I'm currently reading Swiss Family Robinson by Johann Wyss. I love re-visiting the classics, and have fond memories reading this story as a kid (albeit in an abridged version). I also greatly enjoyed the 1960 Disney film adaptation, starring John Mills. Re-reading the novel now, I am struck by how much the script for the Disney film adapts the story in to a much more traditional narrative. There is a great amount of detail in the book describing the plants and wildlife found on the island, along with meticulous descriptions of how the family adapts to their new surroundings.
The book presents a much more methodical document of the survival process, even if it does take a great deal of liberties with the realistic availability of supplies and resources on the island, as well as the father's knowledge of them and how to utilize them. In contrast, the screenplay adapts the family's adventures in to a much more concise story, punctuated with memorable set-pieces of the kind that tend to run together amid the many details in the book.
Purely as drama, the Disney film is far more satisfying for me. There is also a 1940 version, narrated by Orson Welles, which I have yet to see.
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