Bridge to Terabithia is About Much More Than Special Effects

When I first learned that Walden Media, the Disney-owned production company behind The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Charlotte's Web and several other big-screen adaptations of classic children's books, was taking on Bridge to Terabithia, one of my all-time favorite novels, I was excited. And then I was nervous, especially when I saw the trailers. They were fantastical, full of highly imaginative CGI creatures and the promise of an epic battle. They were pulse-poundingly exciting. And they seemed to be an indication that the movie was not going to be very much like the book.

That's not to say, of course, that the book isn't exciting. But it's not another Chronicles of Narnia - much as author Katherine Paterson may have been influenced by C. S. Lewis in her writing. Leslie Burke, the lively, warm-hearted, creative girl who moves in next door to sullen, friendless, secretly artistic Jess Aarons, teaches him how to open his mind to the farthest reaches of imagination. She helps him find a place where the two of them are safe from the drudgery and travails of the everyday world, yet it is ultimately to his everyday, ordinary life that Jesse must apply those gently drawn-out skills. Bridge to Terabithia is about friendship and family and finding your place in the world. It's not about knocking down giants with acorn grenades.

So I was much relieved when I discovered the special effects-drenched trailer was grossly misleading. There is CGI, but in small doses, and done in such a way as to show us that Jesse is growing into an ability to witness such visions. Over the course of several Terabithian sojourns, we observe fierce fights with monsters derived from squirrels, birds and even trees. The latter, an enormous giant, becomes representative of a threat that looms large back in the real world: Janice Avery (Lauren Clinton), an aggressive eighth-grader who delights in throwing other students' sandwiches at unsuspecting victims, eating other students' Twinkies and charging even the kindergarteners a dollar to use the bathroom. Interestingly, while Leslie mentions Narnia several times in the book, all references are excised here despite the convenient opportunity for self-promotion. The visual similarities are striking, however; one can't help but think of Narnia as Leslie (AnnaSophia Robb) and Jesse (Josh Hutcherson) gaze out over the treetops to overlook their kingdom with its majestic mountains and shimmering rivers, or when its subjects gather from all corners of that magical land for a culminating regal scene.

Across the creek from Terabithia, just a rope swing away, is harsh reality, where everything seems to be stacked against Jesse. The kids at school, especially Janice and equally ill-tempered Scott Hoager (Cameron Wakefield), shove him around; his rigid fifth-grade teacher, "Monster" Myers (Jen Wolfe), barks at him in class; his quarrelsome teenage sisters Brenda (Devon Wood) and Ellie (Emma Fenton) yap endlessly about inane topics; and worst of all, his gruff, no-nonsense father (Robert Patrick) rarely has a kind word for him. Leslie, too, faces the derision of classmates, and although her parents work at home, she doesn't get to spend much time with them. Still, she keeps a positive outlook, and it's her cheerful persistence, coupled with Jesse's blooming empathy, that brings the two of them together after a false start when she outruns him in a race he's been training for all summer.

The novel is set in the 1970s, and although the film is transported to modern times, the setting changes little. The cars are newer-looking, Ellie and Brenda watch VH-1 all day (which is odd, considering how dirt-poor the Aaronses are), Mrs. Myers issues a grave warning against downloading essays from the Internet. Oh, and in the wake of all the recent scandals, Ms Edmunds (Zooey Deschanel), the luminous music teacher with whom Jesse is smitten, offering to take Jesse on a trip to a Washington, D.C. art museum could raise an eyebrow among more jaded audience members. Actually, though, she brings a definite 70s vibe to the film with her offbeat style and the mellow songs she has the class sing. Moreover, aside from those offhand references to modern technology, the town feels like it's much the same as it has been for decades, and certainly the year matters little once Jesse and Leslie are in Terabithia.

The acting is good all around, if not remarkable. Hutcherson's performance is understated, while Robb's role calls for a touch of the overdramatic. Leslie is perky and fun, smiling throughout most of the film, as opposed to Jesse, who is mostly stony-faced, though we are sometimes privileged to see the thought processes behind his eyes. As much as his time with Leslie awakens his imagination, I thought his best and most revealing scenes were those he shared with his father and his little sister May Belle (Bailee Madison). Having just seen Patrick in a small but effective role in We Are Marshall, I paid extra attention to his part in this film, and I found his portrayal of Jesse's father to be quite moving. He doesn't seem to know how to interact with his son and snaps at him out of frustration that he always seems to have his head in the clouds. This contrasts with his tender, affectionate treatment of May Belle, to whom the adorable Madison brings an irresistible charm. May Belle worships the ground her brother walks on, and she tags along after him all the time, often to his annoyance. Shortly before the film ends, Jesse enjoys reparative scenes with each of them that I found to be the most touching in the movie. Also of great impact is a brief scene in which he gets an unexpected glimpse at Mrs. Myers' softer side.

The cinematography is well done, especially in Terabithia, and the opening and closing credits, which feature animated drawings of Jesse's, are clever. The film does delve into the darkness of life, but in such a way as to show that light is never out of grasp. It grapples delicately with difficult topics, opening the door for such discussions amongst families. Bridge to Terabithia marks yet another successful chapter in Walden Media's history. If they take as much care with all their adaptations as they have with this, Charlotte's Web and Narnia, I'd say the children's literature canon is in pretty good hands.

Freddie and Johnny and Tim, Oh My!: Willy Wonka Revisited

This is the summer of the remake, it seems. How many must we suffer through? The Dukes of Hazzard, Bewitched, Bad News Bears… luckily, there is at least one rehashing that is worth the audience’s time and attention. Conveniently enough, it has a different name than the original, making it easy to distinguish. I speak, of course, of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Now, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is undeniably a classic, with the musical numbers (especially the goofy Oompa Loompa tunes); the silly snippets of folks around the world going to great lengths to get a winning ticket; the inane lessons of Charlie’s teacher (who is probably my favorite character); the repulsive behavior of Veruca Salt and the reactions of her cowed father; and of course, the antics of Gene Wilder as eccentric but self-assured Willy Wonka. But after seeing Tim Burton’s skewed mind take on the equally skewed world of Roald Dahl, I may be prepared to pronounce him the victor.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory opens with an eye-catching demonstration of the process by which Wonka bars are made and delivered to stores around the world. It’s a preview of the brilliant land we will enter once Willy opens his factory to five lucky ticket holders. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Our first glimpse of the protagonist is in considerably more drab surroundings: a precariously leaning shack in the middle of town, where seven family members huddle over bowls of cabbage soup. I confess here that while I have seen the previous film many times, one of them this year, I have read the book only once, many years ago. So I remember the film much more clearly and found myself making comparisons to that instead of the book, to which this movie sticks more closely. I honestly cannot recall if Charlie Bucket (Freddie Highmore) had a dad (Noah Taylor) in the book, but he definitely did not in the movie, so seeing this extra family member was a considerable surprise – the first of many.

Several characters and plot points are notably different in this film. In fact, the major conflict has nothing whatsoever to do with Slugworth or everlasting gobstoppers, both of which are given only the briefest of mentions, almost as a nod to the prior movie. Gone entirely is the bubble chamber in which Charlie and Grandpa Joe do a bit of giddy floating – and, sadly, so is Charlie’s teacher. But for every missing element, there is something grander to take its place, and the film becomes less about Charlie’s dedication to a loony chocolatier and more about his devotion to the family members who have nurtured him for so long in spite of their poverty.

The cast is top-notch, starting with dear young Freddie. Ever since I saw him in Two Brothers, I was hooked. By Finding Neverland, he had become my favorite male child actor since Haley Joel Osment (female vote goes to Dakota Fanning). And now, with his adorable toothy grin, impossibly large blue eyes, husky voice and apparent inherent sweetness, he makes me fall utterly in love with Charlie Bucket. I always thought the original Charlie was just okay, but Freddie is phenomenal, and Burton couldn’t have made a better casting choice. Mum (Helena Bonham Carter) and Dad are a perfectly pleasant pair of doting parents. The fact that Mr. Bucket works in a toothpaste factory is an amusing detail, and his “special perks” allow Charlie to build a fantastic model of the fabled factory. Meanwhile, the grandparents are comical and more well-defined than before. Grandpa George (David Morris) is a crusty old curmudgeon who enjoys cursing and generally spreading his negativity around as far as it will go, to the general annoyance of his fellow bedridden nonagenarians. Grandma Georgina (Liz Smith) is a bit batty, while Grandma Josephine (Eileen Essell) is warm and comforting. Once again, though, it is Grandpa Joe (David Kelly of Waking Ned Devine fame) who is developed the most fully. He and Charlie share an especially close bond, and in this film he isn’t just an intrigued outsider when it comes to the chocolate factory. He actually worked there himself for a number of years before Willy Wonka laid off his entire staff and locked the factory gates after too many of his secrets began leaking out. Joe is sweet and funny, and his oversize glasses add a pleasantly goony touch to his appearance.

There are of course the same four obnoxious children, though two of them have been altered somewhat. The scenes in which they are introduced are nearly identical to those in the first film, aside from a lack of Slugworth slinking around in the background. Augustus Gloop (Philip Wiegratz) and his mother (Franziska Troegner) are virtually identical to the pair in the first movie. They look the same, they act the same. Every time we see Augustus, he is stuffing his face. He does have one new little scene in the film that tickled my funny bone terribly. As the children are making their way into the factory, A chocolate bar-toting Augustus, in what I took to be an uncharacteristic moment of kindness, asks Charlie if he would like some chocolate. Charlie also appears taken aback by this gesture but gratefully accepts his generosity, at which point Augustus taunts, “Too bad! You should have brought your own!” and runs off. Aside from that, though, pretty old hat. He’s the first to go, so we never did get to know him all that well.

Veruca Salt (Julia Winter) is someone we know all too well, however. While Augustus is too busy gorging himself to say much, Veruca is always opening her mouth to demand from her father (James Fox) whatever happens to pop into her head at the moment. I’ve already said I found Burton’s casting inspired, but in this case I just don’t think the original can be improved upon. The original Veruca was the essence of obnoxiousness, and her poor overwrought father was pathetic as he was entertaining. And her show-stopping performance with the golden geese… Well, who could forget that? She was the only one of the four brats who got her own musical number. Our local Youtheatre put on a performance of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory when I was in ninth grade, and every girl auditioning seemed to have her eye on Veruca’s part. Nobody cared about Violet. I think this owes a lot to Julie Dawn Cole, the young lady originating the role, and I have to give her props for that. So I don’t really have a complaint with this Veruca, but I just think this is a case in which the original can’t be outdone. And her father is much more of a prim and proper sort of fellow, which is much less entertaining than the blustering coot we saw in the original. Veruca’s grand scene is vastly different than in the original, though it’s the same basic concept. Though I didn’t like the song as much, I must say I enjoyed the particular participants in this scene immensely, owing to a personal preference. They’re certainly a lot cuter than the geese.

Veruca always had a corner on rudeness in the first film, but Burton seems determined to make the other kids catch up as much as possible. Violet Beauregarde (Annasophia Robb) is utterly insufferable. A competitive know-it-all, she is a virtual clone of her mother (Missi Pyle), who eggs Violet on in all of her pursuits. “Eyes on the prize,” she tells her daughter when they learn that one of the five children will receive an extra special prize at the end of the tour. Violet does her best to ingratiate herself to Willy Wonka, but she must be seriously deluded if she thinks that her constant insults flung at the factory owner are making her any point. Mike Teavee (Jordan Fry) is similarly incorrigible, and while the other parents think their kids can do no wrong, his dad (Adam Godley) seems weary and even afraid of the tyke, who greatest passion is violent video games. Both these children seem to serve as a way for Burton to comment on certain unpalatable aspects of contemporary society: over-competitive children with pushy stage moms, and addictive violent video games. Mr. Teavee replaces Mr. Salt as the petrified parent.

Of course, by far the actor who has gotten the most attention in this film is Johnny Depp, who has made a career out of playing extremely eccentric characters. Willy Wonka is an oddball, that’s for sure. But Depp’s Wonka is an entirely different kind of weirdo than Gene Wilder’s. Wilder made the titular character manipulative, almost demonic at times, and always in complete control of the situation. He was clearly self-assured, while Depp’s Wonka is insecure to the max. Before I saw the movie, I heard all sorts of buzz about how much this Wonka seemed to resemble Michael Jackson, a comment I thought was odd, especially since they look nothing alike. However, with these comments zipping about in my mind, I couldn’t help but look for similarities. And perhaps because I was looking, I found them. Most obviously, Wonka appears androgynous. He looks more like a girl than a guy, and he speaks with an unnaturally high voice. He doesn’t seem to know how to interact with normal people, but he has built a wonderland, which he shares not with children but with the beleaguered Oompa Loompas. He, too, feels he suffered a great deal at the hands of his father (Christopher Lee, looking characteristically creepy in a series of loopy flashbacks) and was robbed of a normal childhood. He also wears funny gloves, and there is the small matter of those 80s-ish dance routines concocted by his employees. So yeah, I see a few similarities. And you know what? I always liked Michael Jackson. And I think this Wonka is a lot more likable than the original. He’s afraid of his own shadow. He’s amused by the strangest things. He recoils from human touch and is so repulsed by the whole notion of family that he can’t even say the word “parents.” But he’s really quite a sweet man, and it’s easy to feel sorry for him. But not for Depp, who is more likely to be envied, as he is clearly one of the most talented actors working today. Like Jude Law, he emerges in each new role almost unrecognizable. I can’t wait for Corpse Bride.

So much imagination went into this production. I really think Dahl would have been pleased. In addition to the ultra-bright chocolate river room featured on movie posters, I found two scenes particularly arresting. One was the introductory puppet performance that we heard in the previews of this movie several months ago. Monstrously irritating, impressively complex, and certainly a little nutty, it reminded me of a similar device in Shrek and paved the way for a hilarious first impression of Wonka. The other scene, which made me recall Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, depicts the Great Glass Elevator in all its glory, going all the ways we know it can but never get to see in the original. There certainly is a lot to see in this factory, and the visuals here are impressive. It’s also fun to see how many of the room labels you can read before the camera pans away.

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is a beloved movie that I will always be fond of. But I think this is one of those rare instances where the remake actually managed to outdo the original. When the first film was so good, that’s really saying something. Tim Burton and Roald Dahl are an ideal combination; I wish he’d tackle more of his books. But I am certainly glad he was not too intimidated by the other’s classic status to tackle this project. Three cheers for Charlie!