Story over Effects…What a Concept!

Jess Aarons (Josh Hutcherson) likes to draw, a skill not appreciated by his hardworking father on the family’s subsistence farm. As the middle child and with four sisters, Jess wants only to earn some of his father’s attention. To that end, Jess has been running; he’s determined to be the fastest kid in school. That simple dream is thwarted by the newly arrived city girl, Leslie Burke (AnnaSophia Robb), who leaves everyone in her dust. At first, it seems these two outsiders couldn’t be more different—that is until Jess discovers a match for the creativity he hides inside his drawing book with Leslie’s expressive storytelling.

Bullied and mocked, the two create a place just for them—the magical world of Terabithia. Here they forge a bond of friendship and together fight to protect their world from the Dark Master’s minions, who take on the qualities of their tormenters in the real world. But when the unthinkable happens, will imagination have the power to save Terabithia?

AnnaSophia Robb and Josh Hutcherson making magic in Bridge to Terabithia.

Bridge to Terabithia is based on the Newberry Award-winning novel by Katherine Paterson, who wrote it for her son, David, when he was a boy. David is now one of the film’s screenwriters and producers. “I always felt so protective towards this story,” David says. “The most important thing of all to me 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. But, no matter what, it had to be about friendship and imagination.” And then, speaking of his mother, he adds, “I knew she would have to be pleased with the results, or else holidays would be awfully difficult!”

Credit must go to David and his collaborator Jeff Stockwell for their mostly faithful screenplay adaptation, and to director Gabor Csupo, a world-renowned animation artist making his live-action film debut, for keeping the special effects in check. In lesser hands, there might have been a greater reliance on special effects when the story, the characters, and the cast were already enough.

That being said, the film does seem to drag in places, the nuances of the story far too subtle for most general audience flims. Also, trailers for the film emphasized the special effects over the story, so young audiences (and some adults) may start to wonder when “all the good stuff” is going to happen.

Close Your Eyes

Interestingly enough, Katherine Paterson doesn’t give the reader much detail about Terabithia in her book, but few readers have failed to visualize it in all its glory. “For the past thirty years,” says Paterson, “readers have been creating Terabithia in their own imaginations, and no two readers will ever have the same vision of the place.”

The filmmakers, then, were faced with the daunting challenge of presenting visually the imaginations of 30 years of readers. When the special effects do happen, they are dazzling in their detail. The effects were created by Weta Digital, responsible for the effects in such films as The Chronicles of Narnia, The Lord of the Rings, and King Kong. After watching the film, you’re sure to want to go back and freeze-frame key scenes and appreciate the individuality the artists and engineers brought to their creations—especially when you realize that the squogres, hairy vultures, and the giant are based on the actors playing Jess’s and Leslie’s bullies at school.

The squogre—just another everyday Terabithian squirrel—from Bridge to Terabithia.

The cast is no less superb in bringing their characters to the screen.

AnnaSophia Robb (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) absolutely shines as the free-spirited Leslie. She is her own special effect, effortlessly stealing every scene she’s in.

Josh Hutcherson (Zathura) as Jess ably matches her talent with a far different role, that of struggling to find the confidence to be himself.

Robert Patrick (Walk the Line) is brilliant as Jess’s overworked father doing his best to provide for his family and relying on Jess too soon to become the man he wants him to be.

Zooey Deschanel (Weeds) turns in a charming performance as the music teacher on whom Jess, quite understandably, has a crush.

Not to be ignored, Jess’s little sister May Belle is played by the cute and captivating, but slightly overcoached, Bailey Madison.

And finally, there’s Latham Gaines (King Kong) as Leslie’s father. His short performance necessarily rings true on every level. He brings Leslie’s family life into focus, grounding it in reality, enabling Jess to see a world of possibilities.

Keep Your Mind Wide Open

To say more about the themes of the story or the performances of the cast would require me to give away the film’s pivotal moment—and I won’t do that. Fans of the book know what is coming. Those new to the story need to experience it, just as life presents it.

When the film first came out in February—and even having read the book a few weeks before—I gasped along with the rest of the theater audience. Watching it in the comfort of my recliner at home, I was no less affected.

I was surprised a story for children would take me to that experience and those feelings in such a powerful way. I was even more surprised that Disney would take its audiences there. To their credit they did, when other studios wanted to change the element that makes it the story worth telling in the first place.

Walden Media’s CEO, Cary Granat, was enthusiastic, calling Terabithia “the quintessential Walden movie.” He elaborated by saying, “Here was a chance to create a great, high-concept film with lots of emotion and, at the same time, to really get the book out there again and explore the many wonderful themes in it as a learning vehicle.”

David Paterson couldn’t have been more excited that “Walden and Disney…wanted to honor the power of the original story.”

And honor it, they did.

Josh Hutcherson and AnnaSophia Robb finding their way in Bridge to Terabithia.
Photo credits: Kristy Griffin and Weta Digital Ltd.
Images copyright © Buena Vista Pictures Marketing and Walden Media, LLC.
All Rights Reserved.

But Wait, There’s More!

Disney has loaded the DVD with a few extras for every member of the family.

There are two commentaries; the first by Csupo, Stockwell, and producer Hal Lieberman; and the second by Robb, Hutcherson, and producer Lauren Levine. Inconsistent information is par for the course when so many people are remembering the same events differently. While I found the first commentary more interesting, the second commentary not only included a few interesting nuggets of trivia, it also gives Hutcherson the opportunity to showcase his deeper, more mature voice.

Short featurettes on the themes of the book and a behind-the-scenes look at the special effects also give Katherine Paterson a chance to talk about the story and the film. Finally, rounding out the DVD, is AnnaSophia Robb’s hit music video Keep Your Mind Wide Open, written by Dave Bassett and Michelle Featherstone.

Bridge to Terabithia has both the quality earmarks of a traditional Disney film and a refreshingly candid manner that neither condescends to its youngest viewers nor wastes the time of adult audiences, who will, no doubt, relive a part of their youth thanks to the honesty of the two young actors.

For its solid supporting structure but distracting unevenness on the surface, I give this Bridge a B+.