IT: 5 Things The Movies Did Better Than The 1990 Mini-Series (And Vice Versa)

Stephen King spent over four years writing his best-selling novel, It, which would get published in 1986. The book would go on to be received as equal parts brilliant and controversial, and as is the case with so many Stephen King novels, adapting this story to the big screen was definitely a tall order. It aired on ABC in 1990, a two-part miniseries starring Tim Curry as the cunning Pennywise. This adaptation changed several times during development; what was originally supposed to be a ten-part feature helmed by none other than George A. Romero, ultimately was whittled down to a three-hour long TV movie that was written by Lawrence D. Cohen and directed by Tommy Lee Wallace.

Since it was so condensed and changed from what it was originally supposed to be, the 1990 miniseries was poorly received but held the title of being the only adaptation of Stephen King’s 1,138-page novel. That is, until director Andy Muscietti took on the project of bringing this story to the big screen. It: Chapter 1 was released in theatres in September of 2017, and the final chapter hit the big screen a few weeks ago, predictably dominating the box office. As far as several fans of It lore are concerned, the film adaptations of the story exceeded the attempt made in the 1990 miniseries by a landslide. Both adaptations had their strengths and flaws, so let’s take a look at 5 things the movies did better, and 5 things the miniseries did better.

10 STAYING TRUE TO THE BOOK – MINISERIES

Andy Muscietti made a great effort to have his film adaptations respectfully compliment the source material. Through Easter eggs and subtle nods, his It movies paid homage to Stephen King’s novels. But Muscietti took his films in a very different direction, notably straying from the book in more ways than one. Most significantly, the movies took place in a completely different time period than the book, occurring in the 80s and 2016 instead of the 50s and the 80s.

Muscietti’s films also made some substantial changes to It’s original lore, tweaking Pennywise’s origin and backstory to the point where it almost felt dumbed down for mainstream audiences. The 1990 miniseries undeniably toned down many aspects of the story, but it was set in the same time period and even made an attempt to keep some elements of the macroverse in.

9 THE SCARES – MOVIES

The miniseries is often viewed as poorly made and fairly laughable. Considering its shoestring budget, the scares were never as big and eerie as they were meant to be. Pennywise was portrayed by Tim Curry, but even that couldn’t save the demon clown from looking totally ludicrous.

In Andy Muscietti’s case, the scares were the main thing that his movies had going for him. The marketing for the films surrounded this adaptation being a version of It that was “actually scary.” With a bigger budget, mindblowing special effects, and Bill Skarsgard’s spine-tingling portrayal of Pennywise, Muscietti’s movies certainly surpassed the miniseries in the scare factor.

8 THE NOSTALGIA – MINISERIES

The It miniseries may not have stayed accurate to the book in terms of visceral horror and gory details, but one thing that it had going for it was the nostalgia factor. The portion of the series that featured the Losers’ Club as kids was set in the ’50s, and it included scenes like the characters going to the theaters to see I Was A Teenaged Werewolf (1957). The quality wasn’t great, but the miniseries knew how to invoke nostalgia in its audience.

The first It film was set in the ’80s and definitely provided audiences with a good amount of nostalgia, referencing bands like The New Kids On The Block and having a very Stranger Things-style vibe about it. Nevertheless, the 1990 miniseries nailed the nostalgia aspect.

7 THE CASTING – MOVIES

For what was basically regarded as a TV movie, the It miniseries did have quite an impressive cast, including Tim Curry, Harry Anderson, Dennis Christopher, John Ritter, and Seth Green. Notably, Green would go on to have a successful career with Adult Swim. But Andy Muscietti’s films definitely knocked the casting aspect out of the park.

The first movie focused completely on the Losers’ Club as kids, and many would agree that the casting was nothing short of perfect, with actors that complimented the characters excellently. The second movie had a lot to live up to and managed to succeed with an amazing cast that perfectly encapsulated the characters and held enough similarities in appearances to be believable versions of the kids from the first film.

6 THE KIDS’ LINGO – MINISERIES

’50s lingo would definitely seem corny and dated to today’s modern audience, but in truth, the It novel was riddled with it.

The miniseries took quirky, dated things the kids said in the book and translated it directly to the screen. The definitely nailed the original lingo, while Andy Muscietti’s films were far more targeted at a modern, younger audience.

5 THE FRIENDSHIPS – MOVIES

The cast of the miniseries undeniably worked well together and, for the most part, shared chemistry that made their dynamics and bonds with each other believable.

But Andy Muscietti’s movies went the extra mile, having two casts that had exceptional chemistry with each other. In effect, this created friendships in the films that are regarded as being completely iconic.

4 THE LOSERS’ CLUB’S BACKSTORIES – MINISERIES

While the movies developed a reasonable amount of backstory for the Losers’ Club, most of the screentime was more-so dedicated to the “here and now” rather than developing the characters’ history.

In the miniseries’ case, the focus was put more on developing the characters and their backstories, than any other element.

3 PENNYWISE THE DANCING CLOWN – MOVIES

Tim Curry was the first actor to bring the iconic, terrifying Pennywise to life, and there will always be a very creepy, eerie element to his performance in the miniseries.

Nevertheless, Bill Skarsgard encapsulated every aspect of Pennywise perfectly, giving an unforgettable, completely terrifying portrayal in both films.

2 PENNYWISE’S EFFECT ON THE ADULTS – MINISERIES

One aspect of the It novel that the second film glossed over was the effect that Pennywise’s powers had on the adults in Derry. The first film touched on this a little, but the second film almost completely disregarded it.

The miniseries managed to include this particular element, portraying the adults in Derry as unsettlingly careless, irresponsible, and oblivious – all of which is thanks to Pennywise.

1 SMALL DETAILS – MOVIES

The amount of thought and detail put into both of Andy Muscietti’s adaptations was very impressive. The film crew really took the time to include small but brilliant Easter eggs, which gave the films a lot more depth and paid homage to the book.

With the miniseries, it was clear that this was more of a hastily thrown-together project. As a result, there wasn’t a lot of detail put into it, especially since it was much shorter than it was originally meant to be.

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