The time bouncy castle cinemas were abandoned due to excessive coke and popcorn spillage

The line of children snaked through Brighton’s Preston Park.

Some played on their Gameboys, others with their Transformers, others just chattered excitedly about the new Indiana Jones film they were so looking forward to.

They reached the box-office and handed over their pocket money and rushed through to the giant bouncy castle in the centre of the field and began bouncing.

The giant screen on one side of the bouncy castle came to life and, as they bounced, the children cooed with excitement at the new Batman trailer.

Finally, the familiar sound of John Williams’ iconic Raiders March began and the children fell silent, other than the creaking of the bouncy castle, and quietly bounced their way through Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

The film ended and the children left the bouncy castle, vomited into a bin, and made their way home, happy that they’d had the best afternoon imaginable.

“1988 to 1991, those were the boom years for bouncy castle cinemas,” said Screen Idle proprietor and legitimate film historian Neil Tollfree.

“They were everywhere. When people talked about going to the cinema, they no longer meant the ABC down on the high Street, they meant the bouncy castle cinema in the park.

“Everyone, from old people inexplicably going to see Driving Miss Daisy, to teenagers going to snog their way through the latest Michael J Fox extravaganza, watched the movies whilst they bounced up and down.”

However, whilst hugely popular, the bouncy castle cinema had one practical problem.

“No one wants to watch a movie without coke and popcorn,” said Tollfree.

“And eating popcorn and drinking coke whilst bouncing on a bouncy castle?”

“Not easy.”

The cost of cleaning the bouncy castle cinema alone could run into the thousands of dollars per week, but they were still able to turn a profit until the famous case in Ohio of Burns vs Cinebounce.

“It was a huge case,” explained Tollfree.

“This well-to-do lady had split coke and popcorn all over some expensive trousers whilst bouncing up and down watching Thelma and Louise.

“She took Cinebounce to court and the judge ruled in her favour, meaning that bouncy castle cinemas companies were not only liable for keeping the bouncy castles clean, but the patrons as well.”

It became prohibitively expensive run bouncy castle cinemas.

However, rather than go out of business altogether, the bouncy castle cinema companies hit upon an ingenious idea.

“Well, they realised that if they took the bouncy castle out of the bouncy castle cinema then there would be a dramatic drop in instances of coke and popcorn spillage.”

So Cinebounce changed its name to Cineworld, opened a series of bouncy castle cinemas without the bouncy castle, which they called ‘cinemas,’ and became a huge success.

“Yeah, it was a very clever move,” said Tollfree, “and it worked, so we still get to see movies on the big screen.

“But, I don’t know. For people my generation, the real way to experience classic films like Terminator 2, Born on the Fourth of July, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: Secret of the Ooze, will be whilst bouncing up and down on a brightly coloured castle in the park.”