The 9 biggest changes to the book

Dreamworks’ Home is an adaptation of Adam Rex’ The true meaning of Smekdayabout a young girl named Tip searching for her mother during an alien invasion, teams up with her pet cat Pig and a new alien friend. Together, they might be just the heroes the world needs to end an intergalactic battle.

Home

Release date

18 March 2015

director

Tim Johnson

Duration

94

Authors

Tom J. Astle, Matt Ember, Adam Rex

Studio

DreamWorks Animation

slogan

Worlds collide.

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However, sometimes the book and the movie go in different directions. Characters can have drastically different personalities, motivations, and even names in the two stories. It can get to the point where certain characters aren’t even recognizable in the two stories. In fact, both versions have their own spin-offs as well.

The original book has a sequel, Smek for the President!which followed the story before the release of the original film. There was also an animated spin-off of the animated film, Home: Adventures with Tip & Ohwhich partly combined different elements from the film and the book.

9 Oh was originally called J.Lo in the book

In the book, the alien protagonist on Earth takes the name “J.Lo” and claims that his real name would be impossible for humans to pronounce unless they had two heads. The fact that the name is also the nickname of actress and singer Jennifer Lopez does not escape Tip, who has to suppress a laugh when she hears it.

The film lost a J.Lo, but got the real

In HomeHowever, “J.Lo” is renamed “Oh” because he supposedly got that name from “many friends”. It is explained here that Oh is so unpopular with the other aliens that they say “Oh” every time he appears.

The real Jennifer Lopez is heard in the film version as the voice of Tip’s mother, Lucy Tucci, as a nod to the shout-out in the original story. Lopez reportedly actually agreed with the idea of ​​the character being named after her. However, there were ultimately concerns that using her nickname could cause licensing or trademark issues, so the character was given a new name.

8th The film changes the perspective compared to the book

Home begins with the alien characters, with Oh serving as narrator. After invading Earth, Oh invites the other Boov to a party at his new home. When Oh accidentally invites the Gorg, the Boov’s arch-enemy, and reveals the species’ new home on Earth, he is labeled a fugitive. Eventually, he meets Tip at a convenience store.

The book is written like an essay

In The true meaning of SmekdayThe story, however, begins from Tip’s perspective, with the book presented as an essay she writes for a competition, the National Time Capsule Project. Similar to the film, Tip meets J.Lo after her car breaks down and learns that he accidentally made contact with the Gorg while working on a radio tower.

7 Lucy is more level-headed in the film

In the book, it is implied that Tip’s mother Lucy has a rather goofy personality. At one point, Tip remarks, “When people ask me about her, | they say she’s very pretty. When they ask if she’s as smart as me, | they say she’s very pretty.” She also notes that her mother gave her the name “Gratuity” without knowing what it actually meant, which led to her nickname her “Turtlebear.”

Although Lucy was right about the aliens

As the story progresses, however, Lucy proves to be a stronger character with the makings of a leader. In fact, the story also shows that Lucy is more aware of the situation than other characters. For example, she believed that the blame lies with aliens and not a suspicious mole, which is confirmed by the invasion.

Home instead portrays Lucy as quite level-headed from the beginning. Her personality was noticed in the spin-off series, Home: Adventures with Tip and Ohis a combination of both versions, is usually calm and collected, but occasionally has sillier moments, such as dressing up as Shrek for Halloween or getting involved in a food fight.

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6 Tip dies at the end of the book (after a time jump)

The book ends with Tip’s obituary, which states that she lived to the ripe old age of 113. “Gratuity Tucci,” a senior citizen living in Washington, DC, is known for her contributions to the National Time Capsule Project.

It is revealed that she succumbed to a fatal heart attack during the unveiling of a time capsule. Her last words are “Excuse my language” after mumbling something unintelligible. The woman once known as Tip reportedly leaves behind a large family, including a husband, two children and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren, as well as a Boov.

Of course, Tip came back for the follow-up book

The time jump does not appear in Homewhich means that Tip is technically still alive at the end of the film. A spin-off series, Home: Adventures with Tip & Ohtakes place after the events of the film. Before the film was released, however, the original book was continued with its own sequel, Smek for the President!in which Tip and J.Lo go on vacation to New Boovworld, with the latter becoming involved in a political election campaign.

5 Chief Shouting Bear was cut from the film (along with several others)

Some characters from The true meaning of Smekday do not appear in the film adaptation of the story. One such character from the book was Chief Shouting Bear, a Native American veteran and scrap dealer, and his dog Lincoln. The book uses Chief to emphasize how the invasion resembles real-life colonialism.

Chief also has a fake flying saucer that he shows to tourists, which turns out to be a real Boov plane beneath the papier-mache exterior. Finally, Chief dies of old age near the end of the book.

The Renegade Boys returned for the series

Another character who becomes important later is Dan Landry, a politician who is supposedly friends with Tip’s mother. Landry has a plan to outsmart the Gorg, but ends up being too much for him. Despite this, he ends up taking credit for Tip and J.Lo saving the day, complete with an “artistic representation” that portrays him as some sort of sci-fi hero. Tip and J.Lo are OK with this, however, especially after fame ruins Landry’s life.

Not all characters from the book were completely abandoned. The Boov Out Boys, for example, who were antagonists in Home Adventures with Tip And Ohseem to be based in part on various encounters Tip has with renegade boys in the original book.

4 There is no “Happy Mouse Kingdom” in the book

In The true meaning of SmekdayThe Boov have all humans relocated to Florida. Tip evades the forced relocation and takes the family car in the hope of finding her mother. At first she searches for her in the “Happy Mouse Kingdom” in Florida without success. Her travels later take her to Roswell, New Mexico and finally to Arizona.

Paris about the Happy Mouse Kingdom

Some of the new geography is being used for social commentary. The invasion, for example, has not stopped celebrities from living their usual lifestyles. Actors are grouping together in Scottsdale, now known as “New Hollywood,” and waiting for the film industry to return. Musicians are also grouping together in Sedona, trying to raise awareness of the invasion, even though it is widely known.

In HomeHowever, the locations are different. The Boov move the people to the Australian outback. Before that, Tip and Oh’s adventure also takes them to Paris before they reach Australia. Oh also briefly considers leaving Tip behind in Antarctica.

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3 Captain Smek was portrayed even more evil in the film

In HomeCaptain Smek is the leader of the Boov race. As the film progresses, it becomes clear that he is responsible for most of the conflicts in history. During a peace conference that was doomed to failure, he took a small stone and placed it in his “Schusher Wand,” which later turned out to be the Gorg’s egg.

From captain to DJ

Furthermore, Smek is portrayed as corrupt. He orders Oh’s execution despite his invitation being withdrawn and spreads misanthropic propaganda. After his lies are exposed, Oh is appointed the new captain. However, Smek seems to come to terms with this in the end and even becomes DJ.

In the original book, Smek is portrayed as incompetent, but is not as evil and is not to blame for the Gorg attack. The sequel, Smek for the President!even has J.Lo beg Captain Smek for a pardon after she was wrongly blamed for colonizing the planet, as Dan Landry got the credit for stopping the invasion.

In Home: Adventures with Tip & Ohwhich follows the plot of the film, Smek is made the main antagonist, who even turned red with anger at Tip and Oh.

2 The pig had a different role in the book

Tips house cat Pig proves to be more than just a mascot in HomeIn fact, Pig is the reason Tip was spared from being abducted by aliens, as it clung to them during the collection, confusing the scanner, allowing Tip to escape and moving the plot forward.

You can never have too many cats

In the original book, however, Pig played a more important role in the climax of the story. When it is revealed that the Nimrogs are allergic to cats, their cloning technology is used to create an army of Pig clones. Eventually, the allergy forces the enemy to abandon Earth, declaring the planet to belong to the cat.

Another important change is Pig’s gender. In the original book, Pig is female. However, in the cartoon, the cat is portrayed as male. Interestingly, Pig is portrayed as a tri-colored cat in the film. In real life, tri-colored cats are almost exclusively female.

1 The Gorg is more sympathetic in the film

In both stories, the Boov and the Gorg begin as enemies, with the Boov fleeing from the Gorg after they destroy their planet. In HomeTip helps Oh realize that the Gorg, the last of his kind, wasn’t actually after the Boov, but the Shusher, an artifact stolen by Captain Smek. It turns out that the object is actually an egg that contains a new line of Gorg. The main Gorg was the last of his kind, and he was happy to take it back.

The Gorg was treated a little differently in the book

The Gorg were portrayed much less sympathetically in the original book. The Gorg, also known as Nimrogs, are invading clones who conquer planets for fun. However, they ultimately prove to be allergic to cats and their cloning technology is used against them to create a clone army by Tip’s cat Pig, forcing them to surrender.