Two Years' Vacation (Deux ans de vacances) is an 1888 novel and the 32nd of Jules Verne's Extraordinary Voyages series. The story tells of the fortunes of a group of schoolboys stranded on a deserted island in the South Pacific, and of their struggles to overcome adversity. In his preface to the book, Verne explains that his goals were to create a Robinson Crusoe-like environment for children, and to show the world what the intelligence and bravery of a child were capable of when put to the test.
Plot Summary[]
March 1860, a group of schoolboys aged between eight and fourteen board a 100-ton schooner called the Sleuth moored at Auckland, New Zealand, and preparing to set off on a six-week vacation. With the exception of the oldest boy Gordon, an American, and Briant and Jack, two French brothers, all the boys are British.
While the schooner's crew are ashore, the moorings are cast-off under unknown circumstances and the ship drifts to sea, where it is caught by a storm. Twenty-two days later, the boys find themselves cast upon the shore of an uncharted island, which they name "Chairman Island." They go on many adventures and even catch wild animals while trying to survive. They remain there for the next two years until a passing ship sinks in the close vicinity of the island. The ship had been taken over by mutineers, intent on trafficking slaves. With the aid of two of the surviving members of the original crew, the boys are able to defeat the mutineers and make their escape from the island, which they find out is close to the Chilean coast.
Characters[]
Adaptations[]
The book became the theme story for various adaptations, abridged retellings such as:
Publications[]
- 1888 - 1889: An English translation of the book was serialized in 36 installments in the Boy's Own Paper.
- 1889: A 2-volume English book titled A Two Year's Vacation was published by Munro in the United States while a single-volume abridged edition in the United Kingdom was released by Sampson Low under the title of Adrift in the Pacific.
- 1890: From February 22 through March 14, the Boston Daily Globe newspaper serialized Adrift in the Pacific; the Strange Adventures of a Schoolboy Crew.
- 1896: Morita Shiken translated it to the Japanese language as Jugo Shonen (十五少年: lit. "15 boys") from the English text.
- 1965: The I. O. Evens version of the Sampson Low translation was published in England (ARCO) and the U.S. (Associated Publishers) in two volumes: Adrift in the 11Pacific and Second Year Ashore.
- 1967: A new modified and abridged translation by Olga Marx with illustrations by Victor Ambrus titled A Long Vacation was published by Oxford University Press in the United Kingdom and Holt, Rinehart & Winston in the United States.
- 2001: The book was redistributed by CLE International to help learners be immersed in French.
Films[]
- 1962: A Spanish-Mexican film directed by Emilio Gomez Muriel, featuring Pablito Calvo in the main role.
- 1964: Filmmaker, Yilmaz Atadeniz produced a Turkish version titled Iki Sene Mektep Tatili.
- 1967: Czech filmmaker Karel Zeman made a live-action/animated film adaptation of the book and loosely co-based on The Mysterious Island under the title Ukradená vzducholod ("The Stolen Airship", released worldwide as Two Years' Vacation).
- 1969: An Australian film produced, directed and written by Mende Brown entitled Strange Holiday credited Jules Verne for the story.
TV Series[]
- 1974: A 4-part series Deux ans de vacances, was produced in a cooperation of French, Belgian, Swiss, West-German and Romanian television.
Manga[]
- 1972 - 1974: Hyōryū Kyōshitsu (漂流教室), a Japanese horror manga written and illustrated by Kazuo Umezu, which spun-off a live-action film and a TV drama series. The story follows a school that is mysteriously transported through time to a post-apocalyptic future.
- 2016 - 2017: Astra Lost in Space (彼方のアストラ) ,a Japanese manga series by Kenta Shinohara later adapted into an anime in 2019. The story follows 9 students on a camping trip until they get transported light years away in outer space until they found an abandoned spaceship. They travel through perilous adventures on their destination home while also stumbling onto untold secrets of their world while trying to investigate the meaning of their strandedness.
Animation[]
- 1967: Bouken Gabotenjima by TBS and TCJ
- 1982: Toei Animation made an anime adaptation under the title of Adrift in the Pacific (十五少年漂流記).
- 1987: Nippon Animation produced its own adaptation under the title of The Story of Fifteen Boys (十五少年漂流記).
- 1979: Mobile Suit Gundam by NipponSunrise, where they planned an outer-space version of the book.
- 1983 - 1984: Ginga Hyōryū Vifam by Nippon Sunrise, where they decided to do another outer-space version of the book. The protagonist, Rody Shuffle, serves as Jack's role.
- 1995: Dino Adventure Jura Tripper by Ashi Productions. A Marin Club of 15 youths were transmigrated by a freakish storm to another world populated by humans and dinosaurs.
- 1999: Digimon Adventure by Toei Animation. 8 grade schoolers were translocated to another world inhabited by monsters constituted out of data called Digimon, and peril through many adventures with their chosen Digimon partners. This led to the booming popularity of the Digimon media franchise and the sequels of the first series.
- 1999 - 2000: Infinite Ryvius by Sunrise, where the story and main characters are loosely based on the book and "Lord of the Flies",
- 2003 - 2004: Mujin Wakusei Survive by Studios Madhouse and Telecom Animation Film. A group of student on their field trip to Jupiter gets stranded on an uncharted planet by a gravitational storm.
- 2009 - 2011: 15 Bishoujo Hyouryuuki (15美少女漂流記) is a 3-part ecchi OVA based on the light novel produced by BugBug magazine.
- 2020 - 2021: Toei Animation produced and released a reboot of the Digimon Adventure series titled Digimon Adventure: .