The Fantastic Made Visible

Fantasy and science fiction began in print, and from the first films to the latest blockbusters, print stories have provided the inspirations, the ideas, and in some cases the detailed blueprints. Adaption Studies has long been an area of intense debate in literature and film studies, but no single work has ever approached fantasy and science fiction texts as unique and important areas of inquiry by themselves. The Fantastic Made Visible with 16 fresh essays is the first book to do exactly that. From the earliest adaptations of Jules Verne, Robert A. Heinlein, and Shakespeare to recent films based on The Hobbit, Planet of the Apes, and The Hunger Games, this book offers a wide range of critical approaches and films from around the world.

Matthew Wilhelm Kapell teaches American studies, anthropology, and writing at Pace University in New York.
The late Ace G. Pilkington was a professor of English and history at Dixie State University. He was the author or editor of eight books and had published more than 100 articles, reviews, short stories and poems.

Edited by Matthew Wilhelm Kapell and Ace G. Pilkington
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 252
Bibliographic Info: notes, bibliographies, index
Copyright Date: 2015
pISBN: 978-0-7864-9619-8
eISBN: 978-1-4766-1983-5
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments vi
Introduction: Science Fiction and Fantasy Conquer the World (Ace G. Pilkington) 1
One Destination, Many Journeys: Jules Verne’s Center of the Earth on Screen (Brian Taves) 13
From Selenite Suicide to Bonestell Backdrops: Robert A. Heinlein on the Course to Destination Moon (Rafeeq O. McGiveron) 28
Forbidden Planet: Aliens, Monsters and Fictions of Nuclear Disaster (Ace G. Pilkington) 43
A Daughter, a Mother and a Mirror: “Snow White” and Hollywood (Kate Wolford) 60
Updating Form, Content and Culture: The Strange Case of Three 2012 Snow White Films (Luis Guadaño) 70
“Look, you fools, you’re in danger!” Cultural Snapshots in Four Iterations of Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Kelley Crowley) 85
Damn Dirty Dames: Dissecting Difference in Planet of the Apes (Dean Conrad and Lynne Magowan) 101
The Amplification and Avoidance of Homosexual Love in the Translation of Tolkien’s Work from Books to Films (Roger Kaufman) 117
Media and Hyperreality in the Film Adaptations of the Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games Trilogy (Mollie Gagnon) 133
The Russian Literary Tradition Goes Hollywood: Night Watch, Day Watch and Substitution of Narrative Experientiality (Olga A. Pilkington) 145
From (Pseudo)encyclopedic Fiction to America’s First Superhero: Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (Nils Bothmann) 161
From Screen to Shining Screen: The Wizard of Oz in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction (Annah E. MacKenzie) 175
Ancient Myths, Modern Movie: Harry Potter in Our Minds and on the Screen (Cathy Leogrande) 192
Racebending: Race, Adaptation and the Films I, Robot and I Am Legend (William Hart) 207
Conclusion: Adaptation or Translation? (Matthew Wilhelm Kapell) 223
About the Contributors 231
Index 235

“Quite fascinating…recommended”— Journal of American Culture