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Bridge to Terabithia (2007 film)
Encyclopedia
Bridge to Terabithia is a 2007
fantasy
drama film
directed by Gábor Csupó
and adapted for film by David L. Paterson
and Jeff Stockwell. The film is based on the Katherine Paterson
novel of the same name, and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures
in the US. The film stars Josh Hutcherson
, AnnaSophia Robb
, Robert Patrick
, Bailee Madison
and Zooey Deschanel
. Bridge to Terabithia tells the story of Jess Aarons and Leslie Burke, ten-year-old neighbors who create a fantasy world called Terabithia and spend their free time together in an abandoned tree house.
Screenwriter David Paterson is Katherine Paterson's son, and the novel is based on parts of his childhood. When he asked his mother if he could write a screenplay of the novel, she agreed because of his ability as a playwright. Production began in February 2006, and the film was finished by November. Principal photography was shot in Auckland, New Zealand within sixty days. Film editing took ten weeks, while post-production, music mixing, and visual effects took several months.
Bridge to Terabithia was released to positive reviews; critics called it a faithful adaption of the children's novel, and found dynamic visuals and natural performances further enhanced the imaginative film. Bridge to Terabithia was nominated for seven awards, winning five at the Young Artist Award
s.
) is a fifth grader aspiring artist living with his financially-struggling family in Lark Creek, Virginia. He rides the bus to school with his little sister May Belle (Bailee Madison
), where he avoids the school bully Janice Avery (Lauren Clinton
). In class, Jess is teased by classmates Scott Hoager (Cameron Wakefield
) and Gary Fulcher (Elliot Lawless), and meets a new student his age by the name Leslie Burke (AnnaSophia Robb
). At recess, Jess enters a running event, for which he had been training at home. Leslie also enters and manages to beat all the boys, much to Jess's irritation. On the way home, Jess and Leslie learn that they are next-door neighbors.
Later in the evening, Jess becomes frustrated when he finds that May Belle has drawn in his notebook, but his mom who favours her daughters and his strict father (Robert Patrick
) side with her. He later watches them gardening together, disappointed that his father never spends time with him. The next day at school, Leslie compliments Jess's drawing ability after seeing his notebook, and they soon become best friends. After school they venture into the woods and swing across a creek on a rope. Jess and Leslie find an abandoned treehouse
and a broken down truck on the other side, and invent a new world, which Leslie names "Terabithia." The fantasy world, which is a reflection on their lives, comes to life through their eyes as they explore the surroundings. For the next few days, Jess and Leslie spend their free time in the tree house getting to know each other.
Leslie gives Jess an art kit for his birthday, much to his delight. Later, he gives her a puppy, whom she decides to name Prince Terrien (shortened to P.T.). Once in Terabithia, they fight with various creatures, including a troll resembling Janice. At school, May Belle shows her friend Alexandra what she got in her snack, which are Twinkies. Jess tells her that she should not brag about the Twinkies. At recess, May Belle screams towards Jess and Leslie saying that Janice stole her Twinkies. Leslie becomes frustrated by Janice's fee for entering the toilet. Jess and Leslie play a prank on Janice, and she becomes the laughing stock of everyone on the bus. Once Leslie's parents finish writing their book, she and Jess help paint their house. Jess is impressed by her parents' happiness, and smiles as he watches their family. At school on Friday, Leslie hears Janice Avery crying in the bathroom. After Leslie talks with her, she discovers that the reason why Janice is a bully is that she is abused by her father, and they become friends. Jess and Leslie take P.T. to Terabithia, where they fight off several creatures resembling students at their school. They decide to go home when it starts raining and the creek gets higher than ever, and Jess realizes that he has fallen in love with Leslie as she runs back to her house.
The next morning, Ms. Edmunds (Zooey Deschanel
), Jess's music teacher, calls to invite him on a one-on-one field trip to an art museum. Jess tries to ask his mother's permission; however, she is half-asleep and he takes her mumbling as approval. Jess does not ask Leslie to accompany him, and merely looks at her house as they drive by. When he returns home, Jess finds that his father and mother are worried sick because they did not know where he was. His father tells him that Leslie drowned in the creek that morning (possibly due to head injury) when Jess went to the museum. Jess is heartbroken, and says he doesn't believe that Leslie drowned. The following day, Jess and his parents visit the Burke family home to pay their respects. Leslie's father, Bill Burke (Latham Gaines
), tells Jess that she loved him, and thanks him for being a very good friend to her, since she had trouble making friends at her old school. Jess feels overwhelming guilt for Leslie's death. He runs back into the forest, and breaks out in tears. His father consoles him to keep their friendship alive for her sake. Jess decides to re-imagine Terabithia and builds a bridge across the creek to welcome a new ruler. He invites his sister May Belle to enter Terabithia; she is delighted because she was previously denied every opportunity to enter. She and Jess bring back Terabithia in even greater splendor, with Jess as king and his sister as princess.
, who was first recommended for the job by Walden Media
President Cary Granat
. Although Csupó had never worked on a live-action film before, it "didn't worry Granat in the least". Csupó stated that he was interested in making the film because he "had the ambition to do a live-action film for a long time", but that he "didn't like anything until I read this book". He described the book as "beautiful" and said that it "moved [him]". Bridge to Terabithia was cinematographer Michael Chapman
's final film before his retirement. Chapman mentioned in the film's DVD commentary that he retired after shooting this film because he wanted his last film to be a good one, "this is such a beautiful story, and it's exactly the kind of movie I want to do at this time in my life".
Director Csupó stated that they had no actors initially in mind for the film. The first actor cast was AnnaSophia Robb as Leslie Burke. Robb wrote Csupó "such a beautiful, heartwarming letter" that expressed her love for the book and the character. Csupó said that he cast her because of "her letter, her enthusiasm, and her love of the material". Robb also conversed with producer Lauren Levine before casting even began, and "their conversation convinced her that, without a doubt, AnnaSophia was meant for this role". Levine said that "it was just so clear in talking to her about all this fantasy that I was basically talking to Leslie, that she had that same kind of spark and magical presence. She might be physically different from Leslie in the book, but the spirit of Leslie and the spirit of AnnaSophia are nearly identical. It was a match made in heaven." With regard to the character, Robb said "[Leslie]'s one of those people who's just always lit up, who has this glow about her, and no one can bring her down. Leslie's such a lively and energetic character, it was really fun for me to become her."
Levine stated that "looking for Jess was a really tough hunt. We needed someone who could go from an introverted boy in an isolated world to someone who completely taps into his imagination and becomes a confident, brave leader in Terabithia. That's a heck of a range for such a young actor." Josh Hutcherson
was not their first choice for the role of Jess Aarons, but they settled with him because they "felt the chemistry between AnnaSophia Robb and him". Hutcherson said that the project appealed to him because of "the real life day-to-day drama as well as the arc of the character Jess".
The filmmakers cast Robert Patrick
as Jess's hardworking and strict father based on his previous roles in the films Walk the Line
, Flags of Our Fathers
, and the television series The Unit
. Patrick explained that he related to the story because he was "constantly creating imaginary worlds as a kid" himself, and that the film's setting reminded him of where he grew up. He also said that he took on the role because he wanted to star in a film that his children could watch.
Csupó said that they cast Bailee Madison
as May Belle Aarons after weeks of searching for an actress to play the part. He went on to say that "she had such a charm, even before the camera, she was just like a little sweetheart. She was very confident, she showed up shook hands with everybody, totally sweet and perky. I said 'WOW!' she was just stealing everybody's heart on the spot."
In designing the fantasy creatures found in Terabithia, Csupó wanted to make creatures that were "little more artsy, imaginative, fantastical creatures than the typical rendered characters you see in other movies", and drew inspiration from Terry Gilliam
and Ridley Scott
. Dima Malanitchev came up with the drawings for the creatures with Csupó's guidance. Csupó chose to have Weta Digital
render the 3D animation because he "was impressed with their artistic integrity, the teamwork, the [fact that] people were really nice, and also they responded to our designs very positively." Weta modified some of the creature designs, but ultimately remained faithful to Csupó's original designs.
There were around 100 crew members from Weta working on the effects for the film. Weta was already working on animating the creatures while the film was being shot, and Weta crew members were on-set for all the scenes that involved special effects during the filming. Weta visual effects supervisor Matt Aitken explained that process involved in interpreting the creatures was "split into two steps". First, natural-looking creatures were created based on pencil sketches by Csupó and Malanitchev, and this was done mostly through Photoshop collages done by visual effects art director Michael Pangrazio. The second step was to figure out animation or motion styles that best suited these creatures.
Leslie's costumes in the film were designed to look as if the character "might have made some of them herself", and they were updated from those described in the book to reflect what would currently be considered eccentric.
is the novel's author's son, and his name was featured on its dedication page. The story was based on his real life best friend, Lisa Hill, who was struck by lightning
and killed when they were both eight years old. Paterson had asked his mother, Katherine Paterson, if he could write a screenplay of the novel, and she agreed "not only because he's [her] son, but also because he's a very good playwright". Paterson had difficulty marketing the screenplay, mostly because of Leslie's death; "if you can believe this, I did meet with some companies that asked if I could just 'hurt' Leslie a little bit—put her in a light coma and then bring her out".
The most important thing for Paterson was to keep the spirit of the book alive while finding a way to transform it from "a novel that takes place mostly in the characters' heads to a dynamic visual medium". Paterson knew that the film had to be about friendship and imagination. While Paterson focused on "bringing out the emotions of the story," he admitted to having difficulty writing about Terabithia "because it was too close". He credited fellow screenwriter Jeff Stockwell for recreating Terabithia for the film. "What Jeff was able to do as an outsider who wasn’t so attached to the story was to really let his imagination go free and make up this world in a wonderful way", David said. Csupó noted that the two main characters are a little bit older in the film than they are in the book. Csupó reasons that the movie "deals with so many issues including friendship, and maybe first innocent love, things like that", so it "made more sense" to make the characters older.
backed out of the job. Zigman mentioned that there are similarities between the music he composed for Bridge to Terabithia and the film Flicka
in that "...at times there's a bit of a Celtic influence but not much", but he also went on to say that there was a more modern feel to the music he composed for Bridge to Terabithia. The score he composed for the film is described as "very large" compared to his other work, and Zigman commented that "Aside from the minimalist stuff and coloring that I love to do, I also like big orchestral stuff, and want to do more of that, and this film enabled me to spread my wings out a bit." The official soundtrack for the film was released by Hollywood Records
on February 13, 2007.
Critics commented on the film's misleading advertisement campaign. One critic said the film was actually "grounded in reality far more than in fantasy", while another thought, "far from a computer generated escapist fantasy, this film is an unpretentious and touching tale of preteen companionship and loss".
in Hollywood on February 16, 2007. Paterson, an alumnus of The Catholic University of America
, held a special advance screening of the film for members of the CUA community at the AFI Silver
Theatre in Silver Spring, Maryland
on February 1, 2007. The film opened in the UK on May 4, 2007, and in New Zealand June 7, 2007. The film had a strong second place domestic opening over the Presidents' Day
weekend, grossing "a higher-than-expected" $28,536,717 from 2,284 screens, earning an average of $9,885 per screen. The opening Friday box office was $6.3 million. The film has a worldwide gross of US$120 million, taking in $80 million in the US and Canada alone.
The DVD and Blu-ray Disc
were released on June 19, 2007 in the US. The DVD and high definition Blu-ray version shared the same special features; including: "Digital Imagination: Bringing Terabithia to Life", "Behind the Book: The Themes of Bridge to Terabithia", "Keep Your Mind Wide Open
" music video by Robb, and two audio commentaries, the first with director Gabor Csupo
, writer Jeff Stockwell, and producer Hal Lieberman, and the second with producer Lauren Levine and actors Hutcherson and Robb.
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Review aggregator
website Rotten Tomatoes
reported that 85% of 137 collected reviews for Bridge to Terabithia were positive, with an average
score of 7.1/10. The consensus from critics was the film was "a faithful adaptation of a beloved children's novel and a powerful portrayal of love, loss, and imagination through children's eyes. Dynamic visuals and natural performances further enhance the imaginative film". At Metacritic
, which assigns a normalized
rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film received an average score of 74 based on 25 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
James Berardinelli
of ReelViews called Bridge to Terabithia "easily the best family feature of the early year". Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post
praised the script for being "utterly recognizable and authentic", and thought Robb and Hutcherson were "perfectly cast". Hornaday wrote that although the final five minutes succumbed to "oversweet sentiment", viewers would remember the film's "warmth and respect with which it pays homage to first love". Jessica Grose of The Village Voice
commended director Csupó for omitting "cutesy tween stereotypes", and felt Jess's relationship with his father elevated Bridge to Terabithia from "a good kids movie to a classic contender". The New York Times
critic Jeannette Catsoulis believed that the fantasy was kept in the background "to find magic in the everyday", and thought Csupó directed "like someone intimate with the pain of being different, allowing each personality more than a single characteristic". The reviewer praised all the leads for their strong performances, especially Deschanel and Madison. Catsoulis found the film was able to handle adult topics "with nuance and sensitivity", and being consistently smart and "delicate as a spider web", it was the kind of children's movie "rarely seen nowadays". Miriam di Nunzio of the Chicago Sun-Times
praised Hutcherson and Robb's performances, saying that "the film's heart and soul rests on the abilities of its young lead characters to make us really see the world through children's eyes. The dynamic duo of Hutcherson and Robb do not disappoint."
Despite the critical acclaim, not all reviews were as positive. Claudia Puig of USA Today
wrote that "for a movie about the power of imagination, Bridge to Terabithia is not as clever as you would hope". Puig called the film a "serviceable translation" of the novel, but thought the adult characters were caricatured. The reviewer found the real-life portions of the movie were "derivative and simplistic", but found Jess's emotional tumult felt "powerfully authentic, and this is where the film finds its truth and soul". The Wall Street Journal
critic Joe Morgenstern felt that despite the occasional misuse of enchantment—"brief spasms of overproduced fantasy"—the novel's screen adaption was told with "agreeable simplicity in between computer-generated monsters". Morgenstern was disappointed with the performances by the young members of the cast, which he described as "appealing but unpolished". Morgenstern thought Csupó lacked experience directing actors, and that although Deschanel was the best adult performer, she seemed self-directed. Entertainment Weekly
s Gregory Kirschling was confused by the main characters' lack of excitement towards Terabithia, and felt the film could not decide if it was "a fantasy or coming-of-age story".
s for "Best Performance by a Younger Actor". AnnaSophia Robb was nominated for a Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for "Best Young Actress". The film won five awards at the Young Artist Award
s, including "Best Family Feature Film (Fantasy or Musical)". Hutcherson won "Best Performance in a Feature Film – Leading Young Actor", Robb won "Best Performance in a Feature Film – Leading Young Actress", and Bailee Madison won "Best Performance in a Feature Film – Young Actress Age Ten or Younger". The cast won the award for "Best Performance in a Feature Film – Young Ensemble Cast", which included Hutcherson, Robb, Madison, Wakefield, Clinton, Lawless, Isabelle Rose Kircher, Carly Owen, Devon Wood, Emma Fenton and Grace Brannigan.
2007 in film
This is a list of major films released in 2007.-Top grossing films:Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top grossing films that were first released in the USA in 2007...
fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed by Gábor Csupó
Gábor Csupó
Gábor Csupó is a Hungarian-born animator, writer, film director and music producer. He is co-founder of the animation studio Klasky Csupo, which has produced shows like Rugrats, Duckman, and Aaahh!!! Real Monsters.-Career:...
and adapted for film by David L. Paterson
David L. Paterson
David Lord Paterson is an American screenwriter, actor and producer.When Paterson was a boy, his best friend, an eight-year-old girl named Lisa Hill, was struck by lightning and killed. His mother, author Katherine Paterson, used this real-life experience as the basis for her children's novel...
and Jeff Stockwell. The film is based on the Katherine Paterson
Katherine Paterson
Katherine Paterson is an American author of children's novels. She wrote Bridge to Terabithia and has received several of the major international awards for children's literature.- Early life:...
novel of the same name, and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures is an American film studio owned by The Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney Pictures and Television, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Studios and the main production company for live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, based at the Walt Disney...
in the US. The film stars Josh Hutcherson
Josh Hutcherson
Joshua Ryan "Josh" Hutcherson is an American film and television actor. He began working in the early 2000s, appearing in several minor film and television roles...
, AnnaSophia Robb
AnnaSophia Robb
AnnaSophia Robb is an American film and television actress. She gained prominence in 2005 with starring roles in Because of Winn-Dixie and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and starred in Bridge to Terabithia , Race to Witch Mountain , and Soul Surfer .-Personal life:Robb was born in Denver,...
, Robert Patrick
Robert Patrick
Robert Hammond Patrick, Jr. is an American actor, known for his leading and supporting roles in a number of films and television shows....
, Bailee Madison
Bailee Madison
Bailee Madison is an American actress. She is most famous for her role in the 2007 film adaption of Katherine Paterson's Newbery Medal-winning novel Bridge to Terabithia in which she plays May Belle Aarons, the younger sister of Jesse Aarons. She films a webshow with her babysitter and fellow...
and Zooey Deschanel
Zooey Deschanel
Zooey Claire Deschanel is an American actress, musician, and singer-songwriter. In 1999, Deschanel made her film debut in Mumford, followed by her breakout role as young protagonist William Miller's troubled older sister Anita in Cameron Crowe's 2000 semi-autobiographical film Almost Famous...
. Bridge to Terabithia tells the story of Jess Aarons and Leslie Burke, ten-year-old neighbors who create a fantasy world called Terabithia and spend their free time together in an abandoned tree house.
Screenwriter David Paterson is Katherine Paterson's son, and the novel is based on parts of his childhood. When he asked his mother if he could write a screenplay of the novel, she agreed because of his ability as a playwright. Production began in February 2006, and the film was finished by November. Principal photography was shot in Auckland, New Zealand within sixty days. Film editing took ten weeks, while post-production, music mixing, and visual effects took several months.
Bridge to Terabithia was released to positive reviews; critics called it a faithful adaption of the children's novel, and found dynamic visuals and natural performances further enhanced the imaginative film. Bridge to Terabithia was nominated for seven awards, winning five at the Young Artist Award
Young Artist Award
The Young Artist Award is an accolade bestowed by the Young Artist Foundation, a non-profit organization founded in 1978 to recognize and award excellence of youth performers, and to provide scholarships for young artists who may be physically and/or financially challenged.The Young Artist...
s.
Plot
Jess Aarons (Josh HutchersonJosh Hutcherson
Joshua Ryan "Josh" Hutcherson is an American film and television actor. He began working in the early 2000s, appearing in several minor film and television roles...
) is a fifth grader aspiring artist living with his financially-struggling family in Lark Creek, Virginia. He rides the bus to school with his little sister May Belle (Bailee Madison
Bailee Madison
Bailee Madison is an American actress. She is most famous for her role in the 2007 film adaption of Katherine Paterson's Newbery Medal-winning novel Bridge to Terabithia in which she plays May Belle Aarons, the younger sister of Jesse Aarons. She films a webshow with her babysitter and fellow...
), where he avoids the school bully Janice Avery (Lauren Clinton
Lauren Clinton
Lauren Clinton is an American child actress. She is best known for her role in Bridge to Terabithia as Janice Avery, the school bully.-Career:...
). In class, Jess is teased by classmates Scott Hoager (Cameron Wakefield
Cameron Wakefield
Cameron Wakefield is a child actor born on 7 June 1993 in Wellington, New Zealand. He is best known for his roles as Scott Hoager in the 2007 movie, Bridge to Terabithia, and Flame in The Tribe 'sister' series The New Tomorrow . He also featured as Jack in The Killian Curse. Cameron Wakefield is...
) and Gary Fulcher (Elliot Lawless), and meets a new student his age by the name Leslie Burke (AnnaSophia Robb
AnnaSophia Robb
AnnaSophia Robb is an American film and television actress. She gained prominence in 2005 with starring roles in Because of Winn-Dixie and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and starred in Bridge to Terabithia , Race to Witch Mountain , and Soul Surfer .-Personal life:Robb was born in Denver,...
). At recess, Jess enters a running event, for which he had been training at home. Leslie also enters and manages to beat all the boys, much to Jess's irritation. On the way home, Jess and Leslie learn that they are next-door neighbors.
Later in the evening, Jess becomes frustrated when he finds that May Belle has drawn in his notebook, but his mom who favours her daughters and his strict father (Robert Patrick
Robert Patrick
Robert Hammond Patrick, Jr. is an American actor, known for his leading and supporting roles in a number of films and television shows....
) side with her. He later watches them gardening together, disappointed that his father never spends time with him. The next day at school, Leslie compliments Jess's drawing ability after seeing his notebook, and they soon become best friends. After school they venture into the woods and swing across a creek on a rope. Jess and Leslie find an abandoned treehouse
Treehouse
A treehouse, tree house, or treefort is a habitable structure built in trees. "Treehouse" may also refer to:*Tree House, Crawley, a listed 14th-century building in Crawley, West Sussex, United Kingdom; originally the manor house....
and a broken down truck on the other side, and invent a new world, which Leslie names "Terabithia." The fantasy world, which is a reflection on their lives, comes to life through their eyes as they explore the surroundings. For the next few days, Jess and Leslie spend their free time in the tree house getting to know each other.
Leslie gives Jess an art kit for his birthday, much to his delight. Later, he gives her a puppy, whom she decides to name Prince Terrien (shortened to P.T.). Once in Terabithia, they fight with various creatures, including a troll resembling Janice. At school, May Belle shows her friend Alexandra what she got in her snack, which are Twinkies. Jess tells her that she should not brag about the Twinkies. At recess, May Belle screams towards Jess and Leslie saying that Janice stole her Twinkies. Leslie becomes frustrated by Janice's fee for entering the toilet. Jess and Leslie play a prank on Janice, and she becomes the laughing stock of everyone on the bus. Once Leslie's parents finish writing their book, she and Jess help paint their house. Jess is impressed by her parents' happiness, and smiles as he watches their family. At school on Friday, Leslie hears Janice Avery crying in the bathroom. After Leslie talks with her, she discovers that the reason why Janice is a bully is that she is abused by her father, and they become friends. Jess and Leslie take P.T. to Terabithia, where they fight off several creatures resembling students at their school. They decide to go home when it starts raining and the creek gets higher than ever, and Jess realizes that he has fallen in love with Leslie as she runs back to her house.
The next morning, Ms. Edmunds (Zooey Deschanel
Zooey Deschanel
Zooey Claire Deschanel is an American actress, musician, and singer-songwriter. In 1999, Deschanel made her film debut in Mumford, followed by her breakout role as young protagonist William Miller's troubled older sister Anita in Cameron Crowe's 2000 semi-autobiographical film Almost Famous...
), Jess's music teacher, calls to invite him on a one-on-one field trip to an art museum. Jess tries to ask his mother's permission; however, she is half-asleep and he takes her mumbling as approval. Jess does not ask Leslie to accompany him, and merely looks at her house as they drive by. When he returns home, Jess finds that his father and mother are worried sick because they did not know where he was. His father tells him that Leslie drowned in the creek that morning (possibly due to head injury) when Jess went to the museum. Jess is heartbroken, and says he doesn't believe that Leslie drowned. The following day, Jess and his parents visit the Burke family home to pay their respects. Leslie's father, Bill Burke (Latham Gaines
Latham Gaines
Latham Gaines is an American actor, artist and inventor. Born February 3, 1964 in Birmingham, Alabama, he is the son of the novelist Charles Gaines and artist Patricia Ellisor Gaines.-Acting career:...
), tells Jess that she loved him, and thanks him for being a very good friend to her, since she had trouble making friends at her old school. Jess feels overwhelming guilt for Leslie's death. He runs back into the forest, and breaks out in tears. His father consoles him to keep their friendship alive for her sake. Jess decides to re-imagine Terabithia and builds a bridge across the creek to welcome a new ruler. He invites his sister May Belle to enter Terabithia; she is delighted because she was previously denied every opportunity to enter. She and Jess bring back Terabithia in even greater splendor, with Jess as king and his sister as princess.
Overview
Production for the film began in February 2006, with a budget of around $20 million. Principal photography for the film was shot in Auckland, New Zealand within sixty days. Film editing took ten weeks, while post-production, music mixing, and visual effects took a few months. The film was finished by November 2006, because the crew "had to rush" to meet the February 16 deadline. The film was directed by Gábor CsupóGábor Csupó
Gábor Csupó is a Hungarian-born animator, writer, film director and music producer. He is co-founder of the animation studio Klasky Csupo, which has produced shows like Rugrats, Duckman, and Aaahh!!! Real Monsters.-Career:...
, who was first recommended for the job by Walden Media
Walden Media
Walden Media is a children's film production and publishing company best known as the producers of The Chronicles of Narnia series. Its films are based on notable classic or award-winning children's literature, compelling biographies or historical events, documentaries and some original...
President Cary Granat
Cary Granat
Cary Granat is co-founder and CEO of Walden Media, a production company whose goal is to produce films that "entertain and educate". Granat began his film career at Warner Bros...
. Although Csupó had never worked on a live-action film before, it "didn't worry Granat in the least". Csupó stated that he was interested in making the film because he "had the ambition to do a live-action film for a long time", but that he "didn't like anything until I read this book". He described the book as "beautiful" and said that it "moved [him]". Bridge to Terabithia was cinematographer Michael Chapman
Michael Chapman (cinematographer)
Michael Chapman, A.S.C. is an American cinematographer whose prominence owes most to his innovative work of the 1970s and 1980s....
's final film before his retirement. Chapman mentioned in the film's DVD commentary that he retired after shooting this film because he wanted his last film to be a good one, "this is such a beautiful story, and it's exactly the kind of movie I want to do at this time in my life".
Casting
Levine stated that "looking for Jess was a really tough hunt. We needed someone who could go from an introverted boy in an isolated world to someone who completely taps into his imagination and becomes a confident, brave leader in Terabithia. That's a heck of a range for such a young actor." Josh Hutcherson
Josh Hutcherson
Joshua Ryan "Josh" Hutcherson is an American film and television actor. He began working in the early 2000s, appearing in several minor film and television roles...
was not their first choice for the role of Jess Aarons, but they settled with him because they "felt the chemistry between AnnaSophia Robb and him". Hutcherson said that the project appealed to him because of "the real life day-to-day drama as well as the arc of the character Jess".
The filmmakers cast Robert Patrick
Robert Patrick
Robert Hammond Patrick, Jr. is an American actor, known for his leading and supporting roles in a number of films and television shows....
as Jess's hardworking and strict father based on his previous roles in the films Walk the Line
Walk the Line
Walk the Line is a 2005 American biographical drama film directed by James Mangold and based on the early life and career of country music artist Johnny Cash...
, Flags of Our Fathers
Flags of Our Fathers (film)
is a 2006 American war film directed, co-produced and scored by Clint Eastwood and written by William Broyles, Jr. and Paul Haggis. It is based on the book of the same name written by James Bradley and Ron Powers about the Battle of Iwo Jima, the five Marines and one Navy Corpsman who were involved...
, and the television series The Unit
The Unit
The Unit is an American action-drama television series that focuses on a top-secret military unit modeled after the real-life U.S. Army special operations unit commonly known as Delta Force...
. Patrick explained that he related to the story because he was "constantly creating imaginary worlds as a kid" himself, and that the film's setting reminded him of where he grew up. He also said that he took on the role because he wanted to star in a film that his children could watch.
Csupó said that they cast Bailee Madison
Bailee Madison
Bailee Madison is an American actress. She is most famous for her role in the 2007 film adaption of Katherine Paterson's Newbery Medal-winning novel Bridge to Terabithia in which she plays May Belle Aarons, the younger sister of Jesse Aarons. She films a webshow with her babysitter and fellow...
as May Belle Aarons after weeks of searching for an actress to play the part. He went on to say that "she had such a charm, even before the camera, she was just like a little sweetheart. She was very confident, she showed up shook hands with everybody, totally sweet and perky. I said 'WOW!' she was just stealing everybody's heart on the spot."
Design and effects
Csupó explained that "it was a very conscious decision from the very beginning that we're not going to overdo the visual effects because of the story's integrity and the book's integrity", because there was only a brief mention of Jess and Leslie fighting imaginary creatures in the forest in the novel. With that in mind, they "tried to do the absolute minimum, which would be required to put it into a movie version".In designing the fantasy creatures found in Terabithia, Csupó wanted to make creatures that were "little more artsy, imaginative, fantastical creatures than the typical rendered characters you see in other movies", and drew inspiration from Terry Gilliam
Terry Gilliam
Terrence Vance "Terry" Gilliam is an American-born British screenwriter, film director, animator, actor and member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. Gilliam is also known for directing several films, including Brazil , The Adventures of Baron Munchausen , The Fisher King , and 12 Monkeys...
and Ridley Scott
Ridley Scott
Sir Ridley Scott is an English film director and producer. His most famous films include The Duellists , Alien , Blade Runner , Legend , Thelma & Louise , G. I...
. Dima Malanitchev came up with the drawings for the creatures with Csupó's guidance. Csupó chose to have Weta Digital
Weta Digital
Weta Digital is a digital visual effects company based in Wellington, New Zealand. It was founded by Peter Jackson, Richard Taylor, and Jamie Selkirk in 1993 to produce the digital special effects for Heavenly Creatures. In 2007 Weta Digital’s Senior Visual Effects Supervisor, Joe Letteri, was...
render the 3D animation because he "was impressed with their artistic integrity, the teamwork, the [fact that] people were really nice, and also they responded to our designs very positively." Weta modified some of the creature designs, but ultimately remained faithful to Csupó's original designs.
There were around 100 crew members from Weta working on the effects for the film. Weta was already working on animating the creatures while the film was being shot, and Weta crew members were on-set for all the scenes that involved special effects during the filming. Weta visual effects supervisor Matt Aitken explained that process involved in interpreting the creatures was "split into two steps". First, natural-looking creatures were created based on pencil sketches by Csupó and Malanitchev, and this was done mostly through Photoshop collages done by visual effects art director Michael Pangrazio. The second step was to figure out animation or motion styles that best suited these creatures.
Leslie's costumes in the film were designed to look as if the character "might have made some of them herself", and they were updated from those described in the book to reflect what would currently be considered eccentric.
Writing
Producer and screenwriter David L. PatersonDavid L. Paterson
David Lord Paterson is an American screenwriter, actor and producer.When Paterson was a boy, his best friend, an eight-year-old girl named Lisa Hill, was struck by lightning and killed. His mother, author Katherine Paterson, used this real-life experience as the basis for her children's novel...
is the novel's author's son, and his name was featured on its dedication page. The story was based on his real life best friend, Lisa Hill, who was struck by lightning
Lightning
Lightning is an atmospheric electrostatic discharge accompanied by thunder, which typically occurs during thunderstorms, and sometimes during volcanic eruptions or dust storms...
and killed when they were both eight years old. Paterson had asked his mother, Katherine Paterson, if he could write a screenplay of the novel, and she agreed "not only because he's [her] son, but also because he's a very good playwright". Paterson had difficulty marketing the screenplay, mostly because of Leslie's death; "if you can believe this, I did meet with some companies that asked if I could just 'hurt' Leslie a little bit—put her in a light coma and then bring her out".
The most important thing for Paterson was to keep the spirit of the book alive while finding a way to transform it from "a novel that takes place mostly in the characters' heads to a dynamic visual medium". Paterson knew that the film had to be about friendship and imagination. While Paterson focused on "bringing out the emotions of the story," he admitted to having difficulty writing about Terabithia "because it was too close". He credited fellow screenwriter Jeff Stockwell for recreating Terabithia for the film. "What Jeff was able to do as an outsider who wasn’t so attached to the story was to really let his imagination go free and make up this world in a wonderful way", David said. Csupó noted that the two main characters are a little bit older in the film than they are in the book. Csupó reasons that the movie "deals with so many issues including friendship, and maybe first innocent love, things like that", so it "made more sense" to make the characters older.
Music
The film features a musical score by Aaron Zigman, who was hired after Alison KraussAlison Krauss
Alison Maria Krauss is an American bluegrass-country singer, songwriter and fiddler. She entered the music industry at an early age, winning local contests by the age of ten and recording for the first time at fourteen. She signed with Rounder Records in 1985 and released her first solo album in...
backed out of the job. Zigman mentioned that there are similarities between the music he composed for Bridge to Terabithia and the film Flicka
Flicka
-Chart performance:...
in that "...at times there's a bit of a Celtic influence but not much", but he also went on to say that there was a more modern feel to the music he composed for Bridge to Terabithia. The score he composed for the film is described as "very large" compared to his other work, and Zigman commented that "Aside from the minimalist stuff and coloring that I love to do, I also like big orchestral stuff, and want to do more of that, and this film enabled me to spread my wings out a bit." The official soundtrack for the film was released by Hollywood Records
Hollywood Records
Hollywood Records is an American record label owned by Disney Music Group, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Company.-History:Hollywood Records was founded in 1989 by then-Disney CEO Michael Eisner with the idea of expanding the music operations of the company and to develop and promote...
on February 13, 2007.
Marketing and promotion
The filmmakers distanced themselves away from the advertising campaign for the film, saying that it was deliberately misleading and made the film seem to be about, or occurring in, a fantasy world. David Paterson was surprised by the trailer, but understood the marketing reasoning behind it, saying:Critics commented on the film's misleading advertisement campaign. One critic said the film was actually "grounded in reality far more than in fantasy", while another thought, "far from a computer generated escapist fantasy, this film is an unpretentious and touching tale of preteen companionship and loss".
Distribution
The film premiered at the El Capitan TheatreEl Capitan Theatre
El Capitan Theatre is a fully restored movie palace at 6838 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood. It is owned by Pacific Theatres and operated by the Walt Disney Company. It serves as the venue for many of Walt Disney Pictures' movie premieres...
in Hollywood on February 16, 2007. Paterson, an alumnus of The Catholic University of America
The Catholic University of America
The Catholic University of America is a private university located in Washington, D.C. in the United States. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution of higher education founded by the U.S. Catholic bishops...
, held a special advance screening of the film for members of the CUA community at the AFI Silver
AFI Silver
The AFI Silver is a three-screen movie theater complex in downtown Silver Spring, Maryland, just north of Washington, D.C. in the United States of America. It plays both art-house and mainstream movies...
Theatre in Silver Spring, Maryland
Silver Spring, Maryland
Silver Spring is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. It had a population of 71,452 at the 2010 census, making it the fourth most populous place in Maryland, after Baltimore, Columbia, and Germantown.The urbanized, oldest, and...
on February 1, 2007. The film opened in the UK on May 4, 2007, and in New Zealand June 7, 2007. The film had a strong second place domestic opening over the Presidents' Day
Presidents' Day
Presidents Day may refer to:* Presidents' Day , a holiday in Botswana on July 19* Presidents Day , a federal holiday in the United States on the third Monday of February...
weekend, grossing "a higher-than-expected" $28,536,717 from 2,284 screens, earning an average of $9,885 per screen. The opening Friday box office was $6.3 million. The film has a worldwide gross of US$120 million, taking in $80 million in the US and Canada alone.
The DVD and Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
were released on June 19, 2007 in the US. The DVD and high definition Blu-ray version shared the same special features; including: "Digital Imagination: Bringing Terabithia to Life", "Behind the Book: The Themes of Bridge to Terabithia", "Keep Your Mind Wide Open
Keep Your Mind Wide Open
"Keep Your Mind Wide Open" is a song written by Dave Bassett and Michelle Featherstone featured in the movie Bridge to Terabithia. It is sung by American actress AnnaSophia Robb who plays the character Leslie Burke in the movie. A portion of the song is heard playing over the radio during a scene...
" music video by Robb, and two audio commentaries, the first with director Gabor Csupo
Gábor Csupó
Gábor Csupó is a Hungarian-born animator, writer, film director and music producer. He is co-founder of the animation studio Klasky Csupo, which has produced shows like Rugrats, Duckman, and Aaahh!!! Real Monsters.-Career:...
, writer Jeff Stockwell, and producer Hal Lieberman, and the second with producer Lauren Levine and actors Hutcherson and Robb.
Critical reception
Review aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services . This system stores the reviews and then uses them for purposes such as: creating a website for users to view the reviews, selling information to third parties about consumer tendencies and creating databases for...
website Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
reported that 85% of 137 collected reviews for Bridge to Terabithia were positive, with an average
Weighted mean
The weighted mean is similar to an arithmetic mean , where instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others...
score of 7.1/10. The consensus from critics was the film was "a faithful adaptation of a beloved children's novel and a powerful portrayal of love, loss, and imagination through children's eyes. Dynamic visuals and natural performances further enhance the imaginative film". At Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, which assigns a normalized
Standard score
In statistics, a standard score indicates how many standard deviations an observation or datum is above or below the mean. It is a dimensionless quantity derived by subtracting the population mean from an individual raw score and then dividing the difference by the population standard deviation...
rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film received an average score of 74 based on 25 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli is an American online film critic.-Personal life:Berardinelli was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey and spent his early childhood in Morristown, New Jersey. At the age of nine years, he relocated to the township of Cherry Hill, New Jersey...
of ReelViews called Bridge to Terabithia "easily the best family feature of the early year". Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
praised the script for being "utterly recognizable and authentic", and thought Robb and Hutcherson were "perfectly cast". Hornaday wrote that although the final five minutes succumbed to "oversweet sentiment", viewers would remember the film's "warmth and respect with which it pays homage to first love". Jessica Grose of The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
commended director Csupó for omitting "cutesy tween stereotypes", and felt Jess's relationship with his father elevated Bridge to Terabithia from "a good kids movie to a classic contender". The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
critic Jeannette Catsoulis believed that the fantasy was kept in the background "to find magic in the everyday", and thought Csupó directed "like someone intimate with the pain of being different, allowing each personality more than a single characteristic". The reviewer praised all the leads for their strong performances, especially Deschanel and Madison. Catsoulis found the film was able to handle adult topics "with nuance and sensitivity", and being consistently smart and "delicate as a spider web", it was the kind of children's movie "rarely seen nowadays". Miriam di Nunzio of the Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
praised Hutcherson and Robb's performances, saying that "the film's heart and soul rests on the abilities of its young lead characters to make us really see the world through children's eyes. The dynamic duo of Hutcherson and Robb do not disappoint."
Despite the critical acclaim, not all reviews were as positive. Claudia Puig of USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
wrote that "for a movie about the power of imagination, Bridge to Terabithia is not as clever as you would hope". Puig called the film a "serviceable translation" of the novel, but thought the adult characters were caricatured. The reviewer found the real-life portions of the movie were "derivative and simplistic", but found Jess's emotional tumult felt "powerfully authentic, and this is where the film finds its truth and soul". The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
critic Joe Morgenstern felt that despite the occasional misuse of enchantment—"brief spasms of overproduced fantasy"—the novel's screen adaption was told with "agreeable simplicity in between computer-generated monsters". Morgenstern was disappointed with the performances by the young members of the cast, which he described as "appealing but unpolished". Morgenstern thought Csupó lacked experience directing actors, and that although Deschanel was the best adult performer, she seemed self-directed. Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
s Gregory Kirschling was confused by the main characters' lack of excitement towards Terabithia, and felt the film could not decide if it was "a fantasy or coming-of-age story".
Awards and nominations
Bridge to Terabithia was nominated for seven awards, of which it won five. Josh Hutcherson was nominated at the 2008 Saturn AwardSaturn Award
The Saturn Award is an award presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films to honor the top works in science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, television, and home video. The Saturn Awards were devised by Dr. Donald A. Reed in 1972, who felt that films within...
s for "Best Performance by a Younger Actor". AnnaSophia Robb was nominated for a Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for "Best Young Actress". The film won five awards at the Young Artist Award
Young Artist Award
The Young Artist Award is an accolade bestowed by the Young Artist Foundation, a non-profit organization founded in 1978 to recognize and award excellence of youth performers, and to provide scholarships for young artists who may be physically and/or financially challenged.The Young Artist...
s, including "Best Family Feature Film (Fantasy or Musical)". Hutcherson won "Best Performance in a Feature Film – Leading Young Actor", Robb won "Best Performance in a Feature Film – Leading Young Actress", and Bailee Madison won "Best Performance in a Feature Film – Young Actress Age Ten or Younger". The cast won the award for "Best Performance in a Feature Film – Young Ensemble Cast", which included Hutcherson, Robb, Madison, Wakefield, Clinton, Lawless, Isabelle Rose Kircher, Carly Owen, Devon Wood, Emma Fenton and Grace Brannigan.
External links
- Bridge to Terabithia interviews with AnnaSophia Robb, Josh Hutcherson, author Katherine Paterson and producer David Paterson on Sidewalks EntertainmentSidewalks EntertainmentSidewalks Entertainment is a long-running, weekly American television series that is a combination of a talk show, magazine show and variety show featuring celebrity interviews, music, artistic and novelty acts, and rising performers...
. - Interview with Katherine Paterson
- Bridge to Terabithia Blu-ray Disc Review