On Movies from Books

I rented two movies from books I've recently read with the kids:
The Witches

and
Pippi Longstocking.

I think I've scarred my son for life now. I forgot how scary Angelica Houston was in The Witches... The special effects, done by Jim Henson's studios, were fantastic. A mix of puppetry and live animal use that is unbelievable for the time the movie was made. The actual witches in it were VERY scary (especially to the younger crowd.) The smashing of the mice (witches transformed into mice) was a bit over the top and gross. I totally regret not re-watching it before I showed it to them!

On a good note, my oldest son said he felt better after watching- he had not been happy with the ending of the book (where the boy stays a mouse and realizes he will die probably when his old grandma does.) The movie made one witch remain and be a "good" witch who helped transform the boys from mice to boys again. ARGH. Can't win for losing on that one.
Now, Pippi Longstocking on the other hand is a childhood classic (at least for me.)
It is one of those dumb movies with horrible acting but quirky action scenes and funny songs that you hate but love to watch. (Does that make ANY sense?) My brother and I loved this movie as kids for some reason, and now my kids are hooked too. We might have to buy it!