Disney Movies That Were Books First

Books are magic. Books are special and the pages house the stories that have inspired countless moving pictures from way back when up until tomorrow. That is no different for Disney movies - both animation and live action, and today I want tell you of some fabulous live action movies that started out as books. Many you'll be aware of, but others might not be as obvious!

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

2018 saw the 1962 award winning YA, Sci-Fi novel brought to life by Ava DuVernay - the first black woman to be nominated for the Golden Globe for best director (among other just as brilliant achievements), with Oprah Winfrey taking one of the leading roles.

Queen of Katwe by Tim Crothers

The true story of a girl from Uganda who became a chess champion, was made into a beautiful movie in 2016 starring Madina Nalwanga, David Oyelowo and Lupita Nyong'.

The BFG by Roald Dahl

This one is obvious surely? The BFG was Steven Spielberg's first film directing for Disney and came out in 2016 too.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland works by Lewis Carroll

Although obviously not a direct book-to-film production, Alice Through the Looking Glass [2016] and Alice in Wonderland [2010] were highly inspired by Lewis Carroll's stories.

The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling

Technically an adaptation of Disney's 1967 animation, 2016's The Jungle Book is of course also derrived from Rudyard Kiplin's book from 1894.

The Finest Hours: The True Story of the U.S. Coast Guard's Most Daring Sea Rescue by Michael J. Tougias

A historical drama, based on (as you can tell) true events was the basis for the 2016, very underrated, action movie.

Cendrillon by Charles Perrault

If you don't know the origins of Cinderella, here they are.

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst

I actually had no idea that this one had beginings as a book!

Land of Oz works by Lyman Frank Baum

The classic obviously was basis for the classic starring Judy Garland that is not Disney, however, it of course also inspired one of my favorite releases from the past 10 years, 2013's Oz the Great and Powerful!

A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs

The title isn't a big clue to which movie came from this book unless you were already a fan (which I am not unfortunately) but 'A Princess of Mars is actually what made John Carter happen!

Prince Caspian by C. S. Lewis

Of course, the 2nd (and last as of yet) of Disney's adaptions of the famous Narnia series was 'Prince Caspian' in 2008. Sadly the third in that series - Voyage of the Dawn Treader - was not taken on by Disney after disputes with Walden Media.

Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

The movie of the same name came out in 2007.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis

As above, this was the 1st of Disney's adaptations of the Narnia franchise.

The Greatest Game Ever Played: Harry Vardon, Francis Ouimet, and the Birth of Modern Golf by Mark Frost

The Greatest Game Ever Played accounted the true story of Francis Ouimet, a golf champion, and his early life. In 2005 the book was turned into a movie and featured Shia LaBeouf as Ouimet.

Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne

Is a classic adventure from 1873 and was turned into a 2004 action comedy starring Jackie Chan and Steve Coogan. It was a box office flop and I can see why...it does not do it's book counterpart justice.

Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen by Dyan Sheldon

Another that I had no idea had originally been a book.

Freaky Friday by Mary Rodgers

Did you know that the 1976 and 2003 movies were based on a children's comedy novel for 1972?! Nope, me either.

Holes by Louis Sachar

I was late to the 'Holes' train, having only seen the 2003 movie in the past 5 years, so of course, I hadn't read the 1998 novel either.

Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt

The absolutely stunning Tuck Everlasting starring Alexis Bledel from 2002, was also a completely gorgeous novel originally published in 1975. I adore this story if you couldn't tell.

Winterdance: The Fine Madness of Running the Iditarod by Gary Paulsen

Can you guess what movie this 1994 novel inspired? It was 2002's Snow Dogs!

The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot

If I need to tell you this, you have some watching and reading to do haha.

How many of these books turned movies did you know? Until researching for this post there were more than a few I hadn't a clue about where they had started. Which on the list is your favourite?


---

I used to run a lifestyle blog for around 10 years in which I wrote a lot about not only books and movies, but also a heck of a lot of Disney. When looking back at that old blog I decided there were some posts that I enjoyed so much I didn't want to leave them in a black hole, unseen on the internet since unpublishing that website. So this post and a couple of others to come are from said blog with only a tiny updating.


💀 Mrs Hallow 💀

Spot the Book Tag

Tag Time! Let's have another deeper delve into our collection and spot the specific type of books among our shelves.

Sprayed Edges

The End of Mr Y by Scarlett Thomas and The Toy Makers by Robert Dinsdale

Deckled Edges

Tales from the Haunted Mansion series by Amicus Arcane

Graphic Novel

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

Book with Maps

The King Killer Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss

Peek Through Cover

The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley

Ribbon Markers

Wyrd Sisters by Terry Prachett

Interactive Book

Darwin by John van Wyhe

Boxed Set

Oz: The Complete Collection by L Frank Baum

Biggest

Narnia Chronology: From the Archives of the Last Kingby C.S. Lewis, Mary Jane Wilkins

Smallest

The Wizard of Oz by L Frank Baum (Puffin Chalk)

Longest

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J R R Tolkien

Shortest

No One is Too Small to Make a Difference by Greta Thunberg

Oldest [by Publication]

Fabled Stories from the Zoo - 1880

Newest [by Publication]

Dracul by Dacre Stoker & J. D. Barker - Paperback October 17th 2019

Most Beautiful

Tales of the Peculiar by Ransom Riggs 

Longest Series

The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan 

Biggest Collection

Various Disney Books

Total #

349
 

💀 Mr & Mrs Hallow 💀

Book Collection Tour: Part 2

This is part 2 of our collection of books so if you haven't seen it yet, please make sure to check out our Book Collection Tour: Part 1 !
Staying in our living room where three quarters of our books are housed, we move to the second of three bookcases. This one is a 'collection' fiesta, technically, of which you have seen the majority of already...

Top shelf! (Or maybe second depending on how you see it.) This shelf is for our precious Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit and other Tolkien related books. Mr H used to be a big collector of Funko POP! Vinyls too, though downsized his collection last year only keeping the special LOTR, Harry Potter etc ones, two that you see here guarding the ring that I bought as a 13 year old fantasy fan!
To see Mr H's Tolkien collection in more detail and hear about it in his words make sure to click here and read his JRR Tolkien Collection post!

Originally, this whole bookcase was overtaken by purely Disney books. Part one showed that some of my Disney collection moved to that bookcase and others are even further away, in our bedroom. All that is left here are my Wonderful World of Reading books from around the 1950's to the 1990's and the newer Treasure Cove Story collectable books that, despite being from the past few years, include some absolutely beautiful old style artwork as well!

Lastly, on the bottom shelf is a part of another of our collections that you have already seen in more detail. Our full Harry Potter & The Wizarding World Book Collection can be seen if you click here, but as a quick explanation these books are my original childhood Potter series, the larger books in my series including art of, vaults etc and a couple other cool little magical world books - books from within the books and books about the books. How many times can I say books in one paragraph eh?

We have our 3rd instalment in this mini tour coming next month, however parts 1 and 2 are already outdated due to our book buying problem so maybe next year we'll have a re-arrange and re-tour! Maybe...


💀 Mr & Mrs Hallow 💀

Our Top 10 Book Covers

"Don't judge a book by it's binding", "All that glitters is not gold", "You can't judge a book by it's cover"...and everything along those lines!
The quote was apparently originally recorded a newspaper in 1867: “Don’t judge a book by its cover, see a man by his cloth, as there is often a good deal of solid worth and superior skill underneath a jacket and yaller pants.” and obviously means that you shouldn't or can't base your opinion on someone/something due to appearance alone.
As 'different' people ourselves, we don't. When books are involved however, we do! haha Don't tell me you haven't ever picked up a book from the shelf because it looked pretty!

That being said, we thought we'd like to share a handful of our favourite covered books from our collection each today.

Mr's Top 5

Tales from the Haunted Mansion 4 by Amicus Arcane
Wyrd Sisters by Terry Prachett
Tales of the Borders
Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman
Breverton's Complete Herbal by Terry Breverton

---

Mrs's Top 5

Tales of the Peculiar by Ransom Riggs

Fabled Stories from the Zoo by Albert Alberg

Tales from the Haunted Mansion II by Amicus Arcane

The Brightest Star in the North by Meredith Rusu

Have Courage, Be Kind: The Tale of Cinderella by Brittany Candau

For my (Mrs H) picks in particular, I can say that I have at least read 3 out of the 5 of my picks so really can attest to them not only beautiful covers but being awesome stories too...though the same can't be said for my husband with a total of 0 read out of 5 haha!
Mr H and I have found some great books in charity shops purely based on first appearances and a quick blurb scan! We also own some wonderful books with not such appealing covers as well as multiple copies of the same book in different cover formats, so yeah. 

💀 Mr & Mrs Hallow 💀

The Writers Museum - Edinburgh, Scotland

As you may have seen from our post on the 18th October, we have decided to do a little mini series on literary places of interest we visit that we think you may enjoy. In this post I am going to share some photos and info about The Writers Museum in Edinburgh after our recent visit at the start of the month. You'll notice from the outdoor shots that it was an extremely rainy day which Mrs H thought was why the museum seemed to be extra busy - on her previous visits it was always empty apparently!

Situated in Lady Stairs Close, The Writers Museum is in a little close, accessible by a staircase off North Bank Street or down a narrow passageway from the Royal Mile. It is inside a stunning building originally built in 1622 and altered a number of times throughout the years, in 1897 it was restored to what is assumed to be the original configuration from 1622. When you arrive you are greeted by a building that is much taller than it in wide, the doorway is in a spiral staircase which leads up to the main museum with two exhibits one for Robert Burn and Sir Walter Scott and also down stairs to a great exhibit on Robert Louis Stevenson.

The first author's section we visited in the museum was Robert Lewis Stevenson. In this exhibit they had a large range of personal items including part of the bed he was born in. They had several items from his time in Samoa including a traditional wooden pillow, riding cap and a ivory box he gifted to his mother as well as a ring which was given to him by a Samoan Chief engraved with the name he was given, "Tusitala" meaning "teller of tales". Also in the collection they have lots of books from other writers that were owned by Stevenson in which he wrote his name and some of them he made notes.

Upstairs the museum has a small gift shop and a corridor leading to a room housing items from the life and work of Robert Burns. This includes a stool he used while working at a publishing office in Edinburgh, a plaster cast of his skull (one of only three ever made) and his writers desk. 

Upstairs from here is a small room relating to the work of Sir Walter Scott here we saw items including the chest and rocking horse he used as a child, also they had a pipe and wallet. The main attraction to his exhibit is a recreation of a Ballantyne printing press which is said to be the press used to print the Waverley Novels.

This was my (Mr Hallow) first visit to the Writers Museum and I thoroughly enjoyed it, it was quiet busy while we were there so didn't get to absorb as much as I would have liked to so will definitely have to visit again. Have any of you guys ever been?

💀 Mr Hallow 💀