Many books are only famous because of their significant film adaptations, with many not realizing their stories are based on books in the first place. These books occasionally sport some bizarre sequels that filmmakers never attempted to adapt, leaving them to go almost unheard of compared to their more famous progenitors.
It’s a shame that some of these obscure sequels of books famously made into films never got their own chance to be adapted for the silver screen. However, it’s easy to see why, as the follow-up novels to many famous works of literature tend to get increasingly strange, their authors pushing the envelope of their stories’ concept.
7
Spiral And Loop
Both the American horror remake and the Japanese classic are very different from the original The Ring novels, taking some extreme liberties with the story of Sadako and her tape that kills people in seven days. The sequels to the initial story, Spiral and Loop, take things in even more absurd directions totally divorced from what fans of the film might expect.
In the second book, Sadako loses her terrifying edge and becomes a cutesy starlet with dreams of movie fame, starring in an in-universe movie version of the first book that carries the same properties as the infamous tape. Sadako then modifies the curse to cause women who watch the tape to become pregnant with clones of herself. That’s not even to mention the discovery that it all takes place in a The Matrix-style simulation.
6
Charlie And The Great Glass Elevator
There have been three films playing with Roald Dahl’s famous book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, but its sequel, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, hasn’t been touched. This book, which picks up right where the previous novel leaves off, has almost nothing to do with the Willy Wonka’s whimsical chocolate factory itself, being more of a sci-fi adventure.
After accidentally entering into Earth’s orbit in the flying glass elevator, Charlie and Willy Wonka take a stay at the United States’ secret “Space Hotel”, only to find the place overrun with shapeshifting, man-eating aliens called “Vermicious Knids”. When they finally make it back to Earth, they then have to deal with Wonka reversing the age of Charlie’s grandparents into negative numbers.
5
The Starlight Barking
101 Dalmatians is known for being an adorable Disney classic in both animated and live-action formats, not to mention inspiring the hit villain origin prequel Cruella. But nothing about those movies could prepare a reader for Dodie Smith’s sequel to the movies’ source material, The Starlight Barking, which incorporates some nonsensical supernatural elements out of nowhere.
Here, it’s explained that every human on the planet falls into a deep sleep at the same time. Meanwhile, the world’s dogs begin to exhibit superpowers, including the ability to operate machines with their minds and a form of flight they call “wooshing”. It all turns out to be the work of a canine alien who calls the dogs to space to avoid a nuclear war on Earth.
4
Gump & Co.
Forrest Gump is already quite the strange traipse through major historical events through the eyes of one man, but Gump & Co. takes things to a whole new level. After the Bubba Shrimp Company goes under, Forrest makes ends meet by playing for the New Orleans Saints, only to meet up with his son following Jenny’s death.
From there, Forrest creates the infamous “New Coke” line of beverages, briefly has a breakthrough in pig dung as an energy source, meets Ronald Reagan and Ayatollah Khomeini on a secret mission to Iran, works on Wall Street, causes the Exxon Valdez disaster, and captures Saddam Hussein in the Persian Gulf War. No wonder development of a film adaptation was scrapped.
3
Tales From Watership Down
Watership Down is infamous for being one of the darkest animated movies ever created, though just how aimed at children it is, despite being an animated film about rabbits, is debatable. The original novel is just as bleak, but the same can’t be said for the anthology sequel, Tales from Watership Down.
Here, the lore of the titular hill is expanded upon with a variety of short stories, jumping around in time in relation to the first book. The compilation spends a lot of time fleshing out the in-universe folklore of the warren, with tall tales about rabbits of the past intermingling with the familiar characters of Watership Down.
2
Peter Pan In Kensington Gardens
Hook may have given an insight into what life for Peter Pan may have been like after the Disney movie ended, but Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens has only ever been adapted for stage. This prequel chronicles Peter’s life from infancy, explaining his heritage as being part-bird, “like all infants“.
The story then sees Peter exploring Kensington Gardens, an actual royal park in London, floating around in a nest-like boat. He meets some friendly fairies, only to learn that his mother has replaced him with a new son in his seemingly brief absence. The nonsensical story caps off with Peter falling in love for the first time.
1
The Second Jungle Book
There have been an incredible number of movies based on The Jungle Book, from animated classics to photorealistic live-action blockbusters, but none of them have taken a stab at The Second Jungle Book. This aptly-named sequel wanders across several different stories that take place in the Indian Jungle.
Some of these stories concern the human child Mowgli, but others introduce totally new characters that work within self-contained vignettes, one of which is puzzlingly set in the Arctic instead of the jungle. In between each short story is also an original poem, which could explain the difficulty in adapting the sequel for film.
