The goofballs at Disney marketing say you're picking up Bridge to Terabithia on DVD this week.

As much as I admire Walt Disney Pictures this year for bringing some of the best films out of their studio in years, they and Walden Media are responsible for one of the biggest marketing blunders of 2007...the lousy theatrical trailers and marketing devoted to the early-year film Bridge to Terabithia. How can one of the year's best films have a marketing campaign scared of what the film is really about?

And you know what? I went along with it. I went into the movie not having read Katherine Paterson's book, instead having a theatrical trailer based around the film's five to ten minutes of visual effects whimsy. I came out of the screening 100 minutes later, in tears and a changed person, having witnessed an unforgettable gem about a real friendship.

Jess (Josh Hutcherson) and Leslie (Annasophia Robb) are two outcasts at school. Josh enjoys his morning jogs and his drawing, while Leslie likes to create stories. Both are bullied by their respective classmates, something that they are trying hard to ignore. A chance meeting at school strikes up a small friendship, but as they realize they are neighbors and they have this unlimited amount of forest around them, they venture out and create Terabithia, a world limited only by their imagination.

I grew up with bullying. I grew up with long afternoons where my mom made sure I went outside and used my imagination. This film spoke to me so deeply about what it is like to be a kid and to create a place where only two people can share, and not to let anyone or anything impact it even when they still have to deal with harsh reality. Where the film takes you in the film's final act I can't say, but it is some of the most emotional filmmaking I've seen in a family film since "E.T.", and the film finalizes on a sequence of amazing power.

Even though the film did very well financially, I am still annoyed that Disney led a lot of people into the wrong movie. The effects are such a minor part of the overall package, which perhaps Disney was too scared to market to a younger audience. I think this is required viewing for kids, but also for the kid in all of us. We've all been there and we've been Jess or Leslie in some form or another, and it is nice to see a movie that admires imagination and being yourself as much as I do.

Jason
efilmcritic.com