The Swiss Family Robinson Movie Is Better Than The Book

After seeing the Disney movie version of "The Swiss Family Robinson" when I was a kid, I built a Swiss Family Robinson tree house and fort out of Legos (Not that you can tell from the picture). It was a great movie.

(I just couldn't edit this picture - the socks add so much interest)

I just read “The Swiss Family Robinson” for the first time (and when I say “read” I mean “listened to” because I do most of my recreational reading by listening to audio books during my commute). Not to offend anyone who has read this book* and loved it, but I like the movie version much better than the book*.

Typically, when I watch a movie and read the book it was based on (or visa versa), I like the book better.  There's always more fascinating details and anecdotes in the book.  This book* is the exception for me.

Here are a few comparisons of the more notable differences...

The Book*:

• The family has many conveniences including a mill, a yacht, lots of animals, farms, several dwellings, tons of food, etc.
• They are on the island for ten years.
• There are no pirates.
• There is no tiger in a pit.
• They shoot and kill about every type of animal that they encounter on the island.
• The girl's disguise doesn't fool anyone, but they pretend to be fooled for a short time.  And her name is Jenny.
• There are four sons.

The Movie:

• The family doesn't have near as much stuff.  They do have an awesome tree house that makes you think they must be related to Macgyver, several animals, a raft, etc.
• They are on the island for maybe a couple years.
• They fight pirates.
• They catch a tiger in a pit which becomes a booby-trap for the pirates (Go to 3:53 in this video).
• The girl's disguise fools them and they are very surprised to learn the truth.  And her name is Roberta.
• There are three sons.

* When I was putting this post together, I noticed that there are actually several versions of this book.  I only read/listened to one of them, so I can't actually speak for the others, but I believe they are more like each other than like the movie.  The version I read/listened to is the one I linked to above.

Cheapest Guy In Town, Garlic Joe

Gage and I were waiting in the car in the Safeway parking lot while Aimee ran in to get a few things and I looked up and saw this truck. Well, I had to take a picture since the camera was in the car. I'd want to hire this guy just to watch him eat poison oak and then hire him again a few days later to see what happened.

The sign on his truck is a bit hard to read, but you can tell that he removed the phone number and added a note to come talk to him at his truck. With a name like Garlic Joe, I'd rather talk to him on the phone.