Because it's summer, I had time, and I've always wanted to read all of the books referenced in this 1994 animation classic.

Housekeeping (fine print about my methods that you probably won’t care about):

I tried to include any reference so long as it was clearly identifiable. Thus Fantasy’s comment about her “Little Mermaid underwear” and Horror’s exclamation of “Sanctuary!” led to an inclusion of The Little Mermaid and The Hunchback of Notre Dame on the list.

Some stories were referenced more than once. If so, I used the first reference when compiling the order of this list (the exception being the paintings in the library; even though those technically are the first references to Jekyll and Hide, Treasure Island, and Moby Dick, I waited until those major movie scenes occurred). At times several titles would appear onscreen at once(usually when shelves of books were used as a backdrop), and I wasn’t picky about what order I listed those in.

If too generic a reference, I did not include it on the list.This is the case for the generic “Ghost Stories” that scare Richard Tyler and Co., as well as for the faun/satyr and fairies that appear in the Fantasy section.The dragon in the Fantasy section could also easily be a reference to any number of stories. I couldn't be sure, so the first reference to St. George and the Dragon remains on the list where the title is first seen.

Some stories have been retold so many times by different authors, or have such obscure origins, that attempting to pinpoint a specific author is a bit silly (e.g. Mother Goose, Aladdin, etc.). So forgive me if I don't happen to list the "difinitive" or "best" version. The exception are those Hans Christian Anderson or Brothers Grimm stories which are decidedly the reference point for most Westerners. I will not speak of Disney.

Some book spines were simply illegible, even on an upconverting Blu-ray player. Sometimes a movie character would block a title in a way that made it impossible to figure out what it actually said. Other titles were simply so generic that finding an actual reference was difficult (e.g. “Hunting”). I didn’t include those.

There was a clear reference to a Greek giant (or at least a giant wearing Greek footwear) toward the beginning of the movie, shortly after Richard Tyler is turned into an illustration. But as there are many Greek giants it was hard to determine a specific story, so I didn’t include a reference. I did the same concerning the large ship being rowed above Richard Tyler and the Pagemaster – though I’m inclined to think it was either Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ by Lew Wallace or The Quest for the Golden Fleece.

Towards the beginning of the movie (as Richard Tyler is being carried by the book cart) you can hear the line “all my pirates share the grave” which is from the epigraph in Treasure Island. I waited to list this reference until the major Treasure Island scenes in the movie.

The Scarlet Claw appears as a book title, but this is actually a Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes movie that is not an adaptation of a specific Sir Arthur Conan Doyle story(though it bears a resemblance to The Hound of the Baskervilles). I left it off of the list.

The Haunting of Hill House actually appears in the movie as “The Haunting,” but I thought it unlikely to be referencing the few, fairly contemporary young adult novels that go by that title.
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91 books · 8 voters · list created June 25th, 2014 by Tommy Grooms (votes) .
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Comments Showing 1-2 of 2 (2 new)

dateUp arrow    newest »

message 1: by Maria (new)

Maria Ilie Amazing article! I'm also considering challenging myself to read them all.


message 2: by Rosa (new)

Rosa You know, there's also a book version of The Pagemaster, so you didn't have to strain your eyes.


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