''Five Children and It'' is a 2004 family

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme ...

film adaptation of the 1902 novel '' Five Children and It'', which features live action and computer animation. It was directed by John Stephenson, produced by Nick Hirschkorn,

Lisa Henson Lisa Marie Henson (born May 9, 1960) is an American television and film producer and former actress who has been involved in television shows such as ''Sid the Science Kid''. She is the CEO of The Jim Henson Company, founded by her parents Jim an ...

and

Samuel Hadida Samuel Hadida (17 December 1953 – 26 November 2018) was a Moroccan-born French film producer. Life and career Hadida was born in Casablanca, Morocco. In 1978, he co-founded the company Metropolitan Filmexport with his brother Victor. The com ...

, written by

E. Nesbit Edith Nesbit (married name Edith Bland; 15 August 1858 – 4 May 1924) was an English writer and poet, who published her books for children as E. Nesbit. She wrote or collaborated on more than 60 such books. She was also a political activist a ...

and David Solomons with music by Jane Antonia Cornish and starring

Tara FitzGerald Tara Anne Cassandra Fitzgerald (born 18 September 1967) is an English actress who has appeared in feature films, television, radio and the stage. She won the New York Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play in 1995 as Opheli ...

Freddie Highmore Alfred Thomas Highmore (born 14 February 1992) is an English actor. He is known for his starring roles beginning as a child, in the films '' Finding Neverland'' (2004), '' Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'' (2005), '' August Rush'' (2007), and ...

Alex Jennings Alex Jennings (born 10 May 1957) is an English actor of the stage and screen, who worked extensively with the Royal Shakespeare Company and National Theatre. For his work on the London stage, Jennings received three Olivier Awards, winning for ...

Jonathan Bailey Jonathan Stuart Bailey (born 25 April 1988) is an English actor. Known for his comedic, dramatic, and musical roles on stage and screen, he is the recipient of a Laurence Olivier Award and a nomination for a Evening Standard Theatre Award. Ba ...

, Jessica Claridge, Poppy Rogers, Alec Muggleton, Zak Muggleton,

Zoë Wanamaker Zoë Wanamaker (born 13 May 1949) is a British-American actress who has worked extensively with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre. A nine-time Olivier Award nominee, she won for '' Once in a Lifetime'' (1979) and ''Electra' ...

Kenneth Branagh Sir Kenneth Charles Branagh (; born 10 December 1960) is a British actor and filmmaker. Branagh trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and has served as its president since 2015. He has won an Academy Award, four BAFTAs (plus ...

, Alexander Pownall, Robert Tygner,

Eddie Izzard Edward John Izzard (; born 7 February 1962) is a British stand-up comedian, actor and activist. Her comedic style takes the form of what appears to the audience as rambling whimsical monologues and self-referential pantomime. Izzard's stand- ...

as the voice of It-Psammead, Georgio Serafini,

John Sessions John Marshall (11 January 1953 – 2 November 2020), better known by the stage name John Sessions, was a British actor and comedian. He was known for comedy improvisation in television shows such as ''Whose Line Is It Anyway?'', as a panellist o ...

, Kim Fenton,

Norman Wisdom Sir Norman Joseph Wisdom, (4 February 1915 – 4 October 2010) was an English actor, comedian, musician and singer best known for a series of comedy films produced between 1953 and 1966 featuring a hapless onscreen character often called Norman ...

and Duncan Preston and Zak. The film premiered at the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a perman ...

on 11 September 2004 and was theatrically released on 15 October 2004. The

digital puppetry Digital puppetry is the manipulation and performance of digitally animated 2D or 3D figures and objects in a virtual environment that are rendered in real time by computers. It is most commonly used in filmmaking and television production, but has ...

and CGI animation for Psammead was created by

Jim Henson's Creature Shop Jim Henson's Creature Shop is a special/visual effects company founded in 1979 by puppeteer Jim Henson, creator of The Muppets. The company is based out of Burbank, California, United States. History Jim Henson's Creature Shop was originally ...

. ''Five Children and It'' grossed £1,519,049 worldwide. The film was released on DVD on 5 July 2005.

Plot

The film begins with five children (Robert, Cyril, Jane, Anthea and The Lamb), whose father has gone to fight in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Consequently, the children must meanwhile stay at their eccentric uncle's house with his housekeeper Martha, and unpleasant son, Horace. While exploring the house, Robert finds a locked door in the forbidden greenhouse and brings the other children. They manage to open the door, which leads them through a secret path to the beach surrounding the house. There they discover a large shelled creature, which reveals itself as a "psammead crustacean decapodlium wishasaurus," or sand fairy for short. The children, befuddled by this confusing name, refer to the creature simply as "It." It seems rather mischievous and Cyril doubts whether the children should trust him, but upon confirming that It can grant wishes, the children wish for all the house chores on their list to be done by magic. When they return to the house, they see dozens of copies of themselves doing the chores and wrecking the house in the attempt. Suddenly, everything disappears in clouds of golden dust. They are then forced to tidy up the mess themselves. When they return to It and ask why their clones disappeared, It explains that at sunset, all wishes fade away. The children blame It for the mess, but It responds by saying that wishes bring valuable lessons. The children need money to fix all the broken items, so they wish for buckets of gold and go off into town to buy some items. The children aren't able to buy anything because the owners will not accept gold, believing it is fake. They manage to purchase a car, having nothing else to do with the gold, and end up crashing it during a test drive. Mr. Peasemarsh, the owner, becomes furious and causes a scene with the children as the authorities and their aunt both appear on the scene. When Mr. Peasemarsh tries to reveal the children's "stolen gold", it vanishes just before he can show it to the officers, who take him away, believing he is out of his mind. Horace, meanwhile, is becoming suspicious of the children, and when they refuse to tell him what secret they're hiding, he manages to catch them in a room and locks it, telling them he won't let them out until they come clean. Robert, who was not with the rest when Horace trapped them, goes to It and wishes for wings so they can go off to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

and find their father. The other children fly out the window when they discover their new wings, and Horace eventually decides to let them out only to discover them missing and the window open. While flying, the children are almost killed by heavy aircraft, but they just barely manage to escape danger. With sunset drawing near, they have no choice but to go home. During their return trip, their wings begin to fade, and it appears they will fall into the sea, but It's face appears among the clouds and blows on the children, sweeping them through the air back to shore. When the children's mother returns, the children learn that their father has gone missing. Robert talks to It that night, and falls asleep next to It on the beach. Horace, having followed Robert, captures It and brings him to his basement. The next morning, Robert confronts Horace but is unwilling to act, as Horace has his father's compass. Seeing that Horace plans to dissect It to find out how he works his magic, Robert suggests Horace wish for something instead. Interested in the idea, Horace wishes for his fossilized dinosaur egg to hatch. The children arrive in time to see Horace's dinosaur standing high above them and threatening to eat them. After trying to calm it down, It makes the dinosaur vanish. Shocked, Horace passes out, and Robert takes him to their mother, while the other children wish for their father to come home. He appears on the beach and talks to the children, but only minutes later he vanishes as sunset hits the beach. Robert, having just nearly missed returning to see him, is devastated. The children go to Horace, and they talk about what happened in the basement. Horace, surprised at the secret, becomes agreeable, and the children settle their differences, and agree to share the secret of Its existence together. On It's birthday, the children wish It a good future and prepare to return home. When their car breaks down, they are forced to stay in the house and Horace suggests a game of hide-and-seek. As Robert counts, his father appears. When Robert realizes that its really their father, he and the children are overjoyed, joined by their mother. Finally reunited with their father, the children prepare to go home. In a post credits scene, It contemplates a sequel "It and Five Children".

Cast

as Robert *

as Cyril *

Tara Fitzgerald Tara Anne Cassandra Fitzgerald (born 18 September 1967) is an English actress who has appeared in feature films, television, radio and the stage. She won the New York Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play in 1995 as Opheli ...

as Mother *Jessica Claridge as Anthea *

Poppy Rogers The following is a list of characters who first appeared in the Australian soap opera '' Neighbours'' during 2010, they are listed in order of their first appearance. They were all introduced by the show's executive producer, Susan Bower. The 26t ...

as Jane *

as Father *Alec Muggleton as Lamb *Zak Muggleton as Lamb *

as Martha *

as Uncle Albert *Alexander Pownall as Horace *Robert Tygner as It-Psammead (performer) *

as It-Psammead (voice) *Georgio Serafini as Mr. Bialli *

as Peasemarsh *Kim Fenton as RFC Flier *

as Nesbitt * Duncan Preston as Sergeant

Production

On 3 June 2003, John Stephenson was hired and set to direct ''Five Children and It'' based on the book of the same name by

. David Solomons wrote the script for the film. Nick Hirschkorn,

and

produced the film for release in 2004. On 5 June, it was announced that

, Jessica Claridge, Poppy Rogers, Alec Muggleton, Zak Muggleton,

, Alexander Pownall, Georgio Serafini,

, Kim Fenton,

and Duncan Preston joined the film.

joined the cast on 8 July to voice It-Psammead. The film uses live action for the humans and computer animation for It-Psammead. Development and animation of the film was completed in England, UK and

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

Music

On 15 July, it was announced that

Jane Antonia Cornish Jane Antonia Cornish is an English composer. She is based in Los Angeles, California, and focuses on contemporary classical music. Early life and education Cornish grew up in Kent, England, where she studied violin, piano and composition from ...

would compose the music for the film. The film's soundtrack also contains “

Happy Birthday to You "Happy Birthday to You", also known as "Happy Birthday", is a song traditionally sung to celebrate a person's birthday. According to the 1998 ''Guinness World Records'', it is the most recognised song in the English language, followed by " Fo ...

” written by Patty S. Hill (as Patty Hill) and Mildred J. Hill (as Mildred Hill) and “Robert's Theme” written and performed by

Sean Lennon is an American–British musician, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist. He is the son of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, and half-brother to Julian Lennon. Over the course of his career, he has been a member of the bands Cibo Matto, The ...

Filming locations

Filming took place across locations in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and the

Release

The film premiered at the

on 11 September 2004 and was theatrically released on 15 October 2004 by Pathé and

Icon Productions Icon Productions is a production company founded in August 1989 by actor/director Mel Gibson and Australian producing partner Bruce Davey, which, unlike most other independent production companies, funds most of its development and production cos ...

Home media

''Five Children and It'' was released only on DVD on 5 July 2005 by

Warner Home Video Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc. (formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the home video distribution division of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Vide ...

in North America.

Reception

Critical response

''Five Children and It'' received a rating of 63% on the film review aggregator website ''

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

'', based on eight critics' reviews. ''

Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

'' stated that it was "a refreshing family film and once you're on the wavelength, Izzard is a treat", giving the film 3 out of 5 stars. ''

Time Out London ''Time Out'' is a global magazine published by Time Out Group. ''Time Out'' started as a London-only publication in 1968 and has expanded its editorial recommendations to 328 cities in 58 countries worldwide. In 2012, the London edition becam ...

'' was less praising, stating that the cast "shuffle through their parts" and lamenting the special effects, but praising

Box office

''Five Children and It'' grossed £1,519,049 worldwide.

Awards and nominations

* BAFTA Awards 2005 Won Anthony Asquith Award for Best New British Composer (TV) - ''Jane Antonia Cornish'' *

Heartland Film Festival The Heartland International Film Festival is a film festival held each October in Indianapolis, Indiana. The festival was first held in 1992, its goal is to "inspire filmmaker Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion pictu ...

2005 Won Crystal Heart Award

Soundtrack

- Written by Patty S. Hill (as Patty Hill) and Mildred J. Hill (as Mildred Hill) *Robert's Theme - Written and Performed by

References

External links

* {{John Stephenson 2004 films 2004 directorial debut films 2000s fantasy comedy-drama films American children's fantasy films British children's fantasy films Children's comedy-drama films 2000s children's fantasy films Films based on British novels Puppet films Films set in 1914 Icon Productions films Scanbox Entertainment films The Jim Henson Company films American World War I films British World War I films French World War I films Films produced by Lisa Henson Films directed by John Stephenson (director) 2000s English-language films 2000s American films 2000s British films Pathé films