I’m sure I speak for a lot of parents when I say I was SO excited to see the first trailer for The BFG. As I’m sure is the case for many others I was not only excited about watching one of my favourite stories ever on the big screen, but also about sharing it with my children. This is the thing about Roald Dahl stories, they’re timeless. Just as I enjoyed them when I was a child, so does my daughter. In today’s generation of the iPad and countless forms of technology I sometimes feel like my childhood has no comparison with theirs. The one thing we do share is books, from Shirley Hughes’ Dogger, (one of my childhood favourites) to Matilda and The BFG they love them just as I did and I know that they already hold a special memory in my children’s hearts of snuggly bedtime stories and just those few minutes a day when we manage to grab some quiet time.
When my daughter Olivia (7) saw The BFG trailer she was already excited, we had never actually read the book and immediately she asked me if we could start reading it together. I’ll never forget her excitement when she opened the first page and Roald Dahl had written ‘For Olivia’ she was so excited! We giggled our way through the first few chapters and it wasn’t long before she was speeding ahead reading them on her own as she just couldn’t wait for bedtime to find out what happened. It’s the first full book she’s read by herself in such a short time and she couldn’t have picked a better one!
On Friday 22nd July we were so excited to make a special trip to Warwick Arts Centre to watch their premier screening of The BFG in their cinema. Some of you may have read a review I published a few months ago about a Paddington concert there which we took the children to, they loved it, as did we. For those of you who have never been to Warwick Arts Centre, it’s a must for families, the staff are so friendly and welcoming and there is a plethora of cafes and a little book shop to visit plus plenty of parking. The cinema screen seats are comfy and the cushions (not the hard plastic ones thankfully) that raise seats for the smaller children are easily available. The toilets are also situated inside the cinema itself so if needed you can make a swift quick exit with a small person you can do so without a mass exodus. We were treated to Frobscottle cocktails and scumdiddlyumptious popcorn for the screening and the children got to meet ‘The BFG’ himself. We were VERY excited!
The BFG movie was every bit as magical as I had hoped it would be. The story hasn’t been changed by Disney at all and it keeps all of the original books’ comedy, words and magical essence.
Young and older children will be able to enjoy the funny words the BFG makes up and his fantastic take on the English language and will empathise with Sophie the main character. I absolutely adored watching the movie on the big screen and I have no doubt you will too.
This certainly isn’t a ‘wait-till-it’s-on-dvd’ movie. It’s a must for the big screen so viewers can fully appreciate the incredible special effects from Spielberg and fully enjoy the whole experience.
The film itself was just magical, I know what you’re all wondering, because I thought them myself, two questions:
1. Is it scary? 2. Does it have ‘the song’ ? (those of you who watched the cartoon version as I did when we were little will know the ‘fizz pop’ song i’m talking about).
Firstly, I’m really glad Olivia had read the book before we went, it meant that she knew the story and what to expect so wasn’t frightened by the giants. Having said that I do think that most children around 5+ ish (I also think my 3 year old will be fine but he’s not easily worried) would be fine to watch the movie. Any ‘scary’ parts are only brief and there isn’t a frightening booming soundtrack to go along side it so I wouldn’t be too concerned. I would recommend either reading or telling them the story in brief and perhaps showing them the trailer before hand which you can watch below. I personally think that the trailer is scarier than the actual film is! The movie is classified as PG so take from that what you will but I’m saying go for it!
The song isn’t in the film but you can expect mass hilarity as the audience enjoys watching the effects of the downward bubbles of the frobscottle!
Grab your children and pretend you aren’t as excited as them! I’m off to catch some dreams myself 🙂
The BFG is just one of the family movies you can enjoy at Warwick Arts Centre this summer you can catch Finding Dory there too among lots of other greats. Check out their listings here on our What’s On Guide or visit their website to book.
