And this film focuses on the relationship between these brothers, Rodrick and Greg. VD: The Rodrick Rules story is from the second book in your series of 17 books, which is just amazing to think about. But now they're 17 and 20 and they don't read my books anymore. So, I got little tidbits here and there and, every so often, I'd get something that I could use out of them. They also were very different from Greg, in a lot of ways. They both played basketball and had a different life than I did. Unfortunately, my kids were both athletes. JK: I wish they were a bigger inspiration. Did your kids inspire some of the stories and journeys you’ve taken your characters on in the books? I worked on it for about eight years before I showed it to anyone, and then finally brought a sample packet to New York Comic Con, found an editor, and I was published about a year later. So, I had the idea for Diary of a Wimpy Kid. I eventually decided that if I wanted to get my cartoons seen, I was going to have to come up with a different format for them. I spent about three years trying to become a syndicated cartoonist but couldn't break in. Unfortunately, the syndicates didn't like my work, or the world of cartoon syndication was really becoming more limited. I really wanted to be a newspaper cartoonist, like my heroes, Charles Schultz, Bill Watterson, and Gary Larson. Jeff Kinney: Well, it started with failure, actually. Victoria Davis: Jumping back many years, how did the journey of “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” begin? We got the chance to unpack this phenomenon with Kinney in a recent interview, discussing the new film, animation’s role in amplifying Greg and the other characters, and his hopes for how these stories will impact family dynamics. Though the road to success didn’t start out smoothly, Kinney’s series quickly garnered success once it went into print, proving that a wonky and wimpy cartoon middle-schooler can earn its place among kids’ fictional heroes. So, when Greg and Rodrick’s parents leave the boy’s home alone for the week, Rodrick takes Greg under his wing to teach his little brother “Rodrick Rules” of life, no apostrophe “s” included. Lazy and undisciplined, Rodrick spends way too much time practicing with his rock band, Löded Diper, but while he loves to torment Greg, he ultimately has a deep affection for his younger brother. But, this time, the story centers on Greg’s complicated relationship with his spikey-haired, high school-aged older brother Rodrick. The animated sequel to 2021’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid is based on the second book in Kinney’s series and continues the riotous antics of angst-ridden, disaster-prone middle school student Greg Heffley. ![]() Kinney, who spent almost a decade working on the first book before it was published in 2007 after its 2004 online release, serves as writer and producer on the film, joined on the production by director Luke Cormican from Teen Titans Go!. On Friday, December 2, Kinney and the Disney team will release the second 3DCG animated film in the franchise, Diary Of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules, on Disney+. ![]() The “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” series – which follows middle-schooler Greg Heffley as he illustrates his daily life in a diary – is still going strong, with four live-action feature films released by 20th Century Fox between 20, as well as an animated feature film, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, from Walt Disney Pictures and Bardel Entertainment, released last December. He’s also authored three additional books as part of a spin-off series. For six years in a row, “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” won the Nickelodeon Kids Choice Award for Favorite Book and, as of this year, more than 275 million copies of Jeff Kinney’s 17 books have sold globally, making it the sixth best-selling series of all time.
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