2004 film by John Stephenson
Five Children and It
is a 2004 family
fantasy
-
comedy-drama
adventure
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
and
Samuel Hadida
, written by
E. Nesbit
and David Solomons with music by Jane Antonia Cornish and starring
Tara FitzGerald
,
Freddie Highmore
,
Alex Jennings
,
Jonathan Bailey
, Jessica Claridge, Poppy Rogers, Alec Muggleton, Zak Muggleton,
Zoe Wanamaker
,
Kenneth Branagh
, Alexander Pownall, Robert Tygner,
Eddie Izzard
as the voice of It-Psammead, Georgio Serafini,
John Sessions
, Kim Fenton,
Norman Wisdom
and
Duncan Preston
and Zak.
[1]
The film premiered at the
Toronto International Film Festival
on 11 September 2004 and was theatrically released on 15 October 2004. The
digital puppetry
and CGI animation for Psammead was created by
Jim Henson's Creature Shop
.
Five Children and It
grossed £1,519,049 worldwide. The film was released on DVD on 5 July 2005.
Plot
[
edit
]
In the summer of 1917, the Butterworth children (Robert, Cyril, Jane, Anthea and The Lamb), whose father has gone to fight in
World War I
, are evacuated from London to stay with their eccentric Uncle Albert, 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
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 German zeppelins, 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 faints, 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
[
edit
]
Production
[
edit
]
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
E. Nesbit
. David Solomons wrote the script for the film. Nick Hirschkorn,
Lisa Henson
and
Samuel Hadida
produced the film for release in 2004. On 5 June, it was announced that
Tara FitzGerald
,
Freddie Highmore
,
Alex Jennings
,
Jonathan Bailey
, Jessica Claridge, Poppy Rogers, Alec Muggleton, Zak Muggleton,
Zoe Wanamaker
,
Kenneth Branagh
, Alexander Pownall, Georgio Serafini,
John Sessions
, Kim Fenton,
Norman Wisdom
and
Duncan Preston
joined the film.
[2]
Eddie Izzard
joined the cast on 8 July to voice It-Psammead.
[3]
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
.
Music
[
edit
]
On 15 July, it was announced that
Jane Antonia Cornish
would compose the music for the film. The film's soundtrack also contains “
Happy Birthday to You
” 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
.
Filming locations
[
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]
Filming took place across locations in
England
[4]
and the
Isle of Man
.
[5]
Release
[
edit
]
The film premiered at the
Toronto International Film Festival
on 11 September 2004 and was theatrically released on 15 October 2004 by
Pathe
and
Icon Productions
.
Home media
[
edit
]
Five Children and It
was released only on DVD on 5 July 2005 by
Warner Home Video
in North America.
Reception
[
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]
Critical response
[
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]
Five Children and It
received a rating of 63% on the film review aggregator website
Rotten Tomatoes
, based on eight critics' reviews.
[6]
Empire
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.
[7]
Time Out London
was less praising, stating that the cast "shuffle[d]" through their parts" and lamenting the special effects, but praising
Eddie Izzard
.
[8]
Box office
[
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]
Five Children and It
grossed £1,519,049 worldwide.
Awards and nominations
[
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]
Won
Anthony Asquith Award for Best New British Composer (TV) -
Jane Antonia Cornish
Won
Crystal Heart Award
Soundtrack
[
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]
References
[
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]
External links
[
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]
|
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Henson family
| |
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Major works
| | Theatrical
films
| |
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TV series
| |
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TV specials
| |
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Other
projects
|
- Time Piece
(1965, short film)
- The Cube
(1969, teleplay)
- Gulliver's Travels
(1996, miniseries)
- Jack and the Beanstalk: The Real Story
(2001, miniseries)
- Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars
(2004, miniseries)
- The Sam Plenty Cavalcade of Action Show Plus Singing!
(2008, web series)
- Unstable Fables
(2008,
DTV
film)
- Tale of Sand
- Oscar's Hotel for Fantastical Creatures
(2015, web series)
- Turkey Hollow
(2015, TV film)
- Pinocchio
(2022,
Netflix
film)
- The Portable Door
(2023,
Stan
film)
- Jim Henson Idea Man
(2024,
Disney+
documentary)
|
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Henson
Alternative
| |
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Divisions
| |
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Related
| |
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Psammead trilogy
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Other well-known works
| |
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Adaptations
| |
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Novels
| |
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Film and Television Adaptations
| |
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Literary Continuations
| |
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