Bridge to Terabithia (2007 film)

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Bridge to Terabithia

Promotional poster
Directed by Gabor Csupo
Produced by David Paterson
Lauren Levine
Hal Lieberman
Written by Katherine Paterson
David Paterson
Jeff Stockwell
Starring Josh Hutcherson
AnnaSophia Robb
Robert Patrick
and
Zooey Deschanel
Music by Aaron Zigman
Cinematography Michael Chapman
Editing by John Gilbert
Distributed by Walt Disney Pictures
Walden Media
Release date(s) February 16, 2007
Country USA
New Zealand
Language English
Official website
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Bridge to Terabithia is a 2007 film directed by Gabor Csupo for Disney/Walden Media. It is based on the Katherine Paterson novel Bridge to Terabithia. The film was released on February 16, 2007 and was number two at the box office in the U.S. and Canada over its opening weekend. It was rated PG by the MPAA.

Contents

[edit] Synopsis

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Jess Aarons (Josh Hutcherson) is an aspiring yet shy elementary school boy living in a financially-struggling family. Leslie Burke (AnnaSophia Robb) is the new girl at Jess's school, just arriving on the school's athletics day. She enters a running event which she wins with ease, despite her classmates calling it a "boys only" race. Jess is, at first, quite sour about this and wants nothing to do with Leslie, but Leslie's persistence in meeting him soon pays off, with the two becoming friends. Jess shares his secret love of drawing with Leslie; Leslie shares with Jess her love of fantasy stories. Together they venture into the woods, where they swing across a rope and find a tree house on the other side. Here, the two friends invent a whole new world—Terabithia—and it comes to life through their eyes, which they explore together.

Back in the "real" world, they both plot against bullies at their school, and Jess continues to deal with his family going through financial problems. Leslie gives Jess an unexpected birthday present, an art kit, and Jess gives Leslie a dog (Prince Terrien) in return, much to both of the children's happiness. Later on, Jess's music teacher, Ms. Edmunds (Zooey Deschanel), notices Jess's artistic skills and decides to take him on a field trip to an art museum. Jess has an unspoken crush on the teacher and does not want to share the trip with Leslie, so he goes to the museum alone.

When Jess returns home, his father (Robert Patrick) tells him the horrific news: Leslie has died after trying to swing across the rope over a rain-swollen river, falling into the river and drowning when the rope breaks. Jess suffers much grief, and he and his family attend the funeral together.

Jess feels overwhelming guilt for Leslie's death, thinking that it would not have happened had he invited Leslie along on his trip with Ms. Edmunds. He is consoled by his father that their intense friendship should be kept alive for her sake. So, Jess re-imagines Terabithia and builds a bridge across the river to welcome a new ruler. He invites his sister, May Belle Aarons (Bailee Madison) to be that new ruler, who is delighted after being previously denied every opportunity to enter Terabithia. She and Jess bring back Terabithia in even greater splendor; Jess the king and his sister the princess. They rule over the free peoples of the kingdom together.[1][2]

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Trivia

  • The filmmakers have disavowed the advertisement campaign for the film saying that the advertising is deliberately misleading; making the film seem to be about or occurring in a fantasy world like that of Harry Potter or Chronicles of Narnia[3]. David L. Paterson in the SCI FI Wire article was surprised by the trailer but understood the marketing reasoning behind it saying:

"Although there is a generation that is very familiar with the book, if you are over 40, then you probably haven't, and we need to reach them. [...] Everyone who read the book and sees the trailer says, 'What is this? This is nothing like the book. What are you doing, Dave?' And I say, 'You know what you're seeing is 15 seconds of a 90-minute film. Give me a little leeway and respect. Go see it, and then tell me what you think.'"[3].

[edit] Differences between the film and the book

  • Jess's name in the book is 'Jesse'.
  • In the book there is only one bully who is a girl named Janice, in the film there are also two boy bullies named Gary and Scott, along with Janice.
  • In the book, Jesse first meets Leslie in the field behind their houses. In the film, Jess first meets Leslie at school even though they are next door neighbors.
  • In the book, Jesse's family seems to have more of a farm - they have a milk cow. In the film, Jess's family grows vegetables to supplement their food.
  • In the book, Jesse has blond hair and Leslie has brown hair. In the film it's reversed.
  • At the end of the book, Jesse makes his sister, May Belle, the new Queen of Terabithia whereas in the film he makes her the Princess.
  • In the book, Leslie calls her dad Bill, but in the film she calls him Dad.
  • In the book, Leslie and Jesse are in 5th grade although they appear to be 7th graders, also supported by the fact that they sit closely to the very back of the bus. Despite this, Robb's song claims that they are in 5th. It is also possible that the school went up to 5th grade, which is common among schools around the United States.

[edit] Time differences between the film and the book

The book was clearly set in 1977. The film was updated thirty years to 2007. For example, in the film:

  • There are references to electronic games and downloading from the Internet.
  • During Jess's talk with his teacher, Mrs. Myers, the copyright shown on a map of the historical USA reads "1990".
  • In the book, Leslie could not watch a documentary film on television about Jacques Cousteau, who was a popular underwater TV documentary maker of the 1970s. In the film, the documentary was about the underwater explorer Bob Ballard, who is a popular underwater television documentary maker of the 2000s.
  • Ms. Edmunds' music class sings "Someday" by Steve Earle, which came out in 1986.
  • When Jess's sisters are watching television, they are watching Hannah Montana, a Disney Channel show that came out in 2006.
  • When Mrs. Myers says: "Take out those electronics, you guys," there are two boys playing Gameboy Advance SPs, which were released in 2003.
  • In the bus when Jess and Leslie were talking, there is a girl listening to an MP3 player, which weren't released until 2001.
  • When Jess gets the phone call from Ms. Edmunds, he is using a cordless phone.

[edit] Soundtrack

Main article: Music from and Inspired By Bridge to Terabithia

The soundtrack of Bridge to Terabithia has three elements: orchestral music, pop songs, and songs sung by children at school.

The orchestral music was composed by Aaron Zigman:

  • "Seeing Terabithia"
  • "Into the Forest"
  • "The Battle"
  • "Jesse's Bridge"

The pop songs are sung by a variety of artists.

  • "I Learned from You" performed by Miley Cyrus. Written by Matthew Gerrard and Steve Diamond.
    The song "I Learned from You", which is on the Hannah Montana season 1 soundtrack, is featured during the credits. This song is a different version from the one in the sountrack. This version is only preformed by Miley Cyrus, and doesn't feature her father Billy Ray Cyrus as did the original track.
  • "Try" performed by Hayden Panettiere. Written by Matthew Gerrard, Robbie Nevil and Mike Krompass.
  • "Keep Your Mind Wide Open" performed by AnnaSophia Robb. Written by Dave Bassett and Michelle Featherstone.
    The song "Keep Your Mind Wide Open" from the film soundtrack, sung by AnnaSophia Robb, is heard on the television early in the film.
  • "A Place for Us" performed by Leigh Nash and Tyler James. Written by Bryan Adams, Eliot Kennedy, and Aaron Zigman.
  • "Another Layer" performed by Jon McLaughlin. Written by McLaughlin and Jamie Houston.
    "Another Layer" is the music played when Jess and Leslie's family paint the room.
  • "Shine" performed by The Skies of America. Written by Rob Bonfiglio.

There are at least three songs the children sing:

In the theatrical trailer, the song, "The Poseidon" by Klaus Badelt is used. This song is from the 2006 film, Poseidon.

[edit] Box office performance

In an analysis by Boxofficeprophets.com, Bridge to Terabithia had a strong second place opening over the President's Day weekend grossing "a higher-than-expected $28,536,717 from only 2,284 screens: $9,885 per screen average".[10] The opening Friday box office was $6.3 million.[11]

[edit] Cast

[edit] Filming locations

  • Auckland, New Zealand
  • Hobsonville Aerodrome, Hobsonville, Auckland, New Zealand
  • Woodhill Forest, Woodhill, Auckland, New Zealand
  • The Walden Media website reports that Bridge to Terabithia "was filmed for 10 weeks on location in West Auckland, New Zealand, including the rural forest areas of Riverhead and Puhoi. Principal photography wrapped in early April, 2006."[12].

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ Official website (the plot synopsis is listed in the "About the Movie" section, under the heading "Story")
  2. ^ Bridge to Terabithia movie stays true says author Retrieved February 15, 2007
  3. ^ a b Terabithia Ads Mislead?, SCI FI Wire, February 7, 2007
  4. ^ David Paterson at IMDb Retrieved February 12, 2007
  5. ^ Question & Answer from Katherine Paterson's official website Retrieved March 11, 2007
  6. ^ Internet Archive version of June 2005 story Lisa Hill and the Bridge to Terabithia. Retrieved March 11, 2007
  7. ^ Catholic University of America Alumni magazine profile Spring 2006 Retrieved 15 February 2007
  8. ^ Heartland's Truly Moving Picture Award Bridge to Terabithia Retrieved 8 February 2007
  9. ^ Heartland's Truly Moving Picture Award the List Retrieved 8 February 2007
  10. ^ Weekend Box Office Wrap-Up for February 16 to February 18, 2007 by John Hamann Retrieved 19 February 2007
  11. ^ Friday Box Office Analysis by Tim Briody February 17, 2007. Retrieved 19 February 2007
  12. ^ Walden Media Retrieved 24 February 2007.
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