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Differences between the novel and the movie

Differences between the novel and the movie

Here’s the most thorough analysis of the differences between the 2 “Shining’s” that has ever been written. It’s a study of exactly what Stanley Kubrick changed from Stephen King’s novel as these alterations are essential for a thorough understanding of the movie. The tone of Stanley Kubricks alterations are set in what I first noticed, the mirroring of colors, and are obvious from the very first frame. Important yellow objects in the movie like the VW are red in the novel. And important red objects like the Sno-cat in the movie are yellow in the novel. Danny’s red ball in the novel becomes Jack’s yellow ball in the movie.

The alterations are not just random but are actual reversals as if what we’re looking at (like “Redrum”) is being viewed in the reflection of a special mirror, and mirrors do stand out and are very important in the movie. Stanley Kubrick has mirrored many of the plot points from the novel as well, but you have to look very closely to realize the scope of what’s been done. The source novel has quite simply been turned inside out. Just look at the three items that The Overlook animates in the novel; the Hedges, the fire hose, and the elevators. In the movie we see the exact opposite and if you look closely none of these items ever budge an inch (the elevator doors only move in visions, not in the hotel itself). A perfect reversal viewed in Stanley Kubrick’s special mirror.

I’m trying to show here the detail and exact extent Stanley Kubrick went to in his alterations of the novel. It must be noted that he couldn’t reverse every single thing. Most of the names weren’t changed at all and places were reversed in a very crafty way. It may seem trivial but what he couldn’t literally reverse he just changes in some other fashion. The storeroom was altered, as he couldn’t leave it out of the movie. In the novel it’s a cold pantry where everything is stored (the utensils cups and plates, etc.), including food. In the movie it’s a food storeroom only, with nothing else. Durkins Conoco from the novel becomes Durkins Garage in the movie and he even changed Jack and Grady’s names in the movie. He’s not trying to draw attention to this and what we’re witnessing in Stanley Kubrick’s “Shining” is a masterful deception that has never been alluded to by Stephen King fans, who would be the people you’d expect to notice this. It runs mere millimeters below the radar screen and unless you stop and think about it you’ll miss it. Some things were doubled like the boilers, the elevators, Jack’s typewriters, and the Grady twins and I listed them separately.

Click here to see just how meticulous Stanley Kubrick was in his alteration of the source novel. This is just one small scene.




Here is a brief summery of what I feel are the more important inversions he made to the novel. I think it’s easy to see what he did and when you are alerted to them they can’t be missed. Watch for the inversions and reversals.



........…….…....... Movie / Novel

Jack mentions the Donner Party and cannibalism / Wendy mentions the Donner Party and cannibalism.

Danny and the viewers see the Grady girls / Danny and the readers never see the Grady girls.

Danny doesn’t see Tony in the movie / he does in the novel.

Tony is inside of Danny’s body in the movie / Tony is outside of Danny in the novel.

Dick Hallorann “Shines” and asks Danny if he wants something cold, “Howd you like some ice cream, Doc?” / Dick Hallorann “Shines” and asks Danny if he wants to go somewhere warm, “Sure you dont want to go to Florida, doc?”

Jack’s yellow rubber ball lures Danny to room 237 / Danny’s curiosity lures him to room 217.

Wendy is a smart blond / Wendy an unpolished dumb brunette.

Danny doesn’t want to go to The Overlook / Tony doesn’t “want to go there”.

The Torrances never use the elevator / in the novel they use the elevator quite a few times.

Wendy bolts Jack in the storeroom / Danny bolts Jack in the storeroom.

The young woman in room 237 pulls the shower curtain back / at separate times only Danny and Jack in room 217 pull the shower curtain back.

Jack sees the woman in room 237 and Danny doesn’t / Danny sees the woman in room 217 and Jack doesn’t.

There are two sets of twin red elevators without windows / there’s one grey metal elevator with a window.

In the novel Jack hides in the elevator when Dick Hallorann returns and comes up the stairs. / in the movie he stays on the ground floor and Jack (as well as Wendy and Danny) never goes into the elevator. 

In the film Wendy says, “How did you know we called him Doc?” / In the novel, it’s Jack that says, “"How did you know we called him doc?"

Jack talks to Lloyd with mirrors present / Jack talks to Lloyd and no mirrors are present.

“Redrum” is on a door and Wendy sees the word murder in the mirror / “Redrum” is in a mirror and Danny sees the word murder in a glass clock dome.

Wendy drags Jack to the storeroom and Danny is not present / Danny and Wendy, together, drag Jack to the storeroom.

Danny’s pediatrician is a female / Danny’s pediatrician is a male.

Wendy gets the knife after the fight with Jack when he’s already locked in the storeroom / Wendy gets the knife from the kitchen before her fight with Jack.

In their bedroom fight, Jack opens the apartment door with an ax / in the novel he opens their apartment door with a key.

Wendy sees a vision of “Dogman” / Danny sees “Dogman”.

The Overlook lives on and Dick Hallorann dies / The Overlook is destroyed and Dick Hallorann lives.

Wendy reads Jack’s novel / Wendy never looks at Jack’s play.

Danny is much closer to Wendy / Danny is much closer to Jack.

Tony speaks in a weird rasp / Tony speaks in a, “musical voice”.

In the movie Wendy knows nothing about "Shining" / in the novel she knows that Danny tries to contact Dick Hallorann.

Mr. Ullman’s predecessor hired Charles Grady / in the novel Mr. Ullman himself hired Delbert Grady.

Jack wears the Stovington Prep t-shirt / Danny wears the Stovington Prep sweatshirt.

Danny saves himself by deception / Danny saves himself by being truthful.

Jack goes mad and is not possessed by The Overlook / Jack goes mad because the Overlook possesses him.

Jack hits Danny / Jack never hits Danny.

Wendy doesn’t know the radio is broken before Jack tells her / Wendy does know it’s broken when Jack wakes her as he smashes it.

As he speaks to Dick Hallorann, Danny brings up room 237 in the kitchen / in the novel Dick Hallorann brings up room 217 in his car.

In the movie Danny never mentions the word “Shining”. Tony won’t let him talk about it as he says “I’m not supposed to” when Dick Hallorann asks him / in the novel Danny tells his parents that he has “The Shining”.

Wendy tells the pediatrician about the time that Jack hurt Danny / Jack tells the pediatrician about the time that he hurt Danny.

In the movie its Wendys idea to lock Jack in the storeroom. In the novel its Dannys idea to lock Jack in the pantry.

Dick Hallorann never tells Danny to call him if there is trouble / Dick Hallorann tells Danny, "If there is trouble ... you give a call.”

Danny tells Wendy about the old woman in room 237 and she never says the number of the room to him when he asks / Danny tells Jack about the old woman in room 217 and tells him which room it is.

Jack plays with his yellow ball / Danny plays with his red ball.

Danny never has possession of the key and doesn’t unlock the door of room 237 / Danny has possession of the key and unlocks the door to room 217.

Larry Durkin knows Dick Hallorann and doesn’t know Danny or Jack / Larry Durkin doesn’t know Dick Hallorann and does know Danny and Jack.

In the movie it’s Jack that has the dream before he and Wendy see Danny, after he’s beat up, at the bottom of the stairs / in the novel Wendy is having a dream before she sees Danny standing, after he’s beat up, at the top of the stairs.

In the final fight, Wendy is in the bathroom with Danny and her knife and a window / Wendy is in the bathroom without Danny or her knife and no window.

The ax just appears in Jack’s hands and we don’t know where he got it from / Grady leaves the Roque mallet for Jack in the kitchen after letting him out of the storeroom.

In The Overlook, their bathroom has a window / in the novel their bathroom does not have a window.

In the movie Jack says this to Wendy alone, Im gonna bash your brains in!" / in the movie Jack says this to Danny.

Danny is a totally normal seven-year-old child with a seven-year-olds vocabulary who only watches cartoons / in the novel Danny is a very bright five-year-old child who has a vocabulary that’s way beyond his years. And he watches “"Sesame Street" and "Electric Company.

Dick Hallorann has his long conversation with Danny inside The Overlook’s kitchen / Dick Hallorann has his long conversation with Danny outside in his car.

Hedges in the rear / hedges in the front.

In the movie Tony doesn’t change or evolve / In the novel he gets closer to Danny as the story progresses’ “And now Tony stood directly in front of him, and looking at Tony was like looking into a magic mirror and seeing himself in ten years, the eyes widely spaced and very dark, the chin firm, the mouth handsomely molded. The hair was light blond like his mothers, and yet the stamp on his features was that of his father, as if Tony — as if the Daniel Anthony Torrance that would someday be — was a halfling caught between father and son, a ghost of both, a fusion.”

In the movie The Overlook never makes a sound / in the novel Jack, "stood in the darkness for a moment, thinking, wanting a drink. Suddenly the hotel seemed full of a thousand stealthy sounds: creakings and groans... "

Mr. Ullman is a nice guy / Mr. Ullman is a total pr@&!

In the movie it never enters Jack’s mind that anything is wrong with him / in the novel Jack knows he’s loosing his mind.

Mr. Ullman wants to hire Jack / Mr. Ullman doesn’t want to hire Jack.

Tony shows Wendy the word “Redrum” / Tony shows Danny the word “Redrum”.

In the movie Jack chases Danny and never chases Wendy / In the novel he does.

The word “Redrum” is first seen in red lipstick / the word “Redrum” is first seen as green fire.

Mr. Ullman tells them there’s no booze on the premises / Dick Hallorann tells them there’s no booze on the premises.

Jack has the most power to “Shine” / Danny has the most power to “Shine”.

Dick Hallorann never tests Danny’s ability to “Shine” / Dick Hallorann tests Danny’s ability to “Shine”.

In the novel The Overlook was running things / in the movie it’s Jack that’s running things.

Dick Hallorann smells nothing when he “Shines” / Dick Hallorann smells “oranges” when he “Shines.

Danny finds room 237 on his own / Danny sees room 217 during the tour with Mr. Ullman.

Danny doesnt read minds in the film / in the novel he can read minds, "Can you tell what your mom and dad are thinking, Danny?" Hallorann was watching him closely. "Most times, if I want to."

Danny will not talk to his pediatrician about Tony / Danny talks to his pediatrician about Tony.

Jack wants to murder his family / Jack wants to become “the Manager”.

In the novel Watson appears to be the summer caretaker / in the movie he appears to be Mr. Ullmans assistant.

Jack writes nothing but nonsense / Jack writes a play.

In the movie Danny knows about room 237 already and mentions it to Dick Hallorann who knows nothing about it / in the novel its Danny who knows nothing about it and Dick tells him the story of what happened there.

Wendy asks Danny what happened after they see him beat up / Jack asks Danny what happened after they see him beat up.

Jack has the same ability to “Shine” as Danny / Jack doesnt “Shine” at all.

Wendy and Jack have no sexual relationship / Wendy and Jack have a normal sexual relationship.

Mr. Ullman is the General Manager of The Overlook / Mr. Ullman is the Manager of The Overlook

The Snow-cat works and Jack disables it / the Bombardier Skidoo doesn’t work and Jack has to fix it.

Delbert Grady kills his girls with an ax / in the novel he kills his girls with a hatchet.

We see an important red key in the door of room 237 and Jack turns it / we see an important silver key in a clock and Danny turns it.

Danny has no vision of Jack’s attack before it happens / Danny has a vision of Jack’s attack before it happens.

Jack loses his mind and wants to hurt his family / The Overlook tries to make Jack hurt his family.

Jack doesn’t touch Wendy / Jack tries to strangle Wendy.

In the movie Dick Hallorann calls the Park Ranger and has a pleasant conversation / in the novel Dick Hallorann has a fight with the Park Ranger.

Wendy uses a regular knife / Wendy uses a butcher knife.

Wendy always has her knife with her and cuts Jack’s hand with it / Wendy hides her knife under the bed and forgets to take it into the bathroom. She uses a razor blade to cut Jack’s hand.

Grady is part of Jack’s imagination and Jack lets himself out of the storeroom / Grady is a real apparition and physically opens the door letting Jack out of the pantry.

In the movie Jack is slightly injured and he never touches Wendy / in the novel both Jack and Wendy are severely injured in their fight.

In the movie they’re surrounded by Indian artwork and we don’t know what street they live on in Boulder / in the novel they live on a street with an Indian name (Arapaho Street) and no Indian artwork surrounds them in The Overlook.

Jack did not break Danny’s arm / Jack broke Danny’s arm.

Jack’s frozen solid / the Grady’s are frozen solid.

Danny knows very little about anything / Danny knows “Redrum” has something to do with The Overlook.

They’re frozen breath is glaringly left out both when they’re in the walk-in freezer and at the end of the movie during the chase / in the novel their frozen breath “puffed out like comic strip balloons”.

Tony says, “Its just like pictures in a book.” / Dick Hallorann says, “theyre just like pictures in a book”.

There is no basement (the two boilers are on the same floor as the lobby) / there is an important basement.

Grady is Jack’s subconscious and tells him to kill his family / The Overlook produces the voice of Jack’s father in the radio telling him to kill his family.

Wendy and Jack have their discussion about Danny in the apartment / Wendy and Jack have their discussion about Danny at the bar.

Jack taunts Wendy about the radio / Jack is ashamed about it.

Danny never cries / Danny cries.

Jack has a vision of confetti and balloons that are not real as they disappear later in the movie / in the elevator, Wendy actually finds real physical confetti from the “ghost’s” party.

Danny disappears for a while and becomes possessed by Tony / Tony disappears for a while and can’t help Danny.

Jack says "Not by the hair of my chinny-chin-chin" / Dogman” says "Not by the hair of my chinny-chin-chin".

Grady says, “Your son has a very great talent.” / Lloyd says, “Danny is a talented boy."

Lloyd looks quite normal, all dressed in red / in the novel Lloyd is described as somewhat of a horror.

The Overlook can’t “Shine” / The Overlook can “Shine”.

Jack destroys the radio so Wendy can’t call for help / Jack destroys the radio because he hears his father’s voice.

Larry Durkin is black / Larry Durkin is white.

In the film were alerted to the "Shine" when Dick Hallorann knows Dannys nickname, "Doc" / in the novel, "[Dick Hallorann] snapped his fingers as if he had forgotten something. "Whats my name, now? I guess it just slipped my mind." "Mr. Hallorann," Danny said, grinning. "Dick, to your friends." "Thats right! And you being a friend, you make it Dick." As he led them into the far corner, Jack and Wendy exchanged a puzzled glance, both of them trying to remember if Hallorann had told them his first name." He didnt and this is where Dick Hallorann knows that Danny can "Shine"

In the movie when he returns to save them, Dick Hallorann finds the rear door of The Overlook already open / in the novel Dick Hallorann has to open the front door of The Overlook when he returns.

Tony is no help to Danny at all in the movie / Tony helps Danny throughout the novel.

Mr. Ullman calls Dick Hallorann in Florida telling him to go back to The Overlook / Danny calls Dick Hallorann with his special power and he decides to go back and help him.

In the movie it’s Wendy that we see doing all the work. In the novel Jack does a lot of work in The Overlook.

In the movie Wendy hits Jack with a baseball bat and he uses an ax / in the novel Wendy hits Jack with a wine bottle and he uses a Roque Mallet.

Jack sells his soul for a drink, “God, I’d give anything for a drink.” / in the novel Jack “ practically” sells his soul for the manager.

Tony won’t tell Danny anything choosing to show him cryptic images that he (and the audience) never fully understands / in a dream Tony tells Danny not to go to The Overlook and he shows him everything throughout the story.

In the movie Tony won’t tell Danny why he doesn’t want to go to The Overlook / in the novel Tony shows Danny everything.

One of the biggest and most telling reversals Stanley Kubrick made is this. In the novel Jack, Wendy, and Danny all realize at different times that The Overlook wants Danny’s power / in the movie The Overlook wants nothing.

In the movie’s credits his name is Jack Torrance. In the novel he’s John Daniel Torrance (page 22) and his nickname is Jack.


And one important alteration is deeply hidden by Stanley Kubrick; in the movie people who “Shine” can telepathically move items, make things disappear, and change the color of items, in the novel they can’t (its The Overlook that can).

And this; in the novel Jack aspires to be The Manager but doesnt make it. In the movie in the final photo Jack becomes The Manager.






This is one of the most unbelievably hidden reversals I found. In the novel everything happens in a certain area or room of The Overlook and in the movie this is totally altered as almost all the scenes are in other places. There’s no Gold Room in the novel, no basement in the movie, and the Colorado Lounge is the barroom where Jack meets Lloyd. Here are some brief examples of this.

The end chase between Jack and Danny happens in a hallway inside The Overlook / the end chase happens in a hedge maze outside The Overlook.

Jack attacks Wendy inside their apartment / Jack attacks Wendy on a different floor outside their apartment.

Jack lures Dick Hallorann back to The Overlook as he sits in his bedroom / Danny lures Dick Hallorann back to The Overlook as he drives in his car.

Room 237 was Room 217.

Danny and Jack have their father and son conversation in Wendy and Jack’s bedroom / Danny and Jack have their father and son conversation in Danny’s bedroom.

The Torrance’s drive to The Overlook in a Yellow VW / in the novel they drive to The Overlook in a red VW.

Jack works in the Colorado lounge / Jack works in the basement.

Jack meets Lloyd and Grady in The Gold Room / Jack meets Lloyd and Grady in The Colorado Lounge.

Dick Hallorann talks to Danny in the kitchen / Dick Hallorann talks to Danny in his car.

Danny’s episode while brushing his teeth at the sink happens in the bathroom of the apartment in Boulder / in the novel Danny’s episode at the sink happens in their Overlook apartment.

Danny sees the pediatrician at home / Danny sees the pediatrician at his office.

Jack says that he needs a drink to Lloyd in the Gold Room / Jack says that he needs a drink in Danny’s room.

When he returns to The Overlook, Dick Hallorann stays on the ground floor / in the novel Dick Hallorann immediately goes up to the 1st floor when he comes back.

Wendy looks at the red Sno-cat in an attached garage / Jack works on the yellow snowmobile in an unattached “equipment shed”.

Danny hears the line, “Come and play with us, Danny. For ever, and ever, and ever” in a hallway inside The Overlook / Danny hears the line, “Come play with me... forever, and forever, and forever” in the playground outside The Overlook.

Jack speaks to Grady in the bathroom of the Gold Room looking into several mirrors / Delbert Grady speaks to Jack at the bar with no mirrors present.

“Redrum” is seen outside the bathroom / in the novel “Redrum” is seen inside the bathroom.

The party is in the Gold Room / the party is in the Colorado Lounge.

Even the location of The Overlook has even been tampered with. In the novel the Torrance’s are in Colorado. In the movie The Overlook is in Oregon as we see early on with the picture of The Timberline Lodge, which is located on Mount Hood in Oregon.

In the movie only the Hedge Maze is a literal maze, The Overlook actually has quite a simple layout mostly going around in circles with a few long hallways (and the proof is that no one ever gets lost) / in the novel The Overlook itself is the maze, “Mr. Ullman showed them some other rooms on the third floor, leading them through corridors that twisted and turned like a maze.”

This is hard to see but in the movie only 2 points of entrance or exit are real. The Overlook’s rear door, that all the cast members use at one time or another, and the bathroom window that Danny uses to escape from Jack. All the other windows or doors are not real (even Mr. Ullman’s window, the window in their apartment and the lobby door are not real) / in the novel, as you may have expected this is all reversed as 1) Jack never goes through the lobby door (he’s in Mr. Ullman’s office from the start) 2) they use the front door (not the rear) to enter and exit the hotel, and 3) there is no bathroom window.



A few of the scenes were impossible for Stanley Kubrick to reverse but something is still changed in each.

Jack is locked in the storeroom with only food / Jack is locked in the cold-pantry where dishes cups and utensils are stored (and some food).

Jack has his interview in the General Manager’s office with Bill Watson present / Jack has his interview in the Manager’s office and Watson is not there.

The General Manager’s office is where the radio is located / the Manager’s office is where the CB is located.

Its Durkins Garage in the movie / Durkins Conoco in the novel.






There are also no twins in the novel. In the movie there are several sets of twins including the Grady girls, the elevators, and the boilers. Here are some examples of doubling and reverse doubling.

Twin elevators remain motionless / 1 elevator moves on it’s own.

Unimportant twin boilers / 1 very important boiler.

2 Grady’s / 1Grady.

“Redrum” is seen only twice in the movie / several times in the novel.

Jack frozen 2 times (in the Hedge Maze and on the wall) / Jack burns to death 1 time.

2 Overlooks (one has a Hedge Maze and one doesn’t) / 1 Overlook.

Jack sees 2 women / Danny sees 1.

Wendy reads 1 paperback / Wendy reads 2 paperbacks.

In The Overlook, a single bed is in their apartment / in the novel twin beds are in their apartment.

Jack uses 2 twin Adler Eagle typewriters / Jack uses 1 Underwood typewriter.

“White mans burden, Lloyd my man. White mans burden” is doubled and repeated twice / “White mans burden, Lloyd my man” is mentioned once.

“For ever, and ever and ever” is also doubled.

There’s only one reference to cannibalism (the Donner party) / in the novel there are 2 references to cannibalism (the Donner party and the rugby players).

Dick Hallorann tells Danny to stay away from 1 place at The Overlook (room 237) / in the novel Dick Hallorann tells Danny to stay away from 2 places at The Overlook (room 217 and the Hedge Animals).

The Overlook’s Ballroom has small intimate tables for four / The Overlook’s Ballroom has small, intimate tables for two.

Danny is 5 years old in the novel and 7 years old in the movie. 2 years older exactly like the Grady girls who are 6 & 8 in the novel than become 8 & 10 in the movie.











Here’s a more involved listing of the alterations I found from the novel, in sequence and with the page numbers for easy reference. The chapters and page numbers are from Stephen King’s 307 page version and I’ve also included a few other interesting tidbits.



Part 1 Chapter 1

In the novel his friend, Al Shockley hires him. Jack already has the job when he goes for the interview and Mr. Ullman doesn’t want to hire him (page 5). / in the movie Mr. Ullman loves him, wants to hire him, and he gets the job.

There’s one hotel in the novel / 2 different hotels are seen in the movie (one has a Hedge Maze and one doesn’t).

In the novel Mr. Ullman interviews Jack alone (page 3) / in the movie Bill Watson is present.

In the novel Mr. Ullman desk is clean (page 4) / in the movie it’s messy.

In the novel Mr. Ullman wears a “quiet gray tie” (page 5) / in the movie he wears a red tie that changes between shots to red white and blue.

In the novel Mr. Ullman says that The Overlook’s season runs from May 15 to September 3

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