The original novel was based on events from the childhood of Paterson's son, who went on to write the film's screenplay; Csupó was hired in late 2005, and the rest of the main cast was rounded out soon after. Principal photography began in February 2006 and lasted until that April, taking place in Auckland. This was the last film for 71-year-old cinematographer Michael Chapman, who followed through with his planned retirement thereafter.
Bridge to Terabithia was released in the United States on February 16, 2007, by Buena Vista Pictures. It received positive reviews from critics, with praise for its visuals, cast performances, and faithfulness to the source material. The film grossed $137.6 million worldwide. At the 29th Young Artist Awards, the film won all five awards for which it was nominated.
Plot
Jesse Aarons is a 12-year-old aspiring artist living with his financially struggling family in Lark Creek. He rides the bus to school with his younger sister, May Belle, and is often bullied by a girl named Janice Avery. One day, Jesse befriends a new student named Leslie Burke. At recess, he enters a running event, for which he has been training at home. Leslie also enters and manages to win, frustrating Jesse. On the way home, Jesse and Leslie learn they are next-door neighbors.
Later that day, it is discovered that Jesse has a difficult relationship with his father, who spends more time with May Belle. Due to their financial struggles, his mother also forces him to wear his older sister's sneakers. One day at school, Leslie compliments Jesse's drawing ability and they become friends. After school, they venture into the woods and swing across a creek on a rope. Jesse and Leslie find an abandoned treehouse on the other side and invent a new world, which they call Terabithia. For the next few days, Jesse and Leslie spend their free time in the treehouse getting to know each other.
Leslie gives Jesse an art kit on his birthday. Jesse becomes angry with his father for his attitude towards him and he loses his belief in Terabithia, and refuses its existence the next day at school. Later, Jesse apologizes to Leslie by giving her a puppy, whom she names Prince Terrien (P.T). Once in Terabithia, they encounter various creatures, including a giant troll resembling Janice. At school, Leslie becomes frustrated by Janice's bullying. Jesse and Leslie play a prank on Janice, and she is embarrassed in front of everyone on the bus. Leslie introduces Jesse to her parents and they help paint their house. At school, Leslie discovers from Janice that her bullying is due to her abusive father, and the two become friends, with Janice later befriending Jesse as well. Jesse and Leslie take P.T to Terabithia, where they fight off several creatures resembling their bullies, this time with the troll as their ally.
The next morning, Ms. Edmunds, the music teacher who Jesse has a crush on, calls to invite him on a one-on-one field trip to an art museum. When Jesse returns home, his father reveals that Leslie died after hitting her head and drowning in the creek when the rope she used snapped. Jesse first denies it and runs to check on Leslie, but he notices the severed rope as well as emergency vehicles surrounding her house before eventually accepting her death.
The following day, Jesse and his parents visit the Burke family to pay their respects. Leslie's father, Bill Burke, tells Jesse she loved him, and thanks him for being the best friend she ever had, since she never had friends at her old school. Jesse feels overwhelming guilt for Leslie's death, imagining the "Dark Master" from Terabithia chasing after him before breaking down into tears, but his father comforts and consoles him by telling him to keep Leslie's memory alive. Jesse decides to re-imagine Terabithia and builds a bridge across the river to welcome a new ruler. He invites May Belle to Terabithia and the siblings agree to rule together, with Jesse as king and May Belle as the princess.
Matt Gibbons as the Dark Master, an evil being in Terabithia that antagonizes Jess and Leslie.
Paddy as Prince Terrien, a dog that is adopted by the Burke family.
Production
Development
The film was directed by Nickelodeon's Rugrats co-creator and ex-Hanna-Barbera animator Gábor Csupó, 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".[6] 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]".[7]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".[8]
Writing
Producer and screenwriter David L. Paterson 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.[9][10] 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".[11]
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.[8] 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.[6]
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."[8] 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."[12]
Levine stated that "looking for Jesse 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."[8]Josh Hutcherson was not their first choice for the role of Jesse Aarons, but they settled with him because they "felt the chemistry between AnnaSophia Robb and him".[6] 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 Jesse".[13]
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.[8]
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."[4]
Filming
Production for the film began on February 20, 2006,[14] with a budget of $20–25 million.[4][5] Principal photography for the film was shot in Auckland, New Zealand, within 60 days.[4][15] 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.[4]
Design and special effects
Csupó explained that "it was a very conscious decision from the very beginning that we're not going to overdo the special 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".[6]
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.[7] 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.[7][clarification needed]
