The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013):The Comedy Adventure That Connects Daydream Narrative to the Cost of Playing It Safe

Walter Mitty is the kind of character students tend to warm to quickly. He is not a hero, not particularly confident, and not living anything close to the life he imagines for himself. He just shows up, does his job, and daydreams. That gap between the life Walter has and the life he pictures is funny at first, but it becomes something more honest as the movie goes on, and most students aged 11 and up recognise something in it.

Adapted from James Thurber's 1939 short story, the 2013 movie takes Mitty's quiet life and sends it somewhere unexpected: Greenland, Iceland, the Himalayas, Afghanistan. The journey is triggered by a missing photograph and fuelled by the kind of reluctant courage that feels more realistic than most movie heroism. For grades 6 through 10, it is a movie that entertains while giving teachers genuine material around voice, narrative, identity, and what it means to actually live rather than just imagine doing so.

Watch the Trailer

Click to play trailer

💭 Daydreaming as a narrative device. The movie blurs the line between Walter's fantasies and reality in a way that is immediately engaging and worth examining. Students who pay attention will notice exactly when the daydreams begin and end, and why the movie uses them the way it does, which makes for a natural conversation about how storytellers use perspective and unreliable perception.

🌍 A genuine sense of adventure. Walter's real-world journey takes him through Greenland, Iceland, and the Himalayas, and the cinematography frames each location with real care. The movie makes the world look worth exploring, which resonates with students who have not yet had much opportunity to see it.

🎯 A clear and relatable central theme. The movie is essentially about the distance between who we are and who we want to be, and what it takes to close that gap. That theme is accessible to students at a range of ages and gives classes a clear emotional anchor for discussion and writing.

📸 An unusual protagonist. Walter is not charismatic or physically impressive. His courage is reluctant and his victories are quiet. That makes him a more interesting character to analyse than most movie heroes, and his journey feels earned in a way students respond to.

📖 Based on a widely known short story. Thurber's original 1939 story is a classroom staple in many ELA programmes. The movie takes considerable liberties with it, which makes the comparison between the two a productive exercise in how adaptation works and what changes when a story moves from page to screen.

⚠️ Things to be aware of:

• Violence: A man jumps through a building window as it explodes from a gas leak. A man threatens another at a bar, breaking a bottle and brandishing the shards. A character is attacked with a briefcase. A shark attacks a man in the water. None of the violence is graphic.
• Language: Mild to moderate swearing including 'hell', 's--t', 'd--k', 'suck', and 'bull'.
• Drinking: Some drinking at a bar. One character is shown heavily intoxicated and proceeds to pilot a helicopter.
• Romance: An unrequited crush and some mild flirting. No sexual content.

📚 English Language Arts Teachers. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is a good fit for ELA classes exploring narrative voice, character development, or short story adaptation. The guide covers a range of writing tasks from comprehension and sequencing through to creative and imaginative writing, with differentiated question sets for mixed-ability classes.

🗣️ ESL and ELL Teachers. The multiple choice comprehension questions were written with ESL and ELL students in mind, offering three possible answers per question to reduce language demand while keeping students accountable to the story. The movie's visual storytelling also supports comprehension for students still building their English.

🎬 Substitute Teachers and Cover Lessons. The guide is clearly structured across four parts and requires no prior subject knowledge to administer. Students can work through it independently as the movie plays, making it a practical option for a substitute teacher needing a self-contained lesson.

🏠 Homeschool Parents. For homeschool students, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty offers a lively introduction to short story adaptation, narrative voice, and creative writing. The guide provides comprehension questions, a storyboard and synopsis task, a creative profile writing activity, and a daydream retelling exercise, covering a solid range of ELA skills alongside an engaging and thought-provoking movie.

💙 SEL Teachers. Walter's journey from avoidance to action maps clearly onto SEL themes of self-awareness, courage, and personal growth. The movie presents a character who is held back not by external circumstances but by his own reluctance, which gives SEL classes a useful and accessible case study. The guide does not include SEL-specific activities, but the comprehension questions and the creative writing tasks in Parts 3 and 4 both engage with the emotional and imaginative content of the story.

🌟 Supporting All Learners Movie guides can be a wonderfully calm fit for students with autism, learning difficulties, and mild to severe disabilities. The structured format gives every student a clear purpose during viewing, easing uncertainty and allowing them to engage at their own pace. If you teach in a special education or learning support setting, you may find this guide a gentle and practical resource. Find out more about why movies work for diverse learners.

Part 1: Comprehension Questions
Two sets of differentiated questions covering the movie in chronological order. The first set contains 35 questions requiring full sentence answers. The second set contains 35 multiple choice questions with three possible answers, suitable for ESL and ELL students or for differentiation. Answer keys are included for both sets.

Part 2: Storyboard and Synopsis
Students create a 9-scene storyboard illustrating pivotal events from the movie, with a short description of the main idea for each scene. They then use their completed storyboard as a guide to write a synopsis of the movie.

Part 3: eHarmony Profile
Students complete an imaginary eHarmony dating profile, making it as interesting and creative as possible. They then write a reply to a message from another user, recounting a typical day in a way that presents them in the best possible light. The activity encourages imaginative and persuasive writing.

Part 4: Daydream Writing
Students choose two of the three daydreams Walter has in the movie and write their own account of what happened in each one, working from what they saw on screen and adding their own detail and voice.