Would you like to hear of a peculiar tale? A tale of gifted people – both odd and unique.
“Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children” tells the tale of a 16-year-old teenage boy named Jacob Portman, who decides to embark on an overseas journey to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers an abandoned orphanage, and learn the truth behind his grandfather’s mysterious death and past life.
The movie synopsis is as follows:
“From visionary director Tim Burton, and based upon the best-selling novel, comes an unforgettable motion picture experience. When Jake discovers clues to a mystery that spans different worlds and times, he finds a magical place known as Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children.
But the mystery and danger deepen as he gets to know the residents and learns about their special powers…and their powerful enemies. Ultimately, Jake discovers that only his own special “peculiarity” can save his new friends.”
Besides the display of intriguing magical powers and monsters in this part-fantasy, part-nightmare world, there’s plenty to be stoked about “Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children”. To prep you up, we’ve managed to dig up some fascinating fun facts about the upcoming fantasy-adventure film.
1. Tim Burton was inspired by the book’s peculiar images
“Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children” is based on American author Ransom Riggs’ debut novel of the same name. The New York Times bestseller book was largely inspired by the otherworldly vintage photographs the author collected at various flea markets.
Likewise, Burton too, found inspiration in those spooky pictures. “I collect photographs, and there’s something about seeing these photographs with mystery and power and creepiness and an emotional thing, and you don’t know everything about it. So, you kind of use your mind to make up your own stories from these images,” the 58-year-old director explained.
“Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children” is the first in a trilogy. The sequel, “Hollow City”, which sees Jacob and his friends fleeing to London, was released on 2014, while the 3rd instalment, “Library of Souls”, was released last year.
2. Miss Peregrine is like a “scary Mary Poppins”
Eva Green plays the title character whom director Burton describes as “a scary Mary Poppins” that has the same kind of strength and humour. Miss Peregrine is a shape-shifter known as an ymbryne who not only has the ability to turn into a bird but also create and maintain a time loop.
“Miss Peregrine’s costume was something I wanted to relate to a bird without being too literal. I used a Victorian silhouette with a little ’30s twist. I wanted to feel like she could launch at any moment. So the skirt has areas that flow, and the shoulders sort of have a wing shape at the top,” shared costume designer Colleen Atwood.
3. Meet the Peculiar Children & their unusual abilities
Miss Peregrine protects her charges (called peculiars) from monsters known as hollows. Among these peculiars are Olive, who can shoot fire from her fingertips; unbelievably strong Bronwyn; invisible boy Millard; the telepathic twins, who always wear masks and never speak; and high-flying Emma.
4. Unlikely romance between Jake & Emma
In the story, Jake eventually falls in love with Emma, who, in her previous life, also had a special bond with Jake’s grandfather, Abraham Portman. Actors Asa Butterfield and Ella Purnell, who play the onscreen lovers, bonded on set over the fact that they had to cram exams between shoots.
“One of the most challenging parts of this entire shoot is that I was in the middle of taking my exams. Ella’s in the same boat as me. So, we’d come off a scene and then be doing maths or writing an essay. And that’s such a weird kind of transition. Education’s important, as my mum tells me. But it all turned out good in the end, and I passed,” recalled Butterfield.
5. Emma & Olive’s powers are being switched for the film
If you have already read the book, you’d know that Emma’s special ability is fire control. However, in the film version, she possess the ability of weightlessness – she floats, and has to rely on weighted shoes to keep her securely on the ground.
“My character can manipulate air basically — in the book it’s fire, but in the film it’s air — so she does that in all these creative ways. She can breathe underwater, help other people breath underwater, she can create a tornado with her breath. The main thing is that she flies, so I spent so long in a harness and wires up in the air,” the Brit actress told WWD.
You can see her superpower in action in the image above as Jake is seen dragging Emma along by a rope while on a beach.
6. Author defends movie changes made by Tim Burton
It’s essential to note that books and movies are separate entities. Thus, adaptations will always have some differences. In the words of Kimmy West, “the book will always be here for us to enjoy, and the film will be Tim Burton’s interpretation of the universe Ransom Riggs created!”
The author also took to Twitter to voice his support for Burton and also assured fans that everything is going to be better than okay.
So! Eagle-eyed fans are noticing that Tim changed some things in the film. While the book and film won't be identical (& they rarely are)…
— Ransom Riggs (@ransomriggs) March 4, 2016
… I totally trust Tim's vision. There's no filmmaker in the world better suited to adapt this book. All will be well!
— Ransom Riggs (@ransomriggs) March 4, 2016
@ransomriggs pls tell me the reason they've aged Olive & swapped Emma & Olive's powers isn't to make a love triangle situation with Jacob
— Comicbuchverkäufer (@Mathilde_Tobin) March 5, 2016
It's not. That would be weird. https://t.co/m6YjG0OyTB
— Ransom Riggs (@ransomriggs) March 5, 2016
7. Samuel L. Jackson plays the villain
In the film, Samuel L. Jackson plays Barron, the white-haired leader of a villainous clan seeking to get rid of the peculiars under Miss Peregrine’s care. The villain believes that by killing the uniquely gifted, he will, in return, gain immortality. Jackson previously joked that the prosthetics were “difficult things to grow … But when Tim asks you, you do it. You just focus.”
8. Florence + The Machine & Tim Burton collaborated on new song
Burton got some help from Florence + the Machine on his latest film. Taken from the soundtrack of “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children” is a song titled “Wish That You Were Here”, which perfectly matches the movie’s theme.
In a statement, Florence Welch said, “It’s nice that to be peculiar is sort of celebrated in this film — a celebration of your individuality and your peculiarities as your biggest strengths. I was probably called peculiar quite a lot at school. I think my biggest strength came when I stopped trying to fit in.”
She added that the song is “about the idea that love is a journey and a risk. You kind of feel like if you could sing a song into the wind, maybe the wind could take it to them in a way that you can’t with a text or a call. You just want to send your love in a different way, in a way to somehow reach the unreachable.”
Listen below:
“Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children” is slated to be released on 29th September 2016.
For more information, visit the movie’s website and Facebook page.
Sources: IMDb, Entertainment Weekly, Movie Fone, Page To Premiere.
