MovieChat Forums > Northern Lights (2009) Discussion > Book vs. Film

Book vs. Film

posted 14 years ago by countrymuzluvr
1 reply | jump to latest

I was just watching this again on Lifetime and I had just re-read the book for about the 15th time. I wasn't able to catch everything but I did notice a lot of changes between the two, some of which didn't really need to be made. The biggest of which that I notice as the change in Meg's last name.

In the book her last name is Gallagher while in the film it's Galligan. I'm sure that had something to do with the name checking production company's do to make sure the name is fit for use, but it changed the movie for me a bit.

The next big thing that I noticed was Meg's dog. In the books she had two dogs name Rock and Bull and were Huskies. In the film, they dropped one dog and hired a pit bull type dog. Seems silly to not only change the number of dog's Meg owns but to also change their breed.

I know that there are other instances of things changing but somethings just shouldn't be changed.

[–] wmousie 7 years ago

That is a bit more likely. The film has a lot of fun at Nate's expense, showing him adjusting to the Alaskan weather, as he slowly acquires a heavier coat, a warm cap, and the proper boots. And yet when we see Meg's dog, it is a short-haired American Bulldog. Seems kind of cruel. A husky or at least some kind of long-haired breed seems more plausible.