Trivia / Bridge to Terabithia

• Actor Allusion: One of Leslie's first scenes has her offering Jess a stick of gum. AnnaSophia Robb previously played Violet Beauregard in the remake of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - a champion gum chewer.
• Actor-Inspired Element: The "Dark Master" name was chosen by AnnaSophia Robb. Early in production it was known as the Key Monster.
• Blooper: If one pays attention while watching the 1985 film, they can hear a voice cueing Jesse's actor during the infamous "you lie" scene.
• California Doubling: Alberta, Canada and New Zealand as Virginia in the 2007 and 1985 films.
• The Cast Showoff: Zooey Deschanel plays a music teacher when she was in a band in real life and is a professionally trained singer. AnnaSophia Robb plays with this, as she does have a song - but it's in the credits.
• Creator Backlash: Not with the film, but the marketing. The filmmakers (including the screenwriter, who was the author's son and the partial inspiration for Jess no less) were not happy with the studio making it look as if the film was a fantasy adventure.
• Creator Breakdown: The Bittersweet Ending is inspired by a real life event that happened to the author's son, the same who would become the producer and co-writer for the 2007 film. In a 2009 radio interview, Paterson recalled that it took weeks to summon up the courage to write the ending, to kill off the girl she had brought back to life.
• Disowned Adaptation: The 1985 film. David Paterson (the author's son, the real life inspiration for Jesse, and the co-screenwriter for the 2007 film) is quoted in a 2007 interview as describing the 1985 film as "like the crazy cousin in a mental hospital that nobody talks about" and "no one on our side was either involved with it or happy with the final product.". The latter quote is probably what led to invoking Only the Creator Does It Right.
• Fake American: Everyone except the main cast of the movie.
• Memorial Character: Leslie is based partially on a friend that the author's son had as a child. She also died young, but from a lightning strike rather than drowning.
• Non-Singing Voice: Josh Hutcherson claimed his singing voice is terrible, and the extras in the classroom were all New Zealand children - so their singing was dubbed in post production. It's credited as "Zooey Deschanel and the Terabithia choir."
• One-Book Author: The only American live-action film directed by Gabor Csupo.
• Playing Against Type: Robert Patrick, usually dedicated to playing villains, plays a kind father. While his character is certainly a bit of a jerkass in certain parts, he is able to redeem himself at the end.
• Pop-Culture Urban Legends:
  • A rather dark rumor held that Bill's line, "She told me once that if it weren't for you..." originally ended with, "Leslie would have killed herself," before this was nixed by editors for being too dark. There is absolutely no evidence for this rumor.
  • For the film, IMDB and some other trivia sites claim that Annasophia Robb had never heard of the book and the fact that her character Leslie falls in the river and drowns was kept secret from her for all of production. In fact, she is a Promoted Fangirl and knew exactly what was going to happen.
• Promoted Fanboy: AnnaSophia Robb was a huge fan of the book and wrote a letter to the director when she heard the film was being made so she could play the part of Leslie.
• Real-Life Relative: Director Gabor Csupo's daughter appears during the "free the pee" scene.
• Referenced by...: In New Girl, Zooey Deschanel's character (who happens to be named Jess) makes a quip towards Nick that "I might as well call you Bridge to Terabithia because you make children cry!".
• So My Kids Can Watch: Robert Patrick aka T-1000 described his reason for taking the part in the film with precisely these words.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Leslie was almost Spared by the Adaptation before the film was made, since several studios wouldn't touch the project because of the death. It was suggested that the character have a mild accident or be left in a coma instead.
  • Dakota Fanning was offered the role of Leslie but declined due to scheduling conflicts.
  • An oppossum was meant to be trapped in the greenhouse, but they are not native to New Zealand and the production was not allowed to import one, so it was changed to a Common Brushtail Possum instead.
  • Allison Krauss was hired to score the film but she backed out and was replaced by Aaron Zigman.
• Write Who You Know:
  • The characters and story are based off events and people from Katherine Paterson's own life - Jesse off her son David, Leslie off his best friend Lisa Hill, etc., and Jesse's loneliness reflects Paterson's own inability to fit in at school with others. The poverty of the Jess's family also reflects the economic slump of the seventies after the Vietnam War, while the religious connotations come from her own upbringing, since she learned from her father (a missionary who often traveled as part of his duties).
  • Leslie's death was inspired by how the aforementioned Lisa Hill was killed at age 8 by being struck by lightning. Paterson thought that would be too unbelievable, so she changed it to drowning instead.

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