Five Children and It
Tags: fantasy

Plot synopsis:
The film begins with five children (Robert, Cyril, Jane, Anthea and The Lamb), that let their father go to the fight in World War I. That's in 1914, but the children are asked to stay at their uncle's house with his son, Horace. While exploring the house, Robert finds a locked door in the Greenhouse and brings the other children. They manage to open the door and discover a creature called It, a sand fairy. They wish to make the house tidy without having to do the work. When they come back, 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 and learn that wishes only last till sunset. The children blame It for the mess. They need money to fix all the broken items, so they wish for buckets of gold and go off to buy some items. Meanwhile, Horace becomes suspicious. The children aren't able to buy anything because the owners will not accept gold, believing it is fake. They purchase a car, having nothing else to do with the gold, and end up crashing it. Robert goes to It and wishes for wings so they can go off to France and find their father. While flying, they are almost killed, managing to escape in time. When sunset comes, they have no choice but to go home. They lose their wings and are about to fall into the sea but are blown back by It.
When the children's mother returns, the children learn that their father has gone missing. Robert falls asleep next to It on the beach. Horace follows Robert and captures It. The next morning, Robert confronts Horace but is unwilling to act, as Horace has his father's compass. Robert suggests Horace wish for something rather than dissect It, as he wanted to do. Horace wishes for his Dinosaur to hatch. The children arrive in time to see Horace's dinosaur standing high above 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.
The children go to Horace, 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.

Review: Enchanting children's fantasy with genuine escapism..
This was made as a six part serial for the BBC in 1991.
It was very successful and much of this is due to the quirky charm of the Psammead, a sand fairy.
The story is a faithful adaptation of E.Nesbit's classic novel and possesses all of the enchantment and magic of the original.
The children happen on an ancient and temperamental sand fairy, the Psammead, as they play in a gravel pit.
It finds itself compelled to grant three wishes a day which it does somewhat resentfully by inflating its wrinkly stomach, these moments alone are well worth the price of the video (the DVD fully remastered with extras is due for release in October 2004).
This is well worth a look..
Beautifully done childlike fantasy film.
This is a beautiful adaptation of an Edith Nesbitt book, very full of a beautiful childlike innocence and wonder.
The Sand Fairy(or Psammead) is one of the best creature puppets I have ever seen- its movements are amazingly lifelike and full of personality.
An excellent fantasy film- highly recommended..
It wasent all that bad to be honest.
I have vague recollections of this...and until the new film version came out I had all but forgotten it.It was a bbc children's program and the acting was not too bad.
( from the usual child actors that sometimes ( as is with most bbc serials)....you just wanted to slap for being so well spoken and polite)but the star was the sand fairy, the puppet was amazing and captured all his indignity and self pride.all in all i would say 8.5 /10psthe sight of the wee sand fairy as he granted wishes...........was a thing that NOBODY should miss seeing.
hard to explain but best way to describe it would be "a bad case of constipation".
Childhood favourite.
FIVE CHILDREN AND IT is another sterling example of Children's BBC back when they made decent, cultured fare for children.
This one's a six-part adaptation of the E.
Nesbit (THE RAILWAY CHILDREN) novel, featuring a quartet of kids who discover a mysterious Psammead (or 'Sand Fairy') living in the local sandpit who has the power to grant a wish a day.Okay, the quality of this production - not to mention the acting - isn't up with the likes of, say, THE BORROWERS, but it's still a lot of fun and I loved it as a kid.
The child cast are, shall we say enthusiastic, if not incredibly talented, but they come second to the excellent Psammead, whose combination of animatronics, voice acting, and mannerisms is unforgettable.
I particularly love the way he sings the lyrical song over the closing credits.Each of the six episodes offers a mixture of mini-adventures as the kids wish for something that inevitably goes wrong somehow.
The special effects are dated, but the budget extends to some fairly impressive milieus of circuses and medieval castles.
Some of the sub-plots are better than others, but there's plenty of wry humour which works well, and by the end you've fallen in love with both characters and Psammead.
A sequel, RETURN OF THE PSAMMEAD, followed, but avoid the 2004 Hollywood-ised film like the plague; it takes the original novel, shreds it, and throws in nonsense about dinosaurs and assorted nonsense..
Grant me one wish, don't watch this movie!.
This movie, about a little puppet fairy in a gravel pit grants four English kids three wishes.
The children make horrible wishes, and screw their lives up.
An extremely worthless movie, it's not worth your time, money, or attention.
Please, disregard this movie.