At her wedding with a Merryweather, her father, a de Noir, presented the couple with a black lion, while the groom gifted his bride a unicorn.

Forced to leave her London home, Maria and her governess, Miss Heliotrope, go to stay at Moonacre Manor with her estranged uncle Sir Benjamin Merryweather.

After riding with her uncle, Maria hears a distressed cry and sneaks into the forest, where she is surrounded by bandits, including a boy named Robin de Noir.

Finding the key in the book's bookmark, Maria sneaks into the fortress, but is spotted by Robin's father Coeur de Noir.

The Merryweathers and de Noirs are united, the curse is lifted, Moonacre Valley restored, and Maria and Robin are in love.

An internet poll was run, giving fans of the book a chance to vote for their preferred title: The Moon Princess or The Secret of Moonacre.

[9] The soundtrack includes the song "Stars", co-written by Henson and Caroline Lost, and performed by singer Skye Edwards.

The website's critical consensus reads, "Despite impressive production values, this is staid, plodding and unimpressive fantasy-fare, with poor performances struggling with an underdeveloped script.

"[15] Rating the film one out of five stars, The Independent's Anthony Quinn wrote that it had a "sluggish narrative" and accused it of "trying to hitch a lift on the Potter gravy train.

"[16] Simon Reynolds of Digital Spy wrote that the film was "let down by a script with tin-eared dialogue" and "laboured direction", but found the cast's "hilarious acting misjudgements" enjoyable nonetheless.

[19] Helen O'Hara of Empire rated the film three stars out of five, and wrote that it gave the "somewhat sedate book"'s story "a dose of action and adventure, giving it appeal for the Harry Potter generation".

[21] Newshub's Kim Choe praised the film's "lush colours and elaborate costumes" and wrote that "the larger-than-life characters should be lovable and adventurous enough to keep a young audience entertained".

The production design is both a blessing and a curse; it does add much-needed elements of magic and whimsy to the story, it's just that no one seems quite sure how to act within this strange environment.