Line #5 Literature/BridgetoTerabithia


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/teraithia.jpg]]
2
3	''Bridge to Terabithia'' is a 1977 novel by Creator/KatherinePaterson. It has twice been [[FilmOfTheBook adapted to film]], first as a 1985 MadeForTVMovie for Creator/{{PBS}}, and again as a 2007 theatrical film produced by Creator/WaldenMedia and distributed by Creator/{{Disney}}, starring Creator/JoshHutcherson and Creator/AnnaSophiaRobb and directed by Creator/KlaskyCsupo co-founder Gábor Csupó.
4
5	Jesse, the main character, is a young boy who lives in a small rural town, not too far from Washington, D.C. A bit of a loner, he practices running all summer so he can be the fastest in his grade at school. Being the fastest boy sure beats being the quiet boy who loves drawing more than he should.
6
7	However, on the first day of school, Jesse's new next-door neighbor, Leslie Burke, completely overtakes him. What starts as resentment and annoyance between the two turns into an extraordinary friendship, because Leslie is an extraordinary girl. With her gift for words, she and Jesse create a kingdom together in the nearby woods -- a kingdom that they call "Terabithia," with a castle stronghold to fight imaginary monsters and plot battles to fight real monsters -- starting an adventure that will completely change Jesse's world.
8
9	The story is known for its BittersweetEnding and by proxy being a grade-A example of DeathByNewberyMedal. It has been banned on more than one occasion for a supposed TeacherStudentRomance and other non-existent sexual content [[note]]Jesse [[PrecociousCrush has a crush on one of his teachers]], something everyone who's reached the age of 12 can probably relate to. She invites him to the museum, and insists on paying on the grounds that she's a liberated woman and invited ''him'' (and, more practically, she's a teacher and can afford it better). That's literally as far as it goes -- there's zero evidence that said teacher has any inappropriate feelings or is aware of his crush.[[/note]] as well as religious content and some swearing.
10	----
11	[[foldercontrol]]
12
13	[[folder:Tropes that apply to the book]]
14	* TheSeventies: The early post-[[UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar Vietnam War]] era, referenced throughout the book but abandoned by the movie.
15	* AcademicAthlete: Jesse thinks highly of Leslie Burke because she beat all the fifth grade boys in their race and she can impress teachers with her imaginative essays and ability to appear focused in class.
16	* AffluentAscetic: The well-off Burkes moved from Arlington, a metropolitan city, to the countryside of Lark Creek. Leslie explains that her parents wanted to reexamine the material possessions of their lives, even forgoing a TV. [[spoiler:It's subverted later on, as her father Bill says that they had moved into Lark Creek for Leslie's sake -- after she dies, they move out again.]]
17	* AllJustADream: Jesse initially believes that [[spoiler:Leslie's death]] was this trope. Unfortunately, he's wrong.
18	* AloofBigBrother: Jesse is one to May Belle. Their two oldest sisters are also not pleasant.
19	* AlphaBitch: Played with. Janice Avery is a female bully, but she's anything but the stereotypical blonde rich girl who relies on social manipulation. Instead, Janice is large, loud, and relies on physical intimidation, usually the realm of male bullies. [[spoiler: She has a FreudianExcuse.]]
20	* AngerBornOfWorry: Jesse has this reaction when he sees May Belle trapped on a fallen log across the river, while it's still roaring and high. He quickly goes to rescue her and pull her to the safety of the banks. As they catch their breath, she reveals she was following him because she noticed he was missing that morning and got scared. Jesse is more relieved that she didn't fall in the river [[spoiler:the way that Leslie did]].
21	* AnnoyingYoungerSibling: May Belle and Joyce Ann to Jesse. He gets better towards May Belle.
22	* BaitAndSwitch:
23	** Jesse and Leslie play a mean prank on Janice to get back at her for stealing May Belle's Twinkies, writing a fake love letter to make her look like a fool. Later, they find her crying in the girl's room, and assume that it must be about their prank. [[spoiler:It isn't; it's because she has an abusive father, and when she confided about it to her friends, they told the entire school.]]
24	** When Jesse gets back from the museum, we (and in the book, he) expects he's going to get in trouble for going to the museum without permission. (In the book, he knew full well his mother was half-asleep.) [[BearerOfBadNews The truth is far worse.]]
25	* BelatedLoveEpiphany: Jesse has a [[PrecociousCrush crush]] on his teacher Ms. Edmunds and doesn't realize how much Leslie means to him [[spoiler:until she dies]].
26	* BigBrotherInstinct: While Jesse doesn't challenge Janice directly in a fight, he and Leslie scheme to get revenge on Janice for stealing May Belle's Twinkies. Much later, he quickly runs to help her when she gets stuck on a fallen log trying to follow him to Terabithia.
27	* BigBrotherWorship: May Belle to Jesse. Jesse finds it mostly annoying.
28	* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Leslie dies while swinging on the rope to Terabithia, and Jesse blames himself for it. Luckily, Jesse's father helps him accept Leslie's death and convinces him that it's not his fault and to hold onto Leslie's friendship to keep her alive. Jesse returns to Terabithia, but builds the titular bridge, and takes his sister with him, offering her the title of princess]].
29	* BlitheSpirit: Leslie, a new student whose imagination and general weirdness coaxes Jesse to have lots of fun and deal with his difficult circumstances.
30	* CallingParentsByTheirName: Leslie calls her parents Bill and Judy, and they insist that Jesse calls them by name too. Jesse finds himself uncomfortable with this, and takes a while to get used to it.
31	* CantGetAwayWithNuthin: Jesse gets hit with this hard when he doesn't invite Leslie with him and Ms. Edmunds to the art museum, and [[spoiler:Leslie, when going to Terabithia by herself, drowns because she hit her head while falling]].
32	* ChangelingFantasy: InUniverse, a disparaging comment from Brenda about Leslie leads Jesse to imagine that his dad found him in the creek, and that he really comes from a bookish family.
33	* ComingOfAgeStory: The protagonists are children and the story is about the two using their child fantasies as a way of dealing with the pressures of their everyday life. And in Jesse's case, mending relationships with family members and [[spoiler: dealing with death]].
34	* CoolTeacher: Miss Edmunds, the music teacher. It's played up more in the book, where it's established that the entire school strives for conformity and she's a bit of a hippie.
35	* DeadpanSnarker: Leslie shows shades of this in the novel, but not in the 2007 film.
36	* DeathByNewberyMedal: One of the most famous textbook examples. While [[spoiler:killing a little girl]] might seem a bit brash and unanticipated, the entire story is inspired by a real-life event where a friend of Paterson's son [[spoiler:was struck dead by lightning at the age of 8]].
37	* EverybodyKnewAlready: Jesse and Leslie assumed that they had a secret place in Terabithia to hide from the adults. His dad reveals that of course he and the Burkes knew that [[spoiler:Jesse and Leslie were using the rope to get across the river in the shared backyard]].
38	* FirstLove: Subtly implied with the friendship between Jesse and his friend Leslie, a girl who introduces him to the titular Terabithia, and this variety of the "special, sweet, innocent" type of first love, on both Jesse and Leslie's parts. Jesse doesn't realize it because he has a PrecociousCrush on his music teacher, but [[spoiler:when Leslie dies, it [[BelatedLoveEpiphany suddenly occurs to him]] just how much he loved Leslie]].
39	* FiveStagesOfGrief: Jesse suffers these in alternating waves [[spoiler:after Leslie dies]] in a very realistic sense. First there's denial, in the book because he knows [[spoiler:Leslie is a good swimmer]]. Then he runs out in anger and kicks his wardrobe before going to bed. For a long time he talks as if [[spoiler:Leslie is alive]] which doubles as bargaining, and lashes out at May Belle for following him [[spoiler:across the log in the movie; in the book he's more relieved she's okay]]. He only breaks down into depression when [[spoiler:his emotions catch up to him in the woods, as does his father]] and finally comes to accept what happens.
40	* ForeignExchangeStudent: Ms. Edmunds talks to Jesse about how she spent a year in Japan as an exchange student, and references the Japanese myth of Amaterasu when the sun comes out after a rainy day.
41	* {{Foreshadowing}}:
42	** Leslie's poem about scuba-diving, which foreshadows [[spoiler:that she dies by drowning. The film makes this more apparent, with specific lines referencing the afterlife ("Above me, there's nothing but shimmery light, the place where I've come from, and will go back to when I am done here.") and Jesse coming to terms with her death ("I don't have as much time as I need to see everything, but that is what makes it so special.").]]
43	** At one point, Jesse is afraid Prince Terrien (the dog) may fall down during crossing and drown.
44	** Pretty blatantly at the Easter service, when May Belle asks Leslie [[spoiler:"But what if you die, Leslie? What if you die?"]]
45	* FreeRangeChildren: Deconstructed. Because of the setting and time period, the kids can spend as much time as they like outside, provided they're home for dinner before the sun goes down. While Leslie comments that this means they have the freedom to create their own fun without any adults interfering or looking the other way when a bully is around, it also means there are some cases where the adults arrive too late to deal with a real emergency. [[spoiler:Mr. Aarons in the film has a guilty look on his face when he tells Jesse that the adults knew the whole time about Jesse and Leslie using the rope to get across the river, and it's implied he blames himself for not replacing it or putting a sturdier crossing. If an adult ''had'' interfered, Leslie wouldn't have drowned]].
46	* GenderedInsult: Brenda insults Leslie this way, saying that, "Nobody with any sense would call that stick a girl."
47	* GracefulLoser: Despite Leslie being faster than him, Jesse hides his bitterness about it because she thanks him for letting her race. They end up becoming friends.
48	* HiddenDepths: Revealed about a lot of characters Jesse doesn't get on with.
49	** Janice Avery, TheBully, [[spoiler:has an abusive father]].
50	** Mrs. Myers, the SternTeacher, [[spoiler:lost her husband]].
51	** Jesse's family don't hate him, and are just overworked and stressed with their busy lives.
52	* ItsAllMyFault: Jesse doesn't invite Leslie to the museum in order to have some alone time with Ms. Edmunds; [[spoiler: Leslie dies crossing the rope swing to Terabithia alone the same day]].
53	* ImagineSpot:
54	** Jesse's ChangelingFantasy, in which he imagines that he washed up in the creek and comes from a bookish family.
55	** After [[spoiler:Leslie's death]], Jesse imagines conversations with her about his trip to the museum.
56	* InnocentlyInsensitive: May Belle excitedly asks a distraught Jesse, who [[spoiler:just went to Leslie's house with their parents to give their regards to her mourning family, if he saw Leslie's corpse]].
57	* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Jesse's father, Jesse Sr. He is very strict towards his son, and even harsh at times, but it's understandable given the family's level of poverty. He's also shown to be a good parent in spite of it all, and the scene where [[spoiler:he comforts his son after Leslie's death]] is one of the more poignant moments, especially in the film.
58	* LanguageDrift: Most notably, at the time the book was written, girlfriend was two words.
59	* LongingForFictionLand: The main two characters create a fictional world called Terabithia to deal with their school troubles. They are aware that it is a fantasy and wish it were real, although this doesn't stop them for having fun.
60	* ManicPixieDreamGirl: Leslie fits the character type in that she's full of quirks, dresses oddly, as well as livening up Jesse's world, though it's downplayed in that fact that the two do not get romantically involved.
61	* MiddleChildSyndrome: Jesse gets a pretty bad deal out of this trope, since he's not only the very-middle child out of ''five'', he's also the only boy. Not to mention his older sisters bully him and the youngest daughter is a particularly bratty baby; the only one who really likes him is May Belle, and even she gets annoying because she always wants to be around him, whether he wants it or not. Oh, and he's a WellDoneSonGuy to boot.
62	* MistakenForGay: One of the book's plot points, and the main source of conflict between Jesse and his dad. Set in the 70s, Jesse is into art and his only friend is a tomboyish girl, so his parents are quite uncomfortable with him spending so much time with Leslie. In turn, he's insecure about how others perceive him; he hides his art from everyone besides Ms. Edmunds and Leslie, and when asked to write about his hobby, he lies about being into football to fit in with the other boys. This is AdaptedOut in the 2007 film adaptation.
63	* MoodWhiplash: After Jesse and Leslie befriend, they bond through their imagination to form the fantastical world of Terabithia. [[spoiler:Then Leslie dies.]]
64	* MovingAwayEnding: The Burkes moved into Lark Creek shortly before the events of the story, but at the end, they move away, [[spoiler:because they had only moved into the country for Leslie's sake.]]
65	* MyGreatestSecondChance: Jesse blames himself for [[spoiler:not being there when Leslie fell, because he was at the art museum with his teacher and admits he didn't want her to join him. When May Belle gets trapped on a fallen log, Jesse is scared about her falling into the river the way Leslie did. He quickly pulls her to safety, and is relieved she wasn't hurt. This convinces him to introduce May Belle to Terabithia]].
66	* TheNamesake: The titular "bridge" finally appears [[spoiler:in the last chapter, when Jesse builds it]].
67	* NeverTrustATitle: The story is notorious for this.
68	* NewTransferStudent: Leslie shows up the first day of fifth grade, her parents having moved to Lark Creek from Arlington.
69	* NonIndicativeTitle: Chapter 10 is titled "The Perfect Day." It's anything but that.
70	* OOCIsSeriousBusiness:
71	** Jesse's family is rather hard on him, with his older sisters often teasing him and his parents being distant. [[spoiler:When Leslie dies, and they realize Jesse doesn't know, they all noticeably lighten up on him. Mrs. Aarons makes Jesse pancakes and gives him seconds, and his older sisters give him space to grieve. Most notably, Mr. Aarons stops being so aloof and comforts Jesse directly. He spends the rest of the story doing Jesse's chores, not punishing him for hitting May Belle in a fit of anger, and giving him a CooldownHug when his son has a breakdown in the woods]].
72	** In the film, Mr. and Mrs. Aarons tell Jesse he needs to help out more with the chores after his dad needs to take more shifts. Normally, Jesse would fuss about this. Instead, he smiles and quotes what Leslie's parents said while they painted the living room. This baffles his mother and father.
73	* OutdoorsyGal: Leslie invites Jesse to swing over the riverbed to discover the land of Terabithia.
74	* OutlivingOnesOffspring: [[spoiler:By the end, Leslie’s parents are attending her funeral.]]
75	* PassionateSportsGirl: Leslie is better at running than the boys and is teased for it, but makes a friend in the main character, who got her the chance to run.
76	* ParentsAsPeople: Leslie talks with Jesse about how she's beginning to understand her father Bill more as a person by working with him on renovating their house. Jesse is confused by the prospect, thinking that parents aren't people he needs to ''understand'' so much as ''obey.'' This changes as he begins to spend more time with Bill and comes to understand him as a person, and then [[spoiler:after Leslie's death, when he works through his grief with his previously-aloof father]].
77	* PetTheDog: How Jesse's father treats him [[spoiler:after Leslie dies]], and Mrs. Myers comforting him about it.
78	* PrecociousCrush: Jesse has a crush on his music teacher, Ms. Edmunds.
79	* RavenHairIvorySkin: There's the music teacher Miss Edmunds who is described as having long swishy black hair and blue, blue eyes. Lord, she was gorgeous.
80	* RealityIsUnrealistic: The real-life inspiration for Leslie was Katherine Paterson's son's childhood friend, Lisa Hill, [[spoiler: who was killed by a lightning strike ''on a sunny day'' while climbing some rocks on a beach. The author originally intended to finish off Leslie the same way but ultimately changed it to a drowning because her editor felt it would be more believable. Probably right, but ironic.]]
81	* ReportsOfMyDeathWereGreatlyExaggerated: PlayedForDrama. Jesse goes out on a field trip with Ms. Edmunds, only telling May Belle and his half-asleep mother. [[spoiler:When they get the news that Leslie drowned in the creek, Jesse's family assumes that he went with her, and he returns from the field trip to find them mourning for him.]]
82	* SavvyGuyEnergeticGirl: Jesse is an introverted artist, Leslie is outgoing and imaginative.
83	* SecretMessageWink:
84	** Jesse' baby sister Joyce Ann bursts into tears, worried Santa won't know how to bring gifts to their chimney-less house. As Jesse reassures her that Santa knows the way, he winks at his wiser sister May Belle to tell her that he bought all their Christmas gifts.
85	** When Jesse helps Leslie and her parents redo a room, Leslie calls the room "worthy of..." Jesse looks up, fearing she'll let the secret of Terabithia slip, but she finishes with "...of a palace." She looks over to Jesse and winks, reassuring him that Terabithia is still their secret.
86	* SheIsNotMyGirlfriend: Understated. Neither Leslie nor Jesse say this trope out loud, but there are points that Elle's and Brenda's innuendo about the two of them makes them both uncomfortable. Of course, from Jesse's point of view, having a girlfriend entails being SickeningSweethearts.
87	* ShoutOut:
88	** Ms. Edmunds references the Myth/{{Japanese myth\|ology}} of the sun (Amaterasu) hiding in a cave.
89	** The name "Terabithia" derives from "Terabinthia", a location in the ''Narnia'' series. In the book, Leslie explicitly compares their hidden kingdom to Narnia, even giving Jesse some of the novels and telling him to read them.
90	* SurvivorsGuilt: [[spoiler:Jesse doesn't invite Leslie to the museum and she dies as a result. Jesse is understandably broken up over it.]]
91	* TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth: [[spoiler: Leslie is a ray of sunshine in Jesse's dreary life, becoming his OnlyFriend. She dies suddenly towards the end]].
92	* TooHappyToLive: [[spoiler: Leslie is eternally optimistic and the most cheerful character in the story. Of course she's going to die.]]
93	* TragicKeepsake: After [[spoiler:Leslie dies]], Mr. Burke apologizes to Jesse [[spoiler:for wanting to keep Prince Terrien. He says he knows that the puppy was Jesse's gift to his daughter, but he can't give the dog up. Jesse reassures him that Leslie would have wanted him to keep P.T.]].
94	* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Ms. Edmunds invites Jesse to come to the art museum with her, and Jesse doesn't invite Leslie, [[spoiler: sealing her fate.]] Jesse [[ItsAllMyFault knows this and regrets it.]] Although technically if she hadn't invited Jess, there's the possibility [[spoiler: he could have died with Leslie]].
95	* WellDoneSonGuy: Jesse's relationship with his father.
96	* WhamLine: [[spoiler:"Your girl friend's dead, and Momma thought you was dead too."]] Driven home further when the next chapter is simply titled [[ThisCannotBe “No!”]]
97	* WorthIt: Jesse thinks his "perfect day" with Miss Edmunds will be worth whatever punishment he gets from his parents. Unfortunately, punishment is the least of his problems.
98	[[/folder]]
99
100	[[folder:Tropes that apply to the movie]]
101	* AdaptationDistillation: In the film, the setting is changed to the present day, so there's less focus on Jesse wanting to be an artist, which was the main conflict between him and his father in the book. It also doesn't make a big deal about Leslie being a {{Tomboy}}.
102	* AdaptationDyeJob: Jesse is described as having blonde hair while Leslie’s is brown. In the movie their hair colors are switched.
103	* AdaptationExpansion: Mildly. What the kids imagined about Terabithia was mostly implied in the books. But of course the film gets to show some of their imagined adventures.
104	* AdaptationExplanationExtrication: In the book, Leslie is explicitly stated to be an atheist, but in the movie it's not clear if she is, making it ambiguous why Jess asks his dad if Leslie is going to Hell.
105	* AdaptationNameChange: Jesse's father is Jesse Sr. in the novels, but changed into Jack in the films, probably to avoid the OneSteveLimit.
106	* AdaptationalNiceGuy: In the book, May Belle was InnocentlyInsensitive at worst, asking [[spoiler:what Leslie's corpse looked like]]; Jesse hit her for it. In the film, their argument is over her following him into the woods because she was worried; he only pushes her.
107	* AdaptedOut: May Belle [[InnocentlyInsensitive excitedly]] asking Jesse if [[spoiler:he saw Leslie's corpse at the service]] is removed.
108	* AgeLift: Minor example, with Jesse and Leslie going from ten in the book to twelve in the movie. WordOfGod says this was done to emphasize that their feelings for each other were more than platonic.
109	* AloofDarkHairedGirl: The aforementioned aloof big sisters are brunettes, at least in the 2007 version.
110	* AlternativeForeignThemeSong: The Japanese theme song for the 2007 film adaptation is [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QB2vEYjp_3M "To Be in Love"]] by MISIA.
111	* AngerBornOfWorry: When Jesse returns home from his day with Miss Edmunds, [[spoiler:everyone in his family is waiting for him. His mother runs towards him and hugs him tightly, asking worriedly where he's been, while his father asks the same thing angrily. Jesse is confused. They then reveal that Leslie died, and since he was missing all day, they thought he was dead as well]].
112	* ArcWords: "''Close your eyes, and keep your mind wide open''."
113	* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: Unlike in the book where Brenda was more matter-of-fact in saying [[spoiler:their mother thought Jesse was dead]], she says rather angrily, "We thought you were dead!", when Jesse gets home from the museum.
114	* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: The reason [[spoiler:Janice beats up Gary for accosting Jesse. While he was never nice to her, he was friends with Leslie who was nice to her.]]
115	* BigSisterInstinct: Despite the fact that Ellie and Brenda treat Jesse as their AnnoyingYoungerSibling, they both are worried when [[spoiler:Leslie dies and no one can find their little brother]].
116	* TheCastShowOff: One of the reasons for casting Creator/ZooeyDeschanel as the music teacher is that she can actually sing.
117	* CheerfulChild:
118	** Leslie in the 2007 film seems to be cheery in every scene, even when Janice is picking on her.
119	** May Belle as well, given that she has endless amounts of optimism. She's only truly sad after Jesse pushes her.
120	* DarkReprise: In music class, "Someday" is first performed as an upbeat sequence with Leslie and Jesse having a HeldGaze (and their friendship blossoming). A much more sombre version is performed [[spoiler: after Leslie's death, with Jesse mourning her]].
121	* DecompositeCharacter: Gary Fulcher is split into two characters -- himself and Scott Hoager. The latter seems to take the primary antagonistic role in the film.
122	* DoItYourselfThemeTune: The film had "Keep Your Mind Wide Open", sung by [=AnnaSophia=] Robb, who plays Leslie.
123	* DudeNotFunny: Invoked that the teacher doesn't even chew out Jesse for [[spoiler:punching Scott Hoager when the latter jokes that, with Leslie dead, Jesse is the fastest kid in school]].
124	* {{Foreshadowing}}:
125	** After getting antagonised by Janice on the bus, Leslie almost mockingly waves goodbye to her as it drives away, leaving the bully momentarily confused. This foreshadows that [[spoiler: Leslie will befriend Janice and bring about her HeelFaceTurn]].
126	** There was a scene in the film where the camera focuses on Jesse's arm becoming robotic and Jesse punching a Squoager. Near the last half of the film, Jesse confronts the Squoager's real life counterpart and punches him. Complete with the camera focusing on the arm, as if Jesse was pretending that it would become robotic.
127	** There's also lots of shots of the water rising and the rope close to breaking. Jesse even warns Leslie to be careful about the rope because it's been around for longer than the Aarons have lived in the house.
128	** Leslie's essay is entitled "Self-contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus", depicts her fictional life as a scuba-diver, and the last few lines talk about how wonderful life is because of how short it is. [[spoiler:All foreshadowing her untimely death, as if she knew the whole time]].
129	** If you listen closely while Jesse is looking around at the [[spoiler:funeral]] after Leslie's dad talks to him, Leslie's dad tells Jesse's parents that [[spoiler:he and his wife are moving back to their old home to put Leslie to rest]].
130	** When Jesse and Leslie talk about what their parents do for a living, Leslie asks Jesse in response to him saying that it makes sense that her parents are writers that if he's good at hardware because his dad works at a hardware store. Jesse answers no, but the end of the movie [[spoiler:where he constructs a literal bridge to Terabithia]] proves otherwise.
131	* GenderedInsult: Jesse is called a "girl" a lot by other boys because he likes art, plus only being friends with a girl (Leslie) as well.
132	* HappyRain: A bittersweet example. [[spoiler:Leslie and Jesse's final moment together is happily waving goodbye in the rain]].
133	* HateSink: Scott and Gary. Their purpose is to give the audience someone to hate. Scott especially since he [[spoiler:taunts Jesse about Leslie's death.]]
134	* IdiotBall: May Belle, you're a sweetie and all, but if you find a ring of keys lying on the floor of the greenhouse, don't you think you oughtta tell your parents?
135	* InvisibleToAdults: Horribly subverted when it turns out the reason the magical land of Terabithia is only seen by Jesse and Leslie is because it's a figment of their imagination.
136	%%* JerkJock: Gary Fulcher
137	* JerkassHasAPoint: Jesse's father may have been harsh, but he is absolutely right in scolding his son for releasing a pest that was endangering the family greenhouse and thinking that he could reason with a wild animal.
138	* KidsAreCruel: Exaggerated in the 2007 film where the two bullies [[spoiler:continue to taunt Jesse ''after'' Leslie's death]]. Of course it's subverted with [[spoiler:Janice Avery, who has a HeelFaceTurn afterwards]].
139	* ManicPixieDreamGirl:
140	** Funnily enough, the film casts MPDG queen Creator/ZooeyDeschanel as Ms. Edmunds. The character she plays is one of her few roles ''not'' of this type. She comes off that way to Jesse, though, compared with the other adults in his life, hence his infatuation with her.
141	** Leslie fills something of a platonic version of this trope -- especially with her AdaptationalAttractiveness and GirlinessUpgrade. It's her influence that gives Jesse the courage to stand up to bullies, encourage his imagination and [[spoiler: die tragically, leaving him with CharacterDevelopment]]. But unlike completely straight examples, Leslie learns things from Jesse too (he encourages her to comfort Janice) and she seeks him out because she wants a friend.
142	* MegatonPunch: When Scott crosses the line by mocking [[spoiler:a grieving Jess]] about [[spoiler:Leslie's death]], the latter gives him a well-deserved punch that sent the bully flying into the classroom wall.
143	* MisplacedWildlife: The animal freed from the greenhouse was meant to be a Virginia, or American, opossum, but a common brushtail possum was substituted because of New Zealand's ''very'' strict prohibitions on importing non-native wildlife. It counts as a "behind-the-scenes" example, too; Brushtail possums are not native to New Zealand either, but because they were introduced there decades ago, there was no need to specifically import one for the movie.
144	* MockingTheMourner: JerkJock bully Scott Hoager decides to joke about Leslie's death while Jesse is heavily in mourning, only to get punched in the face and sent flying by him. Gary Fulcher decides to do the same and is met with a bloody nose from Janice Avery.
145	* NeverTrustATitle: The story is notorious for this.
146	* NeverTrustATrailer: Quite possibly one of the most baffling cases in modern movie history. The trailer for the 2007 film made it seem like a ''Narnia''-esque fantasy movie where Terabithia was real. Apparently, the filmmakers were none too pleased with the way the movie was marketed, either. Especially since the key screenwriter was David Paterson, the ''son'' of the original author and on whom Jesse is based. This also led to confusion with fans who hadn't read the book, as they watched the movie waiting for Terabithia to "become real" only to realize it doesn't.
147	* PartingWordsRegret: In the movie, it's implied that this is why Mr. Aarons goes easier on Jesse [[spoiler:after Leslie dies, along with the tragedy of the situation. Mr. Aarons's last big interaction with Jesse was yelling at him for misplacing the keys to the greenhouse and saying he couldn't draw "damn money". It turns out it wasn't even Jesse's fault; May Belle was the one who took the keys and gave them to Leslie to use for Terabithian window chimes, not knowing any better. Once Jesse got the keys back, he sullenly returned them to his dad without saying a word, refusing to put the blame on May Belle. His dad noticeably looks guilty after Leslie dies, since the family was worried that Jesse had died as well]].
148	* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: After Jesse acts out in school [[spoiler:through punching a kid who'd joked that he's the fastest kid as Leslie's dead]], the teacher talks to him about [[spoiler:grieving the loss of a loved one]] when it appears he's about to be punished. A similar thing happens in the book, only instead of punching a kid, Jesse didn't stand for the national anthem.
149	* RetroUniverse: While the film is set in modern times (Jess' classmates have computers and handheld gaming devices), it does have some nuances, characteristics and feel of the [[TheSeventies 1970s]] and [[TheEighties 80s]], particularly the fashion and cars. If it weren't for the technology, the film could be set at almost any time between 1977 and 2007.
150	* SettingUpdate: Instead of the 1970s (when the book was published), the movie takes place in the then-present day of the mid-2000s. This doesn't really affect anything other than the fashion, the [[CulturallySensitiveAdaptation updated values]], the presence of electronics (the Aarons are too poor to afford anything electronic beyond a small television and a landline; Mrs. Myers has a ban on electronics; and two kids are seen hiding their gaming devices -- presumably Game Boys -- and will be given detention for plagiarizing off the Internet).
151	* SilenceOfSadness: Jesse Aarons is noticeably more quiet in the final scenes of the Disney adaptation, returning to school after [[spoiler: his friend Leslie's funeral]]. He doesn't say a word when Kenny the bus driver offers him a few words of condolences, [[TranquilFury doesn't even flinch]] when giving the class bully Scott a well-deserved punch for making a tasteless joke over the death, keeps completely silent when his class teacher Miss Myers tries consoling him, and is completely voiceless, preferring to bury his head in his hands during Miss Edmunds' music class.
152	* ThousandYardStare: Mr. Aarons has one when he tells Jesse gently that [[spoiler:Leslie died in a freak accident. You can tell from the look on his and his wife's faces that they were very aware Jesse could have suffered the same fate]].
153	* TomboyWithAGirlyStreak: Leslie, who likes sports, including both running and swimming, plus having {{boyish short hair}} while wearing less "feminine" clothing usually. She prefers the outdoors, and leads Jesse into the woods on many adventures. On the other hand, she also has Barbies she'd played with in the past and is still "girlish" in her mannerisms.
154	* TragicKeepsake: May Belle can be seen [[spoiler: playing with the Barbies she got from Leslie in a scene after her death]].
155	* TwoDecadesBehind: As in the book, Leslie is unable to watch a program on TV for a homework assignment, so the teacher says that she can do an alternative assignment. By 2007, it's more likely that the teacher would have a DVD or VHS of the program and play it in class.
156	* WhamLine: "[[spoiler:We thought you were dead!]]", ''quickly'' followed by the much more wham-ish "[[spoiler:Your friend Leslie is dead.]]"
157	* WhamShot: The Aarons' reactions once Jesse comes home from the museum. Instead of silently acknowledging he came home, his mother hugs him in worry, with both parents asking where he's been. Jesse asks what's wrong, knowing this is unusual.
158	* WriteWhoYouKnow: An in-universe example from the 2007 film. Jesse and Leslie base the creatures and inhabitants of their imaginary world on people they know. In particular, the ''Squoagers'' and ''Hairy Vultures'' are monsters based off the bullies Scott Hoager and Gary Fulcher and even resemble them to a degree. The troll is based off Janice Avery, [[spoiler: and does a HeelFaceTurn after Leslie comforts her,]] while [[spoiler:the Dark Master is based off Jesse's father, and disappears at the end, when the two of them finally understand one another.]] The wish fulfillment of this helps them both -- but Jesse in particular -- to grow stronger in RealLife as well.
159	[[/folder]]

Context Literature / BridgetoTerabithia