Children’s Meta-adaptation

This chapter concludes the book by identifying a subset of film adaptations of children’s metafictions that function as meta-adaptations. Although scholarly work on meta-adaptation is still emergent, it is clear that children’s genres already engage this mode. The chapter argues that while ‘metafilm’ is a problematic ‘equivalence’ for metafiction, meta-adaptation lifts the curtain on the otherwise-hidden processes of adaptation itself. The chapter presents the phrase ‘breaking the fifth wall’ for meta-adaptation. The chapter provides case studies of two book to film adaptations to illustrate two different but prominent types of meta-adaptation: The Invention of Hugo Cabret/Hugo, and the novel series A Series of Unfortunate Events and both the novels’ film adaptation and Netflix series (season 1).