there's a lot more information about Jonathan Frisby than what we learn in the film. There is no magic in the book - the animals of the farm are not given superhuman abilities but have to work with what they are, but the rats gain the level of intelligence that humans have. I'm not sure why the name was changed from Frisby to Brisby, but Don Bluth is still around, so maybe we can learn from him someday. But overall, if you loved the film, you'll love the book, and you might even love the book more. In addition, O'Brien's daughter, Jane Leslie Conly, wrote a sequel titled Racso and the Rats of NIMH, and this book is just as clever as the first one is.
Willard (1971 and 2003) - Ratman's Notebooks by Stephen Gilbert. Most horror film fans have seen Willard, and I include it here because the first film representation was quite the box office hit in 1971, and was the twelfth highest grossing film of the year. A remake was made in 2003, starring the incredibly talented Crispin Glover in the lead role and the delightfully incomparable R. Lee Ermey as his horrific boss. In all honesty, even if you're not a horror fan but you like thrillers, you might really enjoy these films. But what many people didn't know is both films are based on Gilbert's novel. The novel is a series of entries into a notebook, where Willard details his relationship with the rats, his boss, and becoming a pretty successful thief known as the Ratman. The ending is quite terrifying, so I won't give it away, but both films didn't use it, simply because neither didn't expand upon Willard's career as a thief. It might be up to you to see if the film endings (they are the same) are as creepy as the book. I really like both versions of the film because they expand more on the characters, especially the 2003 version, but the novel is still really good in and of itself. And I also recommend listening to Glover's version of the Michael Jackson song "Ben" during the end credits of the 2003 film. The dark irony is really kinda funny.
Five Disney Films
I thought I'd go into some further detail in this section, simply because when Walt himself was alive, Disney had a reputation for being extremely groundbreaking in their work, and these are examples of the incredible ingenuity and talent he and his staff truly had. His using others' stories were a springboard for a lot of technology we see in movie-making today, and of course, most of the works have become true timeless classics.
We all know that Disney relies a lot on classic fairy tales and various myths and legends to create their films. But they also went to books to find inspiration as well. In fact, The Lion King was the first animated Disney film that is not based on a previously written or told story... though if you pay close attention, you'll find a lot of similarities with the play Hamlet by Shakespeare (and the Marvel film Black Panther has similarities to Hamlet as well, now owned by Disney).
You might already know that Mary Poppins (1964) is based on the series of novels by P.L. Travers because of the film Saving Mr. Banks (which is probably one of the most inaccurate biographical films ever made). But here are some films that you might not know were not original stories by Disney.
101 Dalmatians (1961) - The Hundred and One Dalmatians by Dodie Smith (1956)
This is another book that I discovered in a Scholastic Book Fair, and I remember clearly the description saying the book was the basis for 101 Dalmatians. I still have my old, battered copy from one of those fairs, and honestly, it is an absolute favorite YA novel of mine. Disney took the basic story and put it on film, and they stuck to that story very well (a bit of a rarity with Disney... We won't talk about Pocahontas). But it's the tip of the iceberg compared to the novel. Smith details how the Twilight Bark works to guide Pongo and his Missus (Perdita is not her name in the novel) to find where their puppies are hidden, and it's quite a fascinating journey. And we get more details of their journey home with the pups as well. Cruella is more evil in the book, and we actually spend time with her, her mousey husband (yes, she has a husband), and Anita and Jim for dinner at Cruella's home. We also learn the history of Dalmatians and other dog breeds in the book. Plus, there are two female Dalmatians with litters in the novel... but you'll have to read it to find out why and what happens!
Lady and the Tramp (1955) - "Happy Dan, the Cynical Dog" by Ward Greene (1945)
"Happy Dan, the Cynical Dog" was a short story written by Ward Greene that appeared in Cosmopolitan magazine in 1945. At around the same time, Walt Disney had been approached by one of the animators with sketches of his English Springer Spaniel named Lady. The animator, Joe Grant, pitched making a film about her antics. Walt loved the sketches, but they could never come up with a good story to accompany Lady. Walt then ran across Greene's story, and he thought that perhaps he could have Lady fall in love with a dog like Happy Dan, so he bought the rights to film the story. After lots of work and tweaking and lots of story changes by both Grant and Greene, including changing Lady to a Cocker Spaniel, the final story was agreed upon. While the film was being made, Greene wrote the novel Lady and the Tramp: The Story of Two Dogs, and Walt insisted it be released before the film so viewers would be familiar with the story. The novel was released in 1953 with a forward by Walt himself. I actually had a book of Disney stories that included the original short story, but sadly I gave it away. (Though I'm on a quest to find that book again!) It also had a short story about Scamp, the single male pup from Lady and Tramp's litter. Scamp was originally a minor dog character in the first story that Greene developed into a spinoff comic strip.
On a personal note, this film was the very first movie I saw in the theatre. It was during the day being shown for kids, and my mom took me to see it. I was only two years old, but she said I was rapt with attention. We then went to the music store and bought the storybook record afterwards... and I still have that record to this very day. It wasn't until I got the aforementioned Disney storybook in later years that I learned Lady and the Tramp was based on a book.
Bambi (1942) - Bambi, a Life in the Woods by Felix Salten (1923)
Bambi existed long before we heard about him through Disney. Salten was as German novelist and literary critic who wrote this coming-of-age novel about a young deer and his life and struggles in the woods from his point of view. It was translated into English by Whittaker Chambers and published in America in 1928. It was a very popular novel that sparked a sequel called Bambi's Children. Bambi is considered one of the first environmental novels with its lessons on how man can destroy the forest, and I imagine it is also grouped with Anna Sewell's Black Beauty as one of the earliest animal activism novel. The film and book are comparable, with the same basic story, following Bambi through his life from birth to producing his own children, and the very clear themes of love, loss, and learning about life. In order to capture the realism of the woodland animals, the animators visited the Los Angeles Zoo and also had an inside zoo in the studio where rabbits, skunks, and even two fawns - named Bambi and Faline, of course - were brought in so the animators had real references. This was the first time Disney had done this, and it gave the animators tons of references to use in future films. Bringing in live animals was also repeated for many future films, especially for The Lion King.
And that Disney storybook I talked about? It had an excerpt from the original novel in it, so that's how I learned Bambi was also based on a book. And you know that death scene of Mom lying in the snow with Bambi lying next to her? That image is a fake made by a very talented artist. It's a Mandela Effect - Bambi's mom's death was never shown in the original film, but we all seem to think we actually saw it.
The Song of the South (1946) - The Uncle Remus books by Joel Chandler Harris (1881)
A film that is considered racist in our current time, this was one of Walt Disney's favorite works when he was alive. The main theme song, above, has become a staple at the parks for performers to sing and throughout the park's musical background. The film itself is based on the Uncle Remus books by Joel Chandler Harris, a journalist who took folklore stories he'd heard from African Americans and framed them into fables in the vein of Aesop's Fables or One Thousand and One Arabian Nights. The books were first published in 1881. Harris wrote the books to showcase the struggles of black people in the Southern United States, specifically those who worked on plantations. Disney put the books on the screen using live-action animation: filming the humans as live actors, then hand-drawing in the animals, some of the backgrounds, and the stories into the film as animated elements, which Disney used in many of their productions. It has been speculated that this film may be Walt's apology for having been racist toward black people, but we will probably never know.
Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988) - Who Censored Roger Rabbit? by Gary K. Wolf (1981)
Roger, Jessica, Baby Herman, and Eddie Valiant are pretty vibrant and over-the-top, but they're not so much in the original novel by Wolf. Wolf's novel reads like a classic hard-boiled detective novel, and it's gritty, yet certainly has funny moments. Disney kept the humor and the four characters listed above, but a lot of the film is quite different, including nearly the entire plot and changing key characters and how and why the murder happens. But I think the changes work well as they separate themselves from the book as its own entity, which is excellent and extremely creative on its own. Plus, Disney paired up with Warner Bros. to put Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny in the same film together, and certainly Wolf couldn't have written about them in his original novel without paying some major royalties. Who Framed Roger Rabbit? was a live-action hand-drawn animation film like Song of the South, and from what I can find, was the last one of it's kind produced by Disney.
Recommended Film Novelizations
And for your reading pleasure, here are a few novelizations of films that I've truly enjoyed. Novelizations usually expand on the film, the author having worked with the original script and the filmmakers to create a book that may include deleted scenes, character traits, and backstory that we didn't get in the movie. These are ones that really impacted me when I first read them, some in my childhood. I honestly recommend taking the time on these. You'll learn about deleted scenes and character backgrounds that weren't in the films, and honestly, they're just good reads. Enjoy!
(I haven't read this one yet, but it came highly recommended, so it's in my TBR pile.)
E.T. the Extraterrestrial by William Kotzwinkle
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade by Rob MacGregor
The Lost Boys by Craig Shaw Gardner
~ Andrea Thomas
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