Steven Spielberg announces War Horse cast". BBC News Online. 18 June 2010. Archived from the original on 5 September 2020 . Retrieved 27 February 2011.

Bannerman, Lucy (22 December 2009). "Theatre hit heads for Hollywood as Steven Spielberg buys War Horse rights". The Times. London. Archived from the original on 5 September 2020 . Retrieved 27 February 2011. a b Wadham, Jo (28 February 2011). "Interview with author Michael Morpurgo". The National. Abu Dhabi. Archived from the original on 9 October 2012 . Retrieved 8 March 2011.Sir Michael Andrew Bridge Morpurgo OBE FRSL FKC DL ( né Bridge; 5 October 1943) [1] is an English book author, poet, playwright, and librettist who is known best for children's novels such as War Horse (1982). His work is noted for its "magical storytelling", [2] for recurring themes such as the triumph of an outsider or survival, for characters' relationships with nature, and for vivid settings such as the Cornish coast or World War I. Morpurgo became the third Children's Laureate, from 2003 to 2005, [3] and he is also the current President of BookTrust, the UK's largest children's reading charity. [4] Early life [ edit ] Casey vs. the American Humane Association, et al" (PDF). Hollywood Reporter. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 February 2014 . Retrieved 26 April 2014. Editor Michael Kahn spoke of his work on the film: "We have some shots in War Horse that are just fantastic … We shot it in Devon, and you know it's gorgeous down there, and the horses are beautiful and the farms are beautiful, beautiful scenery and every shot is gorgeous, and eventually you get to the war part of it and it's really, really something." Kahn had a trailer on set and edited the film during filming. [101] Kahn and Spielberg cut the film digitally on an Avid rather than on film, a first with this technology for Spielberg; "He decided that he'd like to try it", Kahn commented. [102] [103] I won't kid you, it was more money [for the film rights] than I've ever been paid for anything I've ever written. But that wasn't the temptation. The temptation was the chance for an iconic film about the First World War, perhaps as great as All Quiet on the Western Front with its overpowering sense of waste."

A radio adaptation of the book was broadcast on BBC Radio 2 on 8 November 2008. [16] It featured Timothy Spall starring as the voice of Albert, Brenda Blethyn as Mother and Bob Hoskins as Sergeant Thunder. The radio play was rebroadcast on BBC Radio 4 Extra on 11 November 2011 as part of a special Remembrance sequence. Representatives of the American Humane Association were on set at all times, and the Association awarded the film an "outstanding" rating for the care that was taken of the animals during production. [97] However, a 2013 suit by former AHA employee Barbara Casey alleged that a horse was killed on set, but the organization chose to "cover up the death" to protect Spielberg's reputation. [98] An animatronic horse was used for some parts of the scenes where Joey is trapped in barbed wire; [99] the wire was rubber prop wire. [97] Unlike the play, which used puppet horses, the film uses a combination of real horses, animatronic horses and computer-generated imagery. [96] [100] [95] Post-production [ edit ]

‘An Entertainment Phenomenon’

Staff writer (17 February 2010). "The Big 2011 Preview: All the films that matter in the next 12 months". Empire. Archived from the original on 8 February 2012 . Retrieved 27 February 2011. In France, Captain Nicholls dies in the regiment’s first charge, felled by machine gun fire. Captain Stewart assigns Joey a new rider, Trooper Charlie Warren, whom Joey carries through the winter. In the spring, the Germans capture Stewart, Warren, Topthorn, and Joey. Topthorn and Joey then spend some months pulling ambulances for a German field hospital and living with nearby French farmers Emilie and her grandfather before being commandeered to join Herr Major’s artillery unit. There, they haul heavy guns around northern France alongside Heinie, Coco, and the Golden Halflingers. They befriend Friedrich, a kindly German officer. Exclusive: War Horse Cast Announced". Empire. 17 June 2010 . Retrieved 17 June 2010. taking the lead (or the reins) is young actor Jeremy Irvine, who has earned his stripes with both the National Youth Theatre and the RSC. Spielberg film War Horse moves Marines' Dartmoor march". BBC News Online. 11 September 2010. Archived from the original on 11 September 2010 . Retrieved 11 September 2010.