The Wolves in the Walls

Last updated

The Wolves in the Walls
The Wolves in the Walls Cover.jpg
AuthorNeil Gaiman
IllustratorDave McKean
LanguageEnglish
Genre Children's
PublisherHarperCollins
Publication date
5 August 2003
Publication placeUnited States
Media typeHardcover
Pages56
ISBN 0-380-97827-X

The Wolves in the Walls is a book by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean, published in 2003, in the United States by HarperCollins, and in the United Kingdom by Bloomsbury. The book was highly praised on release, winning three awards for that year. In 2006, it was made into a musical which toured the UK and visited the US in 2007. [1]

Contents

Neil Gaiman has said the story was inspired by a nightmare his daughter Maddy, then aged 4, had that there were wolves in the walls. [1] [2] In the story the protagonist, Lucy, hears wolves in the walls of her family's house, but her family does not believe her until one day when the wolves come out of the walls. [2] The book is notable for Dave McKean's art, which utilises many different techniques, including photography, computer-generated imagery and drawing to achieve its effect. [3]

It is also available in Spanish, [4] [5] German [6] and Italian. [7]

Reception

The book was very well received, with positive reviews for both the text and art. [3] [8] [9] [10] It won awards for The New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Book (2003), [11] the IRA/CBC Children's Choice (2004) award [12] and the British Science Fiction Association award for Short Fiction (2003). [13]

Adaptations

Stage adaptation

In 2006 The Wolves in the Walls was adapted for stage, as a "Musical Pandemonium" of the same name, with music by Nick Powell to which Neil Gaiman contributed some lyrics. It was co-produced by the National Theatre of Scotland and Improbable theatre, [1] [14] and premiered at the Tramway in Glasgow in March, [15] [16] before touring the UK for the rest of the year, winning TMA Best Show for Children and Young People for 2006. [17] In October 2007 it was staged in New York, off Broadway at the New Victory Theater, for a two-week run. [18] [19] [20] The production was very well received. [21] [22]

VR adaptation

In January 2018, a Wolves in the Walls VR adaptation was released for Oculus Rift and Oculus Rift S headsets by Fable Studio, a venture headed by Edward Saatchi and Pete Billington and staffed by former employees of Oculus Story Studio, as its premiere title. [23] [24] The VR adaptation was well-received, and in August 2019, Wolves in the Walls won a Primetime Emmy for outstanding innovation in interactive media, [25] and a Peabody Award in 2022. A second chapter of Wolves in the Walls, It's All Over, premiered at the April 2019 Tribeca Film Festival, [26] and a third and final chapter, They're Everywhere, released in November of the same year. [27] [28] All three chapters were ported to Oculus Quest in November 2020. [29] The VR adaption received a 2022 Peabody Award in the Immersive & Interactive category. [30]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neil Gaiman</span> English writer (born 1960)

Neil Richard MacKinnon Gaiman is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre, and screenplays. His works include the comic book series The Sandman and the novels Good Omens, Stardust, Anansi Boys, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book. He co-created the TV series adaptations of Good Omens and The Sandman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virtual reality</span> Computer-simulated experience

Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs 3D near-eye displays and pose tracking to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment, education and business. VR is one of the key technologies in the reality-virtuality continuum. As such, it is different from other digital visualization solutions, such as augmented virtuality and augmented reality.

<i>The Sandman</i> (comic book) Graphic novels by Neil Gaiman, 1989–1996

The Sandman is a comic book written by Neil Gaiman and published by DC Comics. Its artists include Sam Kieth, Mike Dringenberg, Jill Thompson, Shawn McManus, Marc Hempel, Bryan Talbot, and Michael Zulli, with lettering by Todd Klein and covers by Dave McKean. The original series ran for 75 issues from January 1989 to March 1996. Beginning with issue No. 47, it was placed under DC's Vertigo imprint, and following Vertigo's retirement in 2020, reprints have been published under DC's Black Label imprint.

Vertigo Comics is an imprint of American comic book publisher DC Comics started by editor Karen Berger in 1993. Vertigo's purpose was to publish comics with adult content, such as nudity, drug use, profanity, and graphic violence, that did not fit the restrictions of DC's main line, thus allowing more creative freedom. Its titles consisted of company-owned comics set in the DC Universe, such as The Sandman and Hellblazer, and creator-owned works, such as Preacher, Y: The Last Man and Fables.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dave McKean</span> British artist (born 1963)

David McKean is an English artist. His work incorporates drawing, painting, photography, collage, found objects, digital art, and sculpture. McKean has illustrated works by authors such as S.F. Said, Neil Gaiman, Grant Morrison, Heston Blumenthal, Ray Bradbury and Stephen King. He has also directed three feature films.

<i>MirrorMask</i> 2005 film by Dave McKean

MirrorMask is a 2005 British-American dark fantasy film designed and directed by Dave McKean, and written by Neil Gaiman from a story they developed together. Produced by The Jim Henson Company, the film stars Stephanie Leonidas, Jason Barry, Rob Brydon, and Gina McKee.

<i>Wheres Neil When You Need Him?</i> 2006 compilation album by various

Where's Neil When You Need Him? is a tribute album based on the works of fantasy writer Neil Gaiman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neil Gaiman bibliography</span>

This is a list of works by Neil Gaiman.

<i>The Graveyard Book</i> 2008 young adult novel by Neil Gaiman

The Graveyard Book is a young adult novel written by the English author Neil Gaiman, simultaneously published in Britain and America in 2008. The Graveyard Book traces the story of the boy Nobody "Bod" Owens, who is adopted and reared by the supernatural occupants of a graveyard after his family is brutally murdered.

<i>Crazy Hair</i> Book by Neil Gaiman

Crazy Hair is a book by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean, published in 2009 in the United States by HarperCollins, and in the United Kingdom by Bloomsbury. It is based on a poem by Gaiman, with artwork by McKean. In the story a father and daughter discover the joys of his crazy hair.

<i>The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish</i> Book by Neil Gaiman

The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish is a book by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean, first published in 1997 by White Wolf Publishing. It was republished in 2004 by Harper Children's with a new cover and afterword. The story is a retelling of the old tale of an object that gets swapped from person to person, until the original owner needs it back—and then has to swap possessions back again, step by step, to retrieve it.

Edward Saatchi is a British businessman and filmmaker. He is the chief executive officer (CEO) of artificial intelligence-powered virtual being company Fable. He was formerly a producer at Oculus Story Studio and the CEO and co-founder of political technology company, NationalField.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oculus Rift</span> Virtual reality headsets by Oculus VR

Oculus Rift is a discontinued line of virtual reality headsets developed and manufactured by Oculus VR, a virtual reality company founded by Palmer Luckey that is widely credited with reviving the virtual reality industry. It was the first virtual reality headset to provide a realistic experience at an accessible price, utilizing novel technology to increase quality and reduce cost by orders of magnitude compared to earlier systems. The first headset in the line was the Oculus Rift DK1, released on March 28, 2013. The last was the Oculus Rift S, discontinued in April 2021.

Oculus Touch is a line of motion controller systems used by Meta Platforms virtual reality headsets. The controller was first introduced in 2016 as a standalone accessory for the Oculus Rift CV1, and began to be bundled with the headset and all future Oculus products beginning in July 2017. Since their original release, Touch controllers have undergone revisions for later generations of Oculus/Meta hardware, including a switch to inside-out tracking, and other design changes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ramiro Lopez Dau</span> Director and animator of feature films and virtual reality

Ramiro Lopez Dau is a director and animator of feature films and virtual reality.

<i>Black Orchid</i> (comics) American comic book

Black Orchid is an American comic book written by Neil Gaiman with art by Dave McKean. It was published by DC Comics as a three-issue limited series from December 1988 to February 1989, and was later reprinted in trade paperback form. Black Orchid follows two girls, Flora and Suzy, who awaken in a greenhouse. Their journey to find out who they are leads them into contact with DC Universe figures like Batman and Swamp Thing, but also into conflict with criminal mastermind Lex Luthor, who seeks them for his own interests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oculus Go</span> Untethered virtual reality headset by Oculus VR

The Oculus Go is a discontinued, standalone virtual reality headset developed by Meta Reality Labs in partnership with Qualcomm and Xiaomi. It is in the first generation of Facebook Technologies' virtual reality headsets, and the company's first device in the category of standalone VR headsets, which was a new category at the time of the Go's release. The Oculus Go was unveiled on October 11, 2017 during the Oculus Connect developer conference, and released on May 1, 2018. Xiaomi launched their own version of the headset in China as the Mi VR Standalone on May 31, 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oculus Quest</span> Virtual reality headset

The first-generation Oculus Quest is a discontinued virtual reality headset developed by Oculus, a brand of Facebook Inc., and released on May 21, 2019. Similar to its predecessor, Oculus Go, it is a standalone device, that can run games and software wirelessly under an Android-based operating system. It supports positional tracking with six degrees of freedom, using internal sensors and an array of cameras in the front of the headset rather than external sensors. The cameras are also used as part of the safety feature "Passthrough", which shows a view from the cameras when the user exits their designated boundary area known as "Guardian". A later software update added "Oculus Link", a feature that allows the Quest to be connected to a computer via USB, enabling use with Oculus Rift-compatible software and games.

TheBlu is a digital media franchise that utilizes virtual reality technology to create 3D-rendered, interactive simulations of underwater environments in the world's oceans. Iterations of TheBlu have appeared as applications for the Samsung Gear VR and HTC Vive headsets and on the Steam and Oculus stores. In 2018, the most recent project in the franchise was launched using the Dreamscape Immersive platform, allowing up to six users to engage in a location-based experience. TheBlu was initially released as an interactive web application and screensaver by Wevr in 2011.

Fable Studio is a startup media company founded in January 2018 by Edward Saatchi and Pete Billington. It specializes in virtual reality media, and is using generative AI to develop a simulated reality titled the Simulation, and a streaming platform called Showrunner that can generate custom episodes.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Rees, Jasper (25 March 2006). "A nightmare theatrical debut – Times Online". The Times. London. Retrieved 6 February 2010.[ dead link ]
  2. 1 2 "The Wolves in the Walls – Description Details" . Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  3. 1 2 "Review – The Wolves in the Walls – Art and Photography" . Retrieved 6 February 2010.
  4. ↑ "Wolves in the Walls" . Retrieved 6 February 2010.
  5. ↑ Gaiman, Neil (September 2006). Los lobos de la pared. Astiberri. ISBN   1-59497-222-2.
  6. ↑ Gaiman, Neil; McKean, Dave (2005). Die Wölfe in den Wänden. Carlsen. ISBN   3-551-51648-0.
  7. ↑ Gaiman, Neil (2003). I lupi nei muri. Mondadori. ISBN   88-04-52288-7.
  8. ↑ "Review: Wolves in the Walls by Neil Gaiman" . Retrieved 6 February 2010.
  9. ↑ "Kidsreads.com – THE WOLVES IN THE WALLS by Neil Gaiman" . Retrieved 6 February 2010.
  10. ↑ "Neil Gaiman (writer) and Dave McKean (artist), The Wolves in the Walls" . Retrieved 6 February 2010.
  11. ↑ "Book awards: New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Book" . Retrieved 6 February 2010.
  12. ↑ "Children's Choices for 2004". The Reading Teacher. 58 (2): 189–203. October 2004. doi:10.1598/RT.58.2.7 . Retrieved 6 February 2010.
  13. ↑ "BSFA Awards: Past Awards". Archived from the original on 19 May 2011. Retrieved 6 February 2010.
  14. ↑ "The Wolves in the Walls – Improbable" . Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  15. ↑ "The Wolves in the Walls – Times Online". The Times. London. 31 March 2006. Archived from the original on 11 February 2007. Retrieved 6 February 2010.
  16. ↑ Gardner, Lyn (31 March 2006). "The Wolves in the Walls, Tramway, Glasgow – Stage – The Guardian". London. Retrieved 6 February 2010.
  17. ↑ "Theatre Awards Winners 2006". Archived from the original on 27 February 2013. Retrieved 6 February 2010.
  18. ↑ "The Wolves in the Walls – Showtimes". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 February 2010.
  19. ↑ "The Wolves in the Walls – Show details". Archived from the original on 10 September 2007. Retrieved 6 February 2010.
  20. ↑ "National Theatre of Scotland – The Wolves in the Walls" . Retrieved 6 February 2010.
  21. ↑ Thielman, Sam (9 October 2007). "The Wolves in the Walls – Variety review" . Retrieved 6 February 2010.
  22. ↑ Van Gelder, Lawrence (12 October 2007). "The Wolves in the Walls – New York Times review". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 February 2010.
  23. ↑ Damiani, Jesse. "Fable's 'Wolves in the Walls' Launched Lucy As A Virtual Being -- And The Implications Are Massive". Forbes. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  24. ↑ "WOLVES IN THE WALLS is the Future of VR Filmmaking". Nerdist. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  25. ↑ Roettgers, Janko (23 August 2019). "Neil Gaiman VR Experience 'Wolves in the Walls' Wins Primetime Emmy". Variety. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  26. ↑ Roettgers, Janko (25 April 2019). "Fable's Neil Gaiman VR Experience 'Wolves in the Walls' Gets Sequel at Tribeca".
  27. ↑ Carlton, Bobby (7 November 2019). "The Final Chapter of Wolves in the Walls Arrives on Oculus Headsets".
  28. ↑ "Emmy-winning Fable debuts final chapter of Wolves in the Walls VR story". 7 November 2019.
  29. ↑ "Wolves in the Walls Oculus Quest Release Confirmed". 7 November 2020.
  30. ↑ "83rd Peabody Award Nominees".
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.