Five Children and It is a 2004
adventure fantasy comedy-drama family film adaptation of the
book of the same name, 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,
Zoë 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. The film was co-produced by Sandfairy, Capitol Films, Feel Films, Isle of Man Film Commission, Isle of Man Film, Jim Henson Productions,
The Jim Henson Company, Davis Films,
UK Film Council and
Endgame Entertainment. The film premiered at the
Toronto International Film Festival on September 11, 2004 and was theatrically released on October 15, 2004 by
Pathé and
Icon Productions. The digital puppetry and CGI animation for Psammead was created by
Jim Henson's Creature Shop.
Five Children and It received mixed reviews from critics and it grossed £1,519,049 worldwide.
Five Children and It was released on DVD on July 5, 2005 by
Warner Home Video.