As their long summer holiday draws to an end, tomorrow's Children's Cinema Day comes as an ideal pre-school treat with 18 films to choose from, all entirely different from one another guaranteeing the realms of fantasy will come to life for both child and accompanying adult.
With so many films to choose from, undoubtedly the latest adaptation of Jules Verne's classic fantasy novel Journey To The Centre Of The Earth will be a firm favourite. Starring Brendan Fraser, the film shifts the Victorian premise to our contemporary period, where a scientist and his companions travel to to the ends of the earth and discover a new world. Journey To The Centre Of The Earth and The Chronicles Of Narnia - Prince Caspian are likely to entice young filmgoers into reading the books they are based on and then deciding for themselves which adaptation they prefer.
The French film Le Renard Et l'Enfant - The Fox And The Child - is narrated by Kate Winslet and tells the story of a little girl who befriends a fox in a forest. The friendship that develops between child and animal is likely to teach the children watching the film a lot about nature and how we must preserve the environment we live in.
If young children are taken over by Kung Fu Panda, they will surely go bananas for Space Chimps, the latest computer-animated comedy that sees funny-looking apes blasting off into space in a bid to save the planet from an evil earthling played by Jeff Daniels.
If sending chimps to space is not enough, the wonderful world of Hollywood is sending robots to space in WALL-E, the tale about a waste collecting robot who, unknown to him, ends up saving mankind.
The twist in the tale is found in Meet Dave, when miniature aliens, which look very human, end up on earth manouvering Dave, a human-looking robot who just happens to resemble a quirky looking Eddie Murphy.
Talking of space, the force continues to live strong in George Lucas' latest Star Wars animated incarnation that takes place between Star Wars II and Star Wars III and we follow the adventures of Obi Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker as they battle the dark side with listless courage.
For those children who fancy adventure there are two films they should not miss: Indiana Jones And Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull and its distant cousin The Mummy - Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor.
Superheroes will also go head to head with the Dark Knight, Iron Man, that green marvel of a giant The Incredible Hulk and his rival, the red towering giant in Hellboy 2 - The Golden Army. Not to mention Hancock, starring Will Smith whose misunderstood hero goes through a makeover.
A good sing-a-long is Mamma Mia, the film adaptation of the West End musical about a young girl who is in search of her father. It is full of Abba songs.
Animators and face painting will be in attendance.
The shows start at 9 a.m. and run till 7 p.m. at the Eden Cinemas, St Julians; the Empire Cinema Complex, the Embassy Cinemas, Valletta and the Citadel Theatre, Victoria.
Tickets sell at €2.50 for children and €3.50 for accompanying adults.