The Phantom Tollbooth ~ Lost in Adaptation

Norton Juster hated the 1970 film they based on his book, but was his dislike justified?
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[@_decaysea]

Oh, thank God. I've owned this book since I was very young, but every time I mention it, everyone thinks I suffered some kind of fever dream. Thank you for validating its existence.

[@kashiialcuin1688]

Bruh I read this at 9yo and decided as a full adult to read it. I loved it as a kid. I own it as an adult... no regrets

[@SM-BSW]

Same! Ditto with the adaptation!

[@theoneguyoverthere]

Same. I’d only heard that there was a film adaptation before, but never actually seen it.

[@9ansean]

I know that feeling when there's some weird story you remember from childhood which sound like a hallucination when trying to describe it. Always gratifying to be proving it was somebody else's dream and others know it too. 😃

[@TheJillers]

It is definitely still a fever dream of a book

[@RabblesTheBinx]

The best part of that intro: Getting slapped repeatedly in the face by the word "pun", is entirely something that would fit within the universe of the book.

[@rainydaze3589]

a fitting “pun”ishment if you will

[@theothertonydutch]

I got beaten to the punchline@@rainydaze3589

[@Phantom86d]

He was 'pun'ched.

[@TheFirstLaughingFool]

@@Phantom86d you've been hit with a slap stick

[@alexanderforbes1452]

"... she felt that people had abused the privilege of making noise." Yeah, I feel that way sometimes too.

[@charischannah]

My younger sister and my mom were part of a production of the play version of The Phantom Tollbooth back in the early 2000s, and the producer actually managed to get Norton Juster to come out for the opening weekend and, as the awkward teenager hanging out, helping with props and set stuff before opening and ushering during the show, I got to meet him, get my copy of the book signed, and have my mom tell him all about a short story I'd written about two atoms that fall in love (I was very embarrassed at the time but he was very kind and said it sounded interesting). Juster was delightful in person, and I'm really glad I got to meet him.

[@user-dd5eh5lu3o]

sweet and wholesome story

[@TheEileen]

I got this at the library and was laughing so hard, my mum asked me about it. I read bits to her and then I ended up reading the whole thing to her. Then ... she read the whole thing to me. Then I read it to her. We cackled and laughed all the way each time. Then I had to return it but we went and found the book in a bookstore (took a bit) and we took turns reading it to each other for years. One of the loveliest memories I have with my mum.

[@maddiedoesntkno]

My father read this to me when I was very small. It’s still one of my favourite books

[@Sentientmatter8]

My mum had to read this book as a party of her studies to become a teacher, and she enjoyed it so much. I was really glad i was able to share it with her.

[@heidifedor]

That explains the duldrums.

[@vedranlucev1837]

I was always under the impression that in the movie, the princesses weren't imprisoned in the sky castle, but living there because they were banished from the kingdom and couldn't, or didn't want to, return.

[@lachlanmcgowan5712]

In the book, both the Which and the Princesses were always perfectly capable of escaping from their prisons (well, the princesses would have had to get past the demons, but there's no way any of the demons would be clever enough to actually catch them). The Which stays in prison for a reason that isn't fully explained -- it seems like she doesn't want to face Azaz without having Rhyme and Reason there to mediate -- and Rhyme and Reason seem to stay in the castle because that's their purpose, and they wouldn't be welcomed back into Wisdom unless someone actually went to save them.

[@l0rf]

Looking at the state of the world, focussing on education but also on WHY that education is important and how it becomes important is a lesson we should pick up again.

[@Popcultureguy3000]

No doubt Ron DeSantis never read this book, or saw the film adaptation, as a kid. Or the people behind “Mom’s For Liberty”, those lousy book banner’s.

[@BarryHart-xo1oy]

Very true.

[@Sam_on_YouTube]

Friendly advice: Instead of "copyright reasons" you may want to say "because of KZbin's broken copyright system." You don't want anyone claiming you believe your work to be in copyright violation. You believe it to be fair use. KZbin doesn't have a good system to protect fair use. That's the problem.

[@NintendoHighSchool]

The switch between the live action and animation blew my mind as a child. It was the first time I'd ever seen something like that.

[@dreamguardian8320]

I like that scene too.

[@kayleighbrown459]

Procrastination from writing a book by writing another book is such a mood.

[@KyleRayner12]

I remember that book. It was a unique reading experience when I was 7, and I still remember it fondly. Hearing it was written for procrastination and involved a writer vs illustrator duel is amazing, though.

[@Arxane]

Norton Juster also wrote “The Dot and the Line,” another work that was turned into an animation by Chuck Jones (though the true director for that short was Maurice Noble).

[@Toramai-pi8wx]

Holy cow, I thought I was the only one who remembered that!😮

[@professorbutters]

I have a copy. It’s brilliant.

[@BretRBoulter]

The sudden intersection of Chuck Jones memories has just created a singularity in my brain.

[@EbonRaven]

I adore "The Dot and the Line"! I bought a copy for my nephew when he was just starting to be interested in books so his mother could read it to him.

[@RothAnim]

That was a book I reread multiple times as a kid. To be expected from a child of architects. :P

[@mikeymullins5305]

In the fifth grade, we had to find a real life use for our vocab words, and this book was banned from being an example bc it contained all of the words! We had about fifty copies as well. I never read it, but now i understand why

[@kaitlyn__L]

That’s hilarious, but surely a great demonstration of the value of the book 😅

[@mikeymullins5305]

@@kaitlyn__L absolutely! To clarify, kids weren't banned from reading the book, just from using it as an example. The teachers just wanted them to read other books as well.

[@kaitlyn__L]

@@mikeymullins5305 I gotchu 👍 I often heavily leaned on various Terry Pratchett books for similar examples. I do remember certain other books being on the “too easy” list in situations like this but I seemed to be the only one in my school who knew about Phantom Tollbooth!

[@lordspaz88]

I am *still* scared of The Terrible Trivium. "So many doodles to doodle! So many USELESS things to do!"

[@kyoyameganebereznoff]

The illustration in the book is quite unsettling.

[@alanpennie8013]

I found him rather charming.

[@pridelander06]

This is one of my favorite books and films! So glad you did this one! Just a minor thing, at 3:24 bottom right is Mel Blanc

[@paulferancik7766]

Ah, I remember a time when a middle age man could prance around happily before shoving a small child in the back of his truck and it was all taken as delightful wimsy……. We were very stupid back then.

[@BretRBoulter]

Back then not enough was acknowledged, but now too much is assumed. I wonder if we'll ever find the middle ground between blind naivete and paranoid delusion. Life is, I hope to believe, better than either.

[@NYinside]

​@@BretRBoulter what a poetic rendering of the state of the world today

[@kaitlyn__L]

@@BretRBoulterwe will, eventually. For instance, the over-use of stereo effects in 60s music doesn’t happen anymore. We’re also finally allowing gay characters to be villains again, after they had to be perfect little angels in the 2010s. Balance will always come eventually.

[@paulferancik7766]

@@kaitlyn__L not only villains but well developed villains, unlike the 60s and 70s where being gay meant you were cartoonishly psychotic.

[@kaitlyn__L]

@@paulferancik7766 yes! 🙌 👏

[@mothiestman4995]

My dad tried to read this to me when I was a kid. Unfortunately, this was how we figured out that it only really works when read (unless you have the visual aids provided in the film). I should read it now. I unironically ADORE puns.

[@scribbly2983]

I just read this to my preschooler son and he enjoyed it, but there was definitely a lot of context he missed.

[@quintonhoffert6526]

As a kid, my interpretation of the ending was always that the princesses could have set everything straight at any point, but they didn't because doing so would prevent other children from having to come to the Kingdom of Reason and learn important lessons. I think the book's ending makes more sense when you consider the Kingdom of Reason as its own separate world, but the movie's ending makes more sense if you consider the Kingdom of Reason as a world that exists to teach people in the "real" world. At the end of the movie the tollbooth flies over to Milo's friend Ralph, with the understanding that he's going to have to go on an adventure learning about the world and himself in order to free the princesses. The book's ending feels more natural, but because it feels more natural it also wouldn't really work for the movie's stinger of having Ralph get the tollbooth. Even if King Azaz and the Mathemagician couldn't stop arguing for more than an evening, it doesn't feel reasonable that they would immediately jump to banishing the princesses again. Likewise, if the Kingdom of Reason's army defeated the Demons of Ignorance, it wouldn't make sense from a true alternate world scenario for all the demons to suddenly come back the next day. As a result, the ending where Ralph gets the tollbooth wouldn't give him the same lessons that Milo learned because he'd be going to a Kingdom of Reason that Milo had already fixed. He might still find things to appreciate but he wouldn't be forced into the same kind of whirlwind adventure that Milo went on. The movie's ending, meanwhile, always felt like the score card being wiped clean, like getting to the end of a video game and then starting a new run. It's less cohesive than the book but it works better for the idea of multiple people going on the same adventure. Kind of like how Wonderland in Alice in Wonderland is Alice's dreamscape made manifest, I always saw the Kingdom of Reason as being a representation of Milo's worldview. The Doldrums are powerful and malicious because his own apathy is slowly killing him, and the Demons of Ignorance are a huge threat because he's happy to remain ignorant. Milo's adventure rekindles in him the love of learning and helps him care about the people around him, so it makes sense that he uses those powers to defeat his own Demons of Ignorance. The return of the princesses heralds the return of rhyme and reason to his own worldview. However, when the tollbooth moves to another person, the world state resets because their own worldview is out of order. As I said, it's less cohesive as a true isekai fantasy world than the book's ending suggested, but the movie's ending worked better for what they were going for IMO.

[@9ansean]

A wonderful assessment of how the two versions handle the same themes. Thank you.

[@kaistephens2694]

So it's like Nights into Dreams, almost?

[@xZigzagx123]

It's strange how regarded in my head this book is. I remember reading and loving it as a child. I remember taking it from the library several times because of how much I loved the puns. Yet, after I left school I could never recall the actual plot and I've always found that sad how human memories work sometimes. So it was an absolute delight to watch this Lost in Adaptation and be reminded of things I thought I had forgotten ❤

[@wrenbeck3370]

On my final day at primary school, the year 6 teacher gave me a copy of this book! I can't remember why, but it was a nice gift!

[@lachlanmcgowan5712]

The teacher probably thought that you were a big nerd who loved puns

[@wrenbeck3370]

@@lachlanmcgowan5712 ... Ok that's fair.

[@bookshelfhoney]

I got this book from a teacher too!

[@Oakleaf012]

I love this book, and even named my cat Milo after it. I don’t think I knew there was an adaption but I clicked so fast (and immediately cackled at the accuracy of getting smacked in the face with endless puns)

[@kyoyameganebereznoff]

Our cat Milo was also named after this book’s main character! People would always ask us if we were inspired by Milo and Otis.

[@Oakleaf012]

@@kyoyameganebereznoff lol same, I didn’t even know about Milo and Otis until I named my cat and people started asking me XD

[@Wandergirl108]

I thought I'd never heard of this story from the title, but the synopsis is word-for-word the same as a really entertaining stage play I saw once. I don't remember it being called this, but it's the same story, so it must have been. That play has never truly left my head, it was really good; I'm glad I can put a name to it now. Thank you!

[@michaelmurphy6400]

I’m 34 years old, and this is still one of my favorite books ever written.

[@robertmckinnon7003]

Other adaptations by Chuck Jones: Rikki Tikki Tavi, A Cricket in Times Square, The White Seal, Horton hears A Who!, and The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.

[@theplaguedoctor3381]

man, this sent me on a nostalgia trip, this was the first book I ever read (not counting picture books) and it's what made me fall in love with reading.

[@TommyZei]

The Doldrums was my first introduction to what depression is as a kid. Great video on a great book and movie!

[@alanpennie8013]

A line that made me smile was that The Humbug was always very quick with a wrong answer. We've all known people like that.

[@caitlinoconnor2774]

This book was a childhood favorite and I can never find anyone who's actually read it. Thank you so so so very much One for doing this video and two for showing me everybody else who loved it.

[@palamane1]

Thank you, Dominic! I didn't know the Chuck Jones adaptation, and always associated the book with Jules Feiffer's illustrations. (Part of me is disconcerted to see them Jones-ified.) Thanks for the background on the book! (Nerd alert: the 6th photo of voice talent at 3:25 mark appears to be Mel Blanc, unless "Candy Candido" is another pseudonym for him.)

[@professorbutters]

I actually like Jones adaptations, and think “Mowgli’s Brothers” is WAY better than The Jungle Book, but I think I would miss the Feiffer illustrations too much.

[@Rolld20]

I think the change in character design is a potential barrier to enjoying the film; Feiffer taps into the disconcerting uncertainties of the Id, while Jones sits more comfortably in the sunny Ego. But give it a shot, it was made with respect to the source material.

[@alanpennie8013]

​@@Rolld20. I think Feiffer's weirdness was needed because this book is in danger of lapsing into moralising on occasion

[@alisaurus4224]

“Blanc” and “candide” both mean “white” so i think it’s a joke name

[@Serai3]

I keep hoping someone will do a live-action adaptation of this story. When LOTR came out, I felt sure the rights to this would be jumped on. It's such a fun ride. Two of the roles I envisioned were Robin Williams for the Whether Man, and Christopher Lloyd for Dr. Discord. (Can't you just hear him scream "AS LOUD AS POSSIBLE!!!"?) But no. Maybe someday a movie about a kid discovering what an adventure it is to learn will be welcomed.

[@kaitlyn__L]

Oh no, that would’ve been amazing. So long as it didn’t get that early-00s Dr Zeuss adaptation treatment…

[@Serai3]

@@kaitlyn__L Oh gods, no. I was thinking along the lines of LOTR or "What Dreams May Come". Taking fantastical visuals and treating them seriously, as if they really exist. With the right touch, it could be really spectacular. But alas, the moment passed, and any attempt now would be all CGI and horribly soulless and depressing. All the danger would be flattened and all the characters would get backstories and all the humor would be committeed to death, and it wouldn't be the story in the book in any way. Under those circumstances, I'd rather be content with the Chuck Jones.

[@thenightstar8312]

I'll be honest... I don't think it needs it at all. In fact, I think making this live action would do nothing but make it worse. I find the adaptation to be perfectly fine the way it is.

[@Serai3]

@@thenightstar8312 If you'd bothered to read further, you'd have found I said the same thing. But why bother when yelling NO is so much fun?

[@fredgwynn8933]

It wouldn’t work. The Chuck Jones animation was perfect cause plot wise it’s pretty loose. It’s a meandering exploration of ideas. And I think it would just come off corny.

[@BlueTressym]

I can relate so well to the comment about educators needing to explain WHY learning is important because I never got that as a kid and hated it that no ever explained things to me. I was considered a 'bright' child but I never got taught to write an essay or why I had to write down what I was supposed to be learning when it was all in the book and I could just read the book. This 'bright kid' spent a lot of time not understanding anything, not least why grown-ups would never explain anything. (I accidentally typed 'groan-ups' and was sorely tempted to leave it in.)

[@Rolld20]

I still like Tock's song about time; sometimes I remind myself to focus by humming the refrain: Take a second to look around, see a sight, hear a sound. Take a second to concentrate: Analyze! Contemplate. Take an hour and change the fate of the world!

[@meganhoward921]

My dad read this to me for the first time as a bedtime story when I was a kid in the 80s, and my copy is actually currently on my passenger seat. Thank you!

[@Below.average.version]

The scream after the gift wrapped killer pops out is hilarious! I watched that bit at least a dozen times and was reduced to tears every single time. The run! the scream! the facial expression! Brilliant

[@JDM-is-my-name]

Never heard of this book, nor the movie. I think it's kind of cute that vie watching for years now and Shelby is still one of the main supporters. I don't usually listen to the patreon shout out, but I've gotten so used to that name. Cute as hell

[@elainecanby412]

Typo: He had two men listed as Candy Candido, but the second man to the right was Mel Blanc, man of a thousand voices, who voiced Bugs Bunny and many other Looney Tunes characters. He voiced the Dodecahedron in the film.

[@WhisperingNostrils]

One of my favorite books as a kid. It taught me how our perception of words can change their meaning, and is probably the reason for my love of puns.

[@AirQuotes]

I love this movie, and no one ever talks about it. Thank you

[@nicole-ls4jb]

This is absolutely one of my favorite books (and yes I do love puns)! My favorite part is the Sound keeper's, and I love that his small sound that knocked down the wall to to release all the sounds was "But." Such a great metaphor!

[@Juuchan17]

I was wondering when you'd do this lesser-known adaptation! I grew up (and LOVED) on this movie as a kid, then read the book later on in school... and understood it a lot more as an adult.

[@lewisbarclay9113]

I saw the movie once on very early Cartoon Network, back when it was all Scooby-Doo and Flintstones. I remember liking it.

[@dreamguardian8320]

You mean CN's Cartoon Theater? Yeah, that was a good way to watch good movies.

[@MrInitialMan]

I was introduced to an excerpt of this book through Childcraft Vol. 13 _Mathemagic_ (This was the 1982-1995 edition). Later I found that my local library had a copy and of course I borrowed it. It was a punderful read. :)

[@dominiccasts]

I think that was the exact same path I took to finding it. Checked it out of the school library every year in elementary school after that.

[@irispounsberry7917]

Never heard of this one before, but I recognized Chuck Jones' art style immediately. Great episode as always!

[@MissBuyNLarge]

this is to date still one of my favorite books of all time not number one, but definitely top 5 I LOVE puns, so this book's style of humor really hit the spot for the record, my favorite character is the Dodecahedron - I loved him so much I memorized his little introductory rhyme that he does close second is Dinn

[@johnscarsandstuff]

My faces are many, My sides are not few, I'm the dodecahedron, Who are you? Yes, I typed that from memory, I hope I got it right.

[@searchingfororion]

The dodcahedron got me through Geometry (and helped me teach many others). And also caused me to annoy many a tabletop enthusiast.

[@j.munday7913]

Dodecahedron is my favorite too

[@Caernath]

I can recall some fond memories of this film, but until now I didn't remember the title. Thank you Dominic, for bringing back a piece of my scatterbrained youth. 👍

[@hopekeeley2122]

I remember this being a rug-time book my 3rd grade teacher read to us. I think I was scared of how little it makes sense in the beginning but loving it by the end

[@SkatKat]

I'd forgotten about the movie entirely but I was enamoured with it when I was a kid. The visuals were mesmerising! Kind of shocking how things just fall out of our memory. Can't wait to read the book now.

[@GonzoIsCool]

*Don’t say it...Don't say it...* I DUNNO, BOTH VERSIONS SEEM LIKE A GREAT WAY TO KILL TIME. *9 yo me runs away cackling*

[@mathieuleader8601]

I remember bawling my eyes out with happiness when the princesses got freed when I watched this movie on Cartoon Network back in the day.

[@ruthspanos2532]

This was one of my favorite books when I was younger. I don’t remember that there was a film version. Thanks for reminding me about the book and the suggestion that the film might be worth seeing!

[@lealkenseal1424]

Never heard of this before, but both the book and film sound very charming! I'll have to check them out. Great analysis :)

[@JorWat25]

I genuinely think this book shaped my interest in mathematics and linguistics. Loved it as a child. I still have it on my bookshelf all these years later. I've also got The Annotated Phantom Tollbooth, though haven't manged to read it yet.

[@kurathchibicrystalkitty5146]

*Dom mentions Diana Wynne Jones* Me: 🤩🤩🤩

[@alanpennie8013]

Perhaps Dom should cover Howl's Moving Castle.

[@kurathchibicrystalkitty5146]

@@alanpennie8013 He has on Patreon, but couldn't keep in on KZbin because of copyright.

[@georgiabadiali2321]

I remember my sister getting this book from Waterstones when we were about 12 I think and I absolutely love it! The word play, the puns, the charming characters, it's an absolute delight! My favourite bit would definitely be with Chroma, it's so clever! Also Tock was called Tock not because he's part alarm clock but his parents had his brother and called him Tick assuming that's what the sound he would make was, however when he was wound up Tick went "tock tock tock" so when they had Tock they didn't want to make the same mistake and called him Tock because his older brother goes tock, only to find Tock goes "tick tick tick". So Tock is called Tock because he goes tick and Tick is Tick because he goes tock

[@Tadicuslegion78]

You listed Candy Candido twice in place of Mel Blanc

[@thedatabase677]

I have loved this book for so many years, it has such a high place in my heart. I had no clue that this book had any adaptation at all!

[@joshsalwen]

My child’s school did a play of this story last year. I felt vaguely aware of the story, but it seemed like a dream that came back in bits as I watched the play.

[@r.connor9280]

Had the audio tape version of this as a kid, then read the book My eyes were opened in ways only a magician could explain and my love of puns cannot be quenched

[@kashiialcuin1688]

Loved this book as a kid. It is definitely on my bookshelf in a prized position

[@Charles_Snow]

Thank you so much! This was my favourite book when I read it as a young lad. I loved the Terrible Trivium so much that I based my OC on it (my profile pic). This was an amazing review and a huge nostalgia trip as well.

[@danielsantiagourtado3430]

Welcome back! 😊😊😊❤❤❤

[@RuthBhmand]

Very interesting, not a native English speaker, so the book is totally unknown to me. Translation of the puns must have been too complex. Library trip soon.🦹🏻‍♀️

[@loganmarcum4495]

This was a book I randomly found on a bookshelf in our house and read through it. It’s still one of my favorite books to this day and I would love a modern adaptation

[@seatspud]

Both the movie and review forgot about Canby, which would probably make him feel as bad as, well, can be.

[@shinyagumon7015]

It's kind of funny to see an adaptation that is panned by the author for seemingly no reason other than subjective taste. It's a nice break from all the awful adaptations that either completely ignore or make a mockery out of the source material. Although, personally, as a non-native English speaker, I am unfamiliar with the book, probably because all its puns make it almost untranslatable.

[@alanpennie8013]

Oh he had a reason. The film omitted a lot of his best jokes.

[@92wildemoon]

I stumbled on the movie in the small video rental section of my local grocery store. I was constantly renting it. I didn’t find out about the book until I was in college. Both are dear to my heart.

[@michaeliv284]

I remember that scene in the swamp, I could NOT for the life of me find where it was from. Thank you, Dom!

[@honestviewer7932]

I guess you're really getting PUNched by those puns. It must be a big PUNishment!

[@catsmom129]

Depressed child representation! This book made my doldrums a little bit better. Thanks for the nostalgia trip.

[@annnichols3091]

Read a sibling's print copy decades ago. Recently got a used audio CD copy and listened to it.

[@box5evey]

this is still one of my fav books, and my go-to present for every time one of my friends announces they're expecting a child

[@charleston1789]

Yay! It’s always a good day with Lost In Adaptation 😊

[@SkywalkerAni]

Oh man, I grew up loving this book!

[@mcv2178]

Trivium scared me, and 'I'm as tall as can be and as short as can be' blew my little grade-school mind : )

[@SkywalkerAni]

@@mcv2178 for my friends and I, we adored the Triple Demons of Chaos.

[@helenn6551]

My dad gave me the book when I was a kid, and the moments still have a place in my brain all these years later. I didn't know they made a movie, but it is nice to see others enjoying the story I did

[@Badenhawk]

I remember this book being required reading in gradeschool and loving it.

[@Noahlink0330]

I watched this movie for the first time last year because it was free to watch on youtube. I really enjoyed it, it's a great movie.

[@dreamguardian8320]

Agreed.

[@sarahkridenoff3293]

This is my favorite book ever! I have read it/ listened to it dozens of times. I checked the VHS out of the library so many times when I was a kid. I own 13 copies of the book, three different audiobook versions, the movie on VHS and DVD, and the documentary made about it. Thank you for covering it!

[@SeppelSquirrel]

omg, I just watched the Phantom Tollbooth 2 days ago! I wanted to write an essay about how it was a movie that hated on Milo for having what are very obvious signs of ADHD. The movie came out in the 1970s, and training for psychologists to identify ADHD hadn't become mainstream until the 1990s. It wasn't even called ADHD until around the time the movie came out! Overall, I think the movie did the best with the material it had, but it's aged *very* poorly due to a lot of messaging that's now hate for people with ADHD. "You'd be great if you just applied yourself!" YEAH ADHD MAKES THAT DIFFICULT, HOW ABOUT YOU DON'T SING A SONG THAT GUILTS MILO INTO SOMETHING HE CAN'T MAGICALLY CHANGE BY HIMSELF. Based on what I heard about the author's own ADHD-like symptoms, it was kind of a self-report, lol.

[@GamesNTech]

growing up my mom always said "as long you are tall enough for your feet to touch the ground." I wonder if this is related and some weird midwestern boomer thing.

[@auldthymer]

I remember it being an Abraham Lincoln quote. (and a quick google showed it as an idea in a J.D. Salinger quote as well).

[@Justice237]

I just realised that "magical Lexapro" is another pun, like "Lexapro" the anti-depressant sounds like "lexicon", and it's a story all about words .... I'll show myself out

[@UberMan5000]

Juster was probably so cool about this film because, five years earlier, him and Chuck Jones collaborated on a short film, "The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics" which won an Academy Award. Going from that to a feature-length film that didn't have two nickels to rub together, and he's not involved in its production, would make anyone cranky. All that having been said, any feature-length Chuck Jones project is gonna be a good time, if you're not literally the guy whose book is being adapted.

[@abigailwright8906]

Ah, here I was expecting my childhood tantrum over this film being, to my 10-year-old mind, significantly less smart than the capital B-Brilliant book, to be validated and instead I'm forced to consider that I might, just might, have misjudged it, not being omnipotent then or now. :) I will attempt to keep an open mind should I ever revisit it. Annoying, nitpicky notes: the Doldrums is the name of the place, not its inhabitants. They're known as the Lethargarians, in just one of many instances of "you'll understand it when your vocabulary has caught up, kids," jokes that made it so heavily reread-worthy and, I suppose, the film appearing not to aim as high so disappointing. Also, while she's not portrayed in a wholly admirable light, the Soundkeeper is a female ruler in the book (so of course omitted in the film).

[@9ansean]

Something else about the books original ending. Both kings of Azaz and the Mathematician separately tell Milo before seeing him off there's an even bigger problem facing him on his mission than any other. However the both insist on only telling him after he returns. Once Milo and his friends do get back with the princess and have a parade in his honor, he admits to having not being able to back without so much help. To which the princess say that you still proved yourself capable of more than you realized in the process. To which the kinds explain is the real reason the couldn't tell him the biggest problem with this quest. That is that it was IMPOSSIBLE! Because they explain that if you'd know that you wouldn't have gone and in the process learn how much is possible when you don't know what isn't. Yeah sorry those prefer the book but I don't like this revel. From a message stand point I totally get what Juster was getting it. That sometimes our reach exceeds are grasp, but that's not a reason to avoid trying as we can benefit from the chances taken. Except there are also sometimes we don't reach beyond are grasp for a very good reason. We don't to accidentally grab a power line in the process. That's especially true when we're talking about children.There's a difference letting a child learn the hard way by putting their hand to a flame and letting them jump head first into a bonfire. This reveal mean those two idiots sent a young boy, his friend, and a volunteer who wasn't really volunteering at all off to CERTAIN DEATH in order to solve a problem THEY CAUSED and clearly were capable of solving themselves. Also considering the two were hardly speaking to each other and both assumed they'd never give mutual agreement, just how long did it take numbers guy to tell word guys that he'd been tricked in approving the mission? How much time they'd really put into planning a rescue party before Milo and his wound up...well sadly not as good at puns this author so insert you're own Mountain of Ignorance joke. Look I realize these weren't the most sensible fellows, but for the most part they just came off as proud and stubborn. Not totally reckless. There only two slightly better interpretations I can make of this.Either they only assumed it was impossible but didn't know for sure (which seems unlikely the authors intent given they call it COMPLETELY IMPOSSIBLE) or that I could have only made it back if he left the princesses behind (which is still kind of jerky because you've just sent up the poor boy for potential heartbreak). So while the movies ending may seem a little more cliched, I actually prefer that Milo used all the resources at his disposal to complete the mission with only minimal assistance.

[@michaeljohnson6905]

Great job, KZbin; no notifications, nowhere in my feed, video only found when I went looking for older ones to watch. Love your work, Dom. But that algorithm doesn't :/

[@eryqeryq]

Incredible book. Painfully terrible adaptation. It deserves a new animated film -- drawn in the Jules Feiffer style and *without* musical numbers.

[@EilonwyWanderer]

I don't want to jump to conclusions, but I think I can safely say this'll be a great video without even having finished it!

[@JimboEM]

One of the books I got around to reading last year! I used to have this on a VHS with Page Master, Roger Rabbit, Little Nemo, and Cool World haha

[@kramermariav]

Page Master is so great

[@SamuelDeBarba]

I I like the premise and the puns, but can't watch the film without being reminded that it was the first thing I watched that ever gave me nightmares as wee kiddo. Same with the Chuck Jones short, " The Bear Who Wasn't A Bear at All" and I love Chuck Jones' work generally. Just not those 😬 (I do love the Whether man, though!)

[@melenatorr]

My first experience with Juster's work was "The Dot and the Line", which Jones also turned into a charming cartoon, which also celebrates education and creativity, and which features Robert Morley as the narrator: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nmHcl2p_oLyWm6s I remember our mother bringing the book with us to Prospect Park after a trip to the Brooklyn Public Library and reading it to us there.

[@MattMcIrvin]

I figure Juster had read C. P. Snow's famous essay "The Two Cultures" and the conflict between Digitopolis and Dictionopolis is to some degree an allegory on it.

[@fatcat1399]

Omg I thought this movie was a fever dream from childhood 😂💜✨

[@ericcarabetta1161]

Never knew this movie started as a book, I really enjoyed it as a kid. It was one of those movies that only unexpectedly appeared on TV every couple of years, so I was never really sure what it was called or how to find it again (this was all way before Google). This, and Tommy Tricker And The Stamp Traveler.

[@peterbernhardt5169]

Yes, the Which is creepier in the book as her name, Faintly Macabre, suggests. We also miss the half-baked ideas for dessert at the banquet (night air is bad for you). As for the demons, the movie missed my favorite, The Threadbare Excuse, so shabby and pitiful but once he gets a hold of you he never lets go.

[@DemonsForge]

Wow, I have vague memories watching this movie on TV, once. I never saw it again, and seeing the full story laid out, I seem to have had skipped a massive chunk of it. Definitely needs to get onto my acquisitions list, both book and film.

[@carol8342]

🎶Rhyme & Reason reign once more! Sense & Sanity prevail!🎶...my lil sis & i used to pretend to be the princesses, loving both the book & the movie 😄

[@Catherinewelter-z6d]

I thought the movie was good but my favorite Chuck Jones adaptation was Rkki Tikki Tavi, but that could have been because I love weasel like animals like meerkats ond otters

[@jonnyriggs4372]

That opening is not only accurate but shows what a masochist I am for puns

[@shugoibaka]

I completely forgot this story existed until I saw this, but I remember watching this movie as a child and mostly being very confused. Maybe I should give it a shot again now that I'm older and might get the wordplay more lol

[@joanahkirk338]

Loved the whimsically punny nature of the book and how the story would explore various concepts and wordplay. It felt similar to Alice in Wonderland but more focused on the wordplay of it all. Wonderland was kind of nonsensical with its own logic, but this world had a sort of metaphors become literal logic that was very clear to follow but still so intriguing.

[@thenightstar8312]

I had no idea that this was even a book at all. I always just assumed since the first time I saw this as a small child, was that it was just a Chuck Jones cartoon he made after the Looney Tunes and always just assumed that he both animated AND wrote the entire thing. (I never did see the opening credits before, I only remember watching it from the point that the tollbooth was delivered.)