Elizabeth Rudnick

This tells (unnecessarily) the story of Frozen from Anna's and Hans's perspectives (minus the singing). No Elsa, except for the scenes she shares with either of those two. Anna's chapters -- except where she's presented in a fan fiction, overthinking style -- are the movie word-for-word. And did we really need to know Hans's thoughts? Here he's presented WAY too sympathetically, which I think is dangerous for young girls. Making him a victim of circumstance undermines his actions, which are show more truly dangerous and a cautionary tale for young women (see TricksterBelle's Report on Misogynistic Disney Characters).

The most original part is the prologue that spends a little time on his life with his twelve brothers (while Anna would be in the middle of her "Do You Wanna Build a Snowman?" sequence). But it skips over the three years where he's truly formed -- when his father orders him to go to a village and "ensure their loyalty". That's the Hannibal Lecter/Ramsay Bolton origin story I was expecting. But nope, it's still squishy. It even tries to paint him such that he wasn't going to take over until someone said "Arendelle looks to you".

You're better off just watching the movie. Frozen doesn't translate to a good novelization. It needs the songs, the animation, the quick-wit, and the comedic timing to make it the phenomenon it deserves to be. Some novels can become great movies (like Lord of the Rings and Gone with the Wind). But a movie into a good novel? I've never heard of such a thing. The mediums are too different. Olaf's face melting when he gets close to the fire doesn't come across the same way. Although Rudnick gets more points than Serena Valentino for not outright contradicting the source material.

If you want to read a Frozen book, you are *way* better off reading the "Sisterhood is the Strongest Magic" middle-grade series. show less

I'm mixed on this.
On one hand it did expand on the story a little and making Nala and Sarabi more bosses than they were in the animated version. Which I didn't think was possible cause they already were bamfs.
Also kind of leading more on Hamlet cause how Scar was really pursing Sarabi.

On the other, it pretty much was a word from word rehatchment of the animated version.
I was sitting here quoting lines before they come up damn it! Also I just wish they dived more into Simba's trauma which show more like the animated version only snatched the surface..

Scar was still an asshole tho.
Timon and Pamaa felt like they was barely there.
Along with Rafiki and Zazu.

It needed more.

So if the movie is straight up like this, it's going to be mediocre.

Disney is doing all these damn remakes and not even trying to make them feel original and fresh from their animated counterpart( Expect from Cinderella)

So excuse me while I pull out the animated version and watch it. lol show less

Disney's Christopher Robin movie is a most morose venture, following Christopher Robin out of the Hundred-Acre Wood, through World War II, to a mid-level job at a suitcase manufacturer. The film chooses to treat "Robin" as Christopher Robin's last name, dispensing with the Milne family, the famous books, and the actual life of A. A. Milne's son. Instead, he's an ordinary schmuck deep into a midlife crisis mostly revolving around work-life balance as he drifts further away from his wife and show more daughter. Fortunately, Pooh senses there is trouble and sets out to find him, bringing him back to the Wood so he can get back in touch with his inner child.

Using a mix of live action and CGI, it brings movement to the actual stuffed animals used during the filming, allowing very realistic Pooh friends to have adventures in the Hundred-Acre Wood and the streets of London. It would look terrific if it weren't directed by Eeyore, bringing a glum grayness to most of the scenes and a darkness to much of the script. I imagine children will eke out a little joy following the animals around the screen but find themselves quite bored during their long absences.

This novelization at least dispenses of the gunfire and explosions of combat and only vaguely alludes to the war. But it is still from the point of view of a sad middle-aged man who is living his life wrong. In the film, after an initial appearance, Pooh disappears for 17 minutes. Here that absence translates to 62 pages. That's rough going in both the film and the book, but once Pooh returns he at least alleviates some of the morose tone.

And with the book, it's easier to imagine the lines delivered more sprightly instead of the melancholy tone all the voice actors used in the film.

As with the movie it adapts, this will never be a favorite Pooh work, but there's enough nuggets to make the mining for them worthwhile for nostalgic middle-aged men. I'm not so sure about the children though.

FOR REFERENCE:

This is an adaptation by Elizabeth Rudnick of the Disney feature film, Christopher Robin, directed by Marc Forster; written by Alex Ross Perry, Tom McCarthy, and Allison Schroeder, from a story by Greg Brooker and Mark Steven Johnson; and based on the characters created by A. A. Milne and E. H. Shepard.

(My Pooh Project: I love Winnie the Pooh, and so does my wife. Having a daughter gave us a chance to indoctrinate her into the cult by buying and reading her every Pooh book we came across. How many is that? I’m going to count them this year by reading and reviewing one every day and seeing which month I finally run out. Track my progress here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/23954351-rod-brown?ref=nav_mybooks&she... ) show less

Let me just gush about the pages for a minute. Each one is designed to a perfection. Each page has a cute background, not unlike Twitter. The blog entries are headed by spiffy blog headers. And before each tweet is a small little picture of the…er, tweeter? Tweet Heart was such a visually appealing book!

The characterization was pretty good, especially considering Rudnick had to do it in 140 characters or less. Although, readers get to learn more about Claire and Bennett through their blogs show more and Will and Lottie through e-mails too. I thought the characters were pretty realistic, but I hate to say it, all the characters annoyed me at one point in the story. They either seemed too shallow or too obsessed with their image, but for the most part, they all experienced some kind of transformation at the end that allowed me to appreciate the characters. Or at least made the characters more palatable. Lottie and Benn were the best considering they acted as a voice of reason throughout the novel but with just the right amount of snark.

The plot was equal parts fun and frustrating (OMG! @WiseOneWP, how could you do that?) but also a tad bit predictable. I think readers will want to snag this novel for its unique format instead of its mind-blowing plotline.

Overall, the book was a fun and fast read. I just wish there were more #hashtags. I think this is considered one of those summer day beach reads, so even though beach season is several months away, make sure you pack this book in your beach bag! show less