The concept of Inkheart is an interesting one.
The story revolves around Mo and his daughter Meggie. Her mother has
disappeared and they travel the countryside looking into old bookstores and repairing
old books that need repair. Later on in the story, Meggie learns that Mo is a
wizard of sorts that can read characters and other objects out of the books
that he reads aloud. But as all the fantasy people tell us, "Magic comes
with a price."
Every time something is read out of a book,
something else must take its place, and that is what happened to Meggie's
mother. She went in to replace the characters that came out of the book
Inkheart which Mo was reading. They are captured by our antagonist, Capicorn,
who wants Mo to read the Shadow out of Inkheart. Together with their aunt
Elinor, Dustfinger (another Inkheart character), and Farid from 1001 Arabian
Nights must defeat Capicorn and restore balance.
A lot of fans of the book complained about the movie
adaptation. They did not agree with the casting of the characters, and I admit
after reading the book I can see where they were complaining. However, since I
saw the movie before reading the book I do not have the same problem, and quite
frankly no matter what description Funke gave me, they still looked like the
movie characters to me. They really stayed true to the spirit of the book and
the actors portrayed their characters quite well even if they didn't look like
the descriptions in the book. And this was the first time I actually saw Andy
Serkis as Serkis and not as Gollum!
All in all I would suggest both the book and the
movie. They're both an interesting. And for the record, the book is the first in
a trilogy. The second book is just as good whereas they go to Inkheart world
and have to survive there. I haven't read the third one yet.
Alice in Wonderland was written in 1865 and has
since then been brought further into our public consciousness with countless adaptations
and reimagining. It tells the story of Alice who gets bored listening to her
sister read a book "without pictures or conversations" and falls
asleep. She then dreams of a fantastical world called Wonderland where animals
talk and a crazy queen beheads everyone in sight. The book is over the top
whimsical and crazy, but is still a fun read however you enjoy it.
This is the first adaptation of this novel by
Disney. It follows the book far more closely than Disney's later version and
ends with Alice finding out that she dreamt everything. The movie has lots of
wonderful songs (like 90% of all Disney films) and it is fun to watch how Alice
foils her enemies.
The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor
This is the first in a trilogy telling the
"true" story of Wonderland. In this version of the tale young Alyss
Heart, the princess of Wonderland, must flee her homeland to earth when her
Aunt Redd takes over the throne killing Alyss' parents. She ends up on earth
where she is adopted by the Lindell family and meets Lewis Carroll. When she
attempts to tell Lewis Carroll her real story he writes the fantastical tale
that we all know. Alyss eventually returns to Wonderland and regains her throne
from her tyrannical aunt. The book was fun and was an interesting take on the original
story.
Alice in Wonderland (1999)
This adaptation is from Hallmark. In this version
Alice is also dreaming, but runs away when her parents want her to sing in
front of their guests. The people of Wonderland then proceed to help Alice
overcome her stage fright so that she can perform in front of the guests when
she returns. It is interesting that all the characters she encounters in
Wonderland are actual guests at her mother's party. Besides the original Disney
version, this is one of my favorite adaptations of Wonderland.
Splintered by AG Howard
In this version, Alice was a real person that really
fell into Wonderland. This is the story of her descendent Alyssa who learns
that not only is Wonderland all too real but that she is the only one that can
save both it and the modern world from Queen Red who wants to take over once
again. This Wonderland is a far more darker place than the lighter fare we have
encountered before and is really more akin to a warped version of Faerie
instead. Although the characters themselves could get a little annoying, the
book was almost worth the read to see how Howard interpreted Wonderland.
Alice in Wonderland (2010)
It's Tim Burton. Need I say more? In this version
Alice really did go to Wonderland and now as an adult she needs to return and
defeat the evil Jaberwocky with the fabled Vorpal Sword. The movie was weird,
but so is the book really. I didn't really like the parts when Alice was on
earth and enjoyed it once she got to Wonderland. Perhaps not my favorite
version of the tale, but worth the watch anyway.
Adventures in Wonderland (1992-1994)
This was a TV show on the Disney channel when I was
a kid. I only got to watch it when the Disney channel would have its special
promotions on the regular channels. In this version, a modern day Alice would
enter Wonderland through her looking glass and have adventures. I always loved
this show and felt that it was a good adaptation.
Alice (2009)
Again a modern adaptations where Alice has to go and
save Wonderland, and consequently her long missing father from the Queen of
Hearts who is harvesting the emotions of humans at her casino as a sort of
potent drug for the Wonderland citizens. It is an interesting version of the
story and I did enjoy it although Alice did seem to whine a lot.
White Rabbit by Jefferson Airplane
A song that is all about drugs and Wonderland. It
depends on my mood whether or not I like this song. I do like the Alice
references though. This one has video from Disney's.
