To Whom Do We Owe the Honor Mister Dahl? by Matthew MacNish

There was a tragedy in my house the other day. An absolute miscarriage of justice which left me short of breath, emotionally and legally concerned, and utterly disappointed in my progeny.

Let me back up.

Start from the beginning.

My younger daughter, who is twelve, is in her middle school production of the stage adaptation of the film adaptation of the wonderful Roald Dahl Middle Grade novel, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which has tragically been mis-titled Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (or sometimes just Willy Wonka) since time immemorial.

Anyway, opening night was last Friday, and I went on Saturday afternoon to see the production, and it was a lot of fun, but that's not what I'm posting about here.

What I'm posting about is an argument I got into with my child and her older sister after the final dress rehearsal on Thursday.

We were discussing the legacy of the greatness of a story like the one that takes place in the eponymous Chocolate Factory, and they tried to make this ridiculous argument that the legacy of such a thing is owed mostly to whoever adapted the novel for the silver screen, and then after that, owed secondly to whoever adapted the screenplay to a stage play.

I was obviously appalled.

I don't mean to imply that adaptations of such a wonderful and culturally important story are not important, necessary, and deserving of praise and historical import, but I was aghast at my children's insistence, especially after I tried to bring it up, that in a legacy like that of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, less appreciation is owed to the original creator, the man who dreamed the whole thing up, Roald Dahl himself, hands down the greatest children's author who ever lived, in my own humble opinion, than it is to whoever adapted it, and admittedly probably cemented it in the psyche of the American Mind.

I don't mean to discount the role those people played (FWIW, Dahl himself wrote the screenplay for the 1971 film, which was directed by Mel Stuart, and John August wrote the 2005 screenplay, while Tim Burton directed. For the stage musical, assuming we can trust Wikipedia, it seems it was written by David Greig, with music and lyrics by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman), and like I said, I have no intention of denying the contribution those people made to the legend of this book, but I must say, I was surprised, offended, and a little ticked off when my kid's tried to say that Disney, of all entities, had more to do with the popularity of the tale of the Chocolate Factory than Dahl himself.

I mean, really?

How could the story even exist if Dahl had not dreamed it up? People can adapt great works until the cows come home, but unless a genius like Dahl imagines them in the first place, no one will have anything to adapt.

What say you?

NOTE: In other news: Apparently Steven Spielberg will be directing an adaptation of Roald Dahl's The BFG for Dreamworks.

The Top Five Roald Dahl Novels, by Matthew MacNish

The wagon outside the cottage where he wrote Danny, the Champion of the World

Today I would like to celebrate the world's greatest children's author (note: this is my personal opinion, and is not meant to disparage Judy Blume, who is obviously amazing, but did not much appeal to me as a boy, because her books were for girls, ew).

Roald Dahl is perhaps the most well known author of middle grade titles in the world. Or at least he was before there was such a thing as middle grade and young adult, and books were either children's books or something else. I don't say this to take anything away from any other authors, and I'm sure my love for his books is influenced by the fact that I was born at the height of his success, but even if you don't consider him the best EVAH, surely you have enjoyed at least one of his tales (and if not, you might want to get on that, like STAT).

Anyway, regardless of where he ranks on the Matthew-MacNish-greatest-children's-authors-in-history-scaleTM, today I would like to share with you my top five favorite Roald Dahl novels, in order, from nearly favorite to very favorite!

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Such a wonderful, magical book. From Willy Wonka to the Oompa Loompas, to the eponymous chocolate factory, there is so much imagination in this book. I love it with all my heart. However, while I'm well aware that many people might list this as their favorite Dahl novel, for me it is only my nearly-favorite. Only because there are so many other wonderful ones! Like: 

The BFG

As an adult with the humor bone of a twelve-year-old boy, I can never help but think of the title of this book standing for something very silly. However, while this book is full of fun and silliness, it's actually quite adorable. It also doesn't hurt that it is actually an expansion of a part of my very favorite Dahl book, shown below.

Matilda

Oh Matilda, you precocious little genius you! Matilda is probably my favorite Dahl protagonist. The ways in which she stands up to her situation are so adorable, but also so inspiring. I mean it's all fantasy, of course, but it's also so real. This book also gets a bonus for having one of the best two movie adaptations of a Dahl book (see the next entry for the other one).

James and the Giant Peach

Other than Gremlins, this is Roald Dahl's first book. It's a story about a small boy who escapes his cruel aunts inside a giant peach filled with giant insects (it's not that simple, obviously, but we're in a hurry here) and then sails it across the Atlantic, by luring a flock of seagulls into towing it. I mean, it all makes perfect sense, right? As wild and ridiculous as it sounds, this is one of the greatest children's stories ever written, and it also has a most excellent film adaptation.

Danny, the Champion of the World

I don't know if I can put my finger on exactly what it is about this book. Perhaps it was the fact that I was about Danny's age when I read it. Perhaps it was the fact that I lost my mother not long after. Perhaps it was the fact that fathers and sons are ... well, fathers and sons. I don't know exactly, but this is my all time favorite Roald Dahl novel, and it's a somewhat less well known one than most, so if you have not read it, I highly recommend you remedy that.

Roald Dahl in 1954