Another inspiration for the book, after meeting the veterans and seeing Billy with Hebe the horse, was an old oil painting that Morpurgo's wife Clare had been left: "It was a very frightening and alarming painting, not the sort you'd want to hang on a wall. It showed horses during the First World War charging into barbed wire fences. It haunted me." [6] [7] The painting was by F. W. Reed and was dated 1917, and showed a British cavalry charge on German lines, with horses entangled in barbed wire. [8] Morpurgo wrote a fictionalised version of this painting in his "Author's Note" at the start of the book. In his version, the painting shows a red bay with a white cross on his forehead, and the painting bears the legend: "Joey. Painted by Captain James Nicholls, autumn 1914." [2]) Calhoun, Dave. "The triumphant return of Peter Mullan". Time Out. London. Archived from the original on 24 March 2011 . Retrieved 15 June 2011.

AFI Awards Announced". American Film Institute. 11 December 2011. Archived from the original on 8 October 2013 . Retrieved 12 December 2011. Morpurgo, Michael (31 March 2009). "Morpurgo: War Horse is a story I had to write". Evening Standard. London. Archived from the original on 10 January 2012 . Retrieved 8 March 2011.a b Freer, Ian (17 February 2010). "Exclusive: War Horse Cast Announced". Empire. Archived from the original on 26 August 2011 . Retrieved 4 February 2011. Schaefer, Stephen (30 December 2011). "Spielberg on 'War Horse' ". Boston Herald. Boston, US. Archived from the original on 20 January 2012 . Retrieved 5 January 2012.

Steven Spielberg was told about War Horse by several people, including Kennedy, his colleague at Amblin Entertainment. [20] [21] [22] After discussions with Revel Guest, on 16 December 2009, it was announced that DreamWorks Pictures had acquired the film rights to the book, with Spielberg stating: "From the moment I read Michael Morpurgo's novel War Horse, I knew this was a film I wanted DreamWorks to make … Its heart and its message provide a story that can be felt in every country." [23] [24] Spielberg saw the London production of the play on 1 February 2010, and met some of the cast afterwards. [25] [26] [27] He admitted to being moved to tears by the performance. [28] Steven Spielberg's War Horse begins filming in Castle Combe". BBC News Online. 21 September 2010. Archived from the original on 27 September 2010 . Retrieved 21 September 2010. At the veterinary hospital, Joey happens to be cared for by Albert, who works there and has a friend named David. Albert realizes that Joey is his old horse only after cleaning all the mud off him, and seeing how he responds to his whistle. Albert starts caring for Joey again like he used to. Later, David and two horses from the hospital are killed by a stray shell, putting Albert in a state of depression, as David had cared for him like a brother. At the end of the war, Major Martin announces that they will auction off all the horses, despite the protests of Sergeant Thunder and the rest of the soldiers. During the auction, Sergeant Thunder loses to an old man for Joey. The man is Emilie's grandfather and was looking for Joey. Emilie's grandfather tells Albert about how Joey and Topthorn came to their farm, and that Emilie had lost the will to live after they were taken from her, with Emilie fading away and dying at just 15 years old. Emilie's grandfather sells Joey to Albert for a cheap price, in return for telling people about Emilie, and keeping her memory alive. Albert and Joey return to England, where they live in peace and Joey meets Albert's girlfriend, Maisie, with whom he does not get along very well. Tonguette, Peter. "Steven Spielberg: A Biography second edition by Joseph McBride". Sense of Cinema. Archived from the original on 2 October 2011 . Retrieved 23 June 2011. Vineyard, Jen (19 December 2011). "Steven Spielberg And His Cast On John Ford, Their Equine Co-Stars And Whether 'War Horse' Is A War Movie". Indiewire. Archived from the original on 5 September 2020 . Retrieved 5 September 2020.Lyall, Sarah. "Undaunted Author of ‘War Horse’ Reflects on Unlikely Hit". The New York Times. 11 April 2011; retrieved 17 April 2011.

Under Her Spell". ABC. 10 November 2011. Archived from the original on 12 November 2011 . Retrieved 14 November 2011. Tyler, Mathew (10 June 2010). "Spielberg Casts Eddie Redmayne As 'War Horse' Lead". Thefilmstage.com. Archived from the original on 19 August 2010 . Retrieved 9 May 2011. Spinner, Karen (17 July 2011). "Artist scores job on the set of War Horse film". Horse and Hound. London. Archived from the original on 10 December 2012 . Retrieved 29 July 2011. 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."Jury, Louise; Dominiczak, Peter (2 February 2010). "Spielberg sees War Horse after buying the film rights". The Evening Standard. London. Archived from the original on 1 September 2010 . Retrieved 6 April 2011. A great way of introducing young readers to the realities of WWI. Look out for Morpurgo’s other war fiction including Friend or Foe, Waiting for Anya, King of the Cloud Forests and An Eagle in the Snow. Brooke, Simon (29 January 2010). "My perfect weekend: Michael Morpurgo". The Daily Telegraph. London.