Last night, we watched the new Charlotte's Web, starring Dakota Fanning as Fern and Julia Roberts as the voice of Charlotte.
Animated movies create a simplicity that allows the essence of a story to come through clearly. I worried that beauty of the story would be lost in the remake, but I was wrong. I felt the same peace and bizarre combination of sadness and joy that I have felt from watching the animated version ever since I was six.
Julia Roberts' voice was perfect as Charlotte, who I realized is a very interesting character with her combination of wisdom, determination, loyalty and tough love. The remake added a layer to her story by making all the barn animals either afraid or disgusted by her at first. They eventually learned to look past her off-putting spider exterior. A lesson for the kids.
I wasn't wild about Dakota Fanning as Fern. The character was as stubborn as the original Fern, but the actress made Fern feel more modern than she is in the book and original movie. I guess better Dakota Fanning than someone with less talent. To Fern's story, they added a boy. I vaguely remember there being a boy who Fern rode the ferris wheel with, but the boy played a bigger part in the remake.
The one big thing missing was the songs. Maybe that's for the best, leave the songs to the original. But their absence made me realize that they constituted the best parts of the animated movie. Some were very fun and others were nothing short of poetry:
How very special are we
For just a moment to be
Part of life's eternal rhyme
How very special are we
To have on our family tree
Mother Earth and Father Time
He turns the seasons around
And so she changes her gown
But they always look in their prime
They go on dancing their dance
Of everlasting romance
Mother Earth and Father Time
The summer larks return to sing
Oh, what a gift they give
Then autumn days grow short and cold
Oh, what a joy to live
How very special are we
For just a moment to be
Part of life's eternal rhyme
How very special are we
To have on our family tree
Mother Earth and Father Time
2 comments:
The boy you're talking about is Henry Fussy, and he's not a new character. He also doesn't have a very big part in the movie.
Sorry -- not that he is a new character, but I didn't recall him much in the original movie. I thought he came in at the end, at the fair, whereas in this new movie he is there the whole time, checking out Fern.
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