The classic animated Disney movies are often based on fairy tales or folk tales, but some of the animated movies and many of the live-action Disney movies were actually based on novels, sometimes ones that weren’t originally intended for children. There may be are a few animated movies here, but most of the movies based on books are live-action films which aren’t as well-known as the animated features (although I think they should be because some of them are really under-appreciated).
If you’re curious which movies were based on books and what the original books were like, check out the ones below:
Live Action
Back Home (1984)
The basis for the movie of the same name. An English girl who was sent to the United States for safety during World War II returns to England after the war is over. Since she was very young when she was sent away, her memories of her parents are vague, she has to adjust to life in England after being accustomed to life in America, and she meets the little brother who was born while she was away. Her entire family struggles to reestablish their lives because the war has changed her parents, too. By Michelle Magorian.
Bejewelled Death (1982)
A young woman has to transport valuable jewels to London in secret for a museum. However, a couple of children who are traveling on the same airplane with her accidentally expose her secret, and the jewels are stolen. When they try to get the jewels back, they uncover a murder and a more involved conspiracy than they expected. This book is the basis for the made-for-tv movie Bejewelled. By Marian Babson.
Bed-Knob and Broomstick (1943, 1947)
The combined edition of The Magic Bed-Knob and its sequel, Bonfires and Broomsticks. Together, these two books were the basis for the Disney movie Bedknobs and Broomsticks. Siblings spend the summer with a woman who is an amateur witch and gives them a magic bed knob which allows them to travel to other places and other times on their bed. By Mary Norton.
Blackbeard’s Ghost (1965, 1976)
A couple kids awaken the ghost of Blackbeard the pirate in an old tavern that’s about to be demolished. By Ben Stahl.
The original title of the original book was Christmas at Candleshoe. The movie starred Jodie Foster, but the book was quite different and featured a boy, not a girl. A group of children struggle to defend an English manor house from thieves.
Children of the Covered Wagon
The basis for Westward Ho the Wagons! A group of families travel by covered wagon to Oregon in 1846. By Mary Jane Carr.
Doctor Syn: A Tale of the Romney Marsh (1915)
I don’t think that the Doctor Syn books were originally intended for a young audience, but Disney adapted the story of Doctor Syn as The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh in 1963. Doctor Syn is an 18th century English vicar who turns to smuggling under a secret identity. He uses a scarecrow costume to hide his true identity and becomes the leader of the local smugglers. In the Disney version, he’s a kind of Robin Hood figure, although the original story had elements of revenge. By Russell Thorndike.
There is also a novelization of the Disney movie called Doctor Syn, Alias the Scarecrow by Vic Crume.
After he is robbed on a train, a boy sets out to find the thief who stole his grandmother’s money, recruiting a lot of other boys to help him. Originally written in German. The Disney movie made some changes to the plot. By Erich Kastner.
Two children with a mysterious past and unusual powers of ESP seek the place where they belong and discover that they are from another planet. There has been more than one movie version.
The Family Band: from the Missouri to the Black Hills, 1881-1900
This book was Volume 5 of the Pioneer Heritage Series. I might not be able to get hold of a copy soon because it seems to be something of a collector’s item, but this was the basis for The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band. The movie was about the statehood of North and South Dakota and the political struggles it involved. By Laura Bower Van Nuys.
Freaky Friday (1972)
A girl switches bodies with her mother for a day. Made into a movie by Disney four times! By Mary Rodgers.
The book is fairly well known and is part of a series about the character Blossom Culp and her friend Alexander, who both have psychic abilities. There is a lesser-known Disney movie called Child of Glass based on the first book in the series.
The basis for Disney’s The Secret of Boyne Castle, starring a young Kurt Russell. It’s a story of suspense and espionage, but the location for the movie was changed to Ireland. The original story took place in Scotland.
In Search of the Castaways (1867-1868)
Two children search for their shipwrecked father. By Jules Verne.
Johnny Tremain (1943)
A young man in Revolutionary War America joins the Sons of Liberty. The Disney movie has the same name. By Esther Forbes.
The Light in the Forest (1953)
A boy living in Colonial America is abducted at a young age by Native Americans and raised as one of them. When he is returned to his birth family later, he questions who he really is and what he really stands for. The Disney movie is slightly different. By Conrad Richter.
The movie that The Parent Trap (both versions) was based on. It was originally written in German and took place in Germany and Austria.
The Mad Scientists’ Club (1961)
A collection of short stories about a group of boys and their inventions, which they use to play pranks in their town. The short stories were originally published in Boys’ Life magazine, and one of the stories was made into a Disney movie for television, The Strange Monster of Strawberry Cove. By Bertrand R. Brinley.
Mary Poppins (1934)
A magical nanny comes to take care of . By P. L. Travers.
Midnight and Jeremiah (1943)
The basis for So Dear to My Heart. This book was also rewritten and republished under the name So Dear to My Heart (1947) with some changes made to the story. A boy raises a black lamb that was rejected by its mother and ends up turning it into a prize-winning sheep. By Sterling North.
The Moon Spinners
The basis for a lesser-known live action Disney movie of the same name starring Haley Mills. The novel was written by Mary Stewart and was originally intended for adults.
The basis for the Haley Mills movie Summer Magic. A widow and her children move to a house in Maine and take in a difficult cousin, but it changes the family’s lives for the better.
Pollyanna (1912)
A young orphan brightens her aunt’s life with her optimism even while she faces serious problems herself. This book is public domain and on Project Gutenberg. By Eleanor H. Porter.
Rest in Pieces
The Disney movie, Murder She Purred, was a murder mystery told from the point of view of the amateur detective’s cat and dog. The original book by Rita Mae Brown was also from the point of view of the animals, but parts of it were very different, and it was definitely not intended to be a children’s story. I’ve decided that the original story is too violent for me to cover here, but because the movie is by Disney and okay for children, I decided that it’s still worth a mention.
The Secrets of the Pirate Inn (1968)
Three children help an old man to search for a hidden treasure in an old pirate’s inn. Disney called it Secrets of the Pirate’s Inn for the made-for-tv movie, and there are some notable differences between the book and the movie. By Wylly Folk St. John.
The Swiss Family Robinson (1812)
A family from Switzerland is shipwrecked on their way to Australia. The Disney film made some changes. By Johann David Wyss.
Toby Tyler, Or Ten Weeks with a Circus
This is the basis for the Disney movie Toby Tyler, which is about an orphan boy who runs away from his foster family to join the circus. By James Otis Kaler.
Treasure Island (1882)
A young boy gets involved with pirates and the search for buried treasure. By Robert Louis Stevenson.
Uncle Remus, His Songs and His Sayings: The Folk-Lore of the Old Plantation (1880)
A collection of African American folktales. Later adapted as Disney’s Song of the South. Because of the character and dialect stereotypes portrayed in the story, the book is controversial today, although the stories are based on real oral folktales and may be of interest to people who study folklore. It is the first in a series of folktale collections. By Joel Chandler Harris.
A Watcher in the Woods (1976)
The basis for the Disney movie The Watcher in the Woods. A family moves into an old house in the country, and one of the daughters, Jan, feels like something is watching them from the nearby woods. Could it be connected to the mysterious disappearance of Mrs. Aylwood’s daughter, Karen, years before? By Florence Engel Randall.
The Whisper in the Gloom
This book was the basis for the made-for-tv movie The Kids Who Knew Too Much. The original book was by Nicholas Blake.
The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (1962)
A girl and her cousin are left at the mercy of a devious distant relative when the girl’s parents leave on a long journey and are presumed dead. By Joan Aiken.
Series
A boy inventor solves mysteries with his sister and friend. By Clifford B. Hicks. 1962-2009.
Animated
101 Dalmations (1956)
By Dodie Smith.
A little girl travels to a strange, magical land by falling down a rabbit hole. By Lewis Carroll.
The movie The Great Mouse Detective has little in common with the original series of books it was based on although both feature a mouse who idolizes Sherlock Holmes, lives in his house, and studies his methods.
The Jungle Book (1894)
By Rudyard Kipling.
The Once and Future King
Disney’s The Sword in the Stone covers the first part of this book, the story of King Arthur’s early life.
Peter and Wendy (1911)
This was the novelization of the play from 1904, Peter Pan; or, the Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up. Peter Pan is a boy who never grows up, living in the magical land of Neverland with his friends, the Lost Boys and a fairy named Tinker Bell and having adventures. Neverland is inhabited by various people and elements that appear in classical children’s literature, like Indians (Native Americans), mermaids, and pirates. Peter Pan existed as a character in one of Barrie’s previous books, but the play and this book added the characters of Wendy and her brothers, popularizing Wendy as a first name. The ending of the book includes a section not included in the original play about how Wendy grew up, got married, and had children of her own. Peter is disappointed, until Wendy’s daughter Jane goes to Neverland with him, and when Jane grows up, her daughter Margaret goes to Neverland, too. The ending indicates that the cycle continues through the generations of the family. By J. M. Barrie.
The Reluctant Dragon
The people of a village are terrified of a dragon, but a young boy becomes friends with it. By Kenneth Grahame.
The Wind in the Willows (1908)
The adventures of talking animals who act like humans: Toad, Mole, Ratty, and Badger. Disney made this story into one part of a two-part animated feature called The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad. By Kenneth Grahame.
Series
A society of mice helps to free human prisoners. Disney’s Rescuers movies are very different from the original books, and I think the changes are for the better. By Margery Sharp. 1959-1978.
Disney Movies That Became Novels
Every modern Disney movie has a novelized version now, but I’d like to give these other novels of lesser-known movies a special mention.
Frankenstein and the Whiz Kid (1975)
A boy inventor learns something disturbing about a new neighbor and some robbers associated with a carnival. By Vic Crume.
The Mystery in Dracula’s Castle
A boy who idolizes Sherlock Holmes agrees to help his brother with his Dracula movie over the summer and ends up finding a mystery to solve. By Vic Crume.
Resources
If you’re a big Disney fan, check out some of these other resources for more information!
Every Disney Movie Ever by Jess Lambert
Jess Lambert has a series of movie reviews on YouTube for both live action and animated Disney movies. She explains not only the plots of Disney movies but also some of the history behind the movies, including mentions of the books they’re based on, film techniques, and information about actors and film crews.
Jestress's Forgotten Books and Stories 