Five Children and It is a 2004 family fantasy-comedy-drama adventure film adaptation of E. Nesbit's 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 David Solomons, and stars Tara FitzGerald, Freddie Highmore, Jonathan Bailey, Zoë Wanamaker, Kenneth Branagh, and Eddie Izzard as the voice of It-Psammead.

Plot

In the summer of 1917, the Butterworth children (11-year-old Robert, 14-year-old Cyril, 10-year-old Jane, 12-year-old Anthea and 2-year-old 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.