For the past year, patients at the Hospital for Sick Children have been able to forget their health woes with a dose of Hollywood magic right on hospital grounds.

The hospital's in-house movie theatre celebrated its first anniversary last week with a special ceremony to recognize two of the project's first and most supportive donors, John and Myrna Daniels.

The theatre was the brainchild of local resident Barry Avrich, who came upon the idea when he saw a youngster fumbling with a DVD player while staying in the hospital.

"I thought then, 'Kids should have a way to escape their hospital rooms'," Avrich said. "Movies are a great piece of magic and escapism. Many people think a hospital room is (defined by) its four walls, but movies are a way to break free from those four walls."

Avrich approached the Hospital for Sick Children with the idea of building a theatre in the hospital's decrepit old auditorium, placing but one stipulation on his plan.

"I said I'll raise the money and find the people to do the work if you'll give me a very fast yes," he said. "I pitched it in July of 2006 and it got the OK in August."

The $2 million theatre seats 232 and plays first-run Hollywood movies, often just days after the movies have been released in commercial theatres.

The venue offers hospital patients, their friends and family members a respite from the usual hospital surroundings. By losing themselves in movies, patients are able to take their minds off their health issues and feel more like any other child. For patients unable to sit in the theatre, the movies are also available in 120 hospital rooms and several patient waiting areas.

"It seems like a very simple thing but it's actually very dramatic the difference it makes," said SickKids Foundation spokesperson Michael O'Mahoney. "Many of the kids here don't get a chance to leave the hospital for months. For them to go to a theatre, it's the same as if they got onto a plane and flew 5,000 miles for a vacation."

By allowing the children to distance themselves from the typical hospital experience, and by allowing them to take part in a piece of the outside world, the theatre has a profound impact on the children.

"It reminds them that there's something beyond SickKids out there waiting for them," O'Mahoney said. "The kids just keep fighting."

Madison Scott, a 12-year-old who has been receiving treatments at the hospital since being diagnosed with leukemia in October, said the theatre is the perfect tonic for youngsters whose otherwise normal lives have been interrupted by illness.

"It's just amazing for kids," she said. "It makes (patients) feel more like normal kids because it's a way to see movies when some kids are too sick to go to the movies."

The theatre was renamed the John and Myrna Daniels Hollywood Theatre on Friday, June 27 at the first anniversary celebration, when the donors made an additional $300,000 donation to help maintain and upgrade the space. Hospital patients and their friends joined the celebration, where they enjoyed cake and a screening of the hit movie Kung Fu Panda.