Jim On Film
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The Island at the Top of the World (1974)--At some point, Disney hit the trend of financing big-budget adventure films that never seemed to live up to expectations. The Island at the Top of the World isn’t really a bad film, it’s just not all that great. Its biggest problem is probably the fact that it was made in the seventies, meaning that the special effects range from amazing (the matte shots) to bad (the whales at the end). It doesn’t help that the script is slow and the characters are less than interesting. This is too bad because Ian Cameron’s original book, The Lost Ones, provides a much more vivid adventure. It has been a while since I’ve read this one as well, but after a slow start, the book moves into an action-packed adventure, interwoven with myth and peril. Despite the potentially awkward subject (I think Vikings would just scream for cheesy), if remade following the book more closely than the original film did (including the book’s less than happily-ever-after ending), it could be a contemporary Disney adventure classic like the original should have been.
The Adventures of Huck Finn (1993)--Mark Twain’s novel was never intended as a true children’s story. Because it is a social commentary, the story of the novel doesn’t flow through a traditional story structure, making for awkward plotting. As a result of this, any attempt to adapt it is going to have to make some changes from the original. It’s too bad that this film loses the book’s wit, humor, and intelligence, while not staying terribly close to the novel’s plot either. Without having read the book, the film is not entertaining, and after having read the book, it’s even worse. Perhaps someday they’ll get it right.
Tom and Huck (1996)--The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, of all of Mark Twain’s Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn books, most lends itself to film adaptation. Filled with rich characters, it’s an exciting story of boyhood adventures with humor and heart. This adaptation is just a story of boyhood adventures. While Disney gets an award for keeping the villain a Native American (and casting Native American actor Eric Schweig in the role), the film strays too far from the original without actually improving on anything. For example, in the novel, Tom and Huck enter their own funeral crying fiercely until everyone takes notice. In the film, Huck pushes Tom through the ceiling. Besides robbing Tom of some of his own mischievousness, the alteration is not better and probably robs the film of a stronger laugh. Furthermore, the film is violent where it should be suspenseful and amusing where it should be funny. This one needs a more faithful version.
I’ll Be Home for Christmas (1998)--Jonathan Taylor Thomas didn’t have much fortune making live-action films for Disney. While I’ll Be Home for Christmas is the best of his three, it’s not meant to be taken as a compliment. The concept was promising--a cynical teen is transformed in a cross-country trip to return home for Christmas in order to get a promised car. Jessica Biel is appealing, and it’s an opportunity to see Adam LaVorgna in a role much different than his on 7th Heaven, but there’s not much more to it. What should have been a hilarious Bob Newhart-esque film with Thomas as the only sane man in a world of nuts became a kiddie comedy that wanted to be Saved By the Bell on the big screen. Maybe someday Disney will look back at the material’s potential and make it the right way.
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-- Jim Miles
Jim On Film is published every other Thursday.
The opinions expressed by our guest columnists, and all of our columnists, do not necessarily represent the feelings of LaughingPlace.com or any of its employees or advertisers. All speculation and rumors about the future of Disneyland and the Walt Disney Company are just that - speculation and rumors - and should be treated as such.
-- Posted April 10, 2003
Copyright Jim Miles. Licensed to LaughingPlace.com.