I took my kids to see the movie when it came out in theaters and half way through my daughter who is now 9 wanted to walk out.. and my son who is now 14 was sleeping.
The book is a favorite in our house. When my son was 3 he wanted that story every night for over a year. Even now, 6 years later, I can recite the entire book from memory.
The movie stunk. I couldn't get into it at all. Very disappointing.
The book was not bad, my daughter enjoyed. The movie was just plain weird, freaky and bad. it made absolutely no sense. I made it through less than 20 minutes. Worst movie I ever tried to watch.