Back in the year 2004 when I was in 4th grade, my class
during the English portion of our daily schedule would read a book chosen by
our teacher as each student would take a turn reading a a section out-loud (and at one pointing acting out a scene while reading it). One
of the books that we were assigned to read was "Bridge to Terabithia", the
story about two kids from different classes who get along well through their
misfit status among people, and create an imaginary kingdom deep in the woods
to escape their harsh reality. Like most books we read, I had a tiny attention
span at that time as the book itself just seemed like some generic boringly
average everyday life that involved kids dealing with their issues. I was more into
fantasies written by Roald Dahl, the "Goosebumps" books, "Choose
Your Own Adventures", or easy-to-read adaptions of classic literature from
the "Great Illustrated Classics" series. I could care less about a
book involving friendship between two kids. However, when the news came out that the
character Leslie died as we were reading the book, my class was shocked, and I was
too considering that not many children's books about life would take that dark
turn, at least not with killing off kids. But since I was paying little to no
attention to the book beforehand (even when reading it aloud), I brushed off
Leslie's death since I had no connection to her and slept through the rest of
the story.
Traditionally after we read the book that we had to read
together, we would usually watch a film adaptation of the book, and before
Disney's film adaptation to the story, there was an hour long film made for PBS
in 1985...
At the same time that we were watching a movie, we were also
celebrating a birthday party for one of my classmates (and good friend), and
whenever it was someone's birthday, the birthday boy/girl would be given the
task to go to a few classrooms to hand-out cupcakes or any kind of pastries we
had. Not interested in seeing the film for how riveting the book was, I decided
to aid my friend with handing them out, successfully missing 10 minutes or so
of the film, as I'd hope. I came back to the room where we were watching the
film (we weren't in the classroom for some reason) and was about ready to drift
away into my thoughts for ideas when it came to writing stories, but then
something happened that I didn't expect. I was moved and swept away by
the relationship between Jess and Leslie for how they interacted, pretend in their little world, and
dealt with their problems. I became so invested that I forgot that she died in
the book, and when her death happened I cried in a flood of tears, trying to
catch my breath, grasp the reality of the situation, but I refused to accept
it. I was literally going through the motions that Jess was going through
despite that she wasn't real. I remember watching the film praying for this
death to be a fake-out, since I didn't have a single memory of what happened
afterwards in the book, but when I discovered that she was dead while I was
given a sweet ending with Jess and his sister, I broke down as the teachers and
my friends comforted me. I'd never in my young life ever felt so broken-up over
a death of a character, and this was coming out of a kid who watched and
obsessed over Disney 24 7! To cope with this emotional scar, I used my writing
to write fan-fictions of me entering the world of "Terabithia" where
I'd interact with the characters (mostly Leslie). And since I became so attached to the movie,
I began renting it at the library numerous occasions as the pain I had started
to slowly die.
A year and a half later when I was in Middle School, I
discovered online that Disney was remaking the film, and I was hyped to see it, despite
of the film's false advertising of tricking Narnia fans that they were going to
get an action/adventure fantasy film. It showed the world of
"Terabithia", it was made by Disney, and it had stars that caught my
interest like Robert Patrick (who I admired him so much as the T-1000 back in
5th grade) and one of my childhood crushes at the time AnnaSophia Robb (which made the
stakes higher for me about Leslie dying after already letting it go). I saw the
film in theaters, and I remembered loving it for its effects, performances, and
giving more depth to the characters, as well as feeling sad over Leslie's death
(that probably would've hitted me harder as a kid if I wasn't prepared for it).
It was an improvement over the original that made me want to buy it as soon as it
came out on DVD with the little money that I had tucked away, making it the
first movie that I ever bought. And it inspired me to bring my fan-fiction to the world of Terabithia to the next level.
As I grew more and more attached to the remake, the less I
found myself enjoying the original, where I began to realize to my disrepair
that the original was not as powerful as I remembered it to be. It had very
hokey acting, most of the characters weren't given much depth and focus as they
were in the book and remake, the low budget quality was unappealing after I was
given a high budget special effects heavy movie from Disney, and I found myself
laughing at moments that probably weren't meant to be funny. It was a film that
didn't hold-up, where I mentioned briefly in my review of the 2007 film of how the
remake blew the original out of the water. I grew even more distant from the
film when I discovered that Paterson's son David (who the character Jess was
loosely based-on) produced and wrote the remake as a response for his
dissatisfaction of the original referring it to be as the "crazy cousin
that nobody talks about" claiming that "no one on our side was
either involved with it or happy with the final product". So that helped
me dismiss the original even further making me come to terms that it’s absolute
trash.
Now that didn't mean I thought the remake was a masterpiece
either! I found it to be quite over the top at times with its whimsical
moments, and though I liked what I saw of Terabithia, I wished that I could've
seen more, but that wasn't enough for me to say that it was bad. That is until
I saw the Nostalgia Critic do a review on the film, who felt that the film's
world and Leslie's depiction was unnaturally wholesome and unrealistic for how
close to perfect everything about it is; the action in the fantasy world having
very little tie-ins to their reality; and pointing out more corny moments that
I didn't remember being as sappy as he made it out to be. It began to make me
think if the remake really was a good movie. I then began finding clips on
"Youtube" of the 1985 film and went from laughing at its cheesy nature, to
getting a bit of the feels at certain moments that I'm not sure if they were just my
nostalgic memories coming back to me, or that the original may not have been as
awful as its been labeled as.
I later on found the full 85 film on "YouTube",
and decided to re-watch both films to analyze how much that these films got
right, and as likely as it seems that the remake may have the upper-hand by comparison,
is there anything that the original did right and better than the remake...at
all? Let's take a closer look at these two. And by the way since the 85 film is
very obscure (who talks about it, or even knows about its existence) I couldn't find enough
pictures to tie them to the topic for each section. So this will
unfortunately remain as a picture-less review.
Starting off with our protagonist Jess Aarons, there's not
too much of a difference in terms of character for how almost identical they
are depicted in both versions, while perfectly fitting the different time
period that each film takes place in. There's not much really to compare and
contrast in terms of characteristics. However, there is one major
difference between both versions of Jess and that's how they're both performed.
Whenever I watch the remake of "Bridge to Terabithia" I keep finding
more things to appreciate about Josh Hutcherson's performance, mainly because
he feels like a real kid and is very subtle with his emotions (well...when the film
tries not to spell-out what he's feeling). Out of all the kids in the remake,
he just seems to be more down to earth since he's not portrayed as a stereotype
of a kid, or is as over the top as the others. And when he gets frustrated,
confused, or warms up to new things that he's hesitant to it feels mostly legit. The actor playing
Jess in the original on the other hand, he's trying but he doesn't sell it.
When a scene calls for him to react in a certain way, he seems confused and
unsure how to express what the character's feeling. And whenever he has to
deliver his lines, it seems that he's trying to remember and say his lines at
the right time causing him to sound unnaturally stale, as he mostly keeps a blank look
on his face. The only emotion he seems to know how to do okay is to yell when
being frustrated (his scene of making May Belle swear on the holy bible was
actually not that bad), but even then, he messes it up at times from how he has
to be angry, shocked, and sad at the same time (I'll get into much more detail about
that later). To be perfectly fair, it's not the kid's fault alone because
everybody else in this film are not good actors, which is easily an advantage that
the remake has over the original. Most of the people cast in the original don't come
across as professionally trained actors, and it greatly shows from the majority
of it being bland, more focused of the actors saying their lines than conveying emotion and working-off each other at a very awkward pace. However, if I were to judge
everybody in this film just based on performance alone, then I'd be given
praise to the remake as if I were giving away free money, and that's not why
I'm comparing the two. I'm really trying to compare how the characters are
portrayed and written, it's just since the comparison between both versions of
Jess are near identical, the only way for me to choose which version is
better is simply by performance.
However, there's still more to explore in terms of Jess'
relationship to the characters and how each of them are portrayed, and it makes
sense to look at the person who has left a big impact on his life, Leslie.
AnnaSophia Robb is very charming as Leslie by capturing her free-spirited and
creative nature, while having her quiet moments of feeling alone. But looking
at the film again (and I really hate to admit it too), I can almost swear that
Disney was originally trying to market her off as a live-action Disney
princess, or sell merchandise with her image attached to it (they did get the
actress to do a music video for the film, almost as if Disney thought that it
would keep the kids from feeling depressed over her character's death). Leslie
doesn't look or behave like a regular kid in the remake, but more of a modern-day live action Disney princess. In almost every scene she's in, she's shot,
edited, and directed to look and act glamorous, where her personality seems so unbelievably perfect from the way
she speaks and inspires that it's almost as if she's made as a role model than
a kid who's talented but lonely and different. The struggles that she goes
through feel so minor in the long run that you'd think she'd be the most
popular kid in the school for how smart, and beautiful she is. Even the tacky
clothing she's given to stand-out as a misfit looks pretty and fashionable on
her than it does make her an outcast. Hell the bully Janice sometimes
wears clothes as colorful as hers, so it makes the attempt of her visually
looking different than the others even more of a misfire. And oddly enough,
that's by far the one advantage that the original has over the remake. Now don't
get me wrong, the actress playing Leslie is nearly as wooden as Sofia Coppola
in "The Godfather Part III". But in the very least I can take her a
bit more seriously for how less of a model she looks, and more how she looks
and acts like an average kid. I don't get the impression that she wears clothing
similar to what boys' wear, cuts her hair short, and wears thick glasses to seek
out attention, or that they hired an actress to make her look like a misfit. I
completely believe that's what the character would look like given her love for
sports, wanting to be part of the boys crowd, and how great of a writer she is. And
given credit where credit is due, her awkward acting does in a way help create
the awkward tension that she feels around the kids, strangely making her
fish-out-of-water presence seem more believable. Even how she gets into her fantasy
world seems a bit endearing, rather than sounding whimsically forced and creepy
(let's be honest, didn't Leslie in the remake seem just a little distant from
feeling like that she's just playing pretend at times). The only time when the original Leslie's love for
Terabithia does seem unnatural is how she just suddenly comes up with the idea
and uncomfortably pulls Jess into the woods telling him that "no one will
ever find them", otherwise the fun and enchantment that she feels for the
place she made-up is a little more natural, or at least less forced than how
the remake depicted her feelings. Let me make this clear, I don't at all hate AnnaSophia Robb as Leslie and I
don't take any pleasure panning her either. She is adorably sweet and charismatic as the
character, and you can tell that she's putting her heart and soul into the role
(she actually got the part just for writing the director a letter for how much
she loved the book). I just have a really hard time believing that she would be
the unpopular girl in school for how lovely she looks, and for not having enough relatable characteristics to her since the film tries so hard to make
her the flawless and inspirational life coach in Jess' life who's always right
and confident in what she says and does. This isn't Robb's fault at all, it's the way Disney chose to handle her character.
The person who changed Jess' life is shockingly better in
the original than Disney updating her to a Mary Sue, but what about Jess'
little sister May Belle who he gives a large piece of Leslie's legacy to so
that he can keep her spirit alive, and bring him closer to the person that he always
gives the cold shoulder to. Well remember how I complained about how the remake
made Leslie too precious, the original kind of does the same for May Belle.
She's not made to look as unnaturally cute as say the Olsen Twins, but it's
clear that the director behind the movie wanted to make her as cute and
innocent as possible to overlook how bad her acting is, which doesn't work.
It's actually very annoying for how much she's trying to phone in her cutesy
personality from how she talks and slurs her lines as she does a terrible job of
pretending to be upset, and constantly whining to the point where maybe it was
best for Jess to keep her away from Terabithia at all costs. That's not to say
that Bailee Madison in the remake doesn't at times phone in the characters
sweet nature too, but she's definitely more tamed than the girl in the original
let alone being a better actress. Much like how Jess is portrayed, she too
feels like a real kid than just a character who's made to look perfectly
cutesy. She's stubborn, she worries, she gets legitimately upset, she gets
annoying, she does weird things, she makes mistakes, and oh my goodness why
wasn't Leslie given the same treatment?! Did Disney want to make her so perfect that we wouldn't suspect her to die? But I digress! I'm not saying that May
Belle's characteristics weren't there in the original, it's just that it never felt
natural, and to make matters worse, she and Jess share very little screen-time
together. Jess yells at her in the opening scene to than
suddenly comforting her; has one small moment of him showing his jealously
towards her; May Belle gets mad at Jess for not standing-up to a bully; she tells him that she knows where he and Leslie go; comments on Leslie's death very briefly; and Jess invites
her in to Terabithia. I get that the original isn't a 2 hour film, and that things have
to be shorten, but the scenes with his sister are so short (apart from Jess
forcing her to keep Terabithia a secret, as well as the very last scene) that him inviting
her to his secret spot after feeling bad for how he's treated her doesn't feel
earned, since you don't get that much of a sense for how she annoys him (her
annoying acting doesn't count) and wants to keep himself distant from her as
much as possible. In the remake, you feel all the tension that he has with his
sister for being jealous of how his father always favors her over him, touches
his stuff, and is constantly annoyed that she won't leave him alone, while all
that May Belle wants to do is be friends with his brother and play with him as well helping him but accidentally messing things up. And once
Jess snaps at her and pushes her when she follows him to Terabithia after the
death of his friend when all she was trying to do was give him her loving support after being so
worried about him, it makes the act of him bringing his sister to Terabithia
more rewarding and enchanting. The friendship between Jess and Leslie is an
essential part of the story, but so is his relationship with May Belle since
she's the person that he shows redemption to.
The supporting characters in both films, I'll admit are very
much hit and miss regardless of their different qualities in acting. I suppose
the best place to start regarding the supporting characters are the teachers.
In the remake we had Jess and Leslie's strict teacher Mrs. Myers (Jen Wolfe),
and the upbeat music teacher who Jess has a crush on Ms. Edmunds (Zooey
Deschanel) who are both perfectly casted as the two teachers in Jess' life that
are the polar opposite from each other. The original however, makes an
interesting choice with these characters. The only famous actress that the
original film can afford to hire was Annette O'Toole who was given top billing,
and I guess since they didn't want their money to go to waste by casting her as
Jess' music teacher Miss Edmunds, they decided to also combine her character to
Mrs. Myers as well. On one hand, I kind of like this change. After Jess
bitterly tells Miss Edmunds at Leslie's funeral that they should take Leslie to the art museum the next time that they decide to go, we never see the two reconnect afterwards,
leaving this character in an awkward in position. So, the idea of having her
tell Jess about how she felt when she lost her husband and understands what he's
going through does give their relationship a bit of closure and is sweet to
hear that a person who Jess admires knows his pain. However, there are still
many problems regarding this change. First there's Annette O'Toole's
performance, the only other film I've seen her in was in "IT" as
adult Beverly and maybe she's better in other films and shows, but here she
gives a very bland performance, that's not as hokey as her performance in
"IT" (with the exception of her speech at the end), but still
incredibly dull. She just doesn't seem to be that interested in the character
she's playing for how monotone her voice is and expressionless she looks. Maybe
perhaps it isn't her and that she's just given bad direction in the film's I've
seen her in. If that were the case, it makes sense for not just how weak
everybody's acting in the film is. But how she swings back and forth from a
strict and annoyed teacher, to behaving as playful and enthusiastic towards her
students (and yet still seeming miserable and near emotionless) when given the
scenes that the music teacher has in the book and remake is obvious sign
that these two characters don't jell together as one. It's a nice idea
to have the music teacher share a personal experience in her
life to help inspire him, but I think it's best to leave it to Mrs. Myers since that
moment shows that she's not as cold as she leads her students on, that makes
her seem human and less of a cardboard cut-out stereotype of a grouchy teacher.
But what's an imperfect life in school without its bullies?
To be truly honest this is not an easy choice since both films get one bully
character right. In the remake, Jess has two one dimensional bullies to face
instead of one which are Scott Hoager and Gary Fulcher who look and act like
the kind of bullies that you'd see ripped straight off of a Disney channel
sitcom, or an After School special. They're the kind of bullies who are so
goofy that they're hard to find intimidating or cool enough to be the ones who
wouldn't be bullied. In the original there's only one bully who Jess encounters
who may not be as memorable or in the film nearly as long as the bullies in the
remake, but he’s at least cold, patronizing, and violent while still feeling
like a real kid. His acting may not be so great, but I can take him more seriously when compared to what Hollywood thinks of the typical school
bullies. Then there's the bully who starts out intimidating until later on showing
that she only bullies people to feel strong for what goes on in her home life
Janice Avery. And how she's depicted in the original is so downplayed and left
more as a footnote to give the film some kind of edge after abandoning Leslie's
thoughts on religion that it's easy to miss. When we first see Janice, we see
her on the bus where she's shot from a faraway distance that's facing her back most of
the time making threats to Leslie and Jess that are weakly written and
delivered in a very bored way. Later on, when May Belle complains about Janice
stealing her Twinkie, we only see one shot of Janice standing in front of the
field holding a ball, and don't see her again until we see her in the bathroom
standing there looking somewhat sad after Jess and Leslie pulled a prank on her. We then get exposition about her sadness from Leslie, and that's the last we ever see or hear from her. In the remake there's more depth and personality given to the
character. Unlike in the original we see her bully the kids with a personality
that’s just as silly as how Scott and Gary bully the leads, except that she
takes the extra mile by making the kids pay to use the bathroom (why hasn't any
of the kids reported her to the teachers or something? Come to think of it,
who's even watching the kids during recess?). Later on when Jess and Leslie
pull their prank on her, we don't cut to her crying in the bathroom about how
the news of her father beating her got out, we see her get humiliated in front
of the person who she thought wrote the love letter to her, and then hear her cry in the bathroom the next day, see her looking depressed on the bus, and then learn about the incident. And Janice's appearance doesn't stop there,
because outside of seeing her as a troll in Terabithia, we see her after Leslie's death take on one of the
bullies who messed with Jess and sit next to him on the bus greeting him,
indicating that she feels bad for Jess and is sad about Leslie too after how
she helped her, that possibly hints to the two of them becoming friends. The bullies
in the original may be less over the top than they are in the remake, but the
remake does give more focus on the character of Janice, who is more
important than the side bullies.
School life is one part of the characters harsh reality, how
about their home life? Let's start with Jess'. Putting May Belle aside, neither
version of Jess' family really stood out. He had nagging sisters and that was
it, and a mother who struggled and showed some care for Jess but we never got an idea how close Jess truly was to her. The only difference between both
versions of Jess' family was that the remake has (big shock) better acting than
the original. The real meat when comparing the two is the relationship that
Jess has with his father. In the original just like his relationship with
Janice and May Belle, the father is given very little depth. Actually, before he informs Jess about the news of Leslie's
passing, we only see him in one tiny scene where he criticizes his son for
being late with his chores that sounds more like he's telling him not to do
them than he is trying to enforce it, as he a few seconds later embraces May Belle
and apologizes for not getting her a treat from the city. I guess that moment
is supposed to show Jess being upset that his father favors May Belle over him,
but it's so badly acted and moves so fast that it's hard to grasp how he feels,
especially when we don't get other scenes of showing Jess' tension towards his
father before he comforts him after finally breaking down about Leslie. The remake
constantly keeps that tension going between Jess and his father. Considering
that he's being played by an actor who knew how to frighten and intimidate
people as the T-1000, Robert Patrick gives this character a very bitter
presence, who you can tell that his character is not trying to ignore Jess or
wants to be bitter towards him. But given the finical troubles that he
struggles with on a day-to daily bases it infuriates him when Jess always has
his head in the clouds causing him more problems with their livelihoods by
rescuing an animal that eats their food in the greenhouse, and forgetting to
give him the keys to the store and cash register that causes him to harshly
insult his son and lash out at him angrily. Plus, Jess is no longer as young as
May Belle, and expects him to act like a man and put his fantasies aside and
think as rationally as he does. Because of the father's frustration with Jess not
growing-up and learning about responsibility, Jess uses his imagination and his
experience with Leslie to help him learn how to put his dreams and fantasies to
practical use that impress his father more and more when Jess returns home. And
most of those moments of his father realizing this and the tension that Jess
has with him are not being spelled out through dialogue or having a shot that
unnaturally focuses on their faces for 10 seconds, thus making these moments
more effective. After he tells Jess the shocking news of Leslie's sudden
departure, he goes from tucking Jess in after shielding the door in his room shut
and passing out on his bed, to comforting him by telling him that it's not his
fault and that he can still keep Leslie's spirit alive. Their last moment beautifully ends their arc since Jess ends his grieving and denial over Leslie's death by
accepting the reality of it from his father helping him confront his fears as Jess' father
understands that having your head in the clouds isn't always a bad thing for
how Leslie and his imagination helped improved his life. And what shocks me the
most is, Disney doesn't make this harsh father figure tell his son that he loves
him to comfort him, because you feel his love and care for his son through his actions during these tender moments. I don't think I even need to
explain how the original handles the father and son moment after this tragic
turn of events because it doesn't feel as special as how Disney handles it for
how minor a role the father plays where the only reason why he went out
to find and comfort his son is because...well, he's his father. Truthfully out
of all the relationships that Jess has with the characters have in the remake, it's the relationship
between him and his father that I feel the closest too since how the way they act and
work-off each other feels believable.
Then there's Leslie's family, who Jess is slightly jealous
of for how rich, happy, and well educated they are. They seem like the perfect
family to have, maybe a little too perfect. As if Leslie in the remake isn't
already unnaturally flawless, how about giving her parents who are just as
exaggeratedly upbeat and wholesome as she is. Leslie tells Jess that she's
alone because her family spend most of their time away from her doing their writing,
but come on from the way that Leslie and her parents interact like the ideal
American family, am I really supposed to buy that they don't spend enough time
with her? They're always smiling and acting cheerful to a creepy level for how forced it is; quoting historical figures; ask her
for help or if she wants to come with them to do some errands; and appear to be
so close together that it looks like that they're posing for some kind of
Halmark commercial! I can understand that you have to make Leslie's family
happier than Jess', but you don't have to make them look like the happy families
that you'd see posing in a photograph or picture album! Leslie's family in
the original isn’t as annoyingly perfect, but they don't seem like the kind of
people who are more educated and happier than Jess'. Ignoring the mother since
she only shows up greeting Jess during the funeral for a few seconds, the
father played by Peter Dvorsky (who was previously in horror films like
"The Dead Zone" and "Videodrome") doesn't scream out as
someone clever and sophisticated. When he talks about how much he loves
Beethoven when he first appears, he doesn't seem like he actually cares about
the genius of Beethoven for how unenthusiastic he sounds. And when he talks in
big words, it sounds like a forced attempt to make him seem well educated as he
wears glasses and forced to smoke and carry a pipe and turn his back to the
camera standing tall while placing his hands on hips to make him appear to be
strong and classy, when he obviously doesn't appear to be from his mannerism and
how he seems to be directed to behave this way. The father also does the total
opposite of how Leslie's parents treated her. He doesn't suffocate her by
showing her too much love; he looks like he could care less about her. He seems
quite bored when he's around her, not appearing to be acting like a father but as an actor who's just acting with a little girl who he clearly acknowledges is
not really his own. Even when she's dead he doesn't seem
to be upset for how phony his crying is. He comes off more concerned with giving Jess
back the dog that he gave to Leslie (as he seems to be reading a cue card when
thanking him) to then quickly pushing Jess aside and leaving as if he never gave an
actual damn for the things Jess did for his daughter. In the long run, both
versions of Leslie's family are portrayed terribly, just on a different kind of
level of bad. But if you had to make me, choose which one was better, I'd have to go
with (once again) the remake. At least I can believe that Leslie's father was
more choked-up about her daughter's death than the father in the original, as
he has a few moments where he feels like a real father. Actually, now
when I think about it, plenty of them! The only time when the family seem as unnatural holy as the families, you'd see in a Christian movie is when Jess finally meets them, after that they're a bit more
grounded (probably because we don't see them again until she dies).
Now we get to the grim part of the story, Leslie's death. I
know I talked about it numerous times in the review where it seems most likely
that the remake is going to be the one that does it better, but there are other
parts to the event that are worth talking about. One thing that the remake was
not very subtle about was how it hints that Leslie was going to die. When they
find the rope that they swing across to Terabithia we hear ominous music, with
Jess behaving reluctant towards it, that later on leads to Leslie mysteriously
disappearing, making Jess drastically worry about her; we see a foreboding shot of
Jess staring at Leslie's house when leaving with the music teacher; the water
in the creek suddenly rises and creates a rapid tide that looks too dangerous
to swing across; a big drawn-out climatic battle happens at the half-way point in the movie; and that awkwardly forced whimsical shot in slow-mo of Leslie waving Jess goodbye where
we never see her again after that. The film might as well have Leslie talk
about her fear of dying, or show the rope slowly tear apart every time they use
it to build-up suspense to her demise, considering that the film feels the need to give
kids obvious signals that she's doomed to prepare them for it, you know like in
real-life! I can't say that the original doesn't hint at it too, but it’s way more subtle for how less dramatic the remake makes it out to
be. When they use a fallen tree to cross the creek, (instead of a rope), Jess
gets nervous about falling as he jokes to Leslie if she'd like to "make
a bet" if he won't as we hear lighthearted music in the background, making
the scene appear as a small cute moment between the two rather than darkly
emphasizing how untrustworthy the tree is. What I find interesting about the
original is that we do see Leslie a bit before she meets her maker. After
getting a corny and overlong last encounter with Jess and Leslie the previous
day, we cut to the very next day of Leslie leaving the house to go to
Terabithia during a heavy rain-shower. Obviously, there are some weird vibes
from the atmosphere. However, instead of seeing Leslie leave and not appearing
again, we see her standing in the rain getting soaked assuming that she made it across the creek safe and sound since she's standing in the middle of the woods
eagerly waiting for Jess to meet up with her. As she impatiently waits, we keep cutting to Jess visiting
the art museum, that comes across as a selfish act and less like a moment of building suspense. Jess beforehand
briefly mentions that he forgot to call Leslie to his teacher but stops himself
before he can finish and brushes it aside as if he forgot to do one of his
chores, given that he's visiting a place that he's never been to with a person
he secretly admires. Again, the film doesn't try as hard to signal us that Jess
not calling Leslie will be the drastic end of their friendship for how Jess quickly
shrugs off his realization for this golden opportunity. The original may not be
giving us as many signals to a downfall of a great character for how little these
moments are played out, but really both versions didn't need to foreshadow it at
all. In most cases in life when someone dies it usually catches a person by
surprise for when they least expect it to happen, and sometimes at a time when
a person feels that they are so above everything for how life seems to be on
their side that they feel betrayed when it suddenly takes something important away from them. And
that's not to say that the message isn't there in these films, it’s just the
execution doesn't make it that big of a surprise where the version that made it
less obvious by comparison is indeed the original.
Jess' reaction and how he deals with Leslie's death is an
entirely different story. I've already established that Peeta is the best Jess,
and that his father comforting him is a powerful scene that changes both
characters perspectives on life. But there are so many more gut-punching scenes
involving Jess dealing with the loss of his friend! We see him go through all the 5 stages of grief; see the tree-house and woods where he used to hang-out
look less enchanted without Leslie there as his imagination plays a darker role toward facing his
fears; and witness Jess worry about his and Leslie's soul after witnessing May
Belle and Leslie having a conversation of how they view religion differently
earlier in the film. When I first saw the film in theaters I swear to God that
I was hoping to see Jess see some kind of fantasy image of Leslie helping him to accept his loss or congratulating him when he brings May Belle to Terabithia;
something almost reminiscent of Simba seeing Mufasa's specter, or Obi-Wan
Kneobi's force ghost telling Luke that Yoda will always be with him. But to my
disappointment eventually leading to my satisfaction as I got older, Disney
doesn't go down that route. It's one of
the all-time saddest deaths that Disney has ever brought to the screen for how
mostly serious and down-beat it is, which I can't say the same about the
original for being so laughably silly that it almost feels like a
tongue-and-cheek self-parody. As soon as Jess hears about Leslie's fate, he
goes from having this blank "whhhaaaa" expression on his face as if he just zoned
out, to looking casual when hearing the news, and then showing some form of
emotion when he believes that he’s being lied to. At first it seems like the typical bland acting when he says “you’re lying to me”, until after a few seconds
of not saying anything he suddenly shouts out "YOU LIE!" that's over
the top and yet seems like he doesn't really care about what happened to her for how
phoned in that line is, where the scene ends with the actor now trying to give
a crap for how over dramatic his performance is! For a while I thought the kid
shouting "You Lie" was improvised at the very last minute that I
guess the director decided to keep it in for his efforts to create drama. That was until I
actually heard someone off-screen say those words before Jess could which
obviously means that the kid was being directed to say such a stupidly cliched
line that he forgot to say for how long his pause is. That line and delivery
does not fit in one tiny bit at all! But it's sooo dreadful that it's the part of
the movie that had me roaring with so much laughter that I began to question
how this was able to make me cry my eyes out as a kid as opposed to bursting
open a gut while laughing insanely hard. This moment is so priceless that it
should be on the wall of infamous scenes in film that made us laugh for the
wrong reasons such as "Oh my god" from "Troll 2", and
"I did not hit her" from "The Room".
The kid's Tommy Wiseau style of acting (I feel so bad
ripping on this poor actor who probably takes no pleasure looking back at it
the same way how Jake Lloyd does with "Star Wars") gets more
laughable when his father catches up to him after he runs, by being given some
of the worst dubbing to have ever existed! This is the same kind of bad dubbing you'd see in
"The Room", his lip movements don't match with he's saying where his voice sounds like that the actor is casually recording them in a booth
putting no emotion into it for how clear it is. And it's a tragedy because during this moment of
sadness and disbelief Jess angrily speaks about how much he hates Leslie,
wishing that he never met her, that's written so harshly that I wish that the
remake had it. But since the acting, dubbing, and silly lines like "I hurt
daddy" totally kills the emotion that we're supposed to get out of it, it
fails miserably. By the way, remember how I mentioned in the Disney remake how
much they make Leslie look like a fashion model, and that we never see Jess'
thoughts of her materialize in his imagination, well the original at one point
is guilty of what Disney did and made a very unwise choice that Disney
successfully avoided. After all this gripping drama, we then see Jess have
flashbacks of Leslie smiling, posing for the camera, and walking while hearing
her voice express how much she loves Terabithia. She's not as dolled up as
Leslie is in the remake, but she does look like she's posing for some kind of
commercial or opening credits to a Family sitcom, which I guess isn't so bad
since it's used once in the film and Jess is thinking of her hence why she looks
so perfect and smiley. Still much like how the films didn't need any
foreshadows to her death, this didn't feel warranted either, especially when being
for an hour-long movie where clearly other things needed more attention than
this.
However, out of everything the original gets wrong when
handling Leslie's death, the biggest offender that's so insulting, so stupid,
and so upsetting that it has actually bothered me a bit when I was a kid, is
that THERE IS NO BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA! In the remake after the rope broke off
killing Leslie, and Jess sees May Belle almost falling off a log that helped
him get across the creek without the rope, Jess decides to build a bridge
combining his artistic talents and carpentry skills that he developed from
Leslie to guide May Belle safely across the creek when taking her to
Terabithia. In the original, after Leslie falls off the tree and dies, and Jess
saves May Belle from almost falling off the very same tree, what does Jess do?
He simply takes her in shrugging off the fact that his sister almost suffered
the same fate as his dear friend did, shows her Terabithia, crowns her, and the
credits roll. Does Jess build a bridge? Do they find an alternate way of
getting to the kingdom? We'll never know, and we never see Jess do or learn any
building skills prior to this, so it seems most likely that the two are just going to keep
crossing this hazardous tree just to play pretend until one of them falls and dies, who
will most likely be May Belle. For God's sake, Leslie is built up to be more
physically fit than all the other characters in this film, and she died; so
what makes Jess think that May Belle is going to have such a better chance
after literally saving her for how small and weak she is!? I get it, it's only
an hour movie made for TV, and they probably don't have the time or money to
shoot a scene of Jess building a bridge! But you don't give the characters a
clear problem that will greatly affect their lives in the future and just leave
it unsolved hoping that a happy ending will make you forget all about it. And
if the people behind the film don't realize or (most likely) CARE that the
solution is in the DAMN TITLE OF THE MOVIE, then WHY SHOULD WE?! They're using
a TREE to Terabithia, NOT A FREAKIN' BRIDGE!! THERE'S A HUGE DIFFERENCE,
THEY'RE NOT THE SAME, THEY'RE NOT THE FREAKIN SAME! Here's an appropriate title
for the film "The deadly fallen tree to Terabithia", that's a better
and more truthful title than what we're being given! Sigh, that alone
should greatly sum up how much the film fails from a storytelling level!
The last big element for me to compare when talking about
both films, is atmosphere. Which one is better in terms of visuals, tone, and
music! Comparing the two in this type of category is like comparing apples to
oranges for being made on a different budget with an opposite length in
run-time, as one was released theatrically in theaters, while the other was
released for a public access network. But that's exactly what I'm doing. Pieces
of fruit maybe different to another in many ways, but you still have to pick
one that's sweeter than the other. And keep in mind, I'm not just judging the
atmosphere to these two films from a technical level (if that were the case,
the remake would win easily) but which one seems to have a better understanding
of the environment that the story takes place in. Disney's version looks a
little more visually distinct, when with the original
version you could pretty much easily see it as being a run-of-the-mill TV movie for families made during the 80s for how simplistic it is. Disney on the other hand, makes
the world more appealing to the eye from its effects, shots, and sets. But with
that said, as visually nice as the remake is, there are still problems that
prevent it from being great, one of those problems being its tone. The remake
is better acted, but the harsh environment that Jess and Leslie live in doesn't
quite feel as rough as it appears to be written. Everything regarding their
everyday world outside of Terabithia is so polished, over the top, and
whimsical that it almost doesn't feel as different as their land of pretend since it contains all that too. Jess' home life looks realistic, since the environment looks believable for how dirty, dark, and unorganized
the house looks, where the only part that expose Disney’s fingerprints is when
the sisters are watching Disney channel. But everything else regarding the real
world feels like watching a Disney Channel original movie for how tamed,
bright, hip, and wholesome it all looks and feels! The original on the other
hand, though having the cheesy qualities of a typical television special made at the time does
appear to be grittier and less polished in terms of its environment when
depicting the real world. Jess' house looks way messy and dirtier when compared
to Jess house in the remake where it's more believable that this family seems
very down on their luck; the school is more quiet and less bright and pretty;
and the scenes that take place outdoors (away from the kingdom) have a right
balance of looking dreary but beautiful where it needs to be where it doesn't
feel exaggerated.
And that's the second problem that the Disney film has,
because with the exception of Leslie's death and Jess' relationship with his father,
almost everything else is exaggerated. For example, whenever Miss Edmunds sings
with the children in the remake, everything is too upbeat and cheery for how
nicely sung all the kids (including the bullies) sing as they all smile and clap along making Jess'
life seem even less tough and more whitewashed. In the original, the kids sing
out of key, the teacher is telling some of them to join in, some of the kids
don't look as happy to be singing along feeling that their forced to sing since
they're in school, and hey isn't that how most kids look, feel, and sound when
singing together in a music class in elementary school? It seems less rehearsed and
more like everyday life. Another example of the remake being too unnaturally
whimsical is the painting scene with Leslie's family where they dance, smile,
and hug during a montage to make them seem so perfect that it feels shoved
in your face. The original just had Leslie and her father casually paint the
house, as Leslie complains a bit about the paint color to than having
the two fool around for a few seconds before Jess approaches them. It's not
greatly acted, but it's still treated as a little moment to give you an idea
what Leslie's relationship with her father is like, without feeling the need to
create a montage with cheesy pop music and make it seem that they don't have a
single care in the world. There's a lot
more that I can cover for how much the remake likes to make almost every little
thing special or over dramatic like the first time they swing from the
rope; the scenes when they run; Leslie capturing a light inside a church, etc,
etc. They don't feel like special little moments or seem realistic; they look
like someone's glorified memories of their childhood. The original can get
corny too, but it feels a little more grounded in reality and less exaggerated
for how quiet, slow, and imperfect it is. The low-budget quality in terms of
visuals surprisingly works with the film, as the higher budget in the remake
kind of works against it for how Disney sanitizes this supposed everyday
real-life.
How about Terabithia itself, the place where the characters
go off too, the remake has to have the upper hand when analyzing atmosphere.
Well, there definitely is some truth to it. When it came to Jess building up
courage towards the bullies or taking responsibility for his father, most of
those lessons are taught to him in Terabitiha in the remake as he imagines the
bullies as monsters and trolls, and treats his real-life situations like
adventures in his fantasy's world. Terabithia in the original was just a
sanctuary for the two characters, which isn't bad, but the remake seemed to
offer more. Furthermore, since the remake is on a higher budget that means that
the film can get creative by showing off its special effects to show us what
Jess and Leslie imagine, when in the original you see nothing. The CGI is
clearly overused; however since it's their imagination the uncanny look to half
of these effects gives you a bit of an idea that they're imagining it since
they're not really supposed to be there in reality. I admire how Terabithia plays a larger
role in the remake, and that the film shows us their imagination coming to
life, but there are still plenty of issues regarding it. In my review of the
remake, I remember being disappointed that the land doesn't show most of
its fictional characters living there despite having some creative ones, and
looking at the film again, the designs aren't the worst or anything, but I
can't say that they're as inventive as I remember them to be. They're pretty generic. The two bullies are just an animal version of
themselves; Janice is an average troll (that for some reason was a walking tree
before she suddenly had a face); and we never get a good look at the dark
master or the Terbithians, which doesn't really matter for how boring they
look. I also mentioned in my review of how their land of pretend gets kind of
confusing. They're pretending, but there is one instance when Jess is saved by
his own imagination after falling off of a tree; and Leslie takes the fantasy
world so seriously as Jess suddenly begins to see what she sees and reacts to
it legitimately that I find myself scathing my head as much as the imagination logic in
freakin' Barney, just with action. And speaking of action, with the exception
of the final scene, all of Terabithia is nothing but suspense and fighting. That's not a terrible thing for how they face their fears and fight them to help
conquer them in the real world, but wouldn't it be nice to explore a little
more into their imagination and interact with the creatures outside of battle
or give them a little more depth to help them understand why they are so
vicious, than always fighting? Wouldn't it be interesting for Jess to encounter
a Terabithan who resembles the teacher that he admires to help build-up his
courage towards her? I admire what the remake was trying to do with Terabithia
and succeeds in some places, but I'd have to go with the original's version. I
say this because rather than forcing action with confusing logic of how their
imagination works and how seriously they take it, where the visuals overall not really all that
visually pleasing for how average it is, the original's simple take on it feels
stronger. Since the real world they live in mostly looks shady and grey, the
woods where they go to play gives you an enchanting vibe from the lighting,
scenery (like the colorful leaves, the clubhouse they hang in), and music, that
doesn't try to make it too beautiful and whimsical, it's tamed enough for it to
still fit their reality while also being the perfect place for them to run off
to. When we see them play pretend, it's not treated as serious or big as how the
remake tries to do it, those scenes are treated as realistic and sweet as how regular
kids play pretend, with a lovely atmosphere surrounding them to make it more
endearing where the film doesn't try to do anything too fancy with it in order for it
to still become believable. I especially love the last scene when Jess takes
May Belle to Terabithia. OOOOH make no mistake, the decision of Jess not building a bridge still angers me greatly, but the scene itself is actually
quite effective for how it perfectly embodies their interaction in their
imaginary world as we're given the opportunity to imagine with them of the
Terabithian's bowing down to May Belle with the shots of the forest and music
giving it such emotional weight.
This brings me to my last topic when comparing atmosphere to
both films, the music. I can't say that the music to these films as a whole is
timeless because they do come off as product of the time when they were released. The music in the
original is what you'd pretty much hear from these low-budget hour long family TV movies in the 80s, as half of the music in the remake is mostly
consumed with pop music from the era. The only real timeless piece to the music
is the score for the remake that makes everything sound so big and enchanting
that it could be used in any film involving fantasy. But as timeless as the
score sounds in the remake, it unfortunately does heighten the forced corn for
little moments that are made to be big and whimsical. Just like the images of
how kids are having way too much fun by the many small
things in life that it's silly and forced, the music makes it even harder to digest. If
anything the forced whimsy from the music goes right off the charts for how
unnatural it gets. Is the score on the whole bad, no it's still nice, but its
way too overblown with so much enchantment that Disney has more restraint when conveying it in their animated films! The pop songs don't help the film's environment either
because they make the atmosphere even cheesier that clearly only feel there to
sell the film's soundtrack. Whenever these corny as hell songs are played
they're complete overkill, whether it's being played by a well put together
montage of the kids fixing up a tree house, or having them dance while
painting. For me, the absolute WORST part when the pop songs are used is during
the closing credits where we exit the film with an upbeat Miley Cyrus song that
gives me a serious headache after the first 30 seconds! I know this is a small
thing to complain about, but when I leave a movie, I want to hear the
appropriate music or song to play us out during the credits, so the fact that I
get out of place pop music that doesn't at all fit with what we just
experienced infuriates me. If they really, and I mean REALLY had to use a pop
song for the credits, why not play "Keep Your Mind Wide Open" that
was recorded for the film by AnnaSophia Robb? I'd much rather prefer hearing the
score, but this song still fits the tone of the movie as well as Leslie's teachings towards
Jess. Thank God that they don't play these terrible songs when Jess walks
around feeling depressed about Leslie; it would've killed the melancholy mood
big time! The music in the original is I'm not going to lie a bit corny too,
even sounding at times very soap-opearish when we hear an out of tune piano being played during sad moments. But at least it doesn't force these innocent, playful,
and enchanting moments for how laid-back it is. It feels warm
and welcoming than it is trying to exaggerate everything, resulting with a very
relaxed tone that feels more down to earth and less manipulative. Is it a
little too soothing at times and used in places where it doesn't need to be, oh
yes definitely. I do wish that it did feel a little more dramatic outside of its sappy
piano music during its down beat moments. But in the long run, as big and timeless as the score sounds in the remake, the original knows how to keep its environment nice and
simple to match with its reality setting while only making it sound enchanting
and mysterious when the kids explore and play in Terabithia as it doesn't feel
the need to over-emphasize the fun and magic that they feel when playing pretend, as
well as providing enough quiet moments to keep the music from overstaying its
welcome when creating mood.
OVERALL THOUGHTS
It should come off as no shock to anyone that the remake by
comparison is the better movie, by giving more depth to the story and
characters, a depressing depiction of Leslie's death, and containing acting
that's Oscar worthy when compared to the acting in the original. That
doesn't mean there isn't any good to be found in the original. As
much wrong that the original has (that are at times so wrong that it gets the
better of me), it still has a better understanding of portraying Leslie
as a regular tomboy than a sparkling and always optimistic Mary Sue; and
providing an atmosphere that's more grounded in reality to make things feel
rough for our characters than over the top silly and near perfect and
whimsical as Terabithia while portraying their land of pretend as beautiful and
enchanting but (with the exception of one scene) also simple and less
romanticized. Between these two movies, there's clearly a great adaptation of
the story trying to get out, where the remake gets the story part right, as the
original gets the atmosphere right. That's not to say they were done perfectly,
but it's clear to see which version succeeds more with than the other. In this day and age of Hollywood always
remaking, rebooting, and re-imagining films, as much as I will always keep
a soft spot for these two films, I say that "Bridge to
Terabithia" is in serious need for another film adaptation! This story has
the potential of becoming a perfect movie for kids for its gritty nature and
practical portrayal of childhood that connects to a heavy and deep heartfelt
message of dealing with loss (stuff that kids will have to eventually go
through in life), and I would admire seeing a third film adaptation that rights
most (if not all) the wrongs that these two installments had. Maybe have it take place in the 70s or 80s (I seriously doubt that a teacher taking an underage
student out to a place for recreation would be passable in this day and age)
and not try to shy too much away when handling other serious material to make the film feel
realistic like swearing (the kind you'd hear in "A Christmas Story"),
and its risque themes on religion. This could be an amazing family film if
executed correctly. But until that ever happens, we have these two corny movies that are hit and
miss as our only film representations to a story that deserves better than
what we currently have.
