Hello-
My name is Matt Parish and I have followed Ray for decades now. I have always wondered why oh why hasnt Dandelion Wine been made into a movie. If anyone has any insight on this I would appreciate it. This story in the hands of the proper director has Acadamy award written all over it.
Best Regards-
Matt

Oddly enough, Dandelion Wine was made into a Russian Miniseries!

Minimal info at IMDb: http://us.imdb.com/Title?0115412

As to why the country DW takes place in hasn't produced a film...I have a few thoughts:

1. DON'T DO IT

Considering the generally poor quality of movie adaptations of Bradbury's work (or most anyone's work for that matter), does anyone REALLY want to see DW end up as a movie? Watch THE ILLUSTRATED MAN to see what could happen.


2. IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO ADAPT

Hollywood-style movies (you know, the kind that make money) are highly structured. They have a strong lead character who fights to overcome tremendous obstacles in order to achieve a clear goal.

Dandelion Wine is a loosely connected collection of short stories--it is episodic, the very antithesis of film structure.

Though DW has a central character (Douglas), he isn't a strong lead in the Hollywood sense. He's not actively moving the story forward, he's passive, things happen TO him, not because of him. He's more an observer. The lead characters are really each featured in their own separate stories--but you can't sustain a movie by switching leads every 15 minutes.


3. DIFFICULT TO CAST

Movies cost a lot. Produce a stinker and your job and career are very much at risk. So you want to lower that risk by having a major movie star in your film. But the lead in DW is a CHILD. That's VERY risky. Good child actors that can carry a dramatic role are hard to find. They are also impossible to bank on--audiences don't flock to see a child star like they do Mel Gibson. Look what happened to Something Wicked This Way Comes--two child actors had to carry the movie, and both gave very wooden performances.


4. RAY WON'T LET 'EM

I recently saw Bradbury speak, and while he didn't say anything about DW specifically, he did say he wouldn't sell movie rights anymore because he has so little control over the final outcome. He would much rather adapt his own stories for the theater, which he has been actively doing. I believe DW was turned into a stage musical!

Having said all that...

I'd love to see Dandelion Wine lovingly and successfully adapted to the screen. And I know that it CAN be done, despite the obstacles. Look at A CHRISTMAS STORY. No big name stars, a child lead, and the narrative expertly woven together from a collection of short stories. So it's not impossible, just very difficult. (And, incidentally, that success couldn't be recaptured--anyone seen the atrocious sequel IT RUNS IN THE FAMILY aka MY SUMMER STORY?)

Writingreptile, I have not seen the sequel, but being now about halfway through the book, I agree: it was a TREMENDOUS adaptation considering the original work! The book, "In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash," by Jean Shepherd, is much less tightly-structured than the movie--I would say it's even less tightly-structured than "Dandelion Wine," the way it jumps around in time between adulthood and random ages in childhood, and it is overall darker in tone. If someone with the same flair could closely connect the best "Dandelion Wine" incidents in the way "A Christmas Story" was done the results could be phenomenal!!! Speaking of "Whatever Happened To...?" whatever happened to the sequel to "Dandelion Wine," "Farewell Summer," which was supposed to be near completion when "The Ray Bradbury Companion" appeared back in 1975!? So far only one story from it seems to have turned up in print.

I've been studying movies like Christmas Story in the secret hope that one day I'll get a shot at adapting Dandelion Wine. I've also heard Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys (not a bad movie, but not may favorite) was more collection than novel, but I haven't read it yet. Anyone else got similar titles?

First I've heard of "Farewell Summer"! How many Brandbury sequels can we yearn for! Tell me all you know...which story turned up in print?

I understand your explanation of unknown young actors "carrying a film" and the risk it would be for studios. I also understand Mr. Bradbury's reluctance to give up creative input as Steven King has done ( and for the most part failed). I just feel it is such a wonderful story and it could be done correctly once all the planets align.
Hope you get to do it!

WritingReptile,
Dangerous Lives of Alter Boys was more of a traditionally structured novel than an episodic one, but I can see your point. I think perhaps any writings about childhood have a tendancy to take an episodic tone. Regretably, the ending of both the book and the movie were kind of weak- the movie tended towards shlockyness at the very end, and the book was a trifle underwritten, most regretably and tragically because Chris Furmann died while still working on final drafts. All the same, I'm very fond of the book and was happy to see it realized into a very decent and talentedly acted movie. Glad it came up to discussion on this site.

I share the concern of adaptation. Film and the novel are different by definition, and there would necessarily be variables.

I do think John Irving has been pretty successfully adapted in "Simon Birch" (from his novel, "A Prayer for Owen Meany"), in "Cider House Rules" and in "The World According to Garp". While there were variations from each of the novels (obviously) they all had the feel of having been done by independents. While the novels remain deeper, the movies did not have a Hollywood feel to them, were pretty successful, and I think each caught a part of the spirit of Irving's novels.

I suppose I'm a voice crying in the wilderness, but I really liked the film adaptation of "Something Wicked This Way Comes". Again, the fact that it did not have a bunch of big names driving it allowed it to maintain more of an independent feel. I felt like it captured the spirit of a small town, the fear of Will's dad, the insidious evil of Mr. Dark and company.

I believe it would be possible to adapt Bradbury (in particular "Dandelion Wine") to film. Maybe Bradbury should give it an okay, and just maintain some pretty significant involvement. I'm still praying they'll give us an updated Farenheit 451.

Somewheres amongst these postings, is a Web-Site by some U.S. people who made a film of Dandelion Wine..

Meanwhile, while scouring the postings in search of said Web-Site....consider this:
http://www.sfsite.com/09a/dw111.htm

Mr. Dark,
Don't worry. I also enjoyed the film adaptation of Something Wicked this way Comes. It is difficult especially, to film the more sentimental of Mr. Bradbury's works because the sensitivity and beauty of it has a high potential to turn to cheese on the screen. All the same, I thought the movie captured the feel of the book well, and Jonathan Pryce and Jason Robards are two of our real talents.

You're not alone, Mr. Dark. Despite my criticism, I have a real soft spot for the film of Something Wicked. Jason Robards is awesome--I was sad when he died.

Farenheit 451 is a good example of the obstacles all movies face, let alone adaptations. Mel couldn't get it going, but now that Frank Darabont has it, maybe it'll be a GOOD movie. In fact, Darabont wouldn't be a bad choice to write and direct Danelion Wine, now that I think about it.

The Dandelion Wine site that I was looking for was in... September, 2002, in Resources...

... Clicking onto the Web Site, I found "different" Web-Site info, with NO Dandelion Wine. The original was:
Jeff Clark at Cinema Films, in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Originally, it had a lot of great stills from the movie, and some descriptions. But it ain't there now..............

Ahhhh, the sweet, transient nature of the web. I see more books being published in academia (some of this is pure fad), where in the text itself it references web sites. You open a brand new book and 1/3 of the sites don't work.

Depsite all the comments regarding why not to make Dandelion Wine into a movie, and I agree there are many reasons, I am still, however, drawn to the story and feel it would be a great challenge, for better or worse, to someday turn Ray's vision into a feature.

In fact, as a filmmaker, I keep coming back to the idea of penning the script and looking for funding. A longshot for sure, but writing is a product of dreaming and dreaming is what making movies is all about.

You can check out my website at http://www.onthefringemovie.com/

I sent Ray a letter and a movie about a year ago and never heard back from him. No surprise there. I'm a nobody dreamer and he's - well, he's Ray Bradbury. Just the same, it would be an honor to flesh his story out onto the screen.

I think it can be done. It can't be Hollywood, but it can be done.

Just thoughts... nothing in stone... maybe it will happen... who knows?

Trailers for Tim Burton's new "Big Fish" seem to catch a bit of the magic a movie adaptation of Dandelion Wine might call for.
Has anyone seen it?

I am now doing a DW lit. unit with a freshman class. We read orally each day from assigned pgs. I look up to see the students captivated by the passages and their imagery. It's always a pleasure even after all these years of teaching it.

Take a look: http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0319061/trailers

[This message has been edited by fjpalumbo (edited 12-17-2003).]

I have seen the trailers for Big Fish, and I really can't wait to see it. It hasn't been getting much press, surprisingly, but it looks like a great fantasy yarn.