The book and movie versions of Series of Unfortunate Events are relatively dissimilar to each other.

The first book, The Bad Beginning, was published in 1999 and the other 12 were published in the following years. They were all written by Lemony Snicket, the pen name of Daniel Handler.

The movie, called “Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events,” was made in 2004. It was directed by Brad Silberling. It is an adaption of the first three books in the series, The Bad Beginning, The Reptile Room and The Wide Window. The film received a generally favorable response.

The basic plot of both the book and the movie is that 3 children, Violet, Klaus and Sunny Baudelaire, are orphaned and then adopted by their cousin, Count Olaf. Count Olaf begins to openly plot to steal their inheritance and the children are removed from his custody. They are passed on to several other guardians, who become incapitated somehow through the plots of Count Olaf.

However, besides the basic plot, everything is different from the book. Whole scenes are cut from the movie that appear in the books. Characters and places are also cut, changed or combined in some way.  Events also happen in a different order in the movie. Different events and objects are of significance in the movie than they are in the book. In the movie, a picture of an eye is a symbol signifying a deeper mystery for the 3 children.  However, in the book, the only picture of an eye that is mentioned is the tattoo on Count Olaf’s ankle.

Despite these differences, Snicket’s writing style is comparative to the filming style of the movie. Both were well-written and filmed.