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Ella Enchanted
by Gail Carson Levine
(discussion 1/1 - 1/31/2005)
Tuesday, January 01, 2005
Happy New Year, bloggers! We're starting a new book (and movie!)
discussion, Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine. Believe it or
not, I have actually started reading this book. I hope you have, too. It's
great!
It is a re-telling of the story of Cinderella with some substantial
changes. Ella is a princess whose fairy godmother, Lucinda, bestows on her
when she is born, the gift of obedience. This "gift" is really
more of a curse, that causes Ella much grief. The book has also been made
into a movie staring Anne Hathaway.
Have you read the book? Have you seen the movie? Which do you like better?
Would you like to know what the author of the book, Gail Carson Levine,
thought of the movie? Click here.
posted by shadowpuppy 1/1/2005
01:48:00 AM
Sunday, January 02, 2005
Whoa, all. Super-newbie here. I hope the jaded oldies won't mind too much.
Well! I read Ella Enchanted, 2, 3 years ago? ^_^; It was a good book, and
I'm horrified of how they butchered it in the movie. I'm sorry, but it was
just frighteningly bad. I loved the book, though. I'm pretty thick; it took
me a long time to realize it was a twist on Cinderella. Anyone read
anything else by Gail Carson Levine?
~N
(will post more upon rereading the book)
posted by Lost Again 1/2/2005
01:32:03 PM
Monday, January 03, 2005
Hey, Lost Again! I am about half-way through Ella Enchanted. I'm to the
part where she is "charming" the ogres so they won't eat her. :)
I really like it. I haven't seen the movie yet, but it is such a good book,
why would they go and mess it up???
I did go to the website that shadowpuppy mentioned to see what the author
thought of the movie. She doesn't say anything BAD, but it sure doesn't
sound like she was thrilled with what they did to her story!
Well, I plan to watch it after I finish the book.
I haven't read anything else by Gail Carson Levine, have you?
posted by avdandrea 1/3/2005
01:52:30 PM
Well I just finished reading the book and I truely loved it. I loved the
way that Ella keeps trying to break the curse and doesn't want to be
controlled. I thought that her father wasn't really all that friendly and
didn't pay that much attention to her. It was so good that her mom loved
doing things with her...I wish that she could of lived. It was sad I
thought. I am going to watch the movie in a couple of days but now I am
wondering "Why did they screw it up?" I hate when they don't
follow the book and take to much away from the story.
posted by daisymaisy 1/3/2005
02:52:56 PM
Tuesday, January 04, 2005
Happy New Year All!
Ella Enchanted is a wonderful blending of fairytales. The "gift"
bestowed to an innocent child is reminiscent of Sleeping Beauty. The glass
slippers and turning Ella into a servant when her father leaves is right
out of Cinderella. Look further though, this is a story of a strong young
girl who manages to break the magic spell through her own decisions, not by
"true love's first kiss." What a great character Ella is! She is
able to charm ogres, speak various languages and throw a temper fit or two.
What about Lucinda? What about her "gifts"? Would you like to
have a "gift" bestowed upon you that would control you life?
For those who have been able to view the movie, what are the differences in
characters? Where did the screenwriters really need to change or adapt the
story so it would fit into the time alloted to the film?
posted by shadowkitty 1/4/2005
01:29:27 PM
Wednesday, January 05, 2005
Hey everybody, I just watched the movie and it was not at all like the
book. Well there was a girl named Ella, a Prince, and two crazy and wacko
stepsisters. I thought that Lucinda was really strange but nothing like she
was in the book. The thin that really bothered me was that in the book the
fairies seemed to have a code...they didn't do big magic because soemthing
bad might happen...so Mandy the cook made you believe that the fairies were
basically good. In the movie they made the cook Mandy just unable to do the
magic right. Then the elves were always singing...whats up with that... I
could hardly watch it. I much prefered reading the book and I especially
like the ending that Ella was able to break her own spell and not have
anyone telling her what to do anymore. I guess I would give it two thumbs
down!
posted by daisymaisy 1/5/2005
01:41:30 PM
Thursday, January 06, 2005
Ok, so beyond the names of some of the characters, what does the book and
the movie have in common. Remember there are different intentions/audiences
being sought for each storytelling media, whether book or media. How would
you have scripted the story from the book for a movie?
posted by shadowkitty 1/6/2005
09:30:39 AM
Friday, January 07, 2005
So...I finished the book (yay me! this is only the 7th of the month!). I
thought it was good. Not my favorite book that I have ever read, but it was
good.
Now I'm going to watch the movie. Before I watch it, is there ANYONE that
liked the movie???? Anyone? Or am I completely wasting my time?
posted by avdandrea 1/7/2005
10:39:12 PM
Sunday, January 09, 2005
Avandrea,
I have finished the book, and I just watched the movie. These are very
different presentations of SIMILIAR stories. Many of the elements we find
in the book have been either highly dramatized or cut out all together. We
need to remember that the intended audience is different for each. There is
so much more that can be portrayed through a book, or through an oral
retelling. When reading or listening there is so much more imagination at
play. The reader casts the characters. In a movie presentation the viewer
is spoon fed characters, action, etc. While special effects can be really
neat - these are no match for imagination. Ms. Levine has written a lovely
story using folkloric motifs. These are recognizable to those who are
familiar with the stories of Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. The
screenwriters of the movie have no such basis. They use Ms. Levine's work
as a base, then build a story that will sell to moviegoers in a prescribed
age range - preteens. The movie is cute, the story seems too contemporary
for the setting. I wish it had been truer to the book. I think it could
have been done, and done well.
posted by shadowkitty 1/9/2005
12:58:06 PM
Monday, January 10, 2005
I think that in the book Ella's character was so musch more than they were
able to portray on film. She was smart (she learned languages really fast)
and funny, had up and down's like a real person. She learned to take charge
of her own life and not rely on what others were trying to make her do. If
I were making the movie I would of made the focus more on Ella and less on
the whole prince/evil uncle, wicked stepmother, sisters and fairies. I
would of liked it more if they showed how Ella managed her mother's death,
her fathers neglect and her everyday life. Through all of the adversity she
was able to remain true to herself. Maybe some books aren't supposed to
become movies.
posted by daisymaisy 1/10/2005
08:00:43 PM
Tuesday, January 11, 2005
So I sat down this evening and forced myself to watch the movie...it is due
back at the library tomorrow. At first I thought it was really, really bad,
but that was because I was comparing it to the book. About half way
through, I made myself stop thinking about the book and just see the movie.
Then it was OK...at least sort of watchable, although I'm having a hard
time getting that ridiculous wooden "escalator" in the mall scene
out of my mind...how stupid was that!
There is no way that you can compare this movie to the book, they are two
completely different stories. The only thing "based
on the book" is the fact that Ella has to obey when someone tells her
to do something.
I think that the author must just have died when she saw what they did to
her story!
posted by avdandrea 1/11/2005
10:51:53 PM
Thursday, January 13, 2005
The Author must of really hated watching what they were doing to her
storyline. I don't know how she could sit and watch them without getting
upset. (She had said that she was called in to consult but really didn't
have much say. I wonder how that works anyway? Did she have the right to
ask them to change things or once the movie was underway it took on it's
own life? I think that I would not have been so generous with the people
involved. I guess we really have to look at this as two seperate projects.
One of them came from a very creative mind the other from several
collective minds probably also creative in some way. Taking a plot from a
book and trying to visualize it changes things immensly.
posted by daisymaisy 1/13/2005
01:13:16 PM
Monday, January 17, 2005
I just thought you'd like to know that today the American Library
Association announced the children's book award winners for 2005.
They are:
John Newbery Award: Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata
Randolph Caldecott Award (for illustration): Kitten's
First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes
The Newbery and the Caldecott Awards are considered the "Academy
Awards" of children's book publishing, but there are several other
book awards, too; you can read the press release from the American Library
Association that lists all of the awards here.
I'm so excited that one of "our authors" won an award! Gary D.
Schmidt's book, Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy, was named a
Newbery Honor Book. You remember Mr. Schmidt ("call me Gary,
please!"). He joined our BBC discussion in November to talk with us
about his first book, Straw Into Gold. Congratulations, Gary!
posted by shadowpuppy 1/17/2005
10:11:38 PM
Thursday, January 27, 2005
Well, it seems like most of us liked the book Ella Enchanted, but
didn't care much for the movie. It is interesting the different ways a
story can be rewritten, changed and/or adapted to the big screen.
Keep this in mind for our February discussion featuring the first in a
trilogy written by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor - Shiloh. This story is
about a boy who is trying to save a dog he suspects is being mistreated.
The boy, Marty, learns many lessons as he attempts to make Shiloh his own,
such as the difference between right and wrong and other people's views.
Join us next week as we begin our discussion for February about the book Shiloh.
The book we will be discussing in March is A Week in the Woodswritten
by Andrew Clements. This book was brought to our attention by one of our
fellow Blogger Book Club members. Look for it at your public library.
The April - August selections will be determined when the Rebecca Caudill
2006 nominee list is released in March. If members have a specific
title/titles they would like us to discuss - please let us know - your
choices have top consideration.
posted by shadowkitty 1/27/2005
12:27:58 PM
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