From book to movie, many movies fail to give justice to popular titles. That being said, what makes a movie better, worse, or simply different from a book? I would like to use The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Through the Looking Glass, and from an outside source, Harry Potter. The Wizard of Oz, now that I have read parts of the novel, as a movie, has somewhat fallen flat against my expectations. As discussed in class, there are many scenes on the road to Oz that exemplify important character traits of main characters that are not present in the movie, and therefore, lack. For example, the Tinman being afraid to crush a bug juxtaposes his idea of heartlessness with the fact that he has a heart. Such details make a book, and character, great. Also, a theme in Oz, as seen in Alice, the use of vividness and tasteful imagery to draw the audience in is present in the movies. Such loss of detail would argue a lacking of the movie, in my opinion, to the book.
The use of color is much more accurately used in Oz than in Alice simply because Through the Looking Glass focuses more on Alice’s experiences with other characters, and her thought process, than her surroundings. Therefore, the use of bright colors and exciting animation could arguably enhance the movie experience aesthetically. I have not seen the movie version, and so I cannot go into detail about the plot details in comparison to Carroll’s writings. However, the use of image may improve the visual experience of Alice in a cinema setting.
Harry Potter has an odd positioning between the two. Visually, Harry Potter would be darker, especially as the movies progress as the characters get older. This use of setting and color schemes shows the power of imagery as to affect an audience. Whether or not this improves a movie is arguable, but the main division between the movies and books comes full circle into the topic of detail inclusion. Movies cannot get every detail, nor can they include every single line and nameless character; yet it is these tiny details that make a book a livable/breathable experience. We can imagine ourselves there (like watching a movie 3D) because we come to know and understand their other world. Because of this, I would argue that the Harry Potter books were much better than the books, however, the movies succeed in providing an overall accurate and pleasing experience for the audience given the density of the series.
