Image courtesy of Disney+
Lenfest Kids: April 2021 Programming
This April Lenfest Kids celebrates the return of spring, focusing our year’s theme of recovery on the restoration of the natural world in all its beauty and color. Our live-action film is the 2020 adaptation of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s 1911 novel The Secret Garden, in which an orphan girl finds solace in a magical garden. Our animated film, Wolfwalkers (2020), tells the story of a mysterious tribe of people who help wolves protect their forest against the townspeople who are cutting it down. And our classic is the Disney short Flowers and Trees (1932), famous as the first commercial film to use the three-strip Technicolor process.
Image courtesy of Variety
The Secret Garden
Dir. Marc Munden, 2020
United States | PG | ages 8+
When Mary Lennox's parents die suddenly, she is sent to live with her uncle, Archibald Craven, on his remote country estate deep in the Yorkshire moors. While exploring, she discovers a hidden magical garden.
Hulu | Prime Video | iTunes
Image courtesy of The Wall Street Journal
Wolfwalkers
Dir. Tom Moore and Ross Stewart, 2020
Ireland; United Kingdom; France | PG | ages 8+
In a time of superstition and magic, when wolves are seen as demonic and nature an evil to be tamed, a young apprentice hunter, Robyn, comes to Ireland with her father to wipe out the last pack. But when Robyn saves a wild native girl, Mebh, their friendship leads her to discover the world of the Wolfwalkers and transform her into the very thing her father is tasked to destroy.
Apple TV
Image courtesy of Disney+
Flowers and Trees
Dir. Burt Gillett, 1932
United States | Not Rated
It's spring, and the flowers, mushrooms, and trees do their calisthenics. Some trees play a tune, using vines for harp strings and a chorus of robins. A jealous stump threatens two trees that are in love by starting a forest fire. When the rain comes and puts out the fire, the forest revives and celebrates the wedding.
Get Creative Project
For this month’s Get Creative project, we encourage you to try making your own paintings with primary colors, using ice paint. The film, Flowers and Trees, is famous as the first commercial film to use the three-strip Technicolor process.
This is what you will need:
1 cup of water
Red, yellow, and blue food coloring
Short Popsicle sticks
Ice cube tray
1. Add water to an ice tray.
2. Add just a tiny drop of red food coloring, yellow food coloring, and blue food coloring to four each different cubes and mix well.
3. Place a short popsicle stick into each ice cube mold and freeze until solid.
4. Pull on the sticks to remove from the tray.
5. Lay old newspaper down on the table before you paint, as food coloring will stain.
6. Hold the wooden sticks to paint.
The ice paint will run smoothly over paper, and will appear similar to water colors. Be careful not to mistake the colorful cubes for popsicles!
Fun fact: Produced by the small Irish animation company Cartoon Saloon, Wolfwalkers has been nominated for an Oscar as this year's best animated film. Other films in contention are Pixar's Soul and Onward, Over the Moon, and Farmageddon: A Shaun the Sheep Movie. Which is your favorite? The winner will be announced at the Oscars ceremony on April 25.
Please note: We provide MPAA ratings and suggested age range ratings from Common Sense Media for your guidance, but as always, parental discretion is advised.