A Ring of Endless Light (film)

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A Ring of Endless Light
A Ring of Endless Light promotional advertisement
Directed by	Greg Beeman
Produced by	Greg Beeman
Written by	Madeleine L'Engle Marita Giovanni Bruce Graham
Starring	Mischa Barton Ryan Merriman
Music by	Phil Marshall
Distributed by	Disney Channel
Release date(s)	August 23, 2002
Running time	88 min.
Language	English
IMDb profile

A Ring of Endless Light is a 2002 Disney Channel Original Movie. It is one of two Disney adaptations of novels by Madeleine L'Engle, the other being A Wrinkle in Time, which aired on ABC in 2003.

1 Plot Summary
2 Cast
3 Comparison with the novel
4 External links

[edit] Plot Summary

During the summer when her grandfather is dying of leukemia and death seems all around, 15-year-old Vicky finds comfort with the pod of dolphins with which she has been doing research. As she and 17-year-old Adam Eddington work with a dolphin called Basil, Vicky discovers she can communicate telepathically with him - and possibly with Adam as well. Meanwhile, Vicky copes as best she can with the increasing stress placed on her by her grandfather's illness, while the grandfather tries to encourage Vicky with his gentle wisdom and appreciation of her talents.

[edit] Cast

Mischa Barton - Vicky Austin
Ryan Merriman - Adam Eddington
Jared Padalecki - Zachary Gray
Scarlett Pomers - Suzy Austin
Soren Fulton - Rob Austin
James Whitmore - Grandfather
Theresa Wong - Dr. Zand
Penny Everingham - Cecily

[edit] Comparison with the novel

The television adaptation is considerably "lighter" in tone than the novel A Ring of Endless Light. In the book, a family friend has just died while trying to save the life of Vicky's troubled friend Zachary Gray. Shortly thereafter, a baby dolphin dies, a marine biologist of Vicky's acquaintance is nearly killed in an accident, some baby birds are threatened by the placement of their shallow nest, and a sick child dies in Vicky's arms. In the film, Vicky's grandfather is dying and some dolphins are threatened by illegal fishing nets, but that is about the extent of the death and impending death Vicky sees around her. The fishing nets storyline, which does not appear in the novel, is standard Disney fare in that it involves young characters behaving heroically in an adventure setting. Also, Vicky's parents are absent for most of the film, whereas they are very much present in the novel. Yet another difference is that in the book, Leo Rodney competes with Zachary Gray for Vicky's attention, while Adam tries to avoid forming a romantic attachment with her. In the film, Adam and Zachary are rivals, and Leo is a nonentity.