82 SIDELINES FEBRUARY 2012 FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE H O The R S Making E S of War Horse Jaguar Hope enjoys an energetic romp Photo by Wendy Wooley

By Edna Wilson Horse transferred to the West End where it’s playing through October 2012. Kathleen Kennedy, a Hollywood producer, saw War Horse’s journey from book to theatre to movie has War Horse at the National Theatre and suggested Spielberg taken almost 30 years. Central to the story, of course see the production. He travelled to London and bought the are horses: the original Joey, life-size puppets in the film rights after falling in love with the play. Six months later play, 250 horses in the movie – 14 of which are Joey the cast for the movie was announced. and Jaguar Hope, a retired Thoroughbred racehorse. In 2005 director Tom Morris at the National Theatre And the Movies was looking for a way to bring Handspring Puppet While Spielberg was looking for actors, Gary Tomkins Company to the theatre. Tom Morris’ mother had read one of the art directors, was searching for an equine artist. War Horse, knew he was looking for an animal story Alexandra Bannister met Tomkins over a bacon sandwich and gave him a copy of the book to read. War Horse at her neighbors’ house where she was trying out a horse is one of over 120 children’s stories written by Britain’s for their friends’ son. They chatted, she showed him some former Children’s Laureate, Michael Murpongo. sketches and Gary said it was a shame they hadn’t met a few Published in 1982, War Horse was translated into three weeks ago, but asked her to send him some examples just in or four languages and a runner-up in the Whitbread case. Book Awards, but didn’t succeed in America. The book “The next day, however, I got a phone call from Gary saying tells the story of Joey, a young chestnut farm horse in that Rick Carter, production designer for War Horse, had Devon, who gets taken from his owner and ends up in seen my website and wanted me to come in for a meeting,” the battlefields of the First World War. Bannister said. “One drawing from my website that stood out to Rick Carter for its confidence and strength was a portrait of On the Stage retired American racehorse ‘Jaguar Hope’, a son of Turkoman, The stage adaptation of War Horse was produced grandson of the late, great Alydar,” she explained. Bannister at the National Theatre in autumn 2007. Although the found photos of Jaguar Hope on Flickr.com a few years before story line is compelling, many critics consider the life- and was friends with his owner, Wendy Uzelac, when Jag had size bamboo horse puppets the most intriguing part of a horrible accident. He was found in his paddock with a badly the production. “Much of the narrative and emotional broken leg and had to be put to sleep. burden is carried by a language that is international,” “Months later Wendy commissioned me from the States said Sir Nicholas Hytner, the play’s artistic director. to do a portrait of her beloved horse that I had so admired,” “The puppetry exists independent of the spoken word, Bannister continued. “When Rick Carter picked Jag’s portrait independent of text. It works almost in the way that from the bunch as one that showed a ‘Joey-like’ zeal I was dance works.” thrilled to produce some sketches from it for the film. Sample After two sell-out runs at the National Theatre, War sketches were sent to Spielberg in LA along with those of