samwaswiseandgamgee t1_it6txvo wrote on October 21, 2022 at 10:56 AM

I thought Howl's Moving Castle (film) was better than the book. Granted, it's not my style of book and I bought it to read aloud to my (6yo) son, so it's probanly not fair even for me to compare, but the movie is such a beautiful depiction of this magical world and the relationship with it's characters. They're really two completely different experiences.

Griffen_07 t1_it6ua2m wrote on October 21, 2022 at 11:00 AM

Studio Gibli tends to make movies based on vibes more than the actual source material. They did a similar thing with Borrowers vs the Secret World of Arrietty. It' a choice but I love Diana Wynne Jones books. I like the way she twists fairy tales but 6 is too young. You need someone who already knows the fairytales.

samwaswiseandgamgee t1_it6ujjx wrote on October 21, 2022 at 11:03 AM

Absolutely agree about the vibe thing. Sometimes I need to warch something and I know a Ghibli film is the only thing that will do it for me.

When Marnie Was There is such a wonderful movie, and I own the book now, but am hesitant to read it for the same reason as above. Not because I'll be disappointed, I just know it won't feel the same.

Griffen_07 t1_it6uu3d wrote on October 21, 2022 at 11:06 AM

That's fair. I'm getting to the point where I don't want to watch movies or TV shows about my favorite books because they are never good. You have to change too much to make a bunch of random people understand the story in an hour that took you weeks to read.

samwaswiseandgamgee t1_it6vbhj wrote on October 21, 2022 at 11:12 AM

Absolutely agree. Typically now if I read a book that I love that has an adaptation, I won't watch it because it's just not the same experience and my biased brain won't appreciate the differences. Honestly, Howl's Moving Castle is the only exception that I can think of, but I had watched it and fallen in love with it several times before I read it. Maybe that's just my biased brain working inversely for that one.

Redditer51 t1_it9nm2o wrote on October 21, 2022 at 11:20 PM

The movie is more of a sincere fantasy drama/adventure about self-acceptance and the folly of war.

The book is more of a tongue-in-cheek comedy from what I remember.

The film takes itself seriously whereas the book doesn't. And the characters in the book ironically seem more cartoonish than the actual cartoon. Not that the book is bad at all.

samwaswiseandgamgee t1_it9pm9s wrote on October 21, 2022 at 11:36 PM

Oh yeah, my son liked it a lot and so did my daughter (12 when she read it). I don't read a lot of high fantasy or YA so I'm definitely not it's demographic, but I appreciate it for what it is. And the movie hit me harder than I thought it was going to (only the 2nd Studio Ghibli film I had seen at the time), so it's no wonder I prefer the movie. I'm glad they both exist.

Redditer51 t1_iteer8n wrote on October 23, 2022 at 12:36 AM

Yeah, I remember being surprised at just how different they were from each other when I was a teen.

If I had to compare it, it's kinda like the difference between Forrest Gump the movie and Forrest Gump the book. The former is a heartfelt and emotional drama, the latter is a bizarre screwball comedy.