Tuck Everlasting (2002 film)

Tuck Everlasting
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Jay Russell
Produced by	Marc Abraham Jane Startz Thomas Bliss
Written by	David Wight James V. Hart Natalie Babbitt (Novel)
Narrated by	Elisabeth Shue
Starring	Alexis Bledel Jonathan Jackson Ben Kingsley William Hurt Sissy Spacek Scott Bairstow
Music by	William Ross
Cinematography	James L. Carter
Editing by	Jay Cassidy
Distributed by	Walt Disney Pictures
Release date(s)	October 11, 2002 (US) March 20, 2003 (Australia) August 1, 2004 (UK)
Running time	96 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$15 million
Box office	$19,344,615

Tuck Everlasting is a 2002 film based on the children's book of the same title by Natalie Babbitt published in 1975. This Disney version was directed by Jay Russell.

Plot

The plot revolves around a 15-year-old girl named Winnie, who is from a restrictive upper-class family. Winnie one day runs away into the forest and meets a boy named Jesse Tuck, drinking from a spring. She is then kidnapped by Jesse's elder brother. Winnie soon falls in love with Jesse and later learns that the family cannot age or be injured due to drinking water from a magical spring around a hundred years ago. As the search for Winnie continues, the Tucks decide to leave the area and invite Winnie to join them. Winnie is forced to decide whether to drink from the spring and live forever, or live a mortal existence. She decides that despite the love she and Jesse share, her presence will only endanger the Tucks and she chooses to stay behind. After many years, Jesse returns to the tree where the spring used to be, and it is revealed that Winnie chose to never drink from the spring and she lived a long and charitable life.

Cast

• Alexis Bledel as Winnie Foster
• Jonathan Jackson as Jesse Tuck
• Ben Kingsley as The Man in the Yellow Suit
• William Hurt as Angus Tuck
• Sissy Spacek as Mae Tuck
• Scott Bairstow as Miles Tuck
• Amy Irving as Mother Foster
• Victor Garber as Robert Foster
• Julia Hart as Sally Hannaway
• Noami Kline as Beatrice Ruston
• Robert Luis as Night Deputy (as Robert Logan)
• Michelle Mulitz as Natalie Foster (deleted scenes)

Differences between the movie and the book

In the book...	In the film...
Winnie is 10	She is 15
The book is set in 1880	The movie is set in 1914
Winnie's gravestone says 1870-1948 (died 78)	It says 1899-1999 (died 100)
Winnie runs away because she's tired of being cooped up	She runs away because she's going to be sent to a boarding school
To save Mae, Miles removes the window and Winnie switches places with Mae	Winnie tells the prison guard that the people who kidnapped her are back to get her. He runs outside with a shotgun to face them. He shoots them, but runs away when he sees they cannot die. Meanwhile, Winnie grabs his keys and unlocks Mae and Angus's cell doors.
Mae is sent to jail	Tuck is imprisoned and Mae is to be sent to the gallows
Mae and Tuck visit Winnie's grave (in 1950). They return riding a stagecoach.	Only Jesse does (in or around 2002). He returns riding a motorcycle.
Mae, Jesse, and Miles come to "kidnap" Winnie	Only Miles does
Miles generally enjoys Winnie's company and is more relaxed around her. He fights for her attention with Jesse.	Miles does not trust Winnie with the secret and is seen as being very bitter and angry. Because he hates his immortality, he joins various wars to try to "kill himself".
Winnie "adores" Jesse, and Jesse is very taken with her. He plans to marry her when she turns seventeen	Jesse and Winnie fall in love with each other.
The Tucks disappear on a flash of lightning	The Tucks escape in a carriage
Jesse gives Winnie a water bottle that has water from the spring and tells her to drink it when she turns seventeen	Jesse does not give Winnie a water bottle, but she contemplates drinking from the spring after the Tucks leave
Winnie gives the water to a toad	She doesn't give any to the toad
The toad appears more than 3 times	The toad appears 3 times
Angus, and Mae almost run over the toad when they visit Winnie's grave	The toad is not seen in the final scene.

External links

• Tuck Everlasting
• Tuck Everlasting at AllRovi
• Tuck Everlasting (2002) at the Internet Movie Database
• Tuck Everlasting (1981) at the Internet Movie Database
• Alexis Bledel interview for Tuck Everlasting