I attended a fun press junket for Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules in Manhattan last week. The new movie will be in theaters beginning this Friday (3/25). My blogging friends Dina, Beth, Amy and Jessica were also there. One of the highlights of the day’s schedule was a roundtable that we and Eric did with Jeff Kinney, the author of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid book series and executive producer of the movies. Below are five things that stood out to me about Jeff:
1. The “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” series was a happy accident. Jeff was originally working on writing a nostalgic book for adults (in the vein of The Wonder Years or A Christmas Story) where there’s an adult looking back on their childhood. He was working on it for almost eight years until his publisher suggested that the one book would be better written as a children’s series. Thankfully for fans, he accepted his publisher’s input! As he said, “There’s a great Steven Wright line where he says, ‘I wrote a children’s book, but I didn’t do it on purpose.’ And that’s what happened to me, too.”
2. Jeff thinks that books are the best when they feel like ordinary stories. “I think everybody can relate to having a sibling” is one of the reasons that he stated for enjoying writing the “Wimpy Kid” series so much. A lot of his own memories of childhood experiences make up the fabric of the stories, but they end up being a mix of fact and fiction. Now that he has two sons (ages five and eight) he also draws inspiration from them as well. Some of the ideas for the “sweet and misguided in some ways” mom in the books even came from his own wife.
In keeping with that theme, Jeff’s point with Greg’s character is that he’s an ordinary kid…not a perfect one. The humor comes from his human flaws and those of the people around him. Overall, Jeff is proud of what he created.
3. Jeff leads a normal life…for the most part. Jeff claims that his life is very normal. He still has a full-time job as the Creative Director and Executive Producer for Poptropica, a kids’ virtual online world that he created. He gave further proof of the everyday nature of his life by sharing “I’m involved in the Cub Scouts. And I just ride my bike around the cul-de-sac and take my dog’s poop samples into the vet to check for viruses and things like that.” (Yuk!) He admitted that it is different when he is on set and attending events and such for his books and movies though.
4. Jeff is very involved in the “book to movie” process. He was on the set for about 25 of the 45 filming days in Vancouver. He also works closely with the movie animators to integrate the comics into the film. (The comics from the “Wimpy Kids” books are integrated into certain portions of the movie.) As far as casting, he gives input… “meaningful input” according to his contract. In any event, it was obvious that Jeff enjoyed working with the kids in the movie, because they had a fun, natural interaction when they were all together.
5. Jeff has fluid plans for the future. There’s a new “Wimpy Kid” book in his head (and on his iPhone). He has some other ideas floating, but he kind of takes a 10-year rule about things moving forward (sort of like in the book Outliers: The Story of Success). It claims that you need to spend about 10 years on something in order to become an expert at it/make it great.) He would also love to do an animated “Wimpy Kid” special. (I could totally see a holiday themed one. With those parents and kids, it could be like a modern-day “National Lampoon”/everything goes wrong but works our right type special!)
In any event, it was great talking with Jeff. He shared that his ultimate goal is to provide entertainment. An added bonus is that the series has turned many kids on to the idea of being entertained by reading. I would say that Jeff Kinney has reached his goal – with the books (He sent Michael a signed one with birthday well-wishes. I gave it to Michael yesterday for his 7th birthday and he is already two-thirds of the way through it. I have to force him to put it down). Personally, I also think that he met it with this most recent movie offering. I really liked it and my kids are eager to see it too!
What do you think about the “10 year rule” that Jeff mentioned? Are your kids fans of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid book series?
(Post image courtesy of Fox)