5603kc+IBD+Letter

Dear Producers,

My sixth grade class recently read the novel //Island of the Blue Dolphins,// which is about a Native American girl, named Karana, who is stranded on an island. After, we watched the Universal Studios 1964 movie for this book. I feel that the movie was not enough like the book. I believe this movie should be remade because the old version doesn’t have proper casting, lacks special effects, and survival is a popular theme that can grab your attention.

One day when we were reading this book in class, we came across many characters that are a juxtaposition to Karana. When we watched the movie, those characters were completely left out. So it shows that there wasn’t proper casting. One reason there wasn’t proper casting is that in the novel, it said “I was known as Won-a-pa-lei which means girl with the long black hair..” In the movie, the girl who plays the role of Karana is wearing a wig that is made of short black hair. Now, you could find a girl with natural long black hair. In the book, Scott O’Dell talks about Karana’s older sister Ulape. Ulape is a juxtaposition to Karana because she cares about her looks and beauty, unlike Karana who takes the responsibility of looking after her brother, Ramo. When Rontu, Karana’s companion, is introduced, the author describes it very huskylike and says that it has gray fur. While in the film, the dog looks like a bulldog and has brown fur In my opinion, a husky would be a better choice for Rontu. As there were many casting difficulties in the previous version, you should really remake this movie.

Another reason I think you should remake this movie is because it lacks special effects. For example, in the book Karana stays on the island for more than ten years; in the movie, she does not look like she is getting older. Another example is that in the beginning of the movie, when Captain Orlov shoots Chief Chowig, there is no blood, and the whole scene could have been more suspenseful. Overall, my class thought that you should use the more modern technology to make a new one because of its poor technology.

The last reason I think you should remake this movie is because survival is a popular theme. This means that people would love movie based on survival. People love the topic and recent hit movies are based on survival. Also many hit movies and tv shows like //Life of Pi// and  //Lone Survivor// , are based on survival. The final reason is that true stories are something people would want to hear about; it can grab their attention. You may not believe me, but you could be watching movies and shows right now, that are about survival that you love.

Well, you may have many reasons to argue that it is useless to remake this movie, but admit it, Hollywood is starving for new movie ideas. This is your opportunity to redeem fame. Once again I think that it would be a great idea for universal studios to remake the movie Island of the Blue Dolphins.

**Return to My Index**

Return to Home Page

 Kruthika Chintamani 1/9/14 Pds. 5 & 6

**Cute and Cuddly?**

The directors of Hunters of the Wild Lands museum are seeking nominations for predators to be recognized in its exhibits. When most people hear the word predator, they think of tigers and sharks, right? But what about an American Black Bear? An American Black Bear ranges in almost every state is the USA. Because of its unique skills, features, and inquisitive personality, black bears are an amazing addition to the HOWL Museum.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: 27pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">One feature that compliments the black bear’s way of being a predator is its extremely sharp teeth. It has 42 teeth: 12 incisors, 4 canines, 16 premolars and 10 molars. After watching the movie Brave, you might think that black bears are vicious creatures; however, that is not the case. The black bear rarely uses its teeth to attack its prey; in fact, it only uses the teeth to snatch fish from streams in the spring and summer. You may think that the black bear is cute and cuddly, but the black bear has many physical features, like teeth, that can be used to catch its prey.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: 27pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Another two features of the black bear are the black bear’s color vision and keen sense of smell. Is it true that a bear's sense of smell is 7 times greater than that of a bloodhound? It indeed is. An American Black Bear can smell trash and human garbage from far away. Bears have average eyesight, but it is definitely not color blind. It also has binocular vision. Which means that the it can see things that are far away. Bears’ acute sense of smell evolved in order to help them find food, mates, keep track of its cubs and avoid danger, particularly between competing individuals. Except for mother bears, bears are territorial animals that need to range widely to find enough food to sustain themselves. Although you may think that a Black bear can smell and see regularly, a bear can smell and sense your trash from far away. So be sure to close your trash can.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">A black bear’s versatile diet is the most important feature that makes a black bear an effective predator. A black bear is omnivorous; its diet ranges from something as small as a berry, to as large as a baby deer. Carrion (dead animals) is often a part of a black bear's diet. To tell you the truth, a black bear does not enjoy the fact that it is a predator, because of its diet but it should be recognized. You may think that an American Black Bear is like a grizzly bear or a polar bear, but the black bear is not carnivorous or herbivorous, it is omnivorous.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">In the future, a black bear may be recognized as the most fierce predator because of its teeth, hearing, vision, and versatile diet. You may think that a black bear is very common and boring, but once you realize that it is a predator, you will be shocked with its abilities. Along with all the American Black Bear’s features and personalities, I will propose the idea of having the American Black Bear in the HOWL museum.