“A Younger, Less Hairy Me”: Developing the Inner Child in Film Adaptations of Children’s Literature

Abstract:In this article, I juxtapose influential inner-child self-help books of the 1990s with my own analysis of two film adaptations of children’s books—How the Grinch Stole Christmas(2000) and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)—to argue that many adaptations of children’s literature refocus on adults by developing new content that draws on the concept of the inner child. Ultimately, I argue that reliance on such theory both essentializes the child and acknowledges the connections between childhood and adulthood in a way that privileges adults and their understanding of childhood.