This links with my other comments, etc, re the four ITV works inspired by Jill Murphy's Worst Witch novels. This feature is the first, followed by the three television series, a 20 year production span.
I note that most IMDb comments for this at May 2008 are from the USA. They tend to be very positive, rating it a lot. Several have read the novels as part of their schoolwork, moving onto the feature from that. Several saw it as kids or saw it because their kids watched it.
*
Me not being from the USA, I saw this because of the 1998 series, I had the first few episodes on DVD and that made me read the novels and watch this.
I found that it was possible to get to like this, but that my initial reaction was to want to run away. Get past that there is a lot of okay here.
I had expected an English Millie in an English school be it a rather special school. It is made by an English broadcaster and includes the highly rated English Diana Rigg. Approach this from that direction then for me there are hurdles to overcome.
Millie portrayed with a strong Irish accent unlike any that I actually came across in England when at school many decades ago. It reminds me of the accent that the City of La girl Brittney Bomann had to use in The Little Unicorn. Balk did some good acting but there was a hurdle that I had to overcome in order to appreciate that.
Agatha and Donna, Miss Cackle's sister and niece, having strong North American accents. The cheap mention of Alabama. I assumed that the GB broadcasters were looking to the USA for backing and paying a price that the USA comments seem to say as okay but the dirth of GB comments to say other. They lost their home audience, who it would have been created for?
The 1998 series starting visually close to the novels, this could partly be due to this 1986 feature? It starts with a power that I do not find in this 1986, but North Americans might disagree.
Maud not being named Moonshine? I did not notice that gem as she is usually called Maud.
*
I now have two different DVDs of this and I mostly prefer the Region 2 disk on the ITV label to my Region 4 version. There again, the Region 4 was an extra included as an extra disk in my set of The New Worst Witch, a very budget price DVD collection. New W W is real nice.
