Accidental Aesop: If your kids are swinging on a rope swing that's been there before you moved in, maybe talk to them about installing a newer, safer one, or a plank bridge. Otherwise, the rope could snap at any time, and the person holding onto it can end up in the river.
Alternative Character Interpretation: Jesse's father's annoyance at him could just be a "Well Done, Son" Guy thing. Or alternately he clearly cherishes little May Belle - and shows her the most affection throughout the film. Perhaps he's annoyed at Jesse excluding his little sister so much?
Fandom-Specific Plot: "LDD" plots, obviously short for "Leslie doesn't die". Some fics that spare Leslie will kill off someone else to preserve the theme.
He's Just Hiding: Most fanfics for Bridge to Terabithia fall into two categories: "What If Leslie didn't die?", and "Leslie didn't die, period". This is actually done In-Universe as well, with Jesse believing that her death is all lies, believing he saw her over at her house when they went to pay their respects, and finally mistaking May-Belle's voice for Leslie's.
It Was His Sled: Leslie dies. Spoilered because it's not as well known as, say Darth Vader being Luke's father, but since it is one of the most discussed things about the story, it's hard to avoid hearing about it whenever the book or movie is brought up.
Misaimed Fandom: The book is often said to have been written to help children cope with death. According to Katherine Paterson, her intent in writing it was to help her process her own feelings when her son's friend was killed, but she did not feel it was the best way to introduce the topic to children.
One True Pairing: There's one kind of Terabithia fan, and that's the kind that ships Jess/Leslie.
There's always a chance someone who is close to you could die in a freak accident.
Even more so when you consider the fate of Lisa Hill, on whom Leslie was based. While Leslie's death is subtly foreshadowed throughout the book, with the use of a rope swing that could be reasonably expected to weaken with time, the days of rain that flood the creek, and Jesse's own misgivings about going to Terabithia; Lisa's death was even more freakish. She was struck by lightning on a sunny day.
Jesse starts out as one already, though with Age-Appropriate Angst about having four sisters and having to wear hand-me-downs. The angst quickly gets less age-appropriate.
Leslie's parents after their daughter dies in a freak accident, right in their backyard. They act gracious at the memorial service, thank Jesse for being such a good friend to her, and apologize for wanting to keep Prince Terrien as a memento. Within a few weeks, they move, just after they had finished painting the living room.
May Belle, given she worships her brother but he sees her as an Annoying Younger Sibling. Fortunately by the end they patch up.
Ms Meyers comes across as a Stern Teacher, but after Leslie's death, she reveals that she lost her husband. In the 2007 movie, the way her voice breaks as she says "I didn't want to forget". Not to mention that losing Leslie clearly saddens her as well.
Book
Alternative Character Interpretation: Are Jesse and Leslie platonic best friends or is there a budding Puppy Love? On the one hand, the book clearly plays the No Hugging, No Kissing trope straight. On the other, Jesse' internal narration twice refers to Leslie as beautiful, and he becomes inexplicably angry (inexplicable even to himself), when Brenda makes a disparaging comment about Leslie's femininity.
Memetic Molester: Miss Edmunds. 21st century audiences view her less innocently than audiences in the 70s did. Her closeness to Jesse in itself isn't unusual, but her taking him on a trip alone is less justifiable.
A comparatively minor one in the book: Jessie laments that Leslie has a Tomboyish Name, which makes it difficult to tell her gender. In the modern day, Leslie is almost universally a girl's name, as it's fallen out of style for boys. Reflecting this, the 2007 film cuts out Jesse's confusion and gives Leslie a Girliness Upgrade.
In the book, Jesse's mother is worried about his best friend being female. Because, according to the time's values, it means he might be gay. In order to preserve the awkwardness, the film changes it to him receiving odd looks from his family when they meet Leslie, as if they're surprised that Jesse might have a girlfriend.
In the book, when Leslie tells Jesse that Janice's father is abusive, Jesse at first responds that most kids' fathers beat them; Leslie then has to clarify that this kind of beating is the kind that gets you sent to prison. The reason why Janice was crying was that she had told her friends looking for sympathy, and they instead told the school. Jesse just thinks that it's stupid that was because Kids Are Cruel. Understandably, in the movie this is changed to Leslie starting by saying that Janice's father hates her, hits her, and got the cops called on him, hence how everyone at school knows.
Jesse's teacher calls him up to spend the day with her in Washington. In the 70s, it would have been a sign that she was conscientious and willing to go above and beyond for her students; nowadays, a young boy and his female teacher going anywhere alone would raise more than a couple of eyebrows. It's not helped by Jesse's Precocious Crush, which was controversial even at the time, though the scene is often misremembered as worse than it really is (the trip is for educational purposes, and she explicitly calls the Aarons house to ask for his parents' permission). The film attempts to address this by having Ms. Edmunds say that she had planned to go with her nephew, but he couldn't make it, rather than her calling up Jesse on a whim.
Leslie being a secular atheist is at odds with her religious small-town; May Belle has no issue telling Leslie that she'll go to Hell for it. Being openly an atheist was much rarer in the 1970s, especially in rural America. Many viewers find the character's a bit too bigoted towards Leslie's lack of religious beliefs, despite the fact that such reactions weren't uncommon (and still aren't, to a degree, in certain areas).
Narm: The acting. Especially the scene where Jesse learns Leslie died. The sadness is ruined by the awful acting on his actor's part, as well as the obvious poor dubbing when he cries into his dad's arms. The "You lie!" line is particularly laughable.
Viewer Gender Confusion: Many fans of the 2007 movie get confused about Leslie in the 1980s adaptation. Some even think she's a boy. This is how Leslie looks in the book; in fact, she is even more androgynous in the book. The 2007 film gave her a huge Girliness Upgrade.
2007 Film
Adaptation Displacement: Though the book is a popular children's book and is often required reading, the 2007 film is often more well-known, and the 1985 TV film tends to be forgotten altogether. Most fanworks are based on the 2007 film and a lot of fans complain that Leslie is too tomboyish in the 80s film, despite that being book accurate. Meanwhile, there are some fans that are only aware of the movie.
From the film, AnnaSophia Robb's "Keep Your Mind Wide Open", a sweet little song that reads as an anthem for cloudcuckoolanders everywhere.
The song that plays in the credits, "A Place For Us by Leigh Nash, is equal parts melancholic and inspiring, all at once.
Cant Unhear It: AnnaSophia Robb may as well be Leslie for how beloved her performance tends to be among fans. This is especially surprising on account of the character getting a Girliness Upgrade from the book.
Catharsis Factor: Watching Jesse sending Scott the bullying-jock flying into the wall with a Megaton Punch for making a disrespectful joke about Leslie's death was oh so satisfying. As was seeing Gary Fulcher's bloody nose, courtesy of Janice, after he pushed Jesse in the hall.
Ensemble Dark Horse: Zooey Deschanel as Miss Edmunds. She may not have much screen time, but her scenes are always memorable, and she captures the Cool Teacher persona perfectly.
Epileptic Trees: It's not uncommon to find an LDD fan believing that Terabithia was real all along and that Leslie was really abducted by the Dark Master.
Fandom-Specific Plot: Along with the Epileptic Trees, common LDD fanfiction involves Jesse returning to Terabithia to rescue Leslie from the Dark Master.
Leslie and Jesse have feelings for one another. In the original book they're just friends who happen to be of opposite genders. The 2007 film upped the Ship Tease between them.
In fanon, Terabithia really is secret. In reality, although the parents don't know the details, it turns out they knew that the kids played across the creek and used a rope swing to get there.
Jesse having a crush on his teacher played by Zooey Deschanel becomes funny when she stars in New Girl playing a character named Jess. Additionally, said character is also a teacher.
And Jesse is a brunet boy with a Precocious Crush on Zooey Deschanel that he must learn to get over somewhat. (500) Days of Summer was released the very next year - featuring a guy getting over her as its main plot.
Leslie's imagination in creating the fantasy world is a little amusing if one watches AnnaSophia Robb in Race to Witch Mountain where she's again imaginative - and actually does have magic powers. What's more is that her brother in that film is played by Alexander Ludwig, who plays Josh Hutcherson's Arch-Enemy in The Hunger Games.
May Belle being crowned the Princess of Terabithia if you've seen Bailee Madison in Once Upon a Time where she plays a fairy tale princess for real: the young Snow White of all people. And when she gets older she will again live in a neighborhood with fantastical beings.
Improved Second Attempt: The 2007 film is considered a superior adaptation to the 1985 TV movie, which wasn't approved by Katherine Paterson's estate, and David Paterson stating that "no one on our side was happy with the finished product". He was a producer on this version, and the casting and production values are considered far better.
Jerkass Woobie: Janice turns out to be one. At the end of the film, it's implied she and Jesse may become friends.
Like You Would Really Do It: Several book fans expected the movie to soften or remove Leslie's shocking death entirely to make it more marketable in the 2000s market. Indeed, they faced trouble getting studios to pick it up because of that, with a lot of them trying to have Leslie get into a life-threatening accident that she would recover from at the end.
Moe: May Belle, at least in the 2007 film. This is lampshaded by Josh Hutcherson and AnnaSophia Robb in their commentary, the former of whom calls her "just the cutest kid ever".
Moral Event Horizon: Scott and Gary cross it when they up their bullying of Jesse following Leslie's death, Scott going so far as to outright taunt Jesse over it in class, complete with a smug smile on his face the whole time. It made the Megaton Punch Jesse gave him very well deserved.
The book was written in the 1970s and as such the 2007 film has a lot of slang that's a little outdated. It's usually the taunts coming from the bullies.
The "free the pee" scene is silly but also amusing too.
One-Scene Wonder: Ms Myers only pops up to act like a Stern Teacher in a handful of scenes, and gets a small but important moment towards the end — where she talks to Jesse about losing her husband.
She Really Can Act: AnnaSophia Robb was mostly known at the time for playing Violet Beauregarde in the divisive second Charlie and the Chocolate Factory movie adaptation. She acquired a sizable fan base with her spot-on portrayal of Leslie, which even after many more notable credits, is still considered one of her best performances.
Spiritual Adaptation: The film can be viewed as a stealth remake of My Girl but with genders reversed. Of course, My Girl is arguably this for the book of Terabithia, which predates it by 14 years.
Tainted by the Preview: Those who read the book knew that the story isn't a fantasy adventure, but rather the bonding experiences of two kids in a realistic setting. Seeing the 2007 film adaptation's trailers, which centered around the fantasy world imagined by the kids but now fully populated by CGI creatures, caused them to believe that the filmmakers had completely missed the point of the book and were instead trying to make a Chronicles of Narnia (the book series that Jess and Leslie compare Terebithia to in the book) rip-off. In some cases, this turned them off from seeing the film altogether, even though the film was actually truer to the book than the trailers would lead one to believe.
