Don't cross the Bridge to Terabithia expecting happy escapism.

Despite an ad campaign that makes it look like a light-hearted fantasy, Disney's latest is in fact a serious look at some big issues - economic disadvantage, family dysfunction, the general hellishness of the middle school years and, finally, death and bereavement.

Bridge to Terabithia Credit: Walt Disney

Adapted from Katherine Paterson's Newbury-winning novel for young readers, "Bridge" sometimes muddles its message, but ultimately delivers an emotional punch that will leave many viewers in tears. It's powerful enough that parents of younger children may want to think twice before subjecting wee ones.

Jesse (Zathura's Josh Henderson) lives in rural California with his parents and four sisters. The family is barely scraping by. Dad (Robert Patrick) works in a hardware store in town and tries to get ahead by growing veggies and flowers in a greenhouse on their ramshackle farm. But money is tight enough that Jesse must wear his older sister's hand-me-down sneakers. They're pink, for crying out loud.

Bridge to Terabithia Credit: Walt Disney

Bullied at school (the townie kids seem to have written him off as white trash), Jesse takes solace in the fantastic drawings with which he fills a notebook. That and running. He's the fastest kid in his class.