Blockbuster.co.uk's Marshall Julius peers through his seeing stone for an all-access peek behind the scenes of fantastic family fantasy The Spiderwick Chronicles.
An extraordinary fantasy adventure filled with creatures from an unseen world,
The Spiderwick Chronicles, available now from Blockbuster, follows a troubled family as they move into a secluded country house formerly owned by their most eccentric ancestor. Unable to explain the strange disappearances and accidents that seem to be happening on a daily basis, siblings Jared, Simon and Mallory investigate what's really going on and uncover the extraordinary truth of the Spiderwick estate and the creatures who inhabit it.
Director
Mark Waters was drawn to the uniquely imaginative elements of Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black's best-selling Spiderwick novels, particularly since they play out in a time and place that audiences can relate to - today's America. "I've always loved movies in the fantasy genre," says Waters, "and when I read these books I saw the opportunity to do something that hadn't been done before - a movie that dealt with adventure, fantasy and incredibly interesting creatures, but wasn't set in a far-off land with British wizards or Gothic orphans, or just some kind of strange, unrecognisable lead actors."
Instead, continues Waters, the film features regular kids that audiences can easily identify with, primarily because they struggle with problems shared by many families today. "The enchanted and often perilous journey they embark upon allows them to discover and draw on strengths they never knew they had - as individuals, and, more importantly, as a family."
Jared Grace, played by
Freddie Highmore, is at a crisis point in his life, and it is through this extraordinary adventure that he comes to terms with his feelings about his parents' separation, Waters explains. "Jared has been deeply affected by the divorce; he's very angry and rebellious and doesn't hide his bitterness, especially in his interaction with his mother and siblings. But in the end, this incredible journey, which ends up with him basically saving his family, results in him healing himself, too."
Helen Grace, played by
Mary-Louise Parker, has just broken up with her husband and moves into the old family estate, a dark, dilapidated Victorian house named for her great uncle, Arthur Spiderwick. Nobody is happy about it, but she does have an ally in her daughter, Mallory, played by
Sarah Bolger. "Mallory is kind of like a mini-mom. She also has the clearest sense of why the divorce took place, but doesn't initially share this with her brothers - she is very protective of them, even though they drive her crazy, particularly Jared," says Waters.
Simon Grace - also played by Highmore - is the nerdier of the two, but his quiet determination and attention to detail become great assets when the family is in danger. "More importantly, they overcome their differences and work together and, in the process, learn to love and appreciate each other," Waters sums up. "The fantasy world ultimately allows them to more clearly see and understand their own reality."
The adventure begins when Jared comes across Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You. What Arthur Spiderwick (
David Strathairn), the man who built the estate, didn't realize when he wrote the manual was that the secrets he revealed about the hidden faerie world could act as a "how-to manual" and be dangerous if it fell into the wrong hands. So when Jared comes across this book that's been hidden in the house for some 60 or 70 years, he literally opens a Pandora's box.
The various creatures the children come upon in the film range in size from the nine-inch brownie, Thimbletack (voiced by
Martin Short) to the ten-foot fearsome ogre Mulgarath (played by
Nick Nolte). "Then there are all the creatures in between," Waters explains, "like the goblins, little sprites and hobgoblins, such as Hogsqueal, who becomes the children's ally - that is, when he isn't distracted by birds, which he likes to eat." Hogsqueal is voiced, with great humour - and lots of inappropriate noises - by Seth Rogen.
The Spiderwick Chronicles began as a popular series of books by co-creators Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black. There has long been interest in bringing the stories to the screen and DiTerlizzi and Black wanted to entrust their creation to capable hands. Ultimately, they saw Mark Canton as the perfect producer for the film. And Kathleen Kennedy, to DiTerlizzi and Black's delight, soon joined him.
"A lot of friends and fans who had read the books and seen the art, thought this story would make a cool movie," recalls DiTerlizzi. "It was a dream of mine as well, but a lot of books get optioned to be developed into films... so Holly and I held out hope that it might actually happen. What we really loved about the filmmakers' approach was that they seemed to love and respect the characters, creatures and world that define
The Spiderwick Chronicles. Our heroes don't have any special powers and don't live in a land far, far away. They have to rely on their wits, and each other, to get out of the extraordinary, and often dangerous, situations they find themselves in when they enter the world of the fey."
Producer and co-writer Karey Kirkpatrick says that when he was first approached to help adapt the Spiderwick books into a screenplay, he immediately read the books to his children to gauge their reaction. "They were enthralled by the books and by the possibility that I might be involved with them in some way. I, like them, was really taken by the notion that the things we are unable to see - or choose not to see - are actually there all around us. That's thematically what I started connecting with - something with a lot of fantasy elements, but with a human story at the centre of it, which relates to the special world around it. I was drawn to the kids in the middle of this broken family and how the whole situation ultimately helped to bring them together."
It is precisely this unique balance of fantasy and reality that separates
The Spiderwick Chronicles from other fantasy adventure films, according to producer Canton. It is darker, scarier and much more grounded in the real world. "The idea here was to have a real world where inexplicable and often frightening things happen. What grounds it and makes it resonate is that we are dealing with a real family with real problems, and through this adventure they are able to find the magic inside themselves."
"Also," adds Canton, "
Mark Waters and the casting folks did a fantastic job in assembling a very eclectic, wonderful cast. When I first saw
Freddie Highmore's work I knew I wanted to work with him. You feel he's older than his chronological age, but at the same time he's still very much a kid. And he had a big challenge here, in that he plays both Jared and Simon, which was also a very courageous way for
Mark Waters to direct the movie. Of course,
Sarah Bolger was so brilliant in
Jim Sheridan's In America. Like Freddie, Sarah's a natural, but yet an experienced actress. And
Mary-Louise Parker is just great and so brilliantly conveys this young divorced mother's hopes and fears and overriding love for her kids.
Joan Plowright is such an amazingly accomplished actress. And you don't find actors much better than (
David Strathairn."
While
Waters, who previously specialized in hilarious contemporary comedies like
Mean Girls and
Freaky Friday, would seem an offbeat choice for the material, Canton deliberately chose him to direct because he was uniquely capable of grounding all the fantasy elements in a palpable reality. "The idea I had for Spiderwick was to have a real world in which amazing things happened. Mark is the perfect director because of his understanding of the dynamics between sisters and brothers, mothers and children and of contemporary family life."
Freddie Highmore's and
Sarah Bolger are actually quite close in age to the teenagers they play in the film. But they are different from the Grace siblings in one significant way. While the story takes place in New England, neither Highmore nor Bolger is American. Highmore is British and Bolger hails from Ireland. Yet, observes director Waters, "listening to them on film, you'd never pick up on anything but a fine New England accent... a tribute to their gifts, the extensive research they did and consistent dialect coaching. These are really demanding parts for young actors, so we needed to cast artists who possessed real depth, soul and smarts. Freddie and Sarah have those qualities and so many more."
"Highmore's choice to agree to play both parts was very exciting," adds the director, "and particularly so in playing Jared Grace, because we've previously seen him in such movies as
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,
Finding Neverland and
Arthur and the Invisibles, playing quieter, more introverted characters. It was very exciting to see him play the role of a kid with some real anger issues and tackling an American accent - which he did seamlessly. He's a great presence on film."
Highmore proved to be more than a match for the challenges of dual lead roles. He and the production team quickly established a routine in terms of how to shoot the scenes with Simon and Jared. Because of the demands of filming a big scale movie, character switches and new set-ups had to be as fast as possible. If you couldn't handle pressure, this wasn't the assignment for you.
"In rehearsal we worked out the interactions and other stuff the twins were going to be doing," explains Highmore. "When Jared was talking to Simon or vice-versa, we used one of a team of photo-doubles, stunt-doubles, stand-ins or often just an orange eye-line cross on a blue screen. A lot of the thrill of this film involves state-of-the-art computer generated images, but this adds a whole extra level of technical complexity. It was amazing how well
Waters and his crew stayed on top of things. I worked hard to get the technical requirements mastered so that I was free to concentrate on playing whichever twin I was at any given moment. With a full education program to fit in, every second of my day was time-tabled. It was non-stop but such great fun, and what an amazing opportunity to be given."
Highmore notes that "there are some pretty scary scenes, but actually shooting those sequences were the most exciting. Clinging to the top of a tower can make your heart race whether you're attached to a hidden harness or not. But it's a bit like watching the finished film - even though you know you're safe, you get scared. Then, when the danger is over, you get such a buzz and you can't wait for the next bit of the adventure. We wanted the world of Spiderwick to be feel completely real, that there was real danger and excitement, and that the kids really had to pull together to survive."
Says co-star Parker of young Highmore, "It was extraordinary that Freddie played both parts so beautifully and managed to make them so different and, at the same time, not cartoonish. He's a sophisticated little boy without being precocious. It was no hardship doing scenes twice with him, once as Jared and again as Simon, because he is so professional and interesting. He is subtle, sensitive and thoughtful and works as hard as any actor I've ever worked with. I think it would be a very different movie and a very different experience if these parts were played by a different little boy."
"I think kids will enjoy the journey into a fantastical new world which is both magical and puts you on the edge of your seat," concludes Highmore. "But parents will enjoy the more adult themes and the emotional highs and lows the family goes through. It's a good film for everyone."