Ignore the giant and goblin-spattered packaging: within it lies a spiffing, old-school kids’ fantasy adventure that’s long on schoolyard challenges (bullies, best friends, parental battles) and short on Orc action. Wide-eyed Josh Hutcherson (Firehouse Dog) and Anna Sophia Robb (Charlie And The Chocolate Factory) give great, authentically moochy performances as pre-teen outsiders creating a made-up world, Terabithia, whose woodland monsters echo the back-of-the bus toughs who blight their lives.

Yes, there’s an inevitable loss of tension, because we know that the towering tree troll and homicidal hairy vultures only spring from their fertile brains. But the wildly imaginative CG stylings of Weta Digital (the digital dons behind The Lord Of The Rings and The Chronicles Of Narnia) create forest-floor fights that raise the requisite goosebumps. So much so that the movie’s only real disappointment is that we never get to enter the Gothic greenwoods of the Terabithian world – the magic kingdom is kept strictly in the margins of the movie.

Master animator Gabor Csupo (The Simpsons, Rugrats) adapted his tweenie drama from a famous US children’s book, so it’s no surprise to find the extras packed with luvvies and librarians raving about the novel’s unique qualities and the sacred task of bringing it to the screen. British parents won’t expect the film’s joltingly tragic twist, so save it for the hard-boiled over-sevens. But otherwise, this consummate charmer couldn’t be more wholesome if it was rolled in oatmeal and Omega 3.

DVD Extras:

Director's commentary
Cast commentary
Two featurettes
Cast/crew interviews
Creature gallery
Music video