Everybody had their favorite movie when they were a child, whether it was The Little Mermaid, The Jungle Book, or Mary Poppins. What most of us don't realize is that many of these originated as books, some with incredibly famous authors. This was recently brought to my attention during one of my many trips to a used bookstore. I decided to do some digging, and this is what I found.
1. The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling
Kipling was a famous English author whose children's books have become a classic staple in children's literature. The movie, as in most cases, is different from the book. Mowgli is the sole focus in the movie adaptation, whereas only three of the several short stories in the book are about him. You may be familiar with "Rikki- Tikki- Tavi", another short story in the book about a mongoose.
2. The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen
Andersen was a prolific Danish author mostly known for his fairy tales like "The Ugly Duckling." Plot wise this movie follows along fairly accurately with the book until the ending. It's so dramatically different that I'm not even going to tell you the real ending for fear that you won't even attempt the book. Granted, it is a happy ending of sorts (depending on your perspective, I guess), just not the typical Hollywood ending.
3. Mary Poppins by P. L. Travers
Travers was a British novelist, actress, and journalist most famously known for her "Mary Poppins" series of children's books. It isn't any secret that she disliked the Disney film adaptation that pulled from the first book and its sequel. She hated the animation, didn't care for the music, and felt that some of the darker aspects of the story had been glossed over. If that doesn't make you want to read the book, I don't know what will.
4. The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi
Collodi was an Italian children's author mainly known for the Pinocchio fairy tale. Sadly, he passed away before his works launched into popularity. The book is significantly darker than Disney's adaptation with Jiminy Cricket and eventually Pinocchio himself dying.
5. The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen
I can't get away with this article without mentioning the latest Disney sensation, Frozen. Since Andersen is already on this list once, I'll leave the short bio out this time. The story, first published in 1844, is so different from the movie that it would take far too long to explain here. Just know that it's not about two sisters but two neighbors - a boy and a girl. In a very bad summary, the boy turns evil and lives with the Snow Queen when the girl comes and saves him with the "power of her love" and warm tears that melt his heart.
There are many more stories that should be on this list (we didn't even mention the Grimm brothers), but for the sake of our generation's short attention span I'll end it here.
Happy reading (or watching, if you don't want the real stories to shatter your Disney dreams).
