Book and Movie Comparison

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Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs Film & Book

The film, ‘cloudy with a chance of meatballs’ directed by Chris Miller and Phil Lord in 2009 compares and contrasts in multiple ways with the book produced and directed by Simon and Schuster in 1982 under the same name. The aspects of comparison and contrast are attached to settings, characters and plot events. However, the resolutions attached to both the movie and the book has also created a framework for making comparisons. The authors have applied specific themes that create the difference in the two works despite the commonality in the name. This essay gives an elaborate comparison and contrast into the film and the book and how various tools have been used by the directors to build their work.

Both the book and film have unique and captivating settings. However, the exhibit different settings. In the book, the story, the grandfather and the family live in Chewandswallow, an old odd town. The magical story starts in the kitchen, the proceeds to the children’s bedroom where a grandfather is pictured telling a narration related to bedtime (Barret nd). However, the film captures a fictional island called Swallow Falls. The island relies on sardines from the Atlantic Ocean to support its economy. The reduction in number of sardines has subjected the island to a food crisis and there is need to develop an invention to manage the situation (Miller & Lord nd). Flint, who is considered one of the inventors finds it difficult to build a machine that would solve the situation and is termed as a failed inventor. Flint Lockwood who lives on the island is pictured as a wannabe scientist.

The book has no main character while the film captures Flint Lockwood as the main character. Throughout the novel, the story shifts contextually while the film is consistent with entitling the main character various roles irrespective of the context. The book does not fully introduce the characters while the film introduces its characters throughout the storyline. By not introducing the characters, the book exhibits neutral characterization. Unlike the film which is definite, the book assigns characterization to the contextual flow (Barret nd). In the novel, the grandfather, the young girl whose name is concealed, Henry and their mother are the common characters while in the film, Flint and Tim Lockwood, Sparks, Brent, Steve, and Mammy are some of the characters. The book and film are the same in that each character is entitled to a particular role in the story.

The plot events for the film and book are extensively different. In the book, the story’s beginning captures an ordinary day where the grandfather’s family takes normal breakfast and as the day ends, the grandfather entitles himself the role of taking the grandchildren to bed. He takes the initiative of telling them a bedtime story (Barret nd). However, the film begins when Swallow Falls is hit by extremely hard times and the inhabitants can no longer afford the sardines. Flint Lockwood is considered a failed inventor because he is unable to manage the prevailing crisis (Hader & Faris nd). He later redeems himself by building a machine that converts water into food. The book and the film are the same in the plot since they both exhibit creativity in the flow of events.

Resolution varies in both film and book. In the film, the crisis at Swallow Falls ends when Flint makes a machine with the ability to convert water to food while in the book, the grandfather resolves to entertain his grandchildren through a tale (Miller & Lord nd). In both works, the contexts of resolution are influenced by time. Flint takes time to make the machine even after he has been blamed for being a failed inventor while in the book, there is a flow of time from morning to bedtime when the grandfather tells the story.

In conclusion, the book and the film are to some extent similar or reflect commonalities. However, the differences are more extensive. As illustrated, the plot events, resolution, setting and characterization differ and conform in multiple ways. In specific, the resolutions attached to the book is extensively different from that in the film. However, both resolutions are subject to controversies. In the film, Flint’s invention which converts water to food is first appreciated but later threatens the sustainability of the island. The surplus was growing larger and there was need to control the conversion and production of more food. Flint is not certain on what he can do to the machine to manage the situation. He is unable to control the machine and the entire island is threatened by mass food. Controversy rises when Flint is unable to control the machine and invention of his own. In the book, the tale as a resolution is aimed at boosting the well-being of the grandchildren through entertainment.

Works Cited

Barrett, Judi. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. Simon & Schuster. 1982.

Chris Miller & Phil Lord. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. 2009.

Performance by Bill Hader & Anna Faris, Sony Pictures Releasing, September 12th, 2009.