Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

For the film, see Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (film).

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Author	Judith Viorst
Illustrator	Ray Cruz
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre	Children's
Publication date	June 16, 1972
Pages	32
ISBN	0-689-30072-7

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, published in 1972, is an ALA Notable Children's Book written by Judith Viorst and illustrated by Ray Cruz. It has also won a George G. Stone Center Recognition of Merit, a Georgia Children's Book Award, and is a Reading Rainbow book. Viorst followed this book up with two sequels, Alexander, Who Used to be Rich Last Sunday ISBN 978-0-689-30602-0, and Alexander, Who's Not (Do You Hear Me? I Mean It!) Going to Move ISBN 0-689-31958-4.

Plot

From the moment Alexander wakes up things just do not go his way. As he gets up, the chewing gum that was in his mouth the night before it ends up in his hair, he trips on the skateboard and drops his sweater in the sink while the water is running. Alexander found no prizes in his breakfast cereal at breakfast time.

In the carpool on the way to school, he doesn't get a window seat. His teacher, Mrs. Dickens, discourages his picture of the invisible castle (which is actually just a blank sheet of paper), criticizes him for singing too loud, and publicly scolds him for skipping the number 16 at counting time. His friend, Paul, deserts him for his third best friend and there is no dessert in his lunchbag. The dentist tells him he has a cavity (and thus Alexander is the only one who had one) and he has to come back next week so it can be fixed; the elevator door closes on his foot; Anthony pushes him into a mud puddle; Nick says he is a crybaby; he punches Nick in response, and their mother punishes him for being muddy and for trying to punch Nick.

At the shoe store, they're out of Alexander's choice of sneakers (blue ones with red stripes), so his mother has to buy him plain white ones, which he refuses to wear. At his father's office, he makes a mess of things when he fools around with everything there (the copying machine, the books, and the telephone), getting to the point where his dad tells the family not to pick him up anymore.

At home, they have lima beans for dinner (which he hates); there is kissing on TV (which he also hates); bathtime was bad for Alexander (the water being too hot, getting soap in his eyes, and his marble going down the drain); and he has to wear his railroad train pajamas (which he also hates). At bedtime, his night light burns out; he bites his tongue; Nick takes back a pillow he said he could keep; and the cat chooses to sleep with Anthony.

A running gag throughout the book is Alexander repeating several times that he wants to move to Australia because he thinks it's better there. It ends with his mother's assurance that everybody has bad days, even those who live there. In the Australian and New Zealand versions, he wants to move to Timbuktu instead (presumably because he already lives in Australia).

TV adaptation

On January 13, 1990, the book was adapted into a 30-minute animated musical television special that aired on HBO in the United States.

While the special remained true to the book, there were nine differences:

• Aside from the running gag of Alexander making references to Australia, the producers added another running gag in the special: he searches everywhere for his favorite yo-yo, a purple glow-in-the-dark one.
• Dad has no mustache and has brown hair instead of blonde like he did in the book.
• Nick has blond hair instead of brown and wears glasses.
• Anthony has brown hair instead of blond.
• The cat, unnamed in the book, is named Timothy.
• This special features 10 more bad things for Alexander:
  • He opens a drawer too far, making it land on his foot.
  • He spills cereal on the floor while searching for a free prize.
  • He falls off the back seat when the carpool stops by his school.
  • His friends refuse to let him play Monkey in the Middle.
  • He sings "roll" and "merlily" while his class sings "Row, Row, Row Your Boat".
  • His friends discourage him when he draws an invisible castle, sings loudly and incorrectly and skips the number 16.
  • His friends tease him multiple times when he explains why he refuses to come play ball with them.
  • He was forced by the dentist, Dr. Fields, to sit still for 30 seconds for fooling around with the toothpaste, dental chair, and tray.
  • The shoe salesman turns down his alternate choice of sneakers (green ones).
  • He is forced to sit on the couch for a timeout for playing with the copy machine and knocking the books off his father's desk.
• The special also includes 3 good things to show the audience that even a bad day can have something good in it:
  • Anthony and Nick make up for what they did to Alexander while waiting for their mom to pick up the car.
  • Mom finds Alexander's favorite yo-yo in the closet while turning off the bedroom light.
  • Before the credit crawl, Timothy (the cat) changes his mind and sleeps with Alexander while talking about how Mom says everybody has bad days, even in Australia.
• Although mentioned, the three following bad things are not shown in the special:
  • The family eats lima beans for dinner.
  • Alexander watches kissing on TV.
  • Alexander's bath makes the evening worse.
• The special also included three original songs:
  • "So much to do, so little time in the morning"
  • "If I could be the only child"
  • "I've had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day"

Cast

• Danny Tamberelli as Alexander
  • Todd Detreitas as Alexander (singing voice)
• Joey Rigel as Nick
• Devon Michaels as Anthony
• Linda Wallem as Mom
• Steve Barton as Dad
• Stephanie Maddin as Mrs. Dickens
• Skip Hinnant as Shoe Salesman

Crew

• Gábor Csupó - executive producer
• Bee Beckman - producer
• Tim Bloch - producer
• Judith Viorst - songs and lyrics
• Allen Foster - director
• David Geffen - Special Thanks (uncredited)
• Arlene Klasky - Special Thanks (uncredited)

Theater

In 1998, Viorst and the Kennedy Center joined together to turn the book into a musical production. Charles Strouse wrote the music, Viorst wrote the script and lyrics, and the musical score was composed by Shelly Markham. The productions have been performed around the country.

Other characters in it are Audrey, Becky, and many others.

In 2004, a stage adaptation was run at the B Street Theatre.

Film

Main article: Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (film)

In 2011, it was reported that 20th Century Fox had plans to make a live action film adaptation of the book. Written by Lisa Cholodenko and Rob Lieber, it was set to be directed by Cholodenko, and produced by Shawn Levy with Dan Levine for Levy's 21 Laps, and Lisa Henson with Jason Lust for The Jim Henson Company. Steve Carell has joined in April 2012, to star as Ben, Alexander's dad. In October 2012, Walt Disney Pictures picked up the project, reportedly due to Fox being "uncomfortable with the budget." In February 2013, Deadline reported that Cholodenko has left the project, and a month later, that Miguel Arteta was in talks with Disney to replace Cholodenko. In April 2013, Jennifer Garner was in talks to play Kelly, Alexander's mom. In June 2013, The Walt Disney Studios set the release date for October 10, 2014, and confirmed that Carell and Garner played Alexander's parents. The same month, Disney cast Ed Oxenbould as Alexander. Bella Thorne played Alexander's older brother's girlfriend.

Characters

Alexander and his two older brothers, Anthony and Nick, are based on Viorst's own three sons of the same names. But the film changed Nick to Emily, replacing the brother with a sister, and adds Trevor as well.

Cultural references

The phrase "terrible, horrible, no good, very bad . . ." has become an Internet meme, often used by bloggers, and sometimes by mainstream media, to criticize, or characterize setbacks for, an individual or political movement. The phrase is also used in the Stephen King miniseries Kingdom Hospital by the orderlies Abel and Christa.

External links

http://www.coterietheatre.org/alexander.aspx