December Boys - Differences From The Book

Differences From The Book

Points of difference Book Film
Setting East coast of Australia in the 1930s after the Great Depression in Australia and before the outbreak of World War II The film was shot on Kangaroo Island but was set on an unspecified part of the Australian mainland coast in the 1960s
Orphanage called St Roderick's called St Gregory's
Characters: Orphans There are five orphans in the book: Spark, Maps, Fido, Misty, and Choker (the narrator).

None of the characters in the book smoke. The time frame sticks to the one period of the summer - that is the boys are not shown as adults.

  • Maps is "the sharpest in looks and ways" but is not significantly older or bigger than the others
  • Misty - has only one eye
  • Spark aspires to be an auctioneer and is "ginger and well-freckled"
  • Fido is the smallest. He catches Henry the fish.
  • Choker, the narrator, is the one who overhears the conversation about adoption. He uses a found picture frame to dream through.
 There are four orphans: Maps, Sparks, Spit, Misty (often the story is told from Misty's point of view)
  • Maps - (called so because of a birth mark on his chest that is shaped like Tasmania) is significantly older than the others
  • Spark - (called so because of a story in which he nearly set the orphanage on fire by sticking a knife in a toaster) "is the real fun loving guy of the four. He looks at all the lingerie ads, he smokes, he’s out there looking for fun." He catches Henry.
  • Spit - (called so due to the fact that his father flew a spitfire fighter plane in the war) is "a character who loves himself and thinks that the sun doesn’t rise without his permission! Maps is his idol though: he sees him as a parental figure."
  • Misty - (called so because he is considered a "water works") "Misty is the youngest, but he’s the most mature. He’s the one that says ‘don’t do that, don’t do this’, and he makes his hair nice and tucks his shirt in." He is the boy who overhears the conversation about adoption. He has freckles and glasses but apparently has sight in both eyes. He uses the picture frame to imagine things.
  • The boys are also shown as adults remembering that summer holiday together.
Mr and Mrs McAnsh The visit of the children was paid for by Lady Hodge who paid for their fares and food. The McAnsh are looking after the children and are partial to drink. Mrs McAnsh had worked as a bar maid. Mr McAnsh had been the late Sir Henry Hodge's groom in the first world war and later gardener for the Hodges. Mrs McAnsh retains her health throughout the book. A retired Petty Officer and his wife. The McAnsh's are the sponsors of the holiday, paying for the children to come and looking after them. Mrs McAnsh falls ill.
Fearless and Teresa Teresa runs the local shop. She is notable to the children for doing cartwheels and applying lotion to them to protect them from sunburn. Fearless is the head of a gang working on a city underground railway tunnel. On the weekends he is the beltman of the local lifesaving team. Fearless and Teresa do not offer to adopt any of the children. Fearless works at the circus. Fearless and Teresa offer to adopt one of the children.
Socrates is a grey horse who kills fish to feed a family of wild cats. is dark brown; cats are not shown. Several reviewers found the inclusion in the film of the wild stallion as a less than successful overtly literary element.
Lucy Lucy does not appear in the book nor do any of the events associated with her A girl from Darwin with whom Maps has a relationship
Motorbike Red Indian Triumph
Music In the book a character, Fingers Galore, plays the piano - mainly classical works but also Rule, Britannia! and Painting the Clouds with Sunshine, a song from the 1929 film Gold Diggers of Broadway. Also mentioned is another song from that film: Tiptoe Through the Tulips. The film features popular music from the 1960s and 70s including Who'll Stop the Rain and Have You Ever Seen the Rain? on the film's trailer.

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