10 Worst Children's Movies Based on Children's Books

The Top 10 Worst Children Book-to-Move Adaptations of All-Time

1. The Golden Compass.
Technically speaking, they made it work for a two hour time slot, but His Dark Materials is easily (or should I say un-easily) one of the most epic and detail-oriented series' of all-time. It has so many scenes, so many characters, so many worlds. Even a movie with Nicole Kidman cant do it justice.

2. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Now here is the thing, Mr. Ian Fleming, the James Bond penning, author penned one childrens book. It's called, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. I believe the general consensus about Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is that it is one of the most boring movies ever made. One could say, well maybe the book is just a tanker, maybe Mr. Fleming should not try to write kids books; Disagreed. It's boring and Mr. Fleming, undoubtedly did not know his story would contain songs one day.

3. Ella Enchanted
I think that BBC- Movies says it best, as it seems to have offended them the most. It's also usually the first thing that comes out of someone's mouth when I ask what the worst adaptation from a children's book to a movie is.

4. The Cat In The Hat
Oh, Mike Myers. How vulgar can you get? Potty humor made this well-loved classic a train-wreck. Terrible script, terrible jokes and too gross for kids to watch.

5. Harriett the Spy
Michelle Trachtenberg is cute, but let's face it, she is way too cute to be this awkward, 11-year old freckle faced spy. This movie is about finding yourself as kid moving into ones self, not a cute portrayal of a little girl. Harriett by nature should be more of a rough and tumble tom-boy.

6. The Babysitters Club Movie
It is just wrong to take a series, ie The Babysitters Club, Nancy Drew, etc and make it into one movie. It's hard to take a 165+ series of books and make it one single movie, let alone reach expectations of character and casting. Most of the characters, "were'nt how I pictured them."

7. A Kid in King Arthurs Court
very loose adaptation of Mark Twain's dark satire A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. Not only do you loose the whole tale of a truly haunting kind of story, but the accents are enough to make you want to scream.

8. Robin Hood (Prince of Thieves)
It's not horrible if you can get over the fact that Robin Hood looks like he should be tanning his belly on a surfboard and all the over-done, "Cheers, there" and "eye-matey's". Its theme song makes it epic in it's own way, but really, it's one of the worst adaptations. Please remember that it's cast also consisted of Christian Slater.

9. The Wizard of Oz
As beautiful as Judy Garland is and as amazing of a movie as this is, the problem is this; the movie is so good that when you read the books, you hate them. You hate the characters and only think of the movie tale you have learned to memorize and love.

10. Where the Wild Things Are
Sendak may have intended it to be about the "a lonely boy leaving the emotional terrain of boyhood behind" but the picture book format and its air of cheerful coping strikes a chord with the "NO!" age group - 2, 3 and 4 year-olds who want above all to be safe at home with their parents but are bewildered by their new ability to be able to make grown-ups annoyed. This movie is Dave Eggers version of his Where the Wild Things Are. Sort of like when you hear a song and wish you would have written it...that's what Dave Eggers does, he covers Neil Sendak.