Movies Online caught up recently with director Gabor Csupo, the world-renowned animation artist, to discuss his latest film, Bridge to Terabithia. The film is Cuspo’s live-action debut and is directed from a screenplay by Jeff Stockwell and David Paterson, based on the Newberry Award-winning novel by Katherine Paterson, who wrote the story for David when he was a boy..

The adventurous and moving tale inspired by Paterson’s story explores the wonders of friendship, family and fantasy and is imbued with an unsinkable sense of childhood magic and a belief in the power of the imagination. The story begins with Jess Aarons (Josh Hutcherson), a young outsider on a quest to become the fastest kid in his school. But when the new girl in town, Leslie Burke (AnnaSophia Robb), leaves Jess and everyone else in the dust, Jess’s frustration with her ultimately leads to them becoming fast friends.

At first, it seems Jess and Leslie couldn’t be more different but when Leslie begins to open up the world of imagination to Jess, they find they have something amazing to share: the kingdom of Terabithia, a realm of giants, ogres and other enchanted beings that can only be accessed by boldly swinging across a stream in the woods on a strand of rope. Here, Leslie and Jess rule as King and Queen among the incredible creatures they create, and not even the forces of evil can break their bond. Now, no matter what happens in the real world, in Terabithia, Leslie gives Jess a magical place that will always be filled with amazing stories and dreams.

Csupo is a director who brings his own magical storytelling touches to the film. He has the rare sensibility that is both technologically savvy and cinematically sophisticated, yet also completely true to the child-like wonder and deep emotions that lie at the heart of Jess and Leslie’s friendship and their adventures in Terabithia.

It was Walden Media President Cary Granat who first suggested Gabor Csupo, the world-famous animation artist renowned for his innovative spirit in creating and producing such animated hits as "The Simpsons,” "Rugrats” and "The Wild Thornberries.” Although Csupo had never made a live-action feature before, this didn’t worry Granat in the least. "I knew that inside Gabor is a kid just dying to go on an adventure and that was the perfect approach for this story,” says Granat.

Continues Lauren Levine: "When we talked to Gabor about the story, he had such an inspired take on it – a kind of Tim Burton, Terry Gilliam approach to how Terabithia could be manifested in a very fun and alive way. We collectively got very excited about it – it was clear that he was going to try to break through the usual clichés and find a fresh way to tell this story.”

Adds Hal Lieberman: "Gabor is such a beautiful and imaginative person. He brought a genuine passion for Terabithia, and a conviction to tell the story right way, as honestly as possible. I also think as an artist he related very strongly to Jess and that helped him to create all the creatures Jess and Leslie imagine in Terabithia in a very memorable and moving way.”

When the filmmakers brought the idea of Csupo to David Paterson, he in turn asked his kids, who gave the ultimate thumbs up. "They said he has to do it!” recalls Paterson. "The great thing about Gabor is that he has such a tremendous grasp on today’s youth and that was vital to the film.”

The multi-Emmy Award-winning Csupo is a Renaissance man whose interests span from movies to music and beyond. He quickly fell in love with the story of Bridge to Terabithia -- and especially its theme of where extreme creativity can take you. "What I really loved about the story is watching these kids’ imaginations start to come alive,” he says. "I saw a chance to create a visually astounding movie that would also really touch an audience’s heart.”

The director was excited not only about the visual challenges Bridge to Terabithia would present but even more so by bringing the characters of Jess and Leslie to an even broader audience than the book. Csupo himself felt a deep connection with the characters, and believes it is something people of all ages will share. The director explains: "I think everybody can remember a time when it felt like nobody was paying attention to you and nobody believed in you, and then along comes somebody who does, and it can totally rebuild you and rejuvenate you and you just start to go for it. There is a magic in that.”

In Jess’s world, the person who comes along is Leslie, and she gives him the most incredible gift he could ever envision: the land of Terabithia. Csupo hoped to do justice to just how meaningful and powerful Terabithia becomes in Jess’s life, even when times get tough. "In Terabithia, Leslie and Jess can unleash all their dramas and face up to all their real-life problems. What is so exciting about Terabithia is that it is not just a fantasyland where they can play, but also a place where they can fearlessly project all their feelings and the depths of their friendship.”

Here’s what Gabor Csupo told us about his experiences directing Bridge to Terabithia and what it was like to make his first live-action film:

MoviesOnline : I was really struck by how mature this movie is for a kid’s movie. I think that’s a really important thing. How did you go about creating that tone? Was their any resistance to try to make it more kid friendly?

Gabor Csupo: When you read the book, it’s such an amazingly, emotional, beautiful story, and I wanted to keep the real-life parts very realistic. So when they get into the Terabithian adventure part, it’s going to have a big contrast to it, so I thought that was very important in the tone of the movie. And also, it might feel a little bit too serious for some very young children, but I don’t think you’re supposed to talk down to kids – they’re a lot more intelligent and smarter than most people would give credit to them. And I saw my four-year-old boy getting totally immersed in this story, and I don’t think much younger children - it’s not very appropriate for two-year-olds, but I’m pretty much reaching down to the level of where it’s supposed to be with it.

MoviesOnline : Did anyone push for more special effects?

Gabor Csupo: It was a very conscious decision from the very beginning that we’re not going to overdo the visual effects because of the story’s integrity and the book’s integrity. As a matter of fact, as you know if you’ve ever read the book originally, there’s not that much in the book. It was just mentioned very briefly that the kids are having fights against imaginary creatures in the forest. Obviously, you can’t do this in the movie, you have to put something up on the screen; and we just tried to do the absolute minimum, which would be required to put it into a movie version.

MoviesOnline : The commercials and trailers seem to suggest there’s more special effects.

Gabor Csupo: I believe it’s a stretch and a decision on Disney’s part, but us filmmakers had nothing to do with the promotion. We don’t really think that it’s an appropriate way to sell the movie, but they’re convinced that’s the way most kids will get interested, and hopefully they’ll get a positive surprise – not negative. If they’re anticipating a Harry Potter movie, then we are in trouble, because it is not a Harry Potter kind of movie.

MoviesOnline : With your extensive background in animation, how did you get involved in a live action project like this?

Gabor Csupo: I was doing animation for 25 years with my company, Klasky Csupo; we started The Simpsons, Rugrats, Wild Thornberrys, As Told By Ginger, Rocket Power, I could go on and on. For years, I wanted to get into live action, and they kept sending me scripts from everywhere, and my agents got me some material, and this was the first time when I really felt that it grabbed me when I read the book.

MoviesOnline : The character’s ages are different from the book to the movie.

Gabor Csupo: Yeah, they were 12 and 13 when we were shooting it, but we felt that we could always push the characters a little older. It’s always better than making them younger because then the older kids can relate to them as well. And also, this movie deals with so many issues including friendship, and maybe first innocent love, things like that so we felt that upping their ages just a hair made more sense.

MoviesOnline : How have you seen children’s imaginations change throughout the years with technology growing? Nowadays kids have so many sources – television, internet, digital camera – that it’s almost overwhelming.

Gabor Csupo: That’s right. Actually it’s a double edged sword as you say. There are absolutely some things that limit their imagination and some things that could help it. So it really depends on the parent’s guidance and smartness how they guide their children on it. But that’s one of the movie’s messages – to keep your mind wide open and use your imagination.

MoviesOnline : What was the casting process like? Do you choose these kids or were they already attached to the project?

Gabor Csupo: Nobody was attached at the beginning, the studio was pitching both of the kids, and we were in the middle of a casting session with the Jess (Josh) character when they sent Josh Hutcherson back to us. We had already settled on another kid actor with my producers and myself, but when Josh came in and then we felt the chemistry between AnnaSophia Robb and him, then we were pretty happy. AnnaSophia Robb got the part first, almost before we had seen anybody else because she had written me a letter before the casting had begun, and it was such a beautiful, heartwarming letter, practically begging for the part. And she said how much she loved the book and the character and it really put her on the top of the list – and I wouldn’t have hired her unless she impressed me, even after that letter, obviously – but you combine everything, her letter, her enthusiasm, and her love of the material, that’s what made me put her in the movie.

MoviesOnline : Did the fact that you’re a father in real life help you to direct children and relate to this subject?

Gabor Csupo: Absolutely, I love children, I have five of my own, and I feel like I have a very good connection to them. I can communicate with them, and they understand.

MoviesOnline : Do you ask your kids for advice sometimes?

Gabor Csupo: Always, yes. I can always watch what they respond to. I have a screening room at home, and we watch all kinds of movies. They’re only allowed to watch two movies a week, mostly on the weekend, and the rest of the week, just reading books. And I kind of watch that because they have such a limited choice, and I have such a massive library of movies. I have to study [means watch] what their hand is reaching for. So that’s kind of interesting. They love some of the work I do, but they’re really not quite putting it together – ‘It’s daddy’s work.’ But they like it, so it makes me feel good that children appreciate that.

MoviesOnline : Did they influence you on this one?

Gabor Csupo: What happened was I read the book, and I committed to it, and we made a contract with the studio that I was going to direct it. I have two older boys from my first marriage. I think when this happened, one was 17 and the other was 20. They were sitting in my car, and they asked me, ‘Daddy, what is the movie you’re going to do?’ I said, ‘Okay, you guys are going to read the story,’ and they never read the book, so I told them the story. Both of them are kind of the hip hop generation, they want to be kind of cool, they wear their pants all the way to the bottom of their butt, so they’re the hip new [generation]. But it was dead silence; I told the story in ten minutes, and I looked back in the mirror and I saw both of them in tears – so I said, ‘Okay, I think we’ve got something here.’ If I can reach out to those tough cookies, then we’re okay.

MoviesOnline : Is part of your goal to try to make it an emotional film?

Gabor Csupo: Oh yes, very much. I really wanted to build up that emotion. That’s what grabbed me in the pages when I read the book, and I really, really tried to put that up on the screen.

MoviesOnline : Do you have a favorite scene from the movie that you like?

Gabor Csupo: Well, as far as directing, it was really amazingly fun to do the race scene when they were running because I really enjoyed little May Belle cheering for her brother, and also the fact that we had to do about ten takes. Because no matter how many times we told Josh Hutcherson, Jess’s character, not to win, he always won the race.

MoviesOnline : Did you have an imaginary place like Terabithia to go to when you grew up?

Gabor Csupo: I always dreamt of being in a free country, which I guess this could be my own Terabithia in one way. But I also dreamed that I would have my own animation studio, so I always went after my dreams, and I think that’s why the story grabbed me when I read it because it kind of talked in the same language. Also, I identified with the young character, Jess. I was a very shy little boy, always drawing. I had a hard time at first making friends in the classroom, until the point when I went to an art school, and then everyone was the same geek, so I said, ‘okay, I’m not the outcast one in this environment.’ (laughs)

MoviesOnline : Pan’s Labyrinth is sort of an adult version of the story of a kid escaping into a fantasy world. Have you seen Pan’s Labyrinth? What do you think of it?

Gabor Csupo: Absolutely, I’ve seen it. I love Guillermo del Toro -- I think he’s one of the most talented filmmakers -- and his visual style and the way he paints very dark images. But at the same time, he also has something deep behind it that has an emotional impact or tries to convey something heavy. He’s just very good. I like him a lot.

MoviesOnline : Do you think you bring a European sensibility to this movie? It’s obviously an American set story but you seem to have a unique vision.

Gabor Csupo: Well, I didn’t set out and say to myself, ‘I’m going to sneak in a European stamp on it.’ I guess it just comes with the territory; I grew up in Hungary and in Europe, and I see things differently. But again, that was a challenge for me, because I knew I had an American classic on my hands, and I didn’t want to mess it up. I felt responsible to the author and the audience here in America.

MoviesOnline : How closely did you work with the author, Katherine Paterson?

Gabor Csupo: Katherine was only involved to the extent that we sent her the different drafts of the scripts, and then she made notes on them saying, ‘this is going great’ or ‘why don’t you guys try this?’ So she was very gentle about it. I think she was very pleased from the beginning knowing that we didn’t want to go in there and totally turn this around, or do a movie like the ad campaign is suggesting (laughs) – we didn’t want to do that.

MoviesOnline : What do you find in directing live action that you don’t have in animation?

Gabor Csupo: The reason I responded to this was because I felt a connection to it and it moved me. And right now, agents are sending me all kinds of scripts, but until something really grabs me, I’m not responding to it. There are so many scripts out there that may be well written, that are big adventure, or look like fun, but if they don’t have substance to them, I’m not interested. There’s too much time, too much work, and life is too short to spend on worthless entertainment in my opinion.

MoviesOnline : Who first encouraged you to use your imagination?

Gabor Csupo: My father, it was actually a little different than in the story. My father was originally an artist, and he had to drop the pencil for a number of reasons. Economically, he couldn’t support our family as an artist, so he shifted away from it, but when he saw me as a little boy always drawing, he really encouraged me.

MoviesOnline : Do you have a favorite Disney film?

Gabor Csupo: Absolutely, that’s actually what made me want to be in the business. I watched 101 Dalmatians probably 50 times in Hungary, and I could only offer to pay for it once. I sneaked in the rest of the time in the back of the cinema. And also, Pinocchio. I believe those two movies are absolutely amazing masterpieces. I don’t think there’s one more extra frame that doesn’t belongs in it. It’s really, really well done.

MoviesOnline : What’s next for Klasky Csupo?

Gabor Csupo: We have 14 different new pilots done in the last two years, and we’re going to a kid’s screening tomorrow, and we’re trying to set it up.

MoviesOnline : Are there going to be any more Rugrats movies or Thornberrys movies?

Gabor Csupo: No, I think they had their own times, and now we have our new creations.

MoviesOnline : Do you have any plans for the DVD for this movie?

Gabor Csupo: I’m sure there are, but I didn’t even get to it yet. I have a couple of really cool scenes I can cut in to show the deleted scenes. There is one amazing long take, if you guys remember, in the classroom when AnnaSophia Robb reads her essay, and the other kids are getting bored. The red-head kid who is in there, we have a 10-minute take through the whole reading of what he is doing. When we were watching the dailies, we were falling off the chairs. I really think that should make it to the DVD. It’s really funny and amazing. Through the whole thing, he just went on and on (puts hands over head). He just got really bored.

"Bridge to Terabithia” opens in theaters on February 16^th.