Eight Children's Novels that Should Be Adapted for Adults
Seriously Random List /
Dustin Rowles
Seriously Random Lists | October 19, 2009 | Comments (50)
As most of you already know, Spike Jonze’s adult vision of Maurice Sendak’s beloved children’s novel Where the Wild Things Are was the number one film at the box-office, racking up over $30 million. However, most critics agree that Jonze’s film was not appropriate for younger audiences (and certainly not the four-to-eight year olds the book was geared toward). The audience make-up reflected that: 43 percent of those who saw Where the Wild Things Are were 18 and older, and only 27 percent of moviegoers were comprised of families and their children.
The lesson: You don’t have to tailor your children’s books toward children to succeed. So, in that vein, I came up with eight more beloved children’s books that could be adapted for adults.
8. Oh, The Places You’ll Go by Dr. Seuss
Director: Todd Phillips (The Hangover, Road Trip)
Genre: Road Trip Comedy
The Pitch: Two teenagers, the summer after their graduation, travel the country and sleep with 26 women with first names that begin with every letter of the alphabet.
Tagline: “Will you succeed? Yes, you will indeed.”
7. The Napping House by Don and Audrey Wood
Director: Edward Zwick (Defiance, Blood Diamond
Genre: Holocaust Drama
The Pitch: A Jewish family is unknowingly sent to a Nazi concentration camp. Members of the family continue to fall into an eternal sleep.
Tagline: “There is a house, a napping house, where everybody’s sleeping.”
6. Goodnight Moon by by Margaret Wise Brown
Director: Roland Emmerich (The Day After Tomorrow, 2012)
Genre: Apocalypse Thriller
The Pitch: Aliens destroy the moon and throw off its gravitational pull, resulting in the oceans destroying coastal United States.
Tagline: “Goodnight room. Goodnight moon.”
5. Stone Soup
Director: David Fincher (The Game, Se7en)
Genre: Psychological Thriller
The Pitch: Three down-on-their-luck strangers enter a town, and after the townspeople initially refuse to help them, the strangers turn their poisonous soup into a deadly picnic.
Tagline: “I do like a tasty stone soup.”
4. In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
Director: Tim Burton (Edward Scissorhands, Sleepy Hollow)
Genre: Surreal Horror Musical
The Pitch: Scored by Roger Waters and Danny Elfman, “Mickey in the Night Kitchen” is about three chefs whose secret ingredient is the blood of children.
Tagline: “We make cake and nothing’s the matter!”
3. Curious George by Hans Augusto Rey and Margret Rey
Director: Roman Polanski
Genre: Erotic Drama
The Pitch: An underage boy prostitute named George explores the limits of his sexuality with The Man in the Yellow Hat.
Tagline: “Curious George Takes a Job”
2. The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
Director: Eli Roth (Hostel)
Genre: Comedy Horror
The Pitch: A killer caterpillar eats holes through its victims, and must collect twelve victims before transforming into a murdering butterfly.
Tagline: “On Wednesday, the caterpillar eats through three unsuspecting lawyers.”
1. The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper
Director: Mitchell Spinelli (White Panty Chronicles, Taped College Confession)
Genre: Adult.
The Pitch: A man with a very tiny penis must have sex with a succession of women with increasingly voracious sexual appetites.
The Tagline: “I Think I Can!”
Comments
Posted by: branded at October 19, 2009 3:19 PM
resulting in the oceans destroying coastal United States.
Goodnight mush indeed.