“I wish I could try a cooler demeanor,” author Judith Viorst told PW. “But I’m very cheerful!” It is indeed a very exciting time for Viorst – as well as for a certain loveably disgruntled boy with gum stuck in his mop of ginger hair. The feature-length, live-action film adaptation of Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day rolls out of bed and into movie theaters on October 10. Directed by Miguel Arteta, the Disney comedy stars Ed Oxenbould as Alexander, with Steve Carell and Jennifer Garner as his parents. Viorst’s 1972 picture book was previously adapted as an animated HBO musical in 1990, as well as for stage performance, but the forthcoming feature represents its first big-screen reimagining. And there was a lot of reimagining involved. It’s a tall order to adapt a 32-page picture book into a two-hour film, but Viorst said she could not be more pleased with the results.
Viorst recently attended a private screening of the movie, along with her son, Alexander (the inspiration for the series, now 47), and his wife and children. Calling it “an adorable movie,” Viorst noted the “clever” way that the filmmakers enlarged the scope of the book by focusing on Alexander’s upset over his family’s “not sufficiently sympathetic” reaction to his very bad day. In a karmic twist, Alexander’s mother, father, brother, and sister in turn experience their own terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days. Viorst feels that the film contains “familiar touchstones” of the picture book, while incorporating “alterations and improvisations” that flesh out the story. Much to Viorst’s delight, there’s even a surprise cameo by Dick Van Dyke.
From Very Bad to Best: A New Outing for Alexander
In addition to the upcoming release of the film, Viorst’s fourth Alexander book, Alexander, Who’s Trying to Be the Best Boy Ever, was released earlier this summer. The new book is illustrated by Isidre Mones, in the style of the original illustrator for the series, Ray Cruz. Mones is the second artist to adopt Cruz’s style for an Alexander book, after Robin Preiss Glasser, who illustrated Alexander, Who’s Not (Do You Hear Me? I Mean It!) Going to Move, in 1995. Viorst commented on Mones’s and Glasser’s “generosity [in their willingness] to subsume their styles” to honor the quality of Cruz’s original vision of Alexander. “I’m very touched and grateful,” she said.
While Viorst has written three other Alexander stories since the original three books, “I absolutely hated them,” she said. The story for Alexander, Who’s Trying to Be the Best Boy Ever – in which Alexander tries to be good after getting in trouble for consuming an entire box of doughnuts – resonates personally with Viorst because she feels it has a “somewhat transgressive” quality.
With the new book and the film on the horizon, Viorst has noticed a peak in the already steady stream of letters and emails she receives from readers, many of whom wish to share their own bad days with her after reading about Alexander’s. “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day strikes a note with people because everybody has bad days,” Viorst said. “Readers have a lot of identification with Alexander, because he’s not a sweetie pie. He’s an irritated, frustrated kid.” Viorst enjoys writing about the “naughty, non-angelic kids” as much as she believes kids like reading about them.
Viorst’s career has seen many creative diversions and ventures. Most recently, Viorst teamed with illustrator Sophie Blackall for And Two Boys Booed, a picture book about a boy overcoming stage fright during a talent show performance. As with the Alexander books, the inspiration for And Two Boys Booed came from a family member: this time, Alexander’s daughter, Olivia, who informed Viorst that “two boys booed” after she sang her song during her school’s talent show. Viorst’s very writerly response to her granddaughter: “Great title for a book!” Like Alexander, the protagonist of And Two Boys Booed learns to roll with the punches, emerging from a sticky situation just a tad bit wiser.
What’s Viorst’s next move? She’ll listen for cues from her characters. Alexander, Viorst said, “is a character that has never really let go of me.” But for the moment, it’s Lulu, a sparkplug of a heroine, who stars in the author’s illustrated chapter book series (most recently appearing in this spring’s Lulu’s Mysterious Mission), who has come to remind Viorst that she still has stories to be told. “Lulu is knocking at the door.... I just have to decide if I’ll let her in,” Viorst joked.
