Film Adaptations: A Visual New Meaning to Coraline and Alice in Wonderland
Fans who eagerly anticipate film adaptations of their favorite stories often leave the theater bitterly disappointed. Likewise, critics often dislike adaptations on the grounds that they are “unfaithful” to the text, which means that the film betrays the text. However, as Robert Stam argues, film adaptations allow the audience to have more bodily response than in novels. He says, “Films are felt upon the pulse, whether through in-your-face gigantism of close-ups or the visual impact of flicker effects,” (6). In Henry Selick’s adaptation of Coraline and Tim Burton’s adaptation of Alice in Wonderland, both directors use visual effects, Technicolor, and cinematography to create an appealing and a fun movie. Even though both movies do not completely remain faithful to its original text they tell an equally engaging story. Film adaptations are important because through the use of visual effects, Technicolor, and cinematography they bring the text alive by providing detailed images of the different worlds in Coraline and show transformation of characters in Alice in Wonderland. The use of these effects leads to a deeper understanding of why Coraline prefers the other world to the real world, and how Alice matures and becomes courageous throughout her journey.
Selick’s stop-motion feature Coraline, based on Neil Giaman’s supernatural novella, is created with new innovations, including advanced machine-version cameras and the emergence of practical 3-D. Coraline inhabits two worlds: the drab real world and the fantastic other world. They are distorted mirror images of each other, as different in tone as Kansas and Oz. Coraline discovers a small doorway in their new home which leads her to an alternate and seemingly utopian universe. When Coraline crawls through a portal to get to and from the other world the tunnel is cushy and organic looking that glows with moving purple cyan patterns. In Pete Kozachik’s article, “2 Worlds in 3 Dimensions,” he explains “Chris Peterson created the patterns by taping scraps of color gel onto pairs of large Plexiglas discs that were motion-controlled to counter-rotate against each other.” Its colors purple and blue, engage the audience immediately as she curiously crawls to the other side while her blue hair fades in with the tunnels colors. The composition of color and the use of medium and wide shots helped the film become real and enticing. The color scheme dazzles which makes the film less boring and dull compared to the book. In the novella the tunnel is a “dark hallway.” Giaman says, “The bricks had gone as if they’d never been there. There was a cold, musty smell coming through the open doorway” (26). The film reveals that Coraline is attracted to the multicolored tunnel more than she is in the book. Through the use of cinematography and visual effects the story becomes a real fairy-tale nightmare.
Selick uses film references and 3-D techniques for the supernatural other world with exaggerated color schemes, which were used when the other mother is enticing Coraline to stay with her. The 3-D method enhanced the story and mood, like any other photo technique (Kozachik). Through the use of 3-D Selick was able to differentiate the real world from the other world, specifically in sync with what Coraline was feeling. For example, in the other world Coraline feels loved and welcomed and this is shown through multiple colors and facial expressions. When she has her first dinner she is given everything she wished her real mother would cook. When Coraline is given the opportunity choose the type of drink array of flavored drinks come before the audience, and this adds to the fun and excitement of the film.
In the real world Coraline is bored with lonely because her real parents are too busy to pay attention to her. Selick shows this through pigment and tone. Her real home is empty and dull with a few pictures hanging on the walls. Cinematography was used to distinguish the mood between her real and other bedroom. Coraline’s other bedroom had warm practicals and multiple spots shaping and picking out details designed to delight the audience. Coraline’s room was never overly bright, with only bright moonlight to play a part. On the other hand, her real bedroom has a chilly soft light from the overcast sky. Kozachik says, “[Photographer John Ashlee’s] challenge was a moving-camera match dissolve in 3-D that was complicated by two sets with radically different physical depths.” In the novella, Gaiman describes Coraline’s other room as an “off-putting shade of green and a peculiar shade of pink” (30). He describes her room as “a whole toy box filled with wonderful toys” (30). Even though he uses descriptive imagery to describe her room, watching the movie gives the audience a better feel and connects them to the movie. It also shows that Coraline was happy to be in the other world than in the real world.
Burton’s Alice in Wonderland is based on Lewis Carroll’s 1865 fantasy novel “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.” The film uses a combination of live action and 3-D animation. Most critics would say that the film is “unfaithful” to its original text because in the novel Alice is a young girl; a child young enough to wish that the book her older sister is reading had pictures in it. Just like in Coraline the main character travels through a portal. The film begins and ends in a Victorian England, in live-action scenes, but most of the story takes place in Underland, also known as Wonderland.
Alice begins her journey at a garden party led by the White Rabbit into the forest, she falls down the rabbit hole and lands in a round room, a set build at normal size. Then, she shrinks to two feet tall and walks into a CG (computer graphics) garden that looks like an English garden in disrepair. Alice is six inches, two feet in one scene, and then for one moment she is 20 feet tall, and then at the end, her normal height. For example, when Alice holds the Mad Hatter’s hat she is tall, but when she jumps into his hat she is tiny and crawls around the brim, drops to his shoulder, and then the two walk into the CG forest. From that point until the end of the film, the environments are digital. In Barbara Robertson’s article, “Curious and Curiouser!” Carey Villegas says, “The idea was that Tim could virtually see the characters in the [digital] environment on set,” (14). The film uses so much imagery and Technicolor that the novel does not provide. In the novel when Alice shrinks Carroll writes, “she was now only ten inches high” and when she gets tall he says, “just at this moment her head struck against the roof of the hall: in fact she was now rather more than nine feet high…” (58-59). Through the film’s techniques the theme of maturity is illustrated as Alice shrinks and grows. She is still quite naive and has an unprejudiced and innocent way of viewing the world. She has to deal with the egos of all the adult people around her, and to overcome her naivety.
Another theme that Burton shows through his visual effects is courage. Alice finds courage within herself to be brave and confront the Jabberwock in the end of the film.While Alice confronts the Jabberwocky, a battle rages in the background between the red and white knights. Inspired by chess pieces, the white knights look like human figures with alabaster armor (“Curious and Curiouser,” 20). The white and thin red knights, by contrast, look like playing cards. They are made of slighty bendy interleaved steel plates (20). When Alice decides to fight the Jabberwocky it is significant because Alice understands who she is; she doesn’t have to depend on gender roles and expectations to determine what she can and can’t do. She is able to find courage within herself to be brave and take on the Jabberwocky. This links in with identity, because she finds the courage to be brave and begins to believe in herself. Alice realizes who she really is and this is what she was meant to do. The Jabberwocky does not appear in Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” but in his 1872 novel’s “Through the Looking-Glass,” and “What Alice Found There.” Since the Jabberwocky does not appear in the original text the theme of courage is not as apparent as it is in the film.
Through the use of cinematography, Technicolor, and visual effects Selick and Burton create unique characters that add to the depth of the film. Color is used to establish each character, and each character has its own kind of color scheme. The directors remain faithful to the original text in most ways, but through their creativity and imagination we are able to get insight into the nature of characters and the different worlds through pictures. Through these films we were able to understand the different worlds in Coraline, and how Alice becomes an adult and finds bravery within herself.
Works Cited
Carroll, Lewis. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Ed. Richard Kelly. New York: Broadview, 2000. Print.
Gaiman, Neil. Coraline. New York: HarperCollins, 2002. Print.
Kozachik, Pete. “The ASC — American Cinematographer: 2 Worlds in 3 Dimensions.” ASC: The American Society of Cinematographers. Web. 14 Dec. 2010. <http://www.theasc.com/ac_magazine/February2009/Coraline/page1.php>.
Robertson, Barbara. “Curious and Curiouser!” Computer Graphics World 33.3 (2010): 12-20. Academic Search Elite. Web. 5 Dec. 2010. <http://web.ebscohost.com.libproxy.csun.edu/ehost/detail?vid=4&hid=105&sid=08c35670-932d-4925-ad85- e0c3ec3f78a1%40sessionmgr113&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=af h&AN=49787390>.
Stam, Robert. “The Theory and Practice of Adaptation” [excerpt]. Introduction to Literature and Film: A Guide to the Theory and Practice of Film Adaptation. Ed. Robert Stam and Alessandra Raengo. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2005. 1-8.
Add a comment December 14, 2010
A trip through The Phantom Tollbooth
The Phantom Tollbooth (1970) is the first animated feature for both Chuck Jones as a director and MGM. This film is a faithful adaptation of the classic children’s novel by Norton Juster. The story begins in San Francisco with a live-action Milo played by Butch Patrick. A phantom tollbooth appears in his living room and when Milo passes through it, he becomes an animated cartoon. Inside the world of the tollbooth he finds a dog-named Tock and gets help from the Whether Man and his sister The Which. Eventually he arrives at two kingdoms, Dictionopolis ruled by King Azaz where words are valued above everything else and Digitopolis ruled by the Mathemagician where numbers are considered more valuable than words. To bring these kingdoms together, Milo must pass through the Mountains of Ignorance to rescue the Princesses Rhyme and Reason.
In both the film and novel Milo represents a typical bored child who has everything a child should want in terms of toys and entertainment, yet he is terribly bored. Milo says, “It seems to me that almost everything is a waste of time” (9). Milo does not believe that anything he learns such as numbers, words, or anything else is appropriate to everyday life. Throughout the film and book Milo begins to appreciate the value of education, learns how to use common sense, and escapes boredom. Although the book and film are closely related there are some differences between the two.
One of the main differences between the two is the way Milo discovers the tollbooth, and how he changes throughout his journey and after he returns home. In the film Milo discovers the tollbooth after eight minutes of the film has passed. He comes home bored and talks with his friend Ralph on the phone until he hears a noise and then sees the tollbooth. In the book, within the first three pages Milo has already discovered the tollbooth. Through his encounters with characters in the Lands Beyond, Milo learns about imagination, how to use his time wisely, perspective, words, sounds, numbers and a host of other things. For example, in chapter 2, “Beyond Expectations” Milo is shocked when the Doldrums tell him “no one is allowed to think in the Doldrums” (24). Milo’s character has already matured when he angrily says, “Everybody thinks” (26). In chapter 11, Dischord and Dynne, Jester demonstrates the importance of education. He shows the importance of Chroma’s knowledge and experience. Milo thinks that conducting the color orchestra will be easy, “As if understanding his signal perfectly, a single piccolo played a single not…Milo smiled happily and then cautiously crooked his finger again” (128). When he takes to the podium, he learns just how difficult conducting really is and how unqualified he is to do it, “As Milo frantically conducted, the sky changed slowly from blue to tan…snow began to fall, and the leaves on the trees and bushes turned a vivid orange” (129). Juster shows that in order color the world properly, one needs the education and experience of Chroma the Great.
Throughout the book, Milo not only learns values, but also applies those values on himself. When he returns to the real world, he is forever changed. Milo is suddenly inspired and enthralled by practically everything, “he noticed somehow that the sky was a lovely shade of blue and that one cloud had the shape of a sailing ship” (255). He is suddenly eager to look around, read some books, and to experience the things all around him, “there were books that could take you anywhere, and things to invent, and make, and build, and break music to play…” (256). This demonstrates the degree to which he has taken to heart the lessons he learned in the Lands Beyond and completes the themes of both wisdom and education.
The film lacks the quality of wordplay, and the book’s tone and spirit. Milo is very happy to be in the Lands of Beyond as he learns new things, but when he returns home he doesn’t have the same enthusiasm and interest about the world and school. In the book, Milo had been gone for an hour, but in the film it’s only five minutes. When he returns home he picks up the phone and tells his friend what had happened and runs outside and begins to play cheerfully. Although Milo is happy and in high spirits we are not able to truly know how he feels about books, music, songs, and everything else around him. The film lacks the detail and imagery that the novel provides. Even though there are some differences between the book and film they both come to the conclusion that the world is not a boring place, and there is so much to learn and appreciate.
1 comment November 24, 2010
Presenting Coraline
I was really excited to present Coraline because I always wanted to watch it at the movie theaters, but never got the chance. Working with my group was very enjoyable because we all knew what we wanted to present. We meet at the library after we had all watched the movie and read the book and discussed what part of the film we enjoyable, and would be best to discuss with our classmates. Since we didn’t want to present for over 30 minutes we all decided to choose a topic and discuss that with the class.
I wanted to concentrate on the differences between the book and film because one of the major differences I noticed was that the book did not include Wybie. I watched the film before reading the book and I thought that Wybie was very annoying but suitable for Caroline especially since he helped her at the end. Wybie was also the one who gave Caroline the mini doll. While reading the book I wondered why Wybie was not included. After discussing the differences between the book and film with my group we realized that the discussion of Wybie would be the best.
Overall, I think our group did a well job presenting Coraline. The buttons were a good way to get the entire class involved. We didn’t want to wait and see who would raise their hand and participate. Instead, we decided we would call on people by using the colorful buttons. Our group also communicated with each other to make sure everyone was on the right track. At the end, we put together and outline so during the presentation we would know what each one of us were going to say.
Add a comment November 5, 2010
Oz Ending
If I hadn’t taken this class I don’t think I would have ever watched The Wizard of Oz, let alone have read the book. I was never interested in the movie and every time they would show it on TBS I would always change the channel. Frankly, I was not thrilled to see “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” on our class reading list, but the only thing that grabbed my attention about the book were all the colorful illustrations. Now, I can say that after reading the book and then watching MGM’s 1939 film I had missed out on a wonderful movie.
Although I enjoyed both the novel and the movie there were many differences between the two especially towards the end. One difference was that in the book Dorothy’s shoes were silver where as in the movie they were red. Another difference was that the Good Witch of the North and Glinda, the Good Witch of the South, were merged into one omniscient character, and the Wicked Witch of the West played a larger role in the movie. The book seemed to be longer than the movie because many parts were cut out towards the end. For instance, the China Country and the Hammerheads were not in the movie, which made the movie faster. Reading those chapters in the book made the ending very long and dull. By the time Dorothy reached home I dozed off. In the book when Dorothy returns home the scene is very short. When she returns to Kansas she falls on the ground from the air after having traveled to Oz. Once she is home she runs to her aunt Em and tells her where she had been. By reading the ending we can tell that many days have passed since her uncle built a new farmhouse after the cyclone destroyed the last one.
This ending is completely different from the movie. In the movie Dorothy’s entire journey seems to be a dream because when she says, “There’s no place like home” the scene and images fade into each other. Many of the characters that Dorothy meets represent the people from her home life. When Dorothy wakes up the colorful image turns to the sepia tone like it was in the beginning. All this shows that Dorothy was dreaming and that Oz was just an imagination. She starts to tell her aunt and uncle and the men around her where she as been but it turns out that she just had a bump on the head which made her pass out.
Some may say Victor Fleming took the easy way out by having Dorothy wake up from a dream. Although the ending could have been different I still enjoyed it. Unlike the book, the movie wasn’t dragged out and unclear. The movie had a stronger message at the end, which was no matter where you are, “There’s no place like home.”
3 comments October 27, 2010
The White Rabbit and the Caterpillar
Alice in Wonderland has been one of my favorite Disney cartoons, and I have always been interested to see how this movie would be filmed in a different country. I was excited to watch Alice by Svankmajer, but little did I know Alice would not be the same happy and joyful little girl in every version. I was surprised that this was not an actual cartoon but rather a film in which a real girl plays Alice. Not only was the mood in this movie dark and gloomy, but the characters also made the movie very creepy and disturbing.
In the cartoon the white rabbit was cute and chubby and seemed to be the most logical character. In Svankmajer’s film, the white rabbit is a stuffed real rabbit, who tucks his watch in a hole in his chest, which is always leaking saw dust. He comes to life by wrenching its nailed-down feet free before wearing a suit and a pair of scissors. The rabbit scares me especially when he chases Alice in a carriage with skeletal creatures as his eyes snap wide open.
Another scary character in Alice was the caterpillar. Svankmajer portrays the caterpillar as an argyle sock with beaded eyes and a pair of dentures for a mouth. I didn’t realize that Alice was with the caterpillar until he gave her the mushrooms. In the Disney version of Alice, the caterpillar is animated and looks like a real caterpillar. When Alice sees him for the first time, he is sitting on a mushroom smoking hookah. Although the caterpillar is not very friendly, he does not look scary. It is also funny when the caterpillar asks Alice “Who are you?” exhalations of smoke in the shapes “O”, “R” and “U” appear.
Svankmajer’s characters in Alice are very artistic but in a scary and annoying way. Even when Alice shrinks she is scary because she reminds me of the movie Chucky since the girl is played by an antique doll. Svankmajer’s version of Alice made me feel uncomfortable and confused because I did not understand why all the characters had to be so creepy. I would not recommend young kids to watch this movie because they will most likely have nightmares.
1 comment September 22, 2010
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