In classic 'Wrinkle,' childhood fantasy becomes a reality

Executive producer Catherine Hand shows how persistence can pay off.
By KATHY BLUMENSTOCK
WASHINGTON POST
When she was 11 years old, Catherine Hand fell in love with Madeleine L'Engle's book "A Wrinkle in Time," a classic story of fantasy and adventure.
"I wanted this book to be a movie, and I wanted to play Meg, the central character, " Hand said. "I even wrote Walt Disney a letter to tell him about it."
But Hand didn't mail the letter to Disney, deciding that she would grow up and make the movie herself. Hand's determined quest was a long one, but tonight, her childhood vision will come to life as "A Wrinkle in Time" airs on ABC. Hand was one of five executive producers on the project.
About the movie
The film stars Katie Stuart as Meg Murry, the young girl whose astrophysicist father suddenly and mysteriously vanishes. Meg, along with her younger brother Charles Wallace and her neighbor Calvin, set out to find him. Their journey is a cosmic one, requiring travel across time and through space to a distant and evil planet, Camazotz.
Aided by a trio of quirky and wise women -- Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who and Mrs. Which -- the children discover they must use their individual strengths and collective wits to survive, fight evil and find the missing Jack Murry.
Released as a miniseries in Europe, the three-hour film also stars Alfre Woodard, Kate Nelligan, Alison Elliott, Chris Potter and Gregory Smith.
"Playing characters from a book is always a challenge, just because when people read it, they have a set idea of what the character looks like," said Stuart, who "totally loved" the book. "It is always a hard switch to do, literature translating to film, especially with a story as spectacularly written as this one."
Stuart called Hand "fantastically motivated. She's a spectacularly stubborn person, and I know she originally wanted to play Meg."
Hand said the tale has lots of layers and "the toughest part was trying to tell them all. There are people who will be upset that their favorite scenes from the book are not in it or that someone in the cast doesn't look the way they thought," she said. "Lots of people are involved in making a movie and you have to reach the best compromise."
How Hand, 50, arrived at that compromise is a journey in itself. "I started out wanting to be an actress," she said. "I had a job as a receptionist in [producer] Norman Lear's office. Everyone knew I wanted to act, so they'd let me read the lines with the person trying out. Then one day about 200 women came in to read just a few lines, and I thought, 'I didn't know there were that many actresses in the world!' And I decided I'd rather be on the other side of the camera, playing all the parts."
While working for Lear, Hand urged him to read her childhood favorite, hoping he would see its merit as a potential film. Lear loved it, she said, and Hand wrote to author L'Engle, "who called, collect of course, and wanted to meet."
Hand discovered that for 17 years, others had tried and failed to acquire the movie rights to the Newbery Medal-winning book. L'Engle took a liking to Hand, who still remains close to the New York author.
In 1980, Lear got the rights to make the film. "But after 10 years of trying, it didn't jell," Hand said. "When Norman's rights elapsed, Madeleine told me, 'Go for it.'"
Acquiring the rights
Hand acquired the rights and continued to peddle the project, hoping to turn it into a feature film. She left the entertainment field, rearing her three children and coping with the death of her husband. She moved from Los Angeles to Washington, where her parents lived, and got a job producing radio.
"But no matter what, I was always, always working on 'A Wrinkle in Time,'" she said. "I thought the story was so beautiful and had to be told on screen."
After years of discussions and false starts, Hand finally connected with the right people. The story was produced for the ABC Television Network.
Hand, who works for a public relations firm in McLean, Va., said her biggest concern was being true to L'Engle's work. "She had a lot of faith in me so I did not want to disappoint her," she said.