My Book: “101 Movies To See Before You Grow Up”

Update 11/01/15 The book is #20 on Amazon.com and practically sold out! A second run of 4,000 has been ordered.

 

 

Update 10/21/15 The book was mentioned on CNET.com in interview I did for “Back to the Future Day.”

Update: 101 Movies is for pre-sale on Amazon.com. The “Look Inside” preview lets you see 25 pages of text complete with the custom art work created especially for each film! The book will be available October 29th!

If you’d like a signed copy, simply leave your email in the comments below and I will get in touch with you to make arrangements.

101 Movies to See Before You Grow up is the perfect handbook for movie-lovers of all ages, helping both kids and parents choose classic and contemporary movies appropriate for the entire family.

101 Movies To See Before You Grow Up by Suzette Valle

It’s here! The cover art for my book!! Isn’t it sweet?

I must admit, I squealed like a teenage girl when I saw it! What do you think? I absolutely love the color combination, the design, and the characters the art department selected for it — I think it’s simply stunning. One detail that can’t be appreciated in the photo above is that the title “101 Movies” will be in gold foil. What I love most about a book like this is it’s keep-sake quality.

I’m also thrilled that so far I have been able to count on key people to help me with this book project. Sharon Waxman, CEO and Founder of TheWrap.com, has been an invaluable inspiration and an exceptional friend to me over our 30-year friendship. Nell Minow is the Movie Mom, and I have followed her film recommendations for many years. She graciously agreed to help me put together the list of movies for the book. The Movie Mom and her depth of knowledge as a film critic was an invaluable resource for me to lean on during this daunting process.

You already know the story about how I got this book deal. Now, here’s what you’ll find on this page. Besides giving you updates on the progress of “101 Movies,” I will also be sharing some interesting information about each of the films I’ve been writing about. There are so many interesting facts, backstories, and anecdotes that I’ve uncovered while doing the research for these movies, that they all just don’t fit on the pages of this children’s book. It seems like such a waste to not share them with you because I think you will find some of this stuff fascinating.

Here are some tidbits I’ve uncovered doing the research for each of these 101 Movies. I hope that all of these fun facts, and others that will be in the book, will add to your family’s movie-watching experience — especially if you’ll be seeing some of these films for the second, third, fourth… you get the idea.

I’ll start posting more information about the book as I get closer to turning in my final manuscript — which should be around March. In the meantime, keep watching movies with your kids, and I hope you’ll want to learn more about films from my future book. Enjoy!

“101 Movies to See Before You Grow Up” Walter Foster Jr. Coming October 1, 2015.

The Parent Trap (1961) One of my absolute favorite films growing up! Remember Hayley Mills in the original movie playing the part of twins?  Since computer generated trickery wasn’t around in the 1960s, the British actress had a double who would briefly stand in her place in certain shots. The double would be filmed from the back while Mills spoke to her.

The Brave Little Toaster (1987) John Lasseter almost made this his first full CGI (computer generated imagery) movie except that Disney, his employer at the time, thought he was nuts for wanting to do this instead of using the traditional hand-drawn animation. He actually got fired after suggesting this. Turns out he went to work for George Lucas after Disney fired him. After that, he went to Pixar with Steve Jobs. The rest, as they say, is history!

Homeward Bound (1993) Sure, Michael J. Fox provides a great voice in this movie, but it’s the animals that really deserve more attention. Especially since the stunts in the film are performed by real trained animals!

Babe (1995) If you became a vegetarian after watching this movie, you have plenty of company. The Babe Vegetarians is an actual movement established after the slaughtering of pigs was brought to the fore by this film.

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971) Remember I ran into Tim Burton on the street at Comic-Con? I almost cried from the excitement. It turns out Burton also cried from emotion when he visited author Roal Dahl’s home. The author’s widow, Liccy Dahl, said Tim Burton visited her to do research on “Charlie and The Chocolate Factory” and told a reporter that Tim Burton sat on the lawn outside Roal’s cottage and wept.

Ratatouille (2007) Ratatouille is an actual French dish. However, for the CGI movie, chef Keller of French Laundry in Napa Valle, CA created a special version so the animators at Pixar could reproduce it in CGI.

The Princes and the Frog (2009) I have new-found respect for John Lasseter. After taking on Disney, he became the head of the whole kit and caboodle — Disney and Pixar. After CGI movies like Toy Story became the norm, Disney and other studios got rid of their traditional hand-drawn animation departments. The executives even wanted to get rid of their desks, sketch pads, and pencils — the same ones used for The Lion King, etc. To make The Princes and the Frog, Lasseter decided to do it with hand-drawn animation. He had all the previous Disney artists located and offered them jobs. Of course, other major studios followed his lead.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) Breaking with the long-standing tradition of theater-to-small-screen sequence, a sequel for this Oscar-winning film is set to debut on Netflix and IMAX theaters in 2016. However, theater chains AMC, Regal, and others are boycotting the Weinstein Co. and Netflix collaboration. The big movie chains are upset about the intrusion into movie-marketing customs. What do you think, is this resistance to change and greed taking over the mobile-viewing trend?

Forrest Gump (1994) “Run, Forrest! Run!” Is one of this movie’s most famous lines. Now you can run like Forrest, too. NIKE is bringing back the famous shoes Tom Hanks is holding in this photo — the same ones he wore in the cross-country (yes, he crossed the entire country) run. Sweet!

Titanic  (1997) This movie won 11 Oscars, and is tied with Ben Hur (1959) and The Lord of the Rings:  The Return of the King (2003) for Most Oscar Wins!

Movies Celebrating a Milestone in 2015

Toy Story (1995)  Turns 20 years old!

Back to the Future (1985) This year is this movie’s 30th Anniversary. It’s also the year we’re not supposed to “need roads.”

Breakfast Club (1985) is celebrating 30 years of this high school gang getting detention.

Home Alone (1990) is a quarter of a century old this year.

The Goonies (1985)  “Never say die!” This movie has a steadily increasing fan base still demanding a sequel. Josh Brolin was 16 years old when he was in this film. You can join the 30th Anniversary celebrations of The Goondocks in Oregon, too. Info here.

The Sound of Music (1965) The hills have been alive with the sound of music for 50 years!

I’ll be posting more trivia-worthy information about the 101 movies I’ve been researching. Come back for more soon!

The book is already listed  on Amazon!

And in the Walter Foster Jr. catalog!