Bridge To Terabithia - The Movies
THE 2006 FEATURE FILM
BIG NEWS! A Bridge To Terabithia feature film is now in production! Finally, what fans have been waiting for since the book was first published is now a reality! A feature film version of Bridge To Terabithia is now in production and is expected to be released in 2006! All that is known so far is that the movie will be created by Walden Media, (Around The World In 80 Days) directed by Gabor Csupo (director of Rugrats Go Wild and The Wild Thornberrys Movie) from a screenplay by Jeff Stockwell, who wrote the acclaimed Jodie Foster black comedy The Dangerous Lives Of Altar Boys. The best part is that the movie is being co-produced by David Paterson - Katherine Paterson's son! I will update this section with more information as it is released.
THE 1985 TV MOVIE
If you enjoyed reading Bridge To Terabithia as I much as I did, the first question you probably asked yourself was, "Did they ever make a movie?" The answer is yes. Unfortunately, most fans of the book - myself included - consider the movie a big disappointment. There has never been another filming of Bridge To Terabithia, so I guess beggars can't be choosers. Something is better than nothing. Here, you will find everything you wanted to know - but were afraid to ask - about the Bridge To Terabithia TV movie.
The Bridge To Terabithia movie was made in 1985, filmed as an episode of the PBS children's show Wonderworks. This show featured dramatizations of children's literature, including other Katherine Paterson novels, like Lyddie and Jacob Have I Loved. Wonderworks is probably most famous for its excellent adaptation of C.S. Lewis' Narnia book, The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe. Its Bridge To Terabithia adaptation left a lot to be desired.
The teleplay (TV movie script) for Bridge To Terabithia was written by Nancy Sackett, who would go on to write trashy TV movies like Beverly Hills Madam and Charles And Diana: Unhappily Ever After. Sackett's teleplay adaptation of Bridge To Terabithia was pretty bad. The movie runs for just 60 minutes, so I suspect that Sackett had to keep her script thin and tight to make it fit into the time limit. I suspect that the 60-minute time limit was due to the very low budget. If I am wrong on both counts, than Nancy Sackett must be just plain incompetent as a scriptwriter. Here is a list of just some of the things wrong with the teleplay adaptation:
1. Jess's sisters Joyce Ann and Ellie have
been written out of the story.
2. Mrs. "Monster Mouth" Myers has been written out. Miss Edmunds is Jess and
Leslie's regular teacher.
3. Actors Julian Coutts (Jess) and Julie Beaulieu (Leslie) are both 13, maybe
14 years old. The characters are supposed to be 10.
4. The part where Jess and Leslie go to church is written out.
5. Miss Edmunds tries to console Jess by telling him how she lost her brother
in a car accident. That was never in the book!
6. Jess and Leslie go to Terabithia by walking across a log. In the book,
they use a rope swing.
7. Leslie dies by slipping and falling off the log. In the book, she dies
when the rope swing breaks while she's swinging across the creek.
The 1985 Bridge To Terabithia TV movie has been out on VHS for a while now, and just made its DVD debut. If I can get a hold of a DVD copy, I'll put up some still picture captures. Let's hope the feature film gives the book the love and respect it deserves!