Upstream: Five films to entertain the kids in the school holidays

THE school holidays start this weekend, and there are options aplenty on the streaming platforms to keep the kids entertained. Here are five of the finest you can go with right away.

PSSST! The school holidays start this weekend, and there are options aplenty on the streaming platforms to keep the kids entertained. Here are five of the finest you can go with right away.

BEAUTY & THE BEAST (1991)

Foxtel Now

*****

Disney “bet the farm” on an ancient French bedtime tale of the enduring love between the maiden and the mutant. The end result both saved and revitalised the studio’s animation division: a sublime combination of masterful storytelling and magnificent musical interludes (overseen by legendary screen composer Alan Menken). The 2017 live-action version can also be found on Foxtel Now.

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Gene Wilder stars in the semi-psychedelic ’70s take on Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY (1971)

Google, iTunes

****1/2

Forget the ropey Tim Burton remake from last decade. This semi-psychedelic ’70s take on the incomparable novel by Roald Dahl stands as the definitive version. The casting of Gene Wilder in the title role is the key: there is a crazed, yet knowing, glint in his eye that suggests the world of corporate confectionery is more sillier and sinister than we will ever know.

Director Wes Anderson’s animated gem The Fantastic Mr Fox.

FANTASTIC MR FOX (2009)

Foxtel Now, Netflix

****

A very clever stop-motion animation adaptation of the popular children’s story by the great Roald Dahl. The title character (voiced by George Clooney) is a reluctantly retired poultry thief just itching to return to his old ways. Though sharper and nervier than Dahl’s original tale, the striking old-school look of the film keeps the wilder impulses of director Wes Anderson (Isle of Dogs) in check. A real gem.

Grace Moretz and Asa Butterfield in Hugo, from the great Martin Scorsese.

HUGO (2011)

Amazon

****1/2

A late-career burst of brilliance from the great Martin Scorsese, an unlikely contender for the family demographic. A basic plot follows a young orphan boy hiding out at a Paris train station in the 1930s, tending to the maintenance of the platform clocks. However, it is when Scorsese moves to celebrate the early magic of silent cinema with some inspired flashback sequences that his film really hits a glorious stride.

Other Mother (voiced by Teri Hatcher) and Coraline (voiced by Dakota Fanning) in Coraline.

CORALINE (2009)

Foxtel Now, Netflix

****

A little girl. A lot of ghouls. A parallel world too good to be true. Yikes. This captivating stop-motion animation fantasy from the mind of author Neil Gaiman combines the endearing and the unsettling to delirious effect. The surreal flourishes lavished upon Coraline’s tentative travels into a life she’s always wished for command the senses with great guile and imagination.