The Spiderwick Chronicles is an American fantasy film based on Tony M. DiTerlizzi’s book series The Spiderwick Chronicles. It stars Freddie Highmore of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory fame, who has been highly praised for his double role portraying the twins Jared and Simon. The film is one of the most well-done of its time, in terms of the portrayal of fantastical characters like goblins and fairies, and is an aesthetic treat to watch for children!
The Spiderwick Chronicles Plot Summary
The film narrates the story of a man, Arthur Spiderwick, who writes a field guide in 1928 about all the fairies he encountered and studied. The field guide holds the secrets of the realms of the fairies, their characteristics, vulnerabilities and weaknesses, and hence, must be protected.
Mulgarath is the evil shape-shifting ogre who is in search of the book to use it for evil. Many years later, Jared Grace finds the book and opens it, ignoring the warning that Spiderwick had written on the book, unleashing all the evil that seeks to claim it.
How can Jared see the fairies without the magical stone?
Supernatural beings like goblins and fairies have the ability to hide from the mortal vision in The Spiderwick Chronicle universe. Thimbletack, a brownie and a friend of Arthur Spiderwick, gives Jared a holed stone. It works like an eyeglass and allows the user to see all the supernatural beings.
Later in the film, a hobgoblin named Hogsqueal spits on Jared’s eyes allowing him to see the fairies and mystical creatures without the stone. He gives him the supernatural vision so that Jared can fight and help him take revenge from Mulgarath for killing Hosqueal’s family.
Why didn’t the book burn?
Tired of the attacks by the evil forces of Mulgarath, Jared and his sister, Malory, decide to burn the book. However, the book remains intact due to a protective spell. Thimbletack later declares that it cannot be easily destroyed.
Where is Arthur Spiderwick?
When Jared and Mallory visit their great-aunt Lucinda in a psychiatry ward in order to know how to destroy the book, she tells them that only her father can so. She tells them that her father is not dead as assumed by everyone, but is being held captive by the sylphs due to the amount of knowledge he has about the realm of the fairies. He was taken by the sylphs while trying to save Lucinda from the goblins.
How do Jared and Mallory meet Arthur Spiderwick?
Jared and his siblings, Simon and Mallory, think about how to reach Arthur Spiderwick in the unseen world when Jared exclaims that Spiderwick has a pet griffin which could take them to him. They summon the griffin using the book. The griffin takes them all across the skies into the world of the supernatural beings where they meet Arthur Spiderwick.
How do the goblins die?
Mulgarath has obtained a page of the book using which the goblins make a potion to break the protective barrier surrounding the Spiderwick house. They then attack Jared and his family. The family, trying to escape from the goblins, fill the microwave oven with salt and cans of tomato and light it up. The oven bursts open and sprays tomato puree over the goblins, burning them into a pile of goo since salt and tomato are deadly to them.
How is Mulgarath killed?
Jared climbs the house with the book to escape from Mulgarath. However, he finds himself in a compromised position, dangling from the roof. He sees Hogsqueal across the house, on a tree. Hogsqueal signals to him and Jared throws the book in his direction. Mulgarath reaches out to catch the book and transforms into a bird. Just when Mulgarath is leaving with the book, Hogsqueal devours him and burps. Hobgoblins love to eat birds! And so, Hobsqueal’s revenge is complete and the book is finally safe.
What happens to Arthur and Lucinda Spiderwick?
Jared and his family bring Lucinda back home from the psychiatric ward. Simultaneously, the sylphs arrive with Arthur Spiderwick. He explains that if he steps onto the ground, he’ll die. Lucinda, now an old woman of 86 years, tells her father that she wants to leave with him and turns back to a child of 6 years. Both of them leave with the sylphs to the “Unseen realm”.