Oscar nominations were announced this week, and one of the nods for Best Picture went to War Horse, a movie based on the book written by British author Michael Morpurgo. Michael’s story behind the story of War Horse was featured in the December 2011 issue of Guideposts.
Michael’s tale is definitely a case of incredible timing resulting in a most fortunate outcome. Hopelessly stuck on finding a way to make an old World War I veteran’s story come to life, Michael witnessed a wonderful moment between a shy boy and one of the horses on his farm in Devon. That moment inspired Michael as he wrote the book.
“The book came out of a chance encounter. Everything about this story of War Horse did,” Michael says. “Initially it was that chance encounter. But then the book was out there and it didn’t do well. Then, 30 years later, the National Theater in London was looking to make a play using the genius of some puppets they had discovered called Handspring Puppets, from South Africa. They wanted the puppets to be center stage, so they needed a story in which an animal had the main part. The director, Tom Morris, searched for a couple years and couldn’t find anything at all. When he came home one weekend, his mother says to him, ‘Tom, you should read this book I just read called War Horse, it’s a story of a horse in the first World War.’ So he read it. Two weeks later I’m up in London meeting with him about the play they’re going to make.”
The play, staged first in London and then at Lincoln Center in New York, took home the Tony Award for Best Play in 2011.
“The lovely thing is, my father, who was an actor, in 1966 acted on the very same stage in Lincoln Center. His name was Tony. I feel his spirit must be walking the boards every night,” Michael says.
War Horse is a story about the horrors of war and its devastating effects on the innocent. That’s a story that needs to be told, and it seems to me that Michael got a little help telling it—through a series of extraordinary “chance” encounters.
I interviewed Michael and edited his story for Guideposts, and he’s a great guy. His Farms for City Children program touches on two things he cares deeply about: the welfare of children and the humane treatment of animals. That’s why I’m definitely pulling for War Horse to win the Academy Award.
Hmm … does Michael have an uncle named Oscar?
Do you have a Mysterious Ways story to share? We can’t give you a golden statuette, but the best stories may be published in Guideposts magazine and on our website. Send your stories to mw@guideposts.org.
