Diary of a Wimpy Kid is a series of fiction books written by the American author and cartoonist Jeff Kinney. All the main books are the journals of the main character, Greg Heffley. Befitting a child's diary, the books are filled with hand-written notes and simple drawings of Greg's daily adventures.
Since the release of the online version in 2004, the books have gained immense popularity, critical acclaim, and commercial success worldwide. For example, Diary of a Wimpy Kid was well-received from the Princeton Review, Gold Card Association, The Dallas News, The TRR Editors, The NW Press, and The JJ Printing Company. As of February 2008, it has been purchased one million times.
The books were turned into a film series by 20th Century Fox, with three films released to theaters as of 2015.
The website Poptropica released islands in the theme of Diary of a Wimpy Kid called Wimpy Wonderland and Wimpy Boardwalk, both of which credit Kinney in an ambiguous contributor's role.
Background
Diary of a Wimpy Kid began in 1998 when Kinney brought up an idea about a middle-school weakling named Greg Heffley who wrote about his personal life. In 2004, FunBrain and Kinney released an online version of Diary of a Wimpy Kid. The website made daily entries until June 2005. The book became an instant hit and the online version received about 20 million views as of 2009; many online readers requested a printed version. Kinney had agreed and in 2007, Diary of a Wimpy Kid was published. To date, nine Wimpy Kid books have been released, plus two do-it-yourself books and three movie diaries. In 2009, Kinney was named one of Time magazine's 100 "Most Influential People" in the world.
Chronology
Supplementary books
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid Do-It-Yourself Book (published between Rodrick Rules and The Last Straw) is an activity book that features a blank section encouraging readers to keep their own journal in the style of the books.
- The Wimpy Kid Do-It-Yourself Book: Extended Edition (published after Wimpy Kid Movie Diary 2 and before Cabin Fever) is the same book as the first Do-It-Yourself Book, but with extra 60 pages and 16 more full-color comics.
- The Wimpy Kid Movie Diary is a book about the making of the first film, which features stills and brand-new illustrations. Jeff Kinney dedicated the book to Zachary Gordon and Robert Capron, the stars of the movie.
- The Wimpy Kid Movie Diary 2: Rodrick Rules is the same informative book which has the features from the first film, but it also features stills from the second film, Rodrick Rules, more new illustrations, and informs readers how the second movie was made.
- The Wimpy Kid Movie Diary 3: Dog Days is the same book that covers how the first film and second film were made, but also stills from the third film, Dog Days and how this film was made.
Toys and games
Action figures include: a mini figure pack (with Greg, Rowley, and Fregley), a 6-inch Greg Heffley figure, a 6-inch holiday figure based on Cabin Fever, and a Greg and Rodrick plush doll.
Audiobooks
Nine audiobooks have been released for the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. They are read by Ramon de Ocampo, presented by Recorded Books and distributed by Audible.com.
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid (April 1, 2007)
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules (February 1, 2008)
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw (January 13, 2009)
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days (October 12, 2009)
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth (November 9, 2010)
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever (November 15, 2011)
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Third Wheel (November 13, 2012)
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Hard Luck (November 5, 2013)
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul (November 4, 2014)
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Old School (November 3, 2015)
Characters
- Greg Heffley is a wimpy student in the sixth grade (Diary of a Wimpy Kid), seventh grade (Rodrick Rules and The Last Straw), and eighth grade (The Ugly Truth â€" Hard Luck). He is best friends with Rowley Jefferson.
- Rowley Jefferson is Greg's childish best friend.
- Rodrick Heffley is Greg's older brother, who is very rude, and the drummer in Löded Diper.
- Manny Heffley is Greg and Rodrick's younger brother, who is known to be a tattletale.
- Susan Heffley is Greg's mother.
- Frank Heffley is Greg's father.
- Fregley is Greg's weird neighbor and classmate.
- Chirag Gupta is one of Greg's friends.
- Holly Hills is Greg's crush, who thought he was Fregley.
Achievements
Awards and honors
Commercial success
Diary of a Wimpy Kid was well-received from the Princeton Review, Gold Card Association, The Dallas News, The TRR Editors, The NW Press, and The JJ Printing Company. The New York Times, which ranks children's serials collectively on a "Series Books" bestseller list, has included the Wimpy Kid series for 64 weeks as of April 10, 2010. USA Today, which ranks best sellers based on sales alone regardless of genre or intended audience, has listed Diary of a Wimpy Kid in its top 150, peaking at number 8, for 141 weeks as of April 4, 2010. As of the same date, Rodrick Rules has been on the list for 117 weeks (peaking at number 4), The Last Straw has been on the list for 65 weeks (peaking at number 1), Dog Days has been on the list for all 25 weeks of its publication (peaking at number 1), and The Wimpy Kid Movie Diary has been listed for all three weeks of its publication, peaking at number 2. As of May 2010, more than 32Â million Wimpy Kid books are in print in the U.S., and the books have been sold in more than 30 countries. The series has sold over 75 million books in 40 countries.
Films
Jeff Kinney announced that a film based on the first book would be produced by 20th Century Fox. The film was released on March 19, 2010, moved up from an April 2 release date. It was directed by Thor Freudenthal, who also directed Hotel for Dogs. The film starred Zachary Gordon as Greg, Robert Capron as Rowley (Greg's best friend), Steve Zahn as Frank (Greg's father), Rachael Harris as Susan (Greg's mother), Devon Bostick as Rodrick (Greg's older brother), Connor and Owen Fielding as Manny (Greg's younger brother), Chloë Grace Moretz as a new character named Angie, and Grayson Russell as Fregley.
There is a second film in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid film series that was released on March 25, 2011, which was based on the second book, Rodrick Rules, with Zachary Gordon returning as Greg Heffley. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules was also filmed in Vancouver, BC, Canada. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules also contains some scenes from The Last Straw.
The third film combines the third and fourth books, The Last Straw and Dog Days, taking stories from both, but mainly from Dog Days, from which it took its title. The decision to blend the two films was made to keep up with the ages of the actors. The film was released on August 3, 2012.
The likelihood of a fourth live action film is slim. Kinney has announced the possibility for an animated film to be based on Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever as the next installment. In an interview for the latest book Hard Luck, Jeff Kinney stated he is working with Fox on a half-hour special of Cabin Fever, which is to be aired in late 2014. However, it has never been produced nor released for the time being.
References
External links
- Official website
- Online book on FunBrain
- Official blog
- Official movie site