Why Is It Impossible to Create a Good Feature Film From a Picture Book?

The sentence I heard the most when it premiered was, “Where did that come from?” Or, “I didn’t even know they were making that!”

I knew, but only because of a freak accident. About two years ago my in-laws informed me that a movie studio was recording the film Harold and the Purple Crayon across the street from their home in the Buckhead neighborhood of Atlanta. “Is there a hot air balloon in the book?” my father-in-law asked me. I informed him that yes, there was. Of course, that meant that the film would be live action but I was expecting something more along the lines of the recent Lyle, Lyle Crocodile adaptation. Not whatever this thing is. 

Then, not a week later, this news hit:

Revamped Warner Bros Animation Sets ‘Cat In The Hat’ With Bill Hader, Quinta Brunson, Bowen Yang & More; Eyes Spring 2026 Release

Lest anyone worry, it will not be live action. Apparently the Mike Myers version taught them that much.

But, of course, it all got me to thinking. It’s no mystery that picture book-to-screen adaptations are fraught. The properties themselves may be recognizable to the average person on the street, but that doesn’t mean that a filmmaker, no matter how talented they might be, can make them into successful films that last more than 30 minutes.

To my mind, such adaptations slot neatly into four categories:

• High-End Live Action – Remember the Spike Jones Where the Wild Things Are? I still have the furry Dave Eggers novelization (a novelization of  a film based on a picture book, no less) in my house. In cases such as these, some art director will attempt to
  find a deeper (read: adult) meaning to a picture book’s subtext. Normally this happens in short films more than anything else (think the animated version of Raymond Briggs’s The Snowman) but there is the rare exception.
• Low-End Live Action – See: Previous statement about the Mike Myers live action version of Cat in the Hat. Extra points if you can work in jokes that are completely inappropriate for small children (example: the key party reference in How the Grinch Stole Christmas)
• Live Action/CGI Faithful – I find these the most interesting. These are the films that legitimately try to stay as close to the original material as possible. As strange as this may sound, the animated Curious George film probably counts here. True, it combined multiple Curious George books together (and yet somehow avoided the scene where George overdoses on ether, so maybe it wasn’t that faithful) but I was amazed by how closely it adhered to those books.
• Live Action/CGI Unfaithful – In other words, Disney. That’s not strictly fair. Disney tended to adapt middle grade novels more often than picture books. He’d do fairy tales (helloooo, public domain) but I can’t actually think of a picture book he ever adapted to the screen that wasn’t just turned into a cartoon short (like what they did to The Little House, for example).

You’d be forgiven for wondering if ANY such films are any good. My suspicion is that we all have that one picture book-to-screen adaptation we legitimately like. For me, that would have to be Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. It was sort of ideal for an adaptation since the book, at best, only gives you the barest of plot outlines. Essentially, all you need to know about it is (1) food falls from the sky and (2) food starts getting too big so (3) people have to escape in boats made out of giant slices of bread. You can understand why the filmmakers felt they had a lot of leeway on this one. The fact that they managed to work in Mr. T and some legitimately funny jokes? Bonus.

But that’s just me. I know people who defend Shrek. And that Jim Carrey Grinch has somehow seen a second life with sassy Grinches popping up all over my Instagram feed as they fill in for Santa at malls. But by and large, I seriously doubt that there’s a family out there somewhere that snuggles up to watch the live-action version of Alexander and the Horrible No-Good Very Bad Day on the regular.

Now let’s think about those properties that, for one reason or another, have avoided falling under Hollwood’s knife.  Some of them are so plotless that even the most talented screenwriter would find it impossible to adapt. Into this category I place the following:

• The Very Hungry Caterpillar  – It has a plot but it’s pretty basic. Even more to the point, though, is the fact that the caterpillar’s face is a bit on the creepy side. It also has what I call the Little Mermaid problem. Which is to say, once the caterpillar turns into a butterfly, you can’t go back to having it as the more recognizable caterpillar for future installments.
• Goodnight Moon – If you’ve ever listened to the episode of my Fuse 8 n’ Kate podcast where we considered this book then you know that Kate somehow managed to work out that the grandmother in the rocking chair was a ghost. Gotta admit, it’s not a terrible plot.
• Iggy Peck, Architect (the Questioneers series) – I’m legitimately confused by this one. I know that there’s an Ada Twist animated TV show, but considering the fact that this series is so popular that Ada had her own Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon, it would make a LOT of sense to turn this into a movie.
• Miss Nelson Is Missing – The only thing that I can figure when it comes to James Marshall is that his family or estate must have an iron grip on his rights. I mean, a George and Martha film or TV show would be a delight. And Miss Nelson? There are three books in that series, and you could do any number of things with them.
• The Snowy Day – Putting aside the animated film with Boyz 2 Men, I can see the live action version of this perfectly. First off, you make it a period piece. Set it in the late 60s, early 70s. Then add in all the other Peter and Friends books in the series. You could get all kinds of plotlines out of it that way.

Now what books should they really do? Well, if the criteria (that apparently I just made up) holds, then the best picture book-to-screen adaptations are the ones where the book leaves a lot of room for exploration.  Chris Van Allsburg’s track record in this regard has been spotty. Jumanji keeps cropping up in so many strange ways (I guess each generation get the Jumanji they deserve). Polar Express strayed too far into uncanny valley territory. And what precisely was going on with Zathura? Truly only two Van Allsburg books should ever have been adapted: The Stranger and The Mysteries of Harris Burdick. Both are mysterious, creepy, and loaded with portent.

Meanwhile, my husband likes to regularly point out that if you had to turn a Dr. Seuss picture book into a film, there’s only one that makes any sense that way: I Had Trouble Getting to Solla Sallew. As he likes to point out, it’s an epic journey, just itching for adaptation.

Out of curiosity, what are the films that you feel did the worst job when adapting a picture book and which ones did the best?