Just before Bastian opens the window and screams out "Moonchild!" to save the land of Fantasia, I thought my chest was about to explode.
The NeverEnding Story brought the perfect amount of suspense. It was the kind you feel rumbling all the way through you – even down in your socks. Bastian and Atreyu saved their world. They were heroes. They were kids.
But they weren't the only youngsters into heroics. There was the girl who chased that rabbit, the family who saved the lion and that boy with glasses and a thing for broomsticks.
(More on Techland: Burton's Alice: First Victim of Hollywood's VOD Furture?)
Sadly, it's been a few years since we've had a new child hero worthy of the title. The latest to take a stab at it is Percy Jackson, who didn't quite translate on screen like he ought to have. Percy is the star of author Rick Riordan's five-part series about a boy who discovers his father is Poseidon, god of the sea. The film, based on the first book, Percy Jackson and The Olympians: The Lightning Thief only inspired mediocre reviews (but did manage to yield decent box office results).
(More on Techland: Steve's interview with Percy Jackson star Pierce Brosnan)
The Chicago Tribune's Michael Phillips says that "this could be the start of something adequate." But is "adequate" really how we want the description of the next great hero to read?
I'm not so sure.
Instead, let's look back at the children who did it right: Sure, they saved the world and got back for snack time. But they did it better.
Terebithia? Really? The Last Starfighter wuz robbed ...
Lev Grossman
Feb. 17, 2010 13:39pm
Any kid who can keep on keeping on after his best friend drowns because he wasn't there is brave. Dare I say, heroic?
Allie Townsend
Feb. 17, 2010 13:47pm
Let's keep it to literature-only for a moment (geek-wise, that is):
Tom Swift
Danny Dunn
Anyone under 40, please refer to Wikipedia.
Lev: please chime in with your own kid heroes from the world of books ...
dsheehan5
Feb. 17, 2010 13:48pm
BTW -- ever hear about the story of a young girl from Kansas named Dorothy ...? If not, I can fill you in ...
dsheehan5
Feb. 17, 2010 13:59pm
Sorry, dsheehan5, Dorothy was certainly in the running, but Alice got her spot.
Allie Townsend
Feb. 17, 2010 14:09pm
I'm sorry, but have you never seen Flight of the Navigator?
alaskanturkey
Feb. 17, 2010 14:11pm
Anakin Skywalker or Calvin Fuller instead of Wendy Darling? You'd think that the criteria would include that the movie would be good.
How 'bout Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn? Or go the anti-hero route with Holden Caufield?
grape_crush
Feb. 17, 2010 15:37pm
Hey, to each his own. Play nicely, grape_crush.
Though I adore Wendy Moira Angela Darling, she really did tend to reign things in a bit to be considered the story's hero. Peter far out shines her there.
Also, I tried to keep our heroes into the action/sci-fi realm. Keepin it a la Techland, you know.
Allie Townsend
Feb. 17, 2010 15:44pm
Whee is Kevin McCallister (from Home Alone)? This list is incomplete without him. He may have grown up to be less cute, less cool, but he fought off real-life robbers invading his home. He didn't go away or fight fake mythical creatures. Kevin was the best.
swut2
Feb. 17, 2010 16:48pm
Sigh...That version of Pan was really about Wendy, not Peter. And the headline is "Meet The Best Child Heroes of All Time"...
But, If you want to stick with sciffy, you can still do better, like Ofelia, or maybe David
Play nicely...
Ha! I am being nice. Good call on Short Round, btw.
grape_crush
Feb. 17, 2010 16:58pm
What happened to the kids of Lemony Snicket? You think *they* weren't brave?
cait48
Feb. 17, 2010 17:48pm
I'd like to point out the target audience of Percy Jackson. I'm teach an upper elementary class, and he is very popular there. Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, Holden? Their books are not only too difficult for these students to read but they're not appropriate.
The movie, too, was made for a younger audience. This audience isn't looking for fantastic acting skills; it's look for entertainment value. When my kids see movies like this one, they're thinking, "Did I have fun?" and "What was different from the book?" They don't notice if someone's acting wasn't Oscar-worthy.
guineateacher
Feb. 17, 2010 17:51pm
@guineateacher. That's all well and good, but there's no reason they can't make a good movie even if it is for the kiddies. I think a lot of the stuff that gets churned out for the childrens is atrocious dreck. Don't be an advocate for that mindset, imo.
masurix
Feb. 17, 2010 18:16pm
Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, Holden? Their books are not only too difficult for these students to read but they're not appropriate.
The title is 'The Best Child Heroes of All Time', not 'Best Child Heroes For Children'...unless Allie wishes to clarify the criteria again.
grape_crush
Feb. 17, 2010 19:57pm
I've read all five Percy Jackson books, and, I have to say, in the books, he's a pretty cool dude. By the end he's been dipped in the River Styx and all sorts of crap to make him invincible, and he destroys entire armies of Kronos that are parading around NYC at the end. It sounds like they butchered it in the movie though, making him sixteen instead of twelve...
tereglith
Feb. 19, 2010 21:16pm
My daughter liked the movie, but felt it was too far from the written work. I thought it was fun, but I wasn't expecting much.
I will stay in the genre/s of science/fantasy fiction.
If we are going teen like Skywalker, how about Paul Atreides?
If we are staying younger, Lucy Pevensie? She was brave and heroic!
Coming of age? Jim Hawkins. (although that could be Muad'Dib as well)
Biblical? David.
Historic? Joan of Arc
OK, the last two are not fantasy/scifi, but to modern day people they are as good as. I am very serious here, I mean no offense to those who are very religious.
Well, the examples up to now are much better, and I am reaching around the edges of what I have read/seen in books/movies.
I just wanted to get in on the "conversation".
bignumone
Feb. 22, 2010 20:26pm
...Andrew "Ender" Wiggin
I didn't read all the comments...but for a techland post...seriously
go look that name up and read the books.
cody32786
Feb. 23, 2010 16:51pm
I don't want to hate but there are some entries on this list that just baffle me. a kid in king arthurs court? really? here are a few I think coulda gone on this list:
def. some Ender Wiggin. props cody.
Chiyo from Spirited Away (or any protagonist from a miyazaki film really)
Lyra and Will from the "his dark materials trilogy"(if you've read it, they might be the most heroic kids of any story if you ask me)
Jim Hawkins from muppet treasure island
Coraline was a pretty good girl kids heroine
Jim Graham from Empire of the Sun
Ferris Beuller is about the same age as harry potter during that book
Hogarth from Iron Giant
yag01
Feb. 24, 2010 01:20am
The books with Wiggin sound interesting. I will have to look them up.
I forgot about Spirited Away and "The Golden Compass" (but I wouldn't call them the most heroic kids myself).
I still like the original Jim Hawkins better.
And I can't believe I forgot about Coraline! I really liked that book/movie.
I know why I forgot about Jim Graham, I didn't like the story that much and I don't see the scifi/fantasy connection. For that matter, neither was Ferris Beuller..funny, but pretty far from scifi.
Hogarth was a good one, though.
bignumone
Feb. 24, 2010 14:17pm
The three books in The Notherland Journeys trilogy have a great girl-hero who creates imaginary worlds, travels to them and, when necessary, saves them. Check them out at http://www.kathleenmcdonnell.com
notherlandjourneys
Feb. 27, 2010 22:37pm