Your movie-watching habits change when there are young children in your life.

If not for the 5-year-old twins, Wolf and Annabelle, I likely never would have seen the 2018 adaptation of Peter Rabbit. And it would have been my loss, because the movie -- which artfully blends live action with animation -- is fantastic.

The screenplay is loosely based on the classic Beatrix Potter yarn. But in this version, Old McGregor (a bewhiskered Sam Neill) dies of a heart attack just as he gets the impish, blue-coated bunny in his grasp. And, while Peter (voiced by James Corden), his siblings (Margot Robbie, Elizabeth Debicki and Daisy Ridley) and friends in the animal world rejoice that McGregor's amazing garden is now open for grazing (and his home is available for parties), their story isn't over.

Thomas McGregor (Domhnall Gleeson) has lost his job at Harrod's, so he travels to the estate he's inherited from a great uncle he didn't know he had to fix it up, sell it and open a store to drive Harrod's out of business. But once there he becomes enamored -- first, admittedly, of his attractive neighbor Bea (Rose Byrne), but eventually of the bucolic lifestyle he cultivates there.

But Peter, who lost his father to Old McGregor years before, isn't open to the idea of peace between them. This sets up a merry war as Rabbit and McGregor do their best to trap, drive out or kill the other, all without Bea (who's fond of them both) noticing.

The battle ranges from electrifying to explosive, with a few well-placed rakes in the mix. It's a little confusing at times -- Why, for instance, do the rabbits only talk in front of Young McGregor, rather than opening up to their friend and ally Bea? -- but it's a lot of fun for kids and adults alike.

The animated woodland creatures are phenomenally well done, interacting with their human co-stars more smoothly even than Roger Rabbit did a few decades ago. (Roger's work was groundbreaking, but CGI has advanced a lot since then ... and, while Roger always looked like a cartoon in the real world, these rabbits look completely real. If, um, rabbits wore little jackets.

Anyway, this movie is cute, funny, memorable. I've already watched it with the kids twice, and I'm fairly sure I'll be watching it again, soon, and often.