Bridge to Terabithia (1985 film)
| Bridge to Terabithia | |
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1980s NTSC VHS cover
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| Directed by | Eric Till |
| Produced by | Edward K. Dodds |
| Written by |
Katherine Paterson Nancy Sackett |
| Starring | Julian Coutts Julie Beaulieu Tom Heaton Annette O'Toole |
| Music by | George Elian Thomas Richard Sharp |
| Cinematography | Philip Linzey |
| Distributed by |
PBS Disney Channel WonderWorks Allumination Filmworks Feature Films for Families |
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Release date
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Running time
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50 minutes |
| Country | Canada |
| Language | English |
Bridge to Terabithia was the name of a telefilm for PBS in 1985, starring Annette O'Toole, Julian Coutts, and Julie Beaulieu. It was shot in Edmonton, Alberta. The film is based on the children's novel of the same name by Katherine Paterson.
The story was based on the death of Lisa Hill, the best friend of Katherine Paterson's son David L. Paterson, who was struck and killed by lightning when she was eight years old.
In a 2007 interview, David L. Paterson, who later co-wrote the 2007 movie version, referred to this version as being "like the crazy cousin that nobody talks about" and goes on to say that "no one on our side was either involved with it or happy with the final product."
Ten-year-old Jess Aarons (Julian Coutts) is an aspiring yet shy elementary school boy living in a financially struggling family. Ten-year-old Leslie Burke (Julie Beaulieu) 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 go across a creek on the trunk of a partially fallen tree, and later build a "castle" (actually a small shed) 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. Jess and Leslie base the Creatures of Terabithia on the people that give them a hard time at school.
Their teacher, Ms. Edmunds (Annette O'Toole), 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 without inviting her.
When Jess returns home, his family is worried sick, as Jess's family neglected to listen when he said he was going, then tells him the horrific news: Leslie died after trying to cross the fallen tree over a rain-swollen creek, only to fall into the creek and drown, possibly hitting her head in the fall. Jess grieves for his lost friend, and he and his parents visit Leslie's parents together.
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