From stick figures to sweet flick

Jeff Kinney had a clear template when it came time to adapt his wildly successful Diary of a Wimpy Kid children's books to the big screen.

"I went right to A Christmas Story," says the author, citing the 1983 film based on the stories of radio humorist Jean Shepherd.

"In most kids' movies, the stakes are very high," says Kinney, 39, in Philadelphia this week to promote the movie, which opens March 19. "The world is going to end or somebody is going to die or something awful is going to happen unless the characters do such and such.

"In this movie the stakes are incredibly low. There are two friends who break up and you want them to become friends again. In A Christmas Story, the stakes were perhaps even lower. A kid wants a BB gun.

"We kept reminding ourselves when we were working on the film that you can tell a good story even on the big screen with really low stakes as long as the emotional part of it works."

The result is a movie of rare sweetness and innocence, one that captures the universal agony of adolescence.

On the page, the middle-school adventures of Greg and his best friend Rowley take the form of a journal illustrated with primitive, age-appropriate drawings. The books have resonated big-time with juvenile readers, with more than 30 million copies of the four Wimpy Kid titles in print.

Kinney was adamant on a faithful transition to live action.

"I wanted to make sure the voice of Greg, his character and sense of humor, translated really well to the screen," he says. "You want to make sure the movie shares the same DNA as the stick figures in the books."

Casting was key. And Diary of a Wimpy Kid hit pay dirt with Zachary Gordon and Robert Capron as, respectively, Greg and Rowley.

Capron, 11, declares that the film is an accurate depiction of his educational experience in Rhode Island, particularly the range of developmental stages that emerges as kids approach their teens.

"It reminded me a lot of real middle school because there are these kids that are 4 feet tall and then there are these kids who are 51/2 feet tall and some of them have mustaches and stuff, which is weird."

Gordon is far more worldly, having recently turned 12.

"I read the [Wimpy Kid] books and loved them," he says. "I actually told my mom I wanted to make a movie about it. But Fox beat me to it." He had to settle for playing the protagonist.

His character, Greg, has an older brother, Rodrick, whose sole purpose in life is to torment his sibling. That rang true for Gordon.

"I have two older brothers who are almost exactly like Rodrick," he says. "They're not as bad as him, but they trip me, they make fun of me, they pick on me. But I know they love me."

While the movie follows the plot of the first Wimpy Kid installment (Kinney is working on the fifth), it does pump up the action.

In the book, Greg is in trouble because he chases some kids with a worm on a stick, the author says. "In the movie Greg is throwing kids into a muddy pit at a construction site in a rainstorm - because it's much more dramatic and cinematic."

Hollywood convention also dictated reworking the final chapter.

"At the end of the book, Greg reverts to being a bit of a jerk. I did that because that's who he is and I was righting the ship," Kinney says. "You can't do that to a movie audience. You can't have them walk out with a bad feeling. So you have to make changes based on emotion.

"I think of my books as a joke-delivery system," he continues. "I'm not too focused on the narrative or on emotions. I'm focused on the gag writing. The movie is different. You have to feel connected to the characters."

Fiercely protective of his fictional universe, Kinney negotiated a deal that granted him a considerable role in the making of the film. He was involved in selecting the screenwriters, in casting, even in the marketing campaign.

But it's hard to get a big Hollywood head when you're working with kids.

"Jeff came up to the set on the fifth day of shooting," recalls Gordon, who can read the stitching on the author's belt because it's at eye level. "I said to him, 'You're a little shorter than I imagined.' "

Asked about the chances of a sequel, Kinney wimpily ponders his response.

Capron doesn't have to think about it.

"That'd be awesome," he blurts out. "That'd be awesome."