How do you get to Narnia, Neverland, Oz, or Hogwarts? The way to these parallel other worlds that sometimes intersect with ours is not always obvious. All you need to know is the secret. Here is a brief guide to common tropes and modes of transportation. When in doubt, try a dash of fairy dust.
In “Epic,” it’s a magic flower bud, or “pod,” as well as the spirit of a dying queen, that transports M.K. to the land of the Leafmen. Tornadoes also do the trick, as in “The Wizard of Oz.” Or a whack to the head works, too, like the one the kid in “The Pagemaster” suffers before the fantasy world of the library comes to life.
Slither into a tunnel or cavern (“Pan’s Labyrinth”), fall down a hole (“Alice in Wonderland”), or explore the back of your closet (“The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”). By means of this reverse birth-womb experience through the darkness — paging Dr. Freud — you’ll reach that hidden world.
Magic or hidden doors work well enough (“The Secret Garden”). But if you’re trying to protect the location of, say, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, you might devise a special train which departs only from Platform 9¾ at King’s Cross station on certain days during the year. Or, your secret world could be accessible through a time tunnel, like the one “Time Bandits” uses.
“Tome-travel” gets us there and back again. Books equal bedtime stories, sleepy-time, dreamtime, and serve as our literary portal into the imagination. In movies ranging from “The Neverending Story” and “The Spiderwick Chronicles” to “Where the Wild Things Are,” books may contain secret instructions or actually draw the reader into their pages.
Don’t touch that button! Don’t play that game! In “Jumanji,” kids playing a mysterious board game unleash all kinds of trouble; in “The Last Starfighter,” it’s an arcade game that opens a portal to a distant world that needs the help of a young video gamer. In “Last Action Hero,” it’s a magic movie ticket that’s the ticket to paradise.
ETHAN GILSDORF