Danny Torrance

Last updated
Danny Torrance
The Shining character
Danny Torrance in The Shining film.jpg
Danny Lloyd as Danny Torrance in
1980 film The Shining
First appearance The Shining (1977 novel)
Created by Stephen King
AbilitiesPsychic powers
In-universe information
Family

Daniel Anthony Torrance, also known as Doctor Sleep, is a fictional character who first appears in the 1977 novel The Shining by Stephen King as a child with psychic powers called "the shining". His parents are father Jack Torrance and mother Wendy Torrance. The character was portrayed in the 1980 film adaptation The Shining by Danny Lloyd and by Courtland Mead in the 1997 television miniseries The Shining .

Contents

In 2013, Stephen King released the novel Doctor Sleep , a sequel to the 1977 novel that features an adult Dan Torrance as the protagonist. Warner Bros. Pictures produced a film adaptation of the novel with actor Ewan McGregor playing the adult Dan Torrance. The film was released in November 2019.

Fictional history

The Shining

Danny Torrance is introduced in The Shining as the five-year-old son of Jack and Wendy Torrance. He has psychic powers that fellow psychic Dick Hallorann calls "shining" – he can read people's thoughts, communicate telepathically with others who "shine", and has frequent, frightening prophetic visions. He receives these messages and visions from a supernatural entity he calls "Tony" that only he can see; his parents believe that "Tony" is merely his imaginary friend.

Danny has a difficult relationship with Jack, an alcoholic prone to fits of violent anger. During one such drunken rage, Jack snaps the boy's arm. Horrified, Jack quits drinking and tries to be a better parent, hoping to mend their relationship during the five months they are to be living at the Overlook Hotel as caretakers. As Jack falls under the Overlook's control, however, he grows increasingly unstable, and Danny comes to fear him.

At the Overlook, Danny meets head cook Dick Hallorann, who also "shines". The two sense their connection instantly, and Hallorann tells Danny to reach out to him with his "shine" if he needs help.

While living at the Overlook, Danny experiences terrifying visions of the various evil spirits that inhabit the place, including a desiccated old woman who tries to choke him. He also experiences visions of the word "redrum" – "murder" spelled backwards.

When the Overlook possesses Jack completely, Danny calls for Dick Hallorann's help and a possessed Jack attacks Danny and Wendy (and later Dick Hallorann, having come to Danny's aid) with a roque mallet, severely injuring both adults but failing to harm Danny. Jack tries to kill Danny, but his love for his son breaks through long enough that Jack allows him to escape. Moments later, Jack causes the hotel's boiler to explode, destroying the hotel and himself. His spirit remains with Danny, however, and the boy sees a brief vision of his father years later as he graduates from high school.

Doctor Sleep

Ewan McGregor as Dan Torrance in a scene of Doctor Sleep (2019) DanTorranceInDoctorSleep.png
Ewan McGregor as Dan Torrance in a scene of Doctor Sleep (2019)

Thirty years later, Danny (now going by "Dan") is still haunted by the events at the Overlook and tormented by his visions, and as such has become an alcoholic, just like his father. He drifts through the U.S. until he settles in Frazier, New Hampshire, where he quits drinking and joins Alcoholics Anonymous with the help of his friend and fellow alcoholic Billy Freeman. He gets a job tending to a miniature replica of the town and a small train running around it before eventually finding employment at a local hospice, where he uses his "shine" to comfort dying patients as they pass on.

He begins receiving messages from Abra Stone, a young girl with a "shine" of her own, who tells him of a group of psychic vampires called The True Knot, who are killing children who "shine" and absorbing their power. When the True Knot targets Abra, she telepathically asks Dan for help.

Dan travels to Abra's home and convinces her family of the danger she faces after defeating members of the True Knot who try to kidnap her. After talking with Abra's great-grandmother, Concetta Reynolds, he learns that Lucy, Abra's mother, was in fact Jack Torrance's illegitimate child, making him Abra's uncle and Lucy's half-brother, which he reveals to the family. He and Abra telepathically bait the True Knot's leader, Rose the Hat, into following them to the former site of the Overlook. He engages Rose in a brutal battle, aided by Jack Torrance's ghost; together, they push her off an observation platform to her death. Before leaving, Dan sees Jack's ghost wave goodbye and disappear, finally at peace.

The novel ends with Dan celebrating 15 years of sobriety, having become close with Abra and her family as he attends her 15th birthday party. Dan tells Abra about his family's history of alcoholism and rage, warning her to avoid the same issues. Dan advises Abra on how to handle her "shine" whenever she feels upset, before returning to the hospice to comfort a patient.

List of fictional appearances

Novels

Films

Other

Characterization

The Shining

Danny Torrance in The Shining is one of several child characters in Stephen King's early fiction who deal with parental abandonment or the fear of it; other characters include Carrie White in Carrie and Charlene "Charlie" McGee in Firestarter . [1] Heidi Strengell, in Dissecting Stephen King, says, "In King's view children, like Danny Torrance, are able to deal with fantasy and terror on their own terms better than adults because of the size of their imaginative capacity and their unique position in life." [2] The reference guide Characters in 20th-Century Literature wrote, "Some critics complain that Danny displays an improbable maturity for a child his age." [3] Author Dale Bailey, writing about haunted houses, said King's writing of Danny, a psychic in a haunted setting, borrowed the link made by Shirley Jackson and Richard Matheson in their works. Bailey perceives Danny as having ambivalence toward his father; he loves Jack, but through his "shining" he can see how emotionally disturbed his father is. King said there was evidence of parallels between Danny and his father, "Danny, like Jack himself, may someday fall into behavioral patterns of the father he both loves and fears." [4]

In the novel The Shining, Danny shares his power of "the shining" with several strangers, where in the film adaptation, he is secretive about it, even when confiding in fellow psychic Dick Hallorann. In the novel, Danny has an extraordinary intelligence, a large vocabulary, is attached to his father and is able to foresee all of Hotel Overlook's horrors. In contrast, in the film, he is portrayed as an ordinary boy with only the extraordinary power and has visions that change with events that happen at the hotel. [5] Academic Greg Jenkins says the primary reason for Danny being less talkative was the difficulty for a child actor to memorize lines, but he said the minimal dialogue also created more suspense. [6]

Danny has an "imaginary friend" named Tony that warns him of danger and has been portrayed in different ways. The Dissolve said King's novel suggests Tony as "a part of Danny, a piece of future adult potential made manifest". In Kubrick's film, Tony is only shown as imaginary, "his own crooked finger in an eerie, croaking voice". The TV miniseries, also by King, has Tony as a "glowing, flying, transparent teenager", later revealed to be a future version of himself. [7] Bailey said of the incarnation of Tony in the original novel was "a projection of Danny's mind, giving voice to anxieties which otherwise transcend his understanding", citing as evidence the interlinking of the male Torrances' names: grandfather Mark Anthony Torrance, John Daniel "Jack" Torrance, and Daniel Anthony Torrance. [4]

Doctor Sleep

Stephen King said he had been asked what happened to Danny Torrance after the events of The Shining, and he decided to write its sequel Doctor Sleep, which portrays Danny as an adult. [8] In the novel, the adult Dan Torrance is depicted as an alcoholic drifter who is haunted by the memory of his father. The Guardian said of the portrayal of Dan, "It... captures the reality of a recovering alcoholic, a state with which King is intimately familiar." King said he wanted to depict Dan as avoiding being like his parents and trying to escape his roots. [9]

In the film adaptation, Dan seemingly sacrifices his own life to save Abra by destroying the Overlook, depicted as condemned but still standing; this is a nod to the ending of King's novel The Shining. [10]

Related Research Articles

<i>The Shining</i> (novel) 1977 novel by Stephen King

The Shining is a 1977 horror novel by American author Stephen King. It is King's third published novel and first hardcover bestseller; its success firmly established King as a preeminent author in the horror genre. The setting and characters are influenced by King's personal experiences, including both his visit to The Stanley Hotel in 1974 and his struggle with alcoholism. The novel was adapted into a 1980 film and a 1997 miniseries. The book was followed by a sequel, Doctor Sleep, published in 2013, which in turn was adapted into a film of the same name in 2019.

Shining, The Shining or Shinin may refer to:

<i>The Shining</i> (film) 1980 horror film by Stanley Kubrick

The Shining is a 1980 psychological horror film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick and co-written with novelist Diane Johnson. It is based on Stephen King's 1977 novel of the same name and stars Jack Nicholson, Danny Lloyd, Shelley Duvall, and Scatman Crothers. Nicholson plays Jack Torrance, a writer and recovering alcoholic who accepts a new position as the off-season caretaker of the Overlook Hotel. Lloyd plays his young son Danny, who has psychic abilities, which he learns about from head chef Dick Hallorann (Crothers). Danny's imaginary friend Tony warns him the hotel is haunted before a winter storm leaves the family snowbound in the Colorado Rockies. Jack's sanity deteriorates under the influence of the hotel and the residents, and Danny and his mother Wendy (Duvall) face mortal danger.

<i>The Shining</i> (miniseries) 1997 American horror television miniseries

The Shining is a 1997 three-episode horror television miniseries based on the 1977 Stephen King novel of the same name. Directed by Mick Garris from King's teleplay, it is the second adaptation of King's book after the 1980 film by Stanley Kubrick and was written and produced by King based on his dissatisfaction with Kubrick's version. The miniseries was shot at The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado, King's inspiration for the novel, in March 1996.

"Autopsy Room Four" is a short story by American writer Stephen King. It was first published in King's limited-edition collection Six Stories in 1997 and appeared in the anthology Robert Bloch's Psychos later the same year. In 2002, it was collected in King's collection Everything's Eventual. It was adapted into a short film in 2003. It was also part of TNT's Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King series in the summer of 2006.

Courtland Robert Mead is an American former actor, noted for his performances as a child actor during the 1990s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danny Lloyd</span> American professor and former child actor (born 1972)

Daniel Edward Sidney Lloyd is an American professor and former child actor known for playing Danny Torrance in Stanley Kubrick's 1980 horror film The Shining. After appearing in the 1982 television film Will: G. Gordon Liddy, Lloyd retired from acting. He became a professor at the Elizabethtown Community and Technical College in 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Torrance</span> Fictional character in The Shining

John Daniel Edward "Jack" Torrance is the villain protagonist in Stephen King's horror novel The Shining (1977). He was portrayed by Jack Nicholson in the novel's 1980 film adaptation, by Steven Weber in the 1997 miniseries, by Brian Mulligan in the 2016 opera and by Henry Thomas in the 2019 film adaptation of Doctor Sleep. The American Film Institute rated the character the 25th-greatest film villain of all time. In 2008, Jack Torrance was selected by Empire magazine as one of the 100 greatest movie characters. Premiere magazine also ranked Torrance on their list of their 100 greatest movie characters of all time.

<i>Doctor Sleep</i> (novel) 2013 horror novel by Stephen King

Doctor Sleep is a 2013 horror novel by American writer Stephen King and the sequel to his 1977 novel The Shining. The book reached the first position on The New York Times Best Seller list for print, ebook, and hardcover fiction. Doctor Sleep won the 2013 Bram Stoker Award for Best Novel.

<i>Room 237</i> 2012 film

Room 237 is a 2012 American documentary film directed by Rodney Ascher about interpretations of Stanley Kubrick's film The Shining (1980) which was adapted from the 1977 novel of the same name by Stephen King. The documentary includes footage from The Shining and other Kubrick films, along with discussions by Kubrick enthusiasts. Room 237 has nine segments, each focusing on a different element within The Shining which "may reveal hidden clues and hint at a bigger thematic oeuvre." Produced by Tim Kirk, the documentary's title refers to a room in the haunted Overlook Hotel featured in The Shining.

Part of the New Hollywood wave, Kubrick's films are considered by film historian Michel Ciment to be "among the most important contributions to world cinema in the twentieth century", and he is frequently cited as one of the greatest and most influential directors in the history of cinema. According to film historian and Kubrick scholar Robert Kolker, Kubrick's films were "more intellectually rigorous than the work of any other American filmmaker."

The Shining is an American opera in two acts and an epilogue, with music by composer Paul Moravec and a libretto by Mark Campbell, based on the 1977 novel by Stephen King. The opera received its world premiere on May 7, 2016 at the Ordway Music Theater, Saint Paul, Minnesota. It is part of the "New Works Initiative" of Minnesota Opera.

<i>Doctor Sleep</i> (2019 film) 2019 film by Mike Flanagan

Doctor Sleep is a 2019 American supernatural horror film written, directed, and edited by Mike Flanagan. It is an adaptation of the 2013 novel of the same name by Stephen King and sequel to Stanley Kubrick's 1980 film The Shining. The film stars Ewan McGregor as Dan Torrance, a man with psychic abilities and a drinking problem, who struggles with childhood trauma caused by the horrors at the Overlook Hotel. Rebecca Ferguson, Kyliegh Curran, and Cliff Curtis have supporting roles as new characters: Abra Stone and Billy Freeman team up with Dan to take down Rose the Hat and her gang of followers.

"Midnight, the Stars and You" is a British-American popular foxtrot song written by Harry M. Woods, Jimmy Campbell and Reg Connelly and published in 1934.

Gage William Creed is a fictional character created by Stephen King who is the primary antagonist of his 1983 novel Pet Sematary. In the novel, Gage is an innocent child who is accidentally killed by a speeding tanker truck. Gage's grieving father Louis brings him back to life by burying him in the titular cemetery, which is possessed by a Wendigo. Once reanimated, Gage is controlled by the Wendigo's evil spirit and murders his mother, Rachel, and their neighbor, Jud Crandall. Gage was portrayed in the 1989 film adaptation of the novel by Miko Hughes. He was portrayed in the 2019 remake by twins Hugo and Lucas Lavoie. Gage was also portrayed in a small cameo appearance by his creator, Stephen King, in the 1997 miniseries adaptation of The Shining. Gage is briefly mentioned in King's 1994 novel Insomnia, though he never makes an appearance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rose the Hat</span> Fictional character

Rose the Hat is a fictional character created by American writer Stephen King. She is the primary antagonist in his 2013 novel Doctor Sleep and in the 2019 film of the same name, in which she's played by Swedish actress Rebecca Ferguson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dick Hallorann</span> Fictional character

Richard Hallorann is a fictional character created by Stephen King from his 1977 novel The Shining. He has telepathic abilities he called "the shining" and is the head chef at the Overlook Hotel. He meets Danny Torrance, a young boy who is also telepathic, and learns that the evil spirits of the hotel have taken control of Danny's father, Jack.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kyliegh Curran</span> American actress

Kyliegh Curran is an American actress. She starred in the horror film Doctor Sleep and played Harper on the Disney Channel mystery series Secrets of Sulphur Springs. She previously played young Nala in a Broadway production of The Lion King.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wendy Torrance</span> Fictional character

Winnifred "Wendy" Torrance is a fictional character and protagonist of the 1977 horror novel The Shining by the American writer Stephen King. She also appears in the prologue of Doctor Sleep, a 2013 sequel to The Shining.

<i>The Shining</i> (franchise) American horror franchise

The Shining is an American supernatural horror media franchise that originated from the 1977 novel of the same name by Stephen King. The novel was later adapted into a 1980 film and a 1997 television miniseries. King later wrote a 2013 sequel novel, Doctor Sleep, which was adapted to film in 2019.

References

  1. Beahm, George (2015). The Stephen King Companion: Four Decades of Fear from the Master of Horror. New York City: St. Martin's Griffin. p. 5. ISBN   978-1-250-05412-8.
  2. Strengell, Heidi (2006). Dissecting Stephen King: From the Gothic to Literary Naturalism. Madison, Wisconsin: Popular Press. p. 170. ISBN   978-0-299-20974-2.
  3. Howes, Kelly King (1995). Characters in 20th-Century Literature . Farmington, Michigan: Gale Research. p.  253. ISBN   978-0-8103-9203-8.
  4. 1 2 Bailey, Dale (2011). American Nightmares: The Haunted House Formula in American Popular Fiction. Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press. pp. 92, 95. ISBN   978-0-299-26873-2.
  5. Rasmussen, Randy (2005). Stanley Kubrick: Seven Films Analyzed. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. pp. 233–234. ISBN   978-0-7864-2152-7.
  6. Rhodes, Gary D. (2007). Stanley Kubrick: Essays on His Films and Legacy. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. p. 140. ISBN   978-0-7864-3297-4.
  7. Robinson, Tasha (October 31, 2013). "What The Shining miniseries reveals about the King/Kubrick divide". The Dissolve . Chicago, Illinois: Pitchfork Media . Retrieved October 7, 2015.
  8. Minzesheimer, Bob (September 18, 2013). "Stephen King finally reawakens Danny Torrance in 'Doctor Sleep'". USA Today . McLean, Virginia: Gannett . Retrieved September 30, 2015.
  9. Brockes, Emma (September 21, 2013). "Stephen King: on alcoholism and returning to the Shining". The Guardian . London, England. Retrieved September 30, 2015.
  10. Chitwood, Adam (January 21, 2020). "'Doctor Sleep' Ending Explained: Bridging the Gap Between 'The Shining' Book and Film". Collider . Retrieved August 7, 2020.

Further reading