As a child, I read and re-read Katherine Paterson's Bridge to Terabithia. It's the poignant story of the friendship between two children, both of whom have reasons for wanting to escape their every day lives. It's the epitome of the tender coming-of-age story, and if it doesn't make you cry, you have a stone for a heart.
I was shocked when I saw the trailer, because it looked nothing like the book that I remembered.
Well, the producers and director of the film have told SciFi Wire that the trailer completely misrepresents the movie.
"I believe it's a stretch, and it's a very difficult decision on Disney's part, but we the filmmakers had nothing to do with that promotion," said director Gabor Csupo (The Wild Thornberrys). "We don't really think that it's an appropriate way of selling the movie, but they're convinced that that's the way to get kids interested, and hopefully they will be positively surprised. If they are anticipating a Harry Potter movie, then we are in trouble. It is not a Harry Potter kind of a movie."
Apparently the scenes pulled for the trailer are the only scenes like that in the film. It's too bad that Disney thinks that they have to use bait-and-switch tactics to get filmgoers to see a film based on a book that has delighted readers for decades.