Can you still recall the first novel you have read? When I was ten years old, the first novel I read was called Lisa and Lottie. Once I read it, I was fascinated by it. The story is about a pair of twins who were casually reunited at summer camp after being separated at birth. Through my father’s recommendation, I went to watch the movie, The Parent Trap, which was adapted from the novel. Although the novel and the movie may seem similar, there are still some differences that can be identified.

     First, there is an obvious difference in the parents’ career in the beginning. In the novel, the mother’s job is an editor and the father’s job is an instructor. But in the movie, their careers changed to be a wedding gown designer and a vineyard owner. With those changes, the movie becomes more interesting and attractive. All content of the movie is related to the parents’ careers. For example, owing to the mother’s job, a wedding gown designer, the stepmother was originally willing to meet the mother for her fame. The stepmother expected that the mother could help design her wedding gown. However, once the stepmother found that the mother was the father’s ex-wife, she was about to explode.

     Secondly, the director and author use different narrative styles in describing the story. The novel is designed for children to read. The content is easier and simpler to be understood. Like other fairy tales, the author uses the first-person point of view to start a story and also adds some inner thoughts to catch children’s focus. On the other hand, the movie is designed for people of all ages to watch. The director is good at meeting the needs of the most audience, knowing how to make it popular by focusing on entertainment.

     Finally, some plots in the movie are different from the novel, especially in the ending part. In the novel, Owing to the twin’s illness, the mother met the father and fell in love with each other again. On the contrary, the movie is not exactly the same as the novel. The director arranges a trip to improve the mother and father’s relationship. During that trip, the twins teased and chased the stepmother away. Then, they brought their parents together. In comparison, the novel quickly goes through the ending. However, the movie is added a lot of plots on the ending to increase the depth of the movie. This is the most different part between the novel and movie though both of them have happy endings.

     In conclusion, the movie is different from the original novel in the characters’ career, narrative styles, and some plots of the story. In my opinion, each of them has a different charm. So far, I still regard the movie as the most classical American movie I’ve watched, and so does the novel.