Monarch Madness is coming up soon, and there are some amazing themes this year! As usual, each grade chose a theme based on a popular movie. However, three of them have something in common.

They’re book adaptations! J. M. Barrie’s Peter and Wendy was adapted into Walt Disney’s Peter Pan in 1953. Cressida Cowell’s book series How to Train Your Dragon was later adapted in 2010 by Dreamworks Animation to give us the classic movie of the same name. Finally, the seniors‘ theme (as many already know) is based on the popular 2008 YA series Hunger Games. 

Literary adaptations have always been a presence in the film industry with the highest grossing movie of all time (adjusted for inflation), Gone with the Wind (1939), being based on a book published two years prior. However, in recent years, they’ve become more and more popular, falling in line with a trend that is increasingly popular with major industries: rehashing pre-existing IPs. Because of this, these movies tend to come with a pre-established fanbase, which is helpful for generating revenue. These fans, though, set higher expectations for these movies than there would have been otherwise, and many are critical if something has changed from the original stories.

But what actually goes into making these types of movies?

First is an assessment of the books themselves and if they would be a good fit. For example, some books contain a lot of internal reflection or monologues, which may be difficult to properly adapt. Or a series may contain many fantastical elements that would be expensive to showcase in live-action.

Then comes acquiring the rights and creating a deal with the publishing company, author, and studio. The time this takes can vary, and even if studios do acquire the rights, sometimes the movie never actually gets produced. The next involves writing the script, which can be difficult. The script often needs to be condensed to fit the length of a movie, leading writers to cut some subplots or key moments. This is also when the author is consulted, if the movie studio decides to do so–sadly, many skip this and just leave it to the scriptwriters instead. The way a character develops throughout a story is also different, as they do so through actions in movies more than thought and dialogue. Finally, it comes to the actual production and post-production of the film; this tends to fall in line with how any other film is made, and where scripts and stories are tweaked based on what looks good.

While some adaptations have become critically acclaimed and well-loved by most, like Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter, the changes a book has to go through in order to be on the silver screen more often than not are disliked by fans. Whether it’s the fact that some elements may not “look” right, some characters may “feel” wrong, or that there have been changes to the plot, there will often be something people are unhappy with when it comes to an adaptation.

Now, for our themes this year, they have been very popular movies, even if they’ve changed from their source material. Peter Pan’s original book had a darker tone, with more explicit injuries and deaths. This worked well for the “Disney aesthetic,” as it presented the story as one that was far more family-friendly, helping it become a classic. How To Train Your Dragon is a fully separate story; barely any elements are the same. In a way, it ended up not really being an adaptation but more like a movie that drew inspiration from a source. As many major worldbuilding and plot elements were changed, it can’t reasonably be judged as a true adaptation. However, these changes helped make the movie immensely successful, as it created an epic storyline with rich character development while still keeping the spirit of its inspiration. As for Hunger Games, in the movies, the story is presented from an omniscient viewpoint rather than first person. This provides a different experience for the audience, as they could instead better understand the world and its people, through scenes like the citizen’s reactions to Katniss’s actions in the Games.

To be a proper adaptation, these movies can’t take the book exactly as it is. Movies and books are different mediums, allowing for different styles of entertainment. Translating between the two will always have issues, and this is unavoidable.