Five Children and It (2004)

Director:

John Stephenson

Writers:

David Solomons (written by)
E. Nesbit (novel)

Release Date:

15 October 2004 (UK)

Genre:

Adventure | Family | Fantasy

Tagline:

You are invited to discover the secret...

Plot:

Four children staying in their eccentric uncle's labyrinthine mansion for protection during World War I befriend a sand fairy who has the power to grant wishes.

Plot Keywords:

Uncle | Fairy | Magic | Wish | Eccentric

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Tara Fitzgerald	...	Mother
Freddie Highmore	...	Robert
Alex Jennings	...	Father
Jonathan Bailey	...	Cyril
Jessica Claridge	...	Anthea
Poppy Rogers	...	Jane
Alec Muggleton	...	Lamb
Zak Muggleton	...	Lamb
Zoë Wanamaker	...	Martha
Kenneth Branagh	...	Uncle Albert
Alexander Pownall	...	Horace
Eddie Izzard	...	It (voice)
Georgio Serafini	...	Mr. Bialli
John Sessions	...	Peasemarsh
Kim Fenton	...	RFC Flier

Also Known As:

5 Children & It (Philippines: English title)
Cinq enfants et moi (France)

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

France | UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:G (TV rating) | Australia:PG (original rating) | Sweden:7 | Argentina:Atp | Brazil:Livre | France:U | Malaysia:U | Finland:K-7 | Netherlands:AL | Philippines:G | Singapore:G | UK:U

Filming Locations:

England, UK

Company:

Sandfairy

Trivia:

Robin Williams was originally offered the role of the Psammead.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Despite taking place in circa 1917, the children sing "Happy Birthday to You", which wasn't written until 1924, and didn't game popularity until around 1930.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Robert: It was the Summer of nineteen seventeen and the world was at war. Like lots of children, we had to leave our home. - Leave London. We didn't want to go, but Dad went to fly planes, and Mum went to look after the wounded, and we were stuck. They insisted we go to the country, to stay with mad Uncle Albert and our cousin Horace.

Movie Connections:

Version of "Five Children and It" (1991)

Enjoyable

No intro.

It's the Great War; a group of children stay with their eccentric uncle and meet It (a sand fairy).

A sand fairy is a funny looking, short, talking creature that lives in a beach and can grant wishes. It's not in this movie as much as expected. The rest of the picture deals with how all the kids want their father to return home safely. One top scene: the children grown wings and fly up to meet German Zeppelins! Branagh has a strange role as the maths obsessed uncle, Fitzgerald is the mother and Wisdom appears in a shop (how old is this actor?). The movie is another of those non-American children's movies that reminds me of the atrocious Tooth.

Five Children and It is an enjoyable and intelligent kids' movie.