The BFG
USA/2016/117mins/PG
Dir: Steven Spielberg With: Rebecca Hall, Bill Hader, Mark Rylance
A girl named Sophie has an encounter with a giant who collects dreams. Despite his scary appearance he is a kind hearted soul who refuses to eat little children like some of his people. Sophie is whisked away to the Big Friendly Giant’s land to help him stand up to the Giant Fleshlumpeater and bring peace between the two lands.
Distributor: Entertainment One.
Matilda
USA/1996/98mins/PG
Dir: Danny DeVito With: Mara Wilson, Pam Ferris, Danny DeVito
The grouchy no-hoper Wormwoods are parents to a very sweet girl, Matilda, who also happens to be a genius. Ignored at home and left to her own devices, she soon digests the entire contents of the local library before being sent to Crunchem Hall, a nightmarish school headed by the sadistic Miss Trunchbull. It’s here that her abilities come to the fore, her brain power and telekinetic powers attracting the attention of sweet and warm-natured rose amongst thorns Miss Honey.
Image courtesy of Sony / Park Circus. Distributor: Park Circus and Filmbank Media
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
USA/2005/115mins/PG
Dir: Tim Burton With: Johnny Depp, Freddie Highmore, David Kelly, Helena Bonham Carter
Reclusive and barking mad confectioner Willy Wonka has taken it into his head to allow five lucky children a peek at the inside of his world famous chocolate factory after decades of never allowing anyone near his palace of sticky enchantments. One of the chosen few is poor but generous Charlie Bucket, who only has enough money to buy one chocolate bar a year, on his birthday.
Image courtesy of Warner Bros. / Park Circus. Distributor: Park Circus and Filmbank Media
Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
USA/1971/100mins/U
Dir: Mel Stuart With: Gene Wilder, Jack Albertson, Peter Ostrum
The world is agog when Willy Wonka, for years a recluse in his factory, announces that five lucky people will be given a tour of the factory, shown all the secrets of his amazing candy and one will win a lifetime supply of chocolate. Nobody wants the prize more than young Charlie, but as his family is so poor that even one bar is a treat, his chances are unlikely in the extreme. But magic can happen as Charlie gets his chance, along with four other somewhat odious children.
Image courtesy of Warner Bros. / Park Circus. Distributor: Park Circus and Filmbank Media.
James and the Giant Peach
UK/1996/89mins/U
Dir: Henry Selick Voices: Paul Terry, Joanna Lumley, Richard Dreyfuss
James’ happy life at the English seaside is abruptly ended when his parents are killed by a rogue rhinoceros and he goes to live with his two horrid aunts. Daringly saving the life of a spider he comes into possession of magic boiled crocodile tongues, after which an enormous peach starts growing in the garden. Venturing inside he meets not only the spider but a number of new friends including a lovely ladybird and sarcastic centipede who help him with his plan to try to get to New York City. A fond and fruitful tribute to the cranky genius of Dahl.
Distributor: Fox and Filmbank Media, DCP available from Pathé.
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
UK/1968/144mins/U
Dir. Ken Hughes With Dick Van Dyke, Sally Ann Howes, Lionel Jeffries
A down-on-his-luck inventor turns a broken-down Grand Prix car into a fancy vehicle for his children, and then they go off on a magical fantasty adventure to save their grandfather in a far-off land.
Distributor: Park Circus and Filmbank Media
The Witches
US/1990/91mins/PG
Dir: Nicolas Roeg
After his parents die in a car crash, Luke travels with his eccentric grandmother to a stark Cornish hotel. Also checking in is the annual ladies meeting of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. Luke overhears a meeting only to discover they are actually a convocation of ghastly witches hell bent on turning every child in Britain into a mouse. With a deliciously wicked performance from Anjelica Huston and imaginative puppetry by Jim Henson’s creature shop, Roeg’s dark and witty retelling puts disturbing flesh on Dahl’s fancies like few other adaptation.
Distributor: Park Circus and Filmbank Media. Cinemas must contact Park Circus for rights to DCP for screenings from August 2016 onwards (date TBC). Screenings on DVD will only be granted by Filmbank for non-theatrical venues.
Fantastic Mr Fox
US/2009/97mins/PG
Dir: Wes Anderson Voices: George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Bill Murray
Wily and audacious Mr. Fox loses his tail to the loathsome trio of exploitative farmers, Boggis, Bunce and Bean, one fat, one short, one lean. Mr. Fox is no saint himself, having been a flourishing chicken thief until times grew risky, a secret kept from upright Mrs. Fox. Facing subterranean incarceration, he mobilises his fellow creatures under siege to rise up against the brutish farmers. Wes Anderson’s retelling visualises Dahl’s classic tale with wicked panache and psychedelic dazzle through idiosyncratic stop-animation and set design.
Distributor: Fox and Filmbank Media, DCP available from Pathé.
Tales of the Unexpected
UK/1979-1988/25mins/12
A selection of episodes from the classic macabre British television series, often told with sinister and wryly comedic undertones, based on the short stories by Roald Dahl. Episodes to be select through an audience vote.
Distributor: Park Circus. Only non-theatrical bookings taken, no admission to be charged.
The Night Digger
UK/1971/110mins/adv18
Dir: Alastair Reid With: Patricia Neal, Pamela Brown, Nicholas Clay
The dreary existence of middle-aged spinster Maura takes an unexpected turn with the arrival of young handyman Billy Jarvis, but there is more to Billy than meets the eye. Finding herself fascinated by his nocturnal forays, she learns to her horror why he spends so much time outdoors at night. An eerie Bernard Herrmann score ups the tension as Patricia Neal, then Dahl’s wife, provides sexual tension and a certain Gothic flavour.
Distributor: Hollywood Classics. This film must only show on a screen 4m diagonal or smaller.
36 Hours
USA/1965/115mins/adv12A
Dir: George Seaton With: James Garner, Eva Marie Saint, Rod Taylor
Just days prior to the launch of D-Day, the Nazis kidnap Major Jefferson Pike in Lisbon and transport him to Germany. They establish an elaborate ruse to convince him that it is actually 1950 and that the war is long over, telling him that he’s suffering from periodic memory loss in order to gain access to plans for the Normandy invasion. Once he realizes what is happening, he not only has to convince them that he was lying the first time round but also find a way to escape. A taut and suspenseful thriller based on Dahl’s 1944 short story “Beware of the Dog”.
Distributor: Hollywood Classics. This film must only show on a screen 4m diagonal or smaller.
Gremlins
USA/1984/106mins/15
Dir: Joe Dante With: Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, Hoyt Axton
Seeking a unique gift for his son, an erstwhile inventor purchases a cute, fuzzy little Mogwai from a Chinatown shopkeeper’s grandson, warning him to never let it get wet, exposed to sunlight or feed it after midnight. Naturally, things don’t go to plan and the loveable critter mutates, unleashing an army of devilish monsters and panic in the streets. Loosely inspired by the creatures from Dahl’s story “The Gremlins”, this is an homage to B-movie monsters and both a Christmas and all year round classic.
Distributor: Park Circus and Filmbank Media.
Alfred Hitcock Presents
USA/1962-1965/25mins approx./NC
Registered trademark of The Alfred Hitchcock Trust
A selection of invariably surprising episodes written by Dahl for the classic anthology presented by master of suspense Alfred Hitchcock:
- Mrs Bixby and the Colonel’s Coat
USA/1960/25mins/NC
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock With: Audrey Meadows, Les Tremayne
A married woman receives a glamourous mink coat from a man with whom she had an affair. Hoping to sneak the coat into her home without arousing suspicions, she soon discovers her husband has plans of his own.
- The Landlady
USA/1961/25mins/NC
Dir: Paul Henreid With: Dean Stockwell
Young Billy Weaver takes refuge in a seemingly cosy B&B whilst travelling, greeted by a talkative landlady. Slightly perplexed by the lack of guests in the guest book and her fondness for taxidermy, he begins to realise the tea tastes a little suspicious.
- Lamb to the Slaughter
USA/1958/30mins/NC
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock With Barbara Bel Geddes, Harold J. Stone, Allan Lane
When Mary Maloney’s police chief husband is found murdered, the police investigate and have a hard time trying to find the murder weapon.
- A Dip in the Pool
USA/1958/26mins/NC
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock With Keenan Wynn, Fay Wray
William Botibol is a compulsive gambler. While on a cruise he enters a betting pool to guess the number of miles the ship will travel in the course of twenty four hours. He deduces he’ll win if the ship is delayed a little – if, for instance, it has to turn back to collect a man overboard
- The Man from the South
USA/1960/30mins/NC
Dir: Norman Lloyd With Steve McQueen, Peter Lorre
In a Las Vegas casino, an unpleasant little man hopes to use a young man’s wish to impress the young woman he has just met to pressure the young fellow into accepting a macabre bet.
6. Poison
USA/1958/26mins/NC
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock With Wendell Corey, James Donald
Harry Pope is lying in bed and discovers that there is a sleeping snake on his stomach.
Distributor: Universal.
Porco Rosso
Japan/1992/94mins/PG
Dir: Hayao Miyazaki Voices: Michael Keaton, Susan Egan
In early 1930s Italy air pirates, bounty hunters and high fliers of all sorts rule the skies. The most cunning and skilled of these is Porco Rosso, a former ace cursed to look like a pig after his squadron was mysteriously wiped out. Defeated in a dogfight he takes refuge in a hangar near Milan, preparing to battle his rival once and for all. This Studio Ghibli classic has parallels to Dahl’s short story “They Shall Not Grow Old”.
Distributor: Studio Canal
Four Rooms
USA/1995/138mins/18
Dir: Alisson Anders, Alexandre Rockwell, Robert Rodriguez, Quentin Tarantino With: Sammi Davis, Madonna, Antonio Banderas
It’s New Year’s Eve at a former grand old Hollywood hotel and things are awry. On his first night on the job, the bellhop is asked to help out a coven of witches, agrees to watch a gangster’s kids for him and referees a ghastly wager. Four interlocking tales in segments, in its entirety loosely based on many of Dahl’s adult short fiction writings.
Distributor: Park Circus and Filmbank Media.
You Only Live Twice
UK/1967/117mins/adv12A
Dir: Lewis Gilbert With: Sean Connery, Akiko Wakabayashi, Mie Hama
When an American space capsule is swallowed up by what they believe to be a Russian spaceship, suspicions mount and the world superpowers are hurled to the brink of war. The British government however suspect that other powers are at work. Bond must investigate the shady SPECTRE organisation with the aid of Japanese agent Kissy Suzuki in a race against the doomsday clock in this seminal 007 adventure with a screenplay by Dahl himself.
Distributor: Park Circus and Filmbank Media.
The Twilight Zone: Nightmare at 20,000 Feet
USA/1963/25mins/NC
Dir: Richard Donner With: William Shatner, Christine White
While travelling by airliner, Bob thinks he sees a gremlin on the wing. He tries to alert his wife and the flight crew to its presence but every time someone else looks out of the window, they see nothing. Growing desperate, he steals a sleeping police officer’s revolver and takes matters into his own hands. Loosely inspired by Dahl’s short story “The Gremlins”, this is a seminal Twilight Zone tale referenced in popular culture for the past 50 years.
CBS/Freemantle – no rights clearance on this title currently.
Merrie Melodies
USA/1943-1944/7mins approx./NC
A selection of classic Bugs Bunny cartoons largely inspired by Roald Dahl’s short story “The Gremlins”. Dahl is widely credited for making gremlins known worldwide, utilising eye witness testimonies of strange creatures tinkering with aircrafts in the air forces:
- Falling Hare
USA/1943/8mins/NC
Dir: Bob Clampett Voice: Mel Blanc
Bugs is reclining on a piece of ordnance next to a bomber plane, idly reading Victory Thru Hare Power and laughing at the book’s claim that gremlins wreck American planes through diabolical sabotage. He then spots a gremlin experimentally striking the unfused nose of a bomb that he’s sitting on.
- Russian Rhapsody
USA/1943/7mins/NC
Dir: Bob Clampett Voice: Mel Blanc
As Adolf Hitler personally flies a bomber on a mission to the Soviet Union, the gremlins from the Kremlin set about the stop him.
No rights clearance on these titles currently.
Esio Trot
UK/2015/88mins/PG
Dir: Dearblha Walsh With: Dustin Hoffman, Judi Dench, James Corden, Salo Gardner
Lonely bachelor Mr Hoppy lives in a London flat and has two loves in his life – his balcony garden and Mrs Silver, the widow in the flat below. Mrs Silver is too fond of her tortoise Alfie to respond. Noticing that she’s concerned about Alfie’s lack of growth, he hatches a plan to show how much he cares.
Distibutor: Endor Productions
