This isn't the Nancy Drew I grew with!

[DisnyMama]

I realize nowadays that movie makers love to take nostalgia, old classics and pop culture such as the "Nancy Drew" novel series and make it into a modern movie geared especially towards young girls and teens.

In the seventies as a young girl I loved Nancy Drew and read every book. Only seeing the previews it appears to look very silly and more on the superficial side than about the serious, ghostbusting and crime solving sleuth that was more important to Nancy. Also, it just seems like Nancy Drew is more like a Lizzy McGuire type.

This is just my opinion. I think it would be fun to hear what other fans of "Nancy Drew" think of the new movie that is coming to theatres.

 

[Papa Deuce]

I saw the previews and just shook my head. I sure hope they don't do a Hardy Boys film that way.

 

[Pixiedust34]

I saw the previews and just shook my head. I sure hope they don't do a Hardy Boys film that way.

I agree. My ds is a HUGE Hardy Boys fan. I think he's read every book in the series. Twice. I did buy him a Hardy Boys DVD from Disney's Vault, The Mystery of the Applegate Treasure. He enjoyed it but sat there like a grown-up and complained about discrepancies between the book and the dvd.

The Nancy Drew movie might be something my kids would enjoy if they haven't read the Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew books, but since they have, I think it would bother them that the movie looks like it has a modern Nancy instead of the authentic Nancy.

For kids who have never read the books, it's probably a good movie.

How many of you have kids who regularly read Nancy Drew or The Hardy Boys? Ds is the only boy among his friends who likes The Hardy Boys. Dd has read a Nancy Drew or two but they didn't hold her interest much.

 

[Cindy B]

Nancy Drew does not hold interest as much as they used to. It is considered "dated" by most younger readers now.

I would not be suprised if this movie will increase readership of all the books.

 

[bicker]

Yes, not much value in presenting folks films that they won't find interesting.

 

[shirleyb]

I haven't seen the previews, but I was a Nancy Drew fan. I can't seem to get DD interested in them. She does like the Nancy Drew computer games.

 

[RangerPooh]

I use to love reading Nacy Drew books. A few years back DH bought me a complete set of the original series! I was stoked. Now I ahve a set for either my DD to read or to be used in my classroom someday.

I have seen 3 out of the 4 original Nacy Drew films from the 30s and found them to be good, but of course there were discrepencies from the books. No biggie, they were still good. A few years back they tried making a TV movie for N.D and it was ok. I ahven't seen the the previews but realize that N.D is consdered to be outdated and what ever changes are made are probably done to attract an audience.

BTW, I ahve seen the Disney serial The Hardy Boys Applegate Treasure (?) and thought that it was good. I wasn't aware that it wa son DVD (i have Spin and Marty) so I know what I'll be looking for.

 

[Mrs.Toad]

My 9yo dd loves Nancy Drew books and can't wait for the movie to come out.

We just saw the trailer once and it's been a while, so I don't really recall it very well. While I know they need to update it to appeal to a wider audience, I'm hoping they just picked out the silliest parts for the trailer, like they so often do, and that the movie concentrates a little more on mystery.

 

[amy4bruce]

Being male, I never read Nancy Drew. I did, however, read the Hardy Boys and Tom Swift, Jr. When I started on these, in the 1950s, my father told me that he had read the Tom Swift books when he was young.

Tom Swift dealt with jet planes, washing machines, and other science fiction trappings of the 1930s. Tom Swift Jr. had rockets and an alien race that he was in contact with, science fiction for the late 50s, early sixties.

Twenty years ago, some paperback company floated a new Tom Swift series. I bought the first two volumes for my nephew. The first book dealt with an anti-gravity skateboard. The second book dealt with an evil Tom Swift from another dimension. Science fiction for the post-computer generation. I have no idea what new books would deal with. My guess would be gene splicing and stopping global warming at the very least.

The point is that these books were never considered great literature and were meant to appeal to the children of the period when they were published. The same is true with any adaptation. Deanna Durbin looked totally different from Pamela Sue Martin, who played the part in the 1970s Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Hour. The two Hardy Boys, played by Parker Stephenson and Shaun Cassidy, were totally different from Tommy Kirk and Tim Considine. Instead of short wave radio, for example, they had citizen bands. Today they would probably carry blackberries.

To criticize a movie made in 2007 because it is meant to appeal to the current generation of youngsters rather than one or two generations ago is "Make the movie for me, and to heck with making money." It's not going to happen.

By the way, this in no means is meant to praise the film. I have not seen it, and neither has anyone else. You can't tell a film's quality from the trailer, you can only tell what some marketeer thinks is important. I'm looking forward to taking DD7 to see it, at least until I read the reviews.

 

[barbeml]

I think an update of ND would be great...but what I saw in the previews was not ND at all.

Did anyone else read the "Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators" books? (characters were Jupiter Jones, Pete Crenshaw and Bob Andrews). That was my favorite series.

 

[azgal81]

I loved the books! I will probably see the movie. Did anyone ever see any of the shows/mini movies I know there were a few that came out in the 30/40s I saw them showing on AMC a few weeks ago but I didn't watch them.

 

[SamRoc]

I loved the books when I was younger, and probably wont see the movie. I think I would like to remember the books as they were, and not an updated version of them. Too bad no one in Hollywood can come up with any original ideas. There are just so many bad remakes out there.

 

[pandamom]

I was also an avid Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Bobbsy Twins, Vicki Bar, Dana Girls, etc. reader in the 70's. I was horrified by the Pamela Sue Martin, Parker Stevens, Shaun Cassidy tv shows when they came out -- way too different from the books. Now that I look back they probably weren't that bad since they were just trying to update the characters. If you ever read some of the original Nancy Drew books (blue covers vs. yellow covers of the 70's) they were very different -- the older books even had people ::gasp:: die in them. I still love the books and am trying to get my 8 year old to start reading them but they really are very dated -- many of the terms they use were already pretty obscure by the '70's.

 

[pandamom]

I think an update of ND would be great...but what I saw in the previews was not ND at all.

Did anyone else read the "Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators" books? (characters were Jupiter Jones, Pete Crenshaw and Bob Andrews). That was my favorite series.

I LOVED these!!! I tried to read the first one to my dd6 and dd8 a few months ago and they were not at all interested. I have books 1-16 and 18 sitting here on my bookshelf.

 

[java]

My 9 year old read one book and then said "Not my style mom." I loved the books as a girl so I guess that is the big problem. I think she may want to see the movie though. I have not seen any trailers for it so I can't comment on if I am upset or not by it.

 

[JoyG]

I read every Nancy Drew book I could get my hands on in 5th grade (1983). I remember thinking they were dated back then but I loved them anyway. They felt like "classics." I don't know if I will see the movie, esp. if it's done in a silly way.

 

[PattnFmly]

I agree. When I saw the trailer, my first thought was - can't they come up with anything original anymore? And she does look kind of silly too. But I suppose the publisher would love to have a resurgence of interest. I read all the books when I was a teen. And have them all too. Maybe I'll just have to get them from my Mom's house and reread ....

 

[Mono~rail]

I read every Nancy Drew book I could get my hands on in 5th grade (1983). I remember thinking they were dated back then but I loved them anyway. They felt like "classics." I don't know if I will see the movie, esp. if it's done in a silly way.

I was in 5th grade in 1984, and I too enjoyed reading Nancy Drew. I think a big part of what I liked was that they were dated from another time.

My DD14 read my old books a few years ago. My grandma had bought me all the Nancy Drew books, and my mom had saved them. My DD found them on the bookshelf at my parents' house one day, and she brought them home. She would giggle about some of the slang and tell us what it said. She likes ghost stories and stuff like that. Her favs are Christopher Pike and R. L. Stine.

 

[3DisneyBuggs]

I loved Nany Drew but haven't seen any movie promo. If they make her a modern Nancy, it won't be the same.

 

[harleyquinn]

Children's librarian here! My Nancy Drew books RARELY circulate at all and most libraries don't have them anymore.

Kids always tell me they are too old fashioned and boring. :confused2: I've had countless parents ask me where they are and they almost always come back unfinished and the parents ask for something else.

I think the movie might get some girls to read one of the old books, but it'll end there as the books are nothing like the movie previews.

BTW I never read Nancy Drew as a kid either, they were before my time and not popular at all (I'm 27). I was a big Babysitters Club fan though.

Maybe it's just my community though.