Ever since Shakespeare the humor, enchantment, and (yes) danger of the Faerie world has made for timeless and enthralling stories; and this is an original one indeed. Farm children are drawn into the realm of faerie and then are forced to reside there until they perform three deeds. The land of faerie is itself imperiled by rogues and pretenders to the faerie throne. Nothing sweet and cloying about this; adventure and danger is always there, though hidden from view. Even the end suggests that the rebel faeries may attempt to steal the farmer's newborn if vigilance is not maintained. Still the film is not so frightening that a younger children would have bad dreams.
Some viewers complain that the animation is not eye-numbing CGI. Thank goodness, this is a gentler slow-moving animation which gives the feeling of the hand-drawn work of Disney during "The Sword in the Stone" period. The voice-over work is incredible as performed by Kate Winslet, Jeremy Irons and Dougray Scott.
I had forgotten about this gem, until my 13 year-old was reminiscing about great films of her recent childhood. Thank goodness I found it at Amazon UK. Even having to watch it on my comuter, it was a joy to view once more.