| Class Description | This course will examine the interpretive structures of American children's movies based on children's literature. Discussions will center on a variety of contemporary issues, including how literal fidelity relates to creative license (i.e., adaptation versus translation); how evolving understandings of race, gender, ethnicity and age affect filmic interpretation and presentation; and whether a book's theme or core narrative can be divided from the vast body of cultural, ideological and political influences that constitute its identity. We will also examine questions such as how successful children's films of the past impose upon the presentation of new works. Children's Literature Goes To The Movies will also ask students to decide whether knowledge of the original book enriches the experience of going to the movies (and the movie enriches one's understanding of the original book), or whether movie and book are essentially separate. Films we will study will include: The Little Mermaid , Snow White, Cinderella, Aladdin, Pinocchio, I Am the Cheese, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Matilda, Alice in Wonderland, The Wizard of Oz, The Fellowship of the Ring, Jumani, Shrek, and several versions of Little Women. Note that you will be required both to read the literature and view the films; all required films will be readily available from popular video outlets.
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