Disney Adaptations

Being stuck at home makes for a great chance to revisit your favorite childhood movies, and for a lot of us, that means Disney.

But just rewatching the movies on Disney+ can only go so far. Thankfully there are several authors who have taken inspiration from the franchise, from novelizations of the films themselves to twisted retellings and villain backstories. And many of those are available on the Overdrive app, free to access on your mobile devices using your library card number!

Just searching "Disney" in the app will show you hundreds of ebooks and audiobooks. Warning: picture books, biographies on Walt Disney and guides for the theme parks will be mixed in with these results! But scrolling through, you'll find plenty of books following your favorite films and characters.

Not in the mood to browse? Here are some of our favorite books and series to get you started:

1. Twisted Tales

What would happen if one key aspect of your favorite Disney films were switched? Authors of the Twisted Tales series create retellings of the films they were inspired by -- and some are more wild than others. What if Aladdin had never found the lamp? What if Mulan had to travel to the underworld? There are seven of these novels available on Overdrive, but more are being released every year, with twisted retellings of Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, and Cinderella currently in the works.

• Aladdin: A Whole New World by Liz Braswell
• Beauty and the Beast: As Old As Time by Liz Braswell
• Frozen: Conceal Don't Feel by Jen Calonita
• The Little Mermaid: Part of Your World by Liz Braswell
• Mulan: Reflection by Elizabeth Lim
• Sleeping Beauty: Once Upon a Dream by Liz Braswell
• Snow White: Mirror, Mirror by Jen Calonita

2. Villains

We just love to hate Disney villains, but were they always so terrible? Author Serena Valentino creates unique backstories for Disney villains old and new, and she'll have you empathizing with them in no time -- whether you like it or not! All six of the released books are available on Overdrive, but Evil Thing, featuring Cruella deVil, is slated to come out this summer.

• The Evil Queen, the Beast and Ursula - A Villains Collection contains the first three novels in one audiobook: Fairest of All, The Beast Within, and Poor Unfortunate Souls. The latter two are also available on ebook.
• Maleficent - Mistress of All Evil
• Mother Gothel - Mother Knows Best
• The Three Witches - The Odd Sisters. Note: This novel follows the history of three sister witches who have significant roles in the previous works and are not classic Disney villains themselves.

3. Movie-to-Book Adaptations

Experience your favorite Disney movies in a new way by reading them! Disney created novelizations of many of its movies from over the years, though not for many classics. Here is a list of some movies you can read.

• Frozen
• Beauty and the Beast
• Tangled
• Finding Nemo
• Pete's Dragon
• Monsters Inc., and Monsters University
• The Good Dinosaur
• Inside Out
• Up
• Tinker Bell
• Mary Poppins Returns

Other titles have been inspired by their Disney movie equivalents, but have created side stories and continuations.

• Beauty and the Beast: Lost in a Book
• Hocus Pocus and the All-New Sequel

This writing brought to you by Courtney Dobrzykowski