''A Wrinkle in Time'' is a 2003

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

fantasy film Fantasy films are films that belong to the fantasy genre with fantastic themes, usually magic, supernatural events, mythology, folklore, or exotic fantasy worlds. The genre is considered a form of speculative fiction alongside science fiction f ...

directed by

John Kent Harrison John Kent Harrison is a Canadian film and television director and writer. Early Life Harrison was born in London, Ontario in 1947 and attended the private school Appleby College in Oakville, Ontario. After graduating in 1964, he attended Colu ...

from a

teleplay A teleplay is a screenplay or script used in the production of a scripted television program or series. In general usage, the term is most commonly seen in reference to a standalone production, such as a television film, a television play, or an ...

by Susan Shilliday. The film, a Canadian and U.S. production, is based on the 1962 novel of the same name by

Madeleine L'Engle Madeleine L'Engle DStJ (; November 29, 1918 – September 6, 2007) was an American writer of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and young adult fiction, including ''A Wrinkle in Time'' and its sequels: ''A Wind in the Door'', ''A Swiftly Tilting Plan ...

. It is produced by

Walt Disney Television Disney General Entertainment Content, doing business as Walt Disney Television, is an American entertainment company that oversees television content and assets owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company. Forming the company's General Enterta ...

, Dimension Television,

Fireworks Entertainment Fireworks Entertainment (originally Skyvision Entertainment) was an independent studio originally founded in 1991 by Brian K. Ross and later bought out by Jay Firestone in 1996 to produce, distribute and finance television shows and feature film ...

, and

The Kerner Entertainment Company Jordan Kerner is an American film producer. Career Kerner started his career at CBS-TV KPIX-SF in San Francisco in 1971. In 1976, he became an attorney at the law firm of Ball, Hunt, Hart and Baerwitz. In 1977, he left to join CBS Entertainm ...

. The film stars

Katie Stuart Katherine Anne Stuart (born March 22, 1985) is a Canadian actress and stunt performer, born in Vancouver. She played the lead character Meg Murry in the 2003 television film ''A Wrinkle in Time''. She is also known for her recurring role of Zoe ...

, Gregory Smith,

David Dorfman David Dorfman (born February 7, 1993) is an American attorney and former actor. He portrayed Aidan Keller in the 2002 horror film remake '' The Ring'', and its 2005 sequel ''The Ring Two''. His other film roles include Sammy in ''Panic'', Joey ...

, Chris Potter,

Kyle Secor Kyle Ivan Secor (born May 31, 1957) is an American television and film actor. He is known for portraying Detective Tim Bayliss on the crime drama series '' Homicide: Life on the Street'' (1993–1999). Early years Secor was born in Tacoma, Was ...

Seán Cullen Seán Cullen (born August 29, 1965) is a Canadian actor and stand-up comedian. He is known for combining improvisation with mimicry and music. He is known for providing voices of characters in shows like ''Best Ed'', ''Seven Little Monsters,'' a ...

Sarah-Jane Redmond Sarah-Jane Redmond is a British actress and acting coach, living in Canada, whose work has spanned film, television and theatre productions, often in science fiction roles. She has taught acting at the New Image College of Fine Arts in British C ...

Kate Nelligan Patricia Colleen Nelligan (born March 16, 1950), known professionally as Kate Nelligan, is a Canadian stage, film and television actress. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the 1991 film ''The Prince of Tide ...

Alison Elliot Alison Elliot CBE FRSE (born 27 November 1948) is an honorary fellow at New College, Edinburgh. She was the former Associate Director of the Centre for Theology and Public Issues at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. In 2004 she became the ...

, and

Alfre Woodard Alfre Woodard (; born November 8, 1952) is an American actress. She has received various accolades, including four Primetime Emmy Awards (tying the record for the most acting Emmys won by an African-American performer, along with Regina King), ...

. ''A Wrinkle in Time'' premiered at the Toronto Children's film Festival on April 24, 2003, where it won the Best Feature Film Award.

Plot

Meg Murry The ''Time Quintet'' is a fantasy/science fiction series of five young adult novels written by Madeleine L'Engle. Publishing history The series originated with ''A Wrinkle in Time'', written from 1959 to 1960 and turned down by 26 publishers bef ...

(

) is having a difficult time. Her father, astrophysicist Dr. Jack Murry ( Chris Potter), has mysteriously disappeared. Her youngest brother, Charles Wallace (

), a genius, is teased and belittled and thought to be stupid because he does not talk to anyone but family. Meg does not get along with her peers, teachers, her 10-year-old twin brothers (

Munro Chambers Munro Chambers (born July 29, 1990) is a Canadian actor who is best known for his roles as Wilder on ''The Latest Buzz'' (2007–2010), Elijah "Eli" Goldsworthy on ''Degrassi'' (2010–2015), Frankie Chandler on ''Lockwood'' (2016–present) and ...

, Thomas Chambers), or even with herself. Into this unhappy situation comes a stranger, the mysterious, weirdly dressed Mrs. Whatsit (

), and her friends Mrs. Who (

Alison Elliott Alison Elliott (born May 19, 1970) is an American actress. She was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award for the 1997 film '' The Wings of the Dove''. Her other film appearances include ''The Spitfire Grill'' (1996), ''Birth'' (2004), '' The ...

) and Mrs. Which (

). They take Meg, Charles Wallace, and their new friend

Calvin O'Keefe The ''Time Quintet'' is a fantasy/science fiction series of five Young adult literature, young adult novels written by Madeleine L'Engle. Publishing history The series originated with ''A Wrinkle in Time'', written from 1959 to 1960 and turned d ...

( Gregory Smith) via "

tesseract In geometry, a tesseract is the four-dimensional analogue of the cube; the tesseract is to the cube as the cube is to the square. Just as the surface of the cube consists of six square faces, the hypersurface of the tesseract consists of eig ...

" to other planets, preparing the children for a mission to rescue Dr. Murry from the malevolent "IT" on the planet Camazotz. Along the way they ride on the back of a beautiful winged creature (the transformed Mrs. Whatsit), learn about the shadow of tangible evil known as the Black Thing, and visit the Happy Medium (

). Once they reach Camazotz, however, it is up to Meg, Calvin, and Charles Wallace to face the dangers of CENTRAL Central Intelligence, aided only by each other and a pair of Mrs. Who's glasses. They do find and rescue Dr. Murry, but Charles Wallace is seduced away from his family by IT's agent, the Man with Red Eyes (

), and thus comes under the control of IT. Dr. Murry manages to tesser himself, Meg and Calvin, away from Camazotz, but Charles Wallace is left behind, trapped in the mind of IT. Angry with her father, Calvin and herself for leaving Charles Wallace behind, Meg is cared for by the sightless and motherly Aunt Beast (

Ellen Dubin Ellen Dubin is a Canadian actress. She is best known for her part in the television mini-series ''Lexx'', playing the role of Giggerota. From 2004 to 2006, Dubin starred in the TV series ''The Collector'' as Jeri Slate. She was nominated for a ...

) on the planet Ixchel and argues with Mrs. Which about returning to rescue her brother. Returning alone to Camazotz, Meg must find a quality in herself—love—to free Charles Wallace, and possibly free the planet Camazotz as well.

Cast

* Gregory Smith as

Charles Wallace Murry Madeleine L'Engle, an American novelist, diarist and poet, produced over twenty novels, beginning with '' The Small Rain'' (1945), and continuing into the 1990s with '' A Live Coal in the Sea'' (1996). Many of her fictional characters appeared in ...

* Chris Potter as Dr. Jack Murry *

as the Man With Red Eyes and "Hank", Jack Murry's research partner *

as the Happy Medium *

as Dr. Dana Murry *

as Mrs. Which *

as Mrs. Who *

as Mrs. Whatsit *

and Thomas Chambers as

Sandy and Dennys Murry Madeleine L'Engle, an American novelist, diarist and poet, produced over twenty novels, beginning with '' The Small Rain'' (1945), and continuing into the 1990s with '' A Live Coal in the Sea'' (1996). Many of her fictional characters appeared in ...

, the twins *

Apollonia Vanova Apollonia Vanova ('' Slovak: Apolónia Váňová'') is a Slovak-born actress and opera singer, known for her roles as Silhouette in the film version of ''Watchmen'' and as the leading Wraith Queen and leader of a Wraith Alliance in the '' Starg ...

Valentina Tereshkova Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova ( rus, Валентина Владимировна Терешкова, links=no, p=vɐlʲɪnʲˈtʲinə vlɐˈdʲimʲɪrəvnə tʲɪrʲɪʂˈkovə, a=Valentina Tereshkova.ogg; born 6 March 1937) is an engine ...

Production

Assisted by entertainment company

Miramax Miramax, LLC, also known as Miramax Films, is an American film and television production and distribution company founded on December 19, 1979, by brothers Harvey and Bob Weinstein, and based in Los Angeles, California. It was initially a leadi ...

, project creator Catherine Hand worked behind the scenes alongside TV producer

Norman Lear Norman Milton Lear (born July 27, 1922) is an American producer and screenwriter, who has produced, written, created, or developed over 100 shows. Lear is known for many popular 1970s sitcoms, including the multi-award winning ''All in the Famil ...

to bring her vision to life. The production of the film began in 2001 with the initial plan to create a two-part

miniseries A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format h ...

that would total 4 hours in duration. However, the film was later cut down into a singular, three-hour program. While this made-for-television film was initially intended to be released in the United States in 2002, this release was delayed until 2004. The audience is provided with an explanation of tesseract through Mrs. Whatsit, who describes it as a "wrinkle in time" that allows one to travel across the universe. Transforming such abstracts into television images was one of the many hurdles for the makers of the movie, but production issues regarding this portrayal were overcome by the use of

special effect Special effects (often abbreviated as SFX, F/X or simply FX) are illusions or visual tricks used in the theatre, film, television, video game, amusement park and simulator industries to simulate the imagined events in a story or virtual wor ...

s. Other difficulties with filming primarily concerned the way in which the novel was written because of L'Engle's focus on the internal feelings and thoughts of the characters, noted Suzanne Macneille of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''. Macneille recognized that, like with any film adaptation of a novel, the story adaptation could result in controversies because protective readers of the original story may look down upon any variation in plot.

Reception

''A Wrinkle in Time'' received mixed reviews from film critics and journalists alike. Sharon Eberson, journalist for the ''

Pittsburgh Post Gazette The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the first newspaper published west of the All ...

'' described it as a "a most faithful adaptation." In particular, Eberson praised the interpretation of the "

Wookiee Wookiees () are fictional humanoid aliens in the ''Star Wars'' universe, native to the forest planet Kashyyyk. They are distinguished from humans by their gigantism, hirsutism, and physical strength. The most prominent Wookiee is Chewbacca, c ...

-like beasts" from the planet Ixchel. ''People'''s Terry Kelleher credited the film's inventive designing of the 1984 version of the dark planet (Camazotz). That said, Kelleher hinted at a "preachy" ending. As Diane Ortiz from ''The University Wire'' described it, the novel's first film adaptation was a "dud", emphasizing its lack of substantial acting and special effects. In her same article, Eberson acknowledged a similar inadequacy in the special effects and explained how they did not meet the hopes of the creators nor the viewers. Nick Mangione, from

Geek.com Geek.com is a technology news weblog about hardware, mobile computing, technology, movies, TV, video games, comic books, and all manner of geek culture subjects. It was founded in 1996 and was run independently until 2007 when it was sold to N ...

, suggested that many of the problems associated with the film relate to the creator's decision to dumb-down the concepts from the novel. Mangione pointed out that in her novel, L'Engle trusted her audience and knew they would be able to understand the complex thoughts of the characters. He believes that the film version shows no trust in the audience and spends the entire time simplifying everything and neglecting any of the more complex ideas. Mangione further stated, "It's almost impressive how they managed to take every major location and plot beat from the novel and get absolutely none of it right." In a Q&A with

MSNBC MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and political ...

/''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...

'' Entertainment reporter Melinda Henneberger, Madeleine L'Engle, author of the original novel, said, "I have glimpsed it... I expected it to be bad, and it is."

Release

The original 2001 production, a miniseries, was released in Canada, Australia, and Germany. ''A Wrinkle in Time'' premiered at the Toronto Children's Film Festival, where it won the festival's 2003 Best Feature Film Award. The original adaptation also came with a teacher's guide that included student-directed questions about the film. Examples of some of these questions include: "Why does Meg Murray think that she is stupid?", "How would you rate Meg's intelligence level?", and "Why does Meg think that no one likes her?"

Home media

''A Wrinkle in Time'' was released on VHS and

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

November 16, 2004 by

Buena Vista Home Entertainment Buena ( ) is a borough in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 4,603,Echo Bridge Home Entertainment Echo Bridge Entertainment is an American independent distribution company. It acquires and distributes feature films, scripted and non-scripted series, documentaries, and children’s programming for home video, digital and television in the United ...

, which has released the title both as a standalone DVD and as part of several family film bundles.

Awards and nominations

;Wins * Toronto Children's Film Festival Best Feature Film Award ;Nominations * Writers Guild Best Children's Script Award

References

External links

*
L'Engle's Official Site
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wrinkle In Time 2003 television films 2003 films American children's fantasy films American children's adventure films American fantasy adventure films American science fiction films Canadian children's adventure films English-language Canadian films Canadian fantasy adventure films Canadian science fiction films Dimension Films films Films based on American novels Films based on children's books Films based on science fiction novels Films shot in British Columbia American space adventure films Films about time travel Films set on fictional planets Time Quintet Fireworks Entertainment films Films directed by John Kent Harrison 2000s fantasy adventure films 2000s American films 2000s Canadian films Canadian children's fantasy films