The Spiderwick Chronicles
2-Disc Special Field Guide Edition
Directed by Mark Waters
Starring Freddie Highmore, Sarah Bolger, Mary-Louise Parker, Nick Nolte, Seth Rogen, David Strathairn, Martin Short
Paramount Home Video
Release date: June 24, 2008

When I went to see The Spiderwick Chronicles in IMAX early this year, I didn’t love it at first viewing (see my original movie review). I was too attached to the Spiderwick Chronicles book series by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi from which the movie was adapted to fully enjoy the film. I felt like it strayed just a little too much, but I did think that was a great family film that would be very entertaining for kids.

I only saw the film once in the theater (in IMAX, which was great), but even with my initial dissatisfaction, I know that once the DVD came out, I’d enjoy it more. And I was right.

The Spiderwick Chronicles reveals to us to the world of fairies, goblins, and other mythical, magical creatures, who live right before our eyes, though we’re are unable to them. In the film, Freddie Highmore stars as Jared and Simon Grace, identical twins who are nothing alike personality-wise. Soon after the twins move into the old Spiderwick Estate, along with their mother Helen (Mary Louise Parker) and with their older sister Mallory (Sarah Bolger), Jared discovers a secret room in the mansion where he finds “Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide to the Fantastic World Around You.” Though there’s warnings not to open the book, Jared does anyway, which awakens the magical creatures that surround the estate.

Unfortunately, some of these beings are malevolent, especially the ogre Mulgarath (Nick Nolte), who in an effort to obtain the Field Guide for himself, unleashes an army of vicious goblins against the children. Now, the children must use the information in the Field Guide to defeat the army and end Mulgarath’s evil reign.

DVD Bonus Features

DISC 1

This 2-disc Special Edition DVD set is enclosed in a slipcover with velcro closure that looks like a seal and comes complete with a warning label, all made to look like “Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide to the Fantastic World Around You.” In this world of digital content, outer packaging might not mean much, but a gal like me who treasured every vinyl album cover growing up, it’s something to be appreciated.

— Spiderwick: It’s All True! [7:06] Director Mark Waters tells us that everything fantastical from the film is true and reveals how to keep the creatures at bay. Here we see the original “Field Guide” and why it’s valuable to us, but also dangerous if the bad guys get their hands on it. We also see the Seeing Stone and are shown how to wear it and what happens when you wear it. Waters also introduces us to the creatures of the film, like the house brownie Thimbletack; the helpful hobgoblin Hogsqueal; the Troll that lives underground; Mulgarth, the evil shapeshifting ogre; and Redcap, the bull goblin who’s Mulgarath’s righhand man who leads the goblin army. We’re also introduced to the non-scary creatures like the Fairies, Sprites, Sylph, and the griffin Bryon.

— It’s a Spiderwick World! [8:46] The books’ authors, Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi, talk about how they came up with their story for Spiderwick and how they liked the idea of having modern-day kids with modern problems in America coming up against the fantastical Victorian-eque world. They explain the proper names for the creatures and how the names describe them. Also, we the inspiration behind the creation of the Arthur Spiderwick character and how they were going for a Victorian gothic feel for the series.

— Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide For this, you can click through the pages of the book and for each entry, read about the item; you can then click to view that item in action in the film (Boggart, Brownie, Sprite, Goblin, Hobgoblin, Ogre, Griffin, Troll, Seeing Stone, Protection from Magical Creatures).

— Previews Contains coming attractions for other movies: Charlotte’s Web, Barnyard, Bee Movie, Indiana Jones trilogy reissue, and Kung Fu Panda.

DISC 2

— Spiderwick: Meet the Clan [13:55] Director Mark Waters talks about Freddie Highmore and how special he was for the film. The British Highmore explains what it was like to play a dual role and do so with an American accent. In this feature, we see Highmore act against his stand-in. We also see the other actors: Sarah Bolger as Mallory (an Irish actress playing an American); David Strathairn as Arthur Spiderwick; Joan Plowright as Aunt Lucinda; and Mary Louise Parker as Helen; Andrew McCarthy as the children’s father; Nick Nolte as Mulgarath; Seth Rogen as Hogsqueal; and Martin Short as Thimbletack.

— Making Spiderwick [20:54] Author Holly Black talks about what it was like to walk onto the set and seeing her book come to life, while production designer James Bissell talks about being inspired by the illustrations from the books, how they created the Spiderwick Estate, and worked to make it a character on its own. We also see how the Field Guide and Seeing Stone were created by the art department. A fun part of this feature is see the crew wielding cardboard cutouts of the goblins during the battle scenes, because the goblins are added in as CGI later. There’s also segments with the stunt coordinator, as well as the film’s composer.

— The Magic of Spiderwick [14:25] A look at post-production and animation, as well as the designing the goblins, the Troll, Thimbletack, the sprites, the griffin, and the shapeshifting abilities of the ogre Mulgarath.

— A Final Word of Advice! [1:52] A short message from director Mark Waters, who tells us that everything in this world exists and it was all just recreated it for the movie. He also gives advice on how to protect yourself. (This ends with a list of credits for all the bonus features.)

— Deleted Scenes
– Mom & Jared: This scene is after Jared gets angry outside near the car and then he runs into the house, he has some words with his Mom.
– Boys in Bedroom: Jared shows Simon a part of the Field Guide and the creature he thinks tied Mallory’s hair gets tied to the bedpost. Jared tells Simon he believes that there are fantastical creatures all around the house and that the book is powerful.
– Messy Kitchen: This is a scene about the house Brownie getting angry and turning into a Boggart. We see that the house is filled with honey to feed the Boggart so he won’t be angry anymore and Jared discovers some information about the Boggart.
– Meet Lucinda: The kids go to the asylum where Aunt Lucinda lives and we see her bed is surround by salt around the bed. Here we learn a little more about the kid’s relationship to Lucinda.

— Nickelodeon’s TV Spots: These are 9 short TV spots that contain film footage, interviews, and secrets from the Field Guide, like what to do with a Seeing Stone.