5 CHILDREN & IT -- John Stevenson, dir

©2004
production company: Sandfairy, Capitol Films, Endgame Entertainment, Jim Henson Productions
studio: Warner Home Video
dir: John Stevenson
cast: Tara Fitzgerald, Freddie Highmore, Alex Jennings, Jonathan Bailey, Jessica Claridge, Kenneth Branaugh, Eddie Izzard
screenplay: David Solomons
based on the novel by Edith Nesbit

'It' is a Psammead (voiced by Eddie Izzard), an ancient, ugly and irritable sand fairy the children find one day on a secret beach at their uncle's mansion. It grants them one wish per day, lasting until sunset. But they soon learn it is very hard to think of really sensible wishes, and each one gets them into unexpected difficulties. Magic, the children find, can be as awkward as it is enticing.

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I was so looking forward to this movie, and it really disappointed. It didn't hold true to the book as I thought it might, and it was really nothing more than a bunch of various kids' movie ideas lumped in to one, with a couple of ideas from Edith Nesbit's book thrown in.

Initially the CGI Psammead was great, but then I got to thinking it was a bastard cousin of the CGI Grinch from that dreadful movie. The wings on the children were poorly done, considering what era we are in and what people are able to do with special effects these days.

What the hell is that kid doing with a really bad mullet haircut in the 1914 era?!

Based on this movie, I didn't see the need to call it "5 Children and It" but rather "1 Child With Brothers and Sisters & It."

The movie itself is fine for kids, but it's definitely NOT a movie to see if you are looking for something as unique and original as Edith Nesbit's novel.