It was such a relatable story with cool drawings even when you're not a American middle school kid like the main character Greg Heffley and friends. Some experiences are so universal that you can't help but feel them.
In fact, Kinney said that it was a deliberate choice to not add too much details such as the year the story takes place or the location to ensure that the story will be relatable no matter when it is read or where.
To the delight of fans of the series, old and new, Disney has released the live-action version of the book. It is pretty cool to watch Jeff Kinney's characters come alive in colour.
Author of 'Diary of A Wimpy Kid' Jeff Kinney.
IMAGE CREDIT: Facebook.Diary of A Wimpy Kid
Rojak Daily managed to speak to the book's author and illustrator Kinney as well as the actor who voiced Greg, Brady Noon to speak about the latest movie.
Creating fiction from life
The reason Greg and other characters in the book and movie are so relatable could have something to do with the fact that the characters are loosely based on Kinney himself, as well as his family.
"Greg is really a version of myself. So, he's making this mistake of reporting his life at a time when nobody should report their life, like, in the beginning of middle school.
"Nobody wants a record of that, and Greg is doing it. He's thinking, one day when I'll be rich and famous. So, he thinks he's telling his, you know, autobiography," Kinney said, adding that he made a lot of mistakes that he put on record that he wouldn't want on record.
Kinney also shared that the Heffney family reflected his own family and his brother even lived in the family's basement at some point.
While Kinney may have drawn inspiration from his own family, the characters are not entirely based on the actual people in his life.
"Everybody's sort of been put through the fiction blender so it comes out as fiction. But everybody who watches this movie in my family, they know what I'm writing about," he said.
In case you were wondering, Kinney didn't actually have a diary or journal until his 20s and has no plans of sharing something so personal to the world anytime soon.
Voicing a beloved character
Brady Noon voices Greg and said that he was very excited when he found out about the audition for the live-action movie not only because he wanted to play the character, but also because he was a fan of the books.
"Even if I didn't get it, I was still very excited. But yeah, the auditioning process, we went through a couple stages of auditioning. But luckily, I was fortunate enough to land it. And made the movie and I'm hoping everyone likes it," he said.
While Noon has acted before, this was his first time voicing an animated character and said that his favourite part of recording was that he could do it in his sweatpants and sweatshirt.
In order to get really into the character, Noon pretended that there was a camera in front of him and acted the scenes out.
"Like, if I had run during the woods scene I was running in place. Or if I had to jump, I'd jump. And if I'm in an emotional scene, I'll just really put myself in the shoes of Greg and how I would react," he said.
We've watched the movie and we must say Noon did manage to portray the character realistically!
From black and white to colours
If you know Wimpy Kid, you know that the original characters are in black and white and resemble stick figures than a detailed drawing.
The transition to a live-action was quite delightful to watch, although Kinney himself was nervous about it at first.
"At first, I was nervous because when we saw the first test, they were all this kind of rough animatic, right. So that means it almost looks like bad 90s animations, and you're like, ooh, is this how this thing's going to look? And then all of a sudden, they put in the lighting and textures and your eyes just go pop," he said.
It all worked out well in the end!
Available on Disney+ now!
If you're a fan of 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid' you wouldn't want to miss the live-action movie.Catch it on Disney+ today.
IMAGES: WALT DISNEY