I’m also not a fan of Mary Poppins (#3), but never mind, I know a hopeless case when I see it.

Have I ever told you MARY POPPINS is the first film I can definitely remember seeing as a boy. And about how seeing it again for the first time after that 25 years later with my mom was a seminal experience as I could still remember all the songs.

Greydanus ... anathema sit!!!

UNCLE! UNCLE I SAY!

Sheesh.

This list is about what I’d expect from a bunch of people who listen to the radio and have never seen a movie. I wouldn’t make my family watch “E.T.” unless I really, really hated them. But then, my boys loved the original “Tron”, and “The Wizard of Oz” they could take or leave so maybe we have tastes which diverge from the norm. “The Sound of Music” belongs on there for sure, though.

Why were all of the Disney live-action movies from the ‘60s and ‘70s left off? No mention made for “Swiss Family Robinson”? No “Bedknobs and Broomsticks”?! None of the “Herbie” movies (okay, I admit that’s pushing it a bit)?!

My firm belief, though, is that if this list were made today, the “Toy Story” Triology would need to be counted as one movie, or else the entire list would be Pixar films.

Actually, I don’t think I’ve ever really LOVED family films. Even those that I do, it’s usually not for their familyfilmness, a quality I generally (rightly or wrongly) associate with insipidity. IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE, for example, has some extremely dark threads (handled in a 1946 movie of course, so it’s never inappropriate, but still ...) and it’s the ending that almost kills the film for me—it’s just shoveling on the Happy Redemption.

Even as a little boy, I hated movies/TV that struck me as stuff I was supposed to like because I was a kid and it was as wholesome as spinach. I thought THE SOUND OF MUSIC was ridiculously saccharin before I ever read Pauline Kael’s fist-pumping review (sorry Steve ... I know a hopeless case when I see it too). My favorite stuff was probably the Warner Brothers cartoons, with Bugs and Daffy, cartoons that had sass and verve and weren’t trying to teach you a lesson.

Sheeeesh ... finding out some awful thing about fellow papist film nerds. Now from Other Victor

“I wouldn’t make my family watch “E.T.” unless I really, really hated them.”

That was the first movie I think I ever cried at. And I was frickin 16 and cynical as heck when I saw it in theaters. That death scene ... [vjm goes off to burble somewhere in private so as not to damage his he-man image]

How about Breaking Away? I saw that one when I was younger, and it’s a great film.

Victor Morton Victor:
 

“Actually, I don’t think I’ve ever really LOVED family films. Even those that I do, it’s usually not for their familyfilmness, a quality I generally (rightly or wrongly) associate with insipidity. … Even as a little boy, I hated movies/TV that struck me as stuff I was supposed to like because I was a kid and it was as wholesome as spinach … My favorite stuff was probably the Warner Brothers cartoons, with Bugs and Daffy, cartoons that had sass and verve and weren’t trying to teach you a lesson.”

 
So, in essence, the two things you hated in family films were a spoonful of sugar and medicine going down?

Alright, I admit I was a weird kid, but I always loved Watership Down and the criminally near-forgotten The Mouse And His Child. Classic stuff if your kids can handle weightier material.

Watership Down: YES. Good call.
 
I don’t know The Mouse and His Child or Breaking Away. Anyone else?

I wonder if the reason they picked The Jungle Book is because Radio Times is a U.K. magazine—it could be that The Jungle Book has a greater appeal to a U.K. audience than other Disney movies. Rated on quality, though, it doesn’t even approach some other Disney movies of its era (Lady and the Tramp, for sure).

I would consider The Absent-Minded Professor, with Fred MacMurray, to be a good choice. The Iron Giant is an absolute classic and joy, but I would go with Ratatouille if forced to pick only one Brad Bird movie. Finally, I would hope that a family-friendly romance, like Singin’ in the Rain, Strictly Ballroom, or Ever After, could find a spot.

I’m not as deep a Shrek skeptic as you are, SDG, but I don’t think it belongs on this list. Even though I try to view every movie in its own light, the sequels helped to tarnish my view of that movie’s ending, which was the best thing going for it. (I sure hope the sequels to Kung Fu Panda don’t do the same!) I still love the musical score to Shrek with all my heart, though.

Finally: The Sound of Music would top my list. It is, for me, the definition of what a family movie should be.

Sleeping Beauty. It is one of the most beautiful animated movies, for story, the music, and the art itself. Truly beautiful, and would rank at the top for me, if I had to name one.

Stephen is showing his like for Japanese films which not all share.  My kids still laugh though at how ‘weird’ Ponyo was to them.  When I think of family films, I think of those films my kids ask for again and again.  Depending on their age it might be some of the Disney favorites but everyone loves a Pixar.  We have some odd movies we like but others dismiss.  “Secondhand Lions” comes to mind here - not for the under 8, perhaps but great for those older.  The same would be true of the Indiana Jones movies (except for the second and the last).  Family movies is a hard thing to pin as every family will be different.  However, I’ll agree wholeheartedly that E.T. would not (should not) be on any Top 10 list - way too much for most under 6-8 years old.  But, what do I know - I actually like Dick Van Dyke (the penguin scene from Mary Poppins still makes me and my kids smile)!

The new Horton Hears a Who.  Fantastic.

Also, if we are talking “family” films, The Godfather is a MUST on any list!

As for Disney:

Snow White
Peter Pan
Song of the South
Sleeping Beauty
Pinochio
101 Dalmatians

I also recall enjoying some of their non-animated films like Treasure Island, The Prince and the Pauper, Old Yeller and Hans Christian Anderson (I think they are Disney).

Star Wars
Sound of Music
The Music Man
Oklahoma!
Ben Hur
El Cid

Steve:

It’s the bucketful of saccharin that doesn’t help the spinach go down. #teammarypoppins

Speaking of which ...

Rachel: I hope your family doesn’t think Japanese films are weird. Were the kids watching PONYO in Japanese with subtitles (there is such a thing as too young for subtitles), or with the English soundtracks that I think at least most Ghibli films come with? It’s fine not to like PONYO (or MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO or PRINCESS MONONOKE, or even TOKYO STORY or RASHOMON), but Japanese films are no weirder than American films.

@teammarypoppins: Check. If we don’t like it, it’s “spinach”; otherwise it’s “medicine.” Spoon-to-bucket ratios will be calibrated accordingly.
 
@Rachel: Ponyo IS weird—and either you like weird or you don’t!—but I defy anyone to be immune to the charms of Kiki’s Delivery Service or My Neighbor Totoro on the basis of excessive weirdness. (If people find them neither weird nor charming, that’s something else ... but then I think THEY’RE weird. :-) )
 
Of the “Indiana Jones” movies, only the original Raiders belongs on ANY top 10 list in my book. Would you really consider it more kiddable than E.T.? Like you say, it all depends on the kid. When my son James was younger he could handle melting Nazi faces or lopped-off orc heads with far more aplomb than anything bad involving parents ... but in general I’d think most kids could handle E.T. before they were ready for Raiders.
 
Re. the penguin scene from Mary Poppins: It contains both one of the worst and one of the best moments from the film. :-)
 
The worst moment is the saccharin overload when the penguins fawningly tell Mary that her order is complimentary: “Anything for you, Mary Poppins ... you’re our favorite person.” Ack ack ack!!!
 
But then, thank goodness, Dick Van Dyke saves the day with a spritz of much-needed vinegar, much to Mary’s adorable annoyance: “It’s True That Mavis and Sybil have ways that are winning, and Prudence and Gwendolyn set your heart spinning! Phoebe’s delightful, Maude is disarming…” The more annoyed Mary gets with his cheeky nonsense, the better it is. :-)

#teammarypoppinsheretics said:

I don’t think I ever denied a difference between “spinach” and “medicine,” I don’t like either (unless it’s rum punch flavored).

And of course Mary Poppins the character is perfect, particularly in a fantasy sequence in which cartoon characters talk to her. The whole trajectory though is about ... well ... her leaving when the wind blows (i.e., perfection is chance) and the kids coming to accept that the practically-perfect-in-every-way nanny is no substitute for their kinda bumbling man who is nevertheless their father. Jane and Michael are at least recognizably-imperfect kids rather than that simpering Von Trapp brood.

AAAAGHHHH

“I don’t think I ever denied a difference” ... “I don’t think I ever stated a difference.”

#notpracticallyperfectineveryway

bt, thank you for mentioning Snow White, which, despite being criminally overlooked by SDG, is easily the greatest fairy-tale movie ever made and one that every child should see at least once or twice a year starting from the age of five. That it didn’t make the top ten list in this survey is a sad, sad comment on modern “family” audiences. The same, to a slightly lesser extent, goes for Pinocchio. Seeing Snow White appear on paper plates at kids’ birthday parties in company with the likes of Cinderella and Ariel makes me want to weep and gnash my teeth.

As regards El Cid and Oklahoma!, however, while I admire those films as much as anyone, I’m not sure they would be successful with young children, especially the former.
Choosing Toy Story 2 over Toy Story...I’m not sure that makes sense. Regardless of which one you consider superior to the other, TS2 relies on the characters and relationships established in the original film and couldn’t be appreciated without it.

 
You’re going to hate me for this, but I don’t think The Sound of Music deserves to be on the list. Julie Andrews is a really lovely woman and the score is magnificent, but the story is a mess of mendacious molasses. It waters down beyond recognition the Catholic faith that permeated the characters’ lives, and it maligns Captain von Trapp in a way that is just reprehensible. And tell the truth, what would your feelings be if the Austrians tried to make a sentimental movie about American patriotism?

As for other movies…I think A Boy Named Charlie Brown deserves to be at least considered. Anyone else seen that?

PachyD

“As for other movies…I think A Boy Named Charlie Brown deserves to be at least considered. Anyone else seen that?”

I forgot all about that one, but for emotional resonance I’d have to go with Snoopy Come Home. I saw that in the theater back in the day and the whole place was in tears.

@teammarypoppins:
 

“Jane and Michael are at least recognizably-imperfect kids rather than that simpering Von Trapp brood.”

 
Yeah, the Von Trapp kids are all barking set-up and no bite. They’re Impossible, Incorrigible, Driving All Nannies To Distraction ... until Maria responds sweetly to the pinecone incident, and then they’re instantly, weepingly 100 percent reformed. The instantaneous collapse of conflict on that front is one of the film’s (few!) weaknesses.
 
OTOH, calling the father in Mary Poppins “kinda bumbling” is like saying that the Von Trapp kids are rather sweet. And don’t even get me started on the socio-economic issues.

“bt, thank you for mentioning Snow White, which, despite being criminally overlooked by SDG, is easily the greatest fairy-tale movie ever made and one that every child should see at least once or twice a year starting from the age of five.”

 
Bah. I’ve said any number of times that Snow White, Fantasia, Pinocchio and Bambi are the four great early masterpieces by which all subsequent Disney films are judged (Dumbo being the one misfire from this period). I didn’t list all four in this particular blog post because I was being illustrative, not completist. The charge of criminal negligence is not only spurious but frivolous.

“You’re going to hate me for this, but I don’t think The Sound of Music deserves to be on the list.”

 
Why would I hate you for that? It wouldn’t appear on my top 10 either. I think it’s a defensible choice, though.
 

“Julie Andrews is a really lovely woman and the score is magnificent, but the story is a mess of mendacious molasses. It waters down beyond recognition the Catholic faith that permeated the characters’ lives, and it maligns Captain von Trapp in a way that is just reprehensible. And tell the truth, what would your feelings be if the Austrians tried to make a sentimental movie about American patriotism?.”

 
I’ll give you molasses, but mendacious? Appealing to the historical figures is an extra-critical issue; the movie works or not on its own terms. And why on earth would I mind anyone’s culture-bound representation of another culture? Smacks of multiculti correctness. Shall we throw away The Mikado? Or medieval art that tricks out biblical stories in medieval European fashion, architecture and landscapes?

“I didn’t list all four in this particular blog post because I was being illustrative, not completist. The charge of criminal negligence is not only spurious but frivolous.”

I wasn’t referring to this particular blog post, I was referring to the fact that, as far as I know, you’ve hardly ever given it more than a brief mention in the context of a list of Disney’s earliest films, whereas it deserves individual attention. Yes, this is unreasonable of me, and I’m sorry if I was rude. But the charge of frivolity is not only spurious but traducent.

“Appealing to the historical figures is an extra-critical issue; the movie works or not on its own terms.”

Go back and reread some of your own work; you know better than that. The defenders of The Last Temptation of Christ say exactly the same thing. If a filmmaker has any responsibility to religious sensibilities or beliefs, then, when adapting a true story that took place within living memory, many of whose principals are still alive, he also has a certain responsibility to truth and justice (and the American way - just kidding). If it is justified for you to complain that the image of Jesus passionately kissing a beautiful woman is wrong no matter what its context or purpose is, it is also justified for the Von Trapp children to complain - as at least some of them have - that the movie is unfair to their father in a way that would be found intolerable if contained in, say, a newspaper article.

“Shall we throw away The Mikado? Or medieval art that tricks out biblical stories in medieval European fashion, architecture and landscapes?”

False analogy. Neither The Mikado nor medieval art is a serious attempt to “represent” another culture. The Mikado does not have heartfelt scenes where characters reflect on what it means to be Japanese and what their consequent responsibilities are; nor does it contain gorgeous panoramic pictures of the Japanese landscape either in the movie version or, I imagine, any of the stage productions; nor does it achieve one of its emotional climaxes by a plausible imitation of a Japanese folk song. I would have no sympathy with a Japanese who found The Mikado offensive, but I see no reason to take that attitude to the majority of Austrians who hate The Sound of Music.

Titan A.E. is a good one and E.T. sorta freaked me out when I was a kid in the early 90s I couldn’t look at a doctor the same way after the death scene and since watching it without being emotionally traumatized by it now that i’m in my twenties the rainbow was a bit much for me to swallow…

I’d concur with the inclusion of the Miazaki movies and add in The Cat Returns (most little girls have a cat obsession at one point or another). :-D

The Hanna Barbera “Charlotte’s Web.”  Sweet, farm scenes.  Wonderful characters, the goose who stutters, Templeton the Rat who eats the smorgasbord at the Fair and gets 10 times his size, loveable Wilbur and sweet, sweet Charlotte.  Even Fern’s little boyfriend Henry Fussy is adorable. Classic!!!

Steve, you’ve never heard of BREAKING AWAY?? It’s usually considered one of the best sports films ever (right up there with HOOSIERS) and its script won an Oscar. Both were filmed in Indiana and both are excellent family fare.

THE MOUSE AND HIS CHILD is much, much more obscure. It may have played in theaters for all of a week and the VHS is almost unobtainable. But I saw it again on YOU-tube last year. The animation is crude but the unusual story stands up. Do look up the marvelous original book by Russell Hoban.

My, now college-aged, kids were also ‘freaked out’ by the ET ‘death’ scene so I’ve been hesitant to show it to my now middle-school kids.  I may rethink it.  Yes, the original Raiders is the best and, as I recall, my kids always took the ‘close your eyes’ command of Indiana Jones to heart and did not see the melting faces until they were much older - smart kids ;-)

Yes, it was Ponyo with subtitles, so we’ll give the your other recommendations a try and see if they (or maybe it is me) warm up to Japanese animation and plot development.

Pachy: Ah, if you mean to indict me for not having given Snow White the individual attention I agree it deserves, the list of equally valid charges against me may grow prohibitively long. Whether the charge is frivolous is a question I’m willing to leave to the court. The defense rests.
 
Last Temptation is not analogous to The Sound of Music. Fictionalizing/falsifying the lives of human persons so that they become fundamentally different persons in our interpretation is radically disparate to fictionalizing/falsifying the Word Incarnate so that He is a fundamentally different person in our interpretation. The public meaning of Jesus Christ is fixed by God; He is not available for human reinterpretation as a symbol for e.g. the human struggle of flesh and spirit, as the Jesus of Last Temptation has been described by (IIRC) Kazantzakis and his cinematic interpreters.
 
I completely sympathize with any Von Trapp children who object to the portrayal of their father. I also sympathize with any Austrians who object to the film’s non-Austrianness; for that matter, I sympathize with any Japanese who object to the non-Japanese-ness of The Mikado. That doesn’t mean that those of us who are not Austrian, Japanese or children of Captain von Trapp are obliged to share personally in the same objections. I can agree that as biography The Sound of Music is unfair to the historical Captain von Trapp, and still enjoy it for the work of fiction that it is.

What about The Red Balloon

Good piece, as usual, SDG.

I’m not sure if I would say the whole family would enjoy watching it, but the 1993 Animated Batman film was an important milestone in my youth, and I have no doubt both fathers and sons would enjoy it. Just sayin’. :-D

Oh, and pretty much every Pixar film is must-see for the family. There.

Seriously? No one else here likes “Bedknobs and Broomsticks”? I guess I have nothing to say to that other than “Traguna, Macoities, Tracorum Satis De” and you’d better hope you don’t have any medieval suits of armor hanging in your closet. That’s probably my favorite Disney movie.

victor: I also like Bedknobs and Broomsticks. It’s not my favorite Disney movie by a long way, but let’s not quibble over rankings. David Tomlinson and Angela Lansbury are both perfectly cast and it’s a real pleasure watching them interact. The English kids are wonderfully cute and appealing. (“A witch she is, says you, so let’s use the old loaf, says I” - some classic lines in there.) It shows good imagination with lighthearted (but not frivolous) execution that rarely missteps. The ending with the suits of armor and things routing the German invasion is great fun and quite thrilling in a nonserious way.

It’s possible (though I haven’t heard anything to this effect) that some English people object to it. But in this case, I’m with SDG: I won’t sweat it too much.

It’s an interesting question, Steve; I agree with a lot of your suggestions, but most especially with your gentle outrage about some of the titles included on the list in the first place. Anyway, let’s give it a shot.  Some of this will coalesce with other possibilities already presented, some of it won’t.  The list is in no particular order:

1. ‘Wall-E’ (2008) or ‘Up’ (2009) - At first I had only intended to say ‘Up’ and leave it at that.  It’s easily the best family-accessible film I’ve ever seen, and one of the very best films of recent years full stop.  The trouble, though, is that many of its finest features would likely be lost on the typical child.  The comedy and adventure and character designs are all easy to appreciate, but how many eight-year-olds could feel the full gravity of what it has to say about growing old, or about the dissolution of things?  Maybe some, but certainly not most.  ‘Wall-E’ combines much of what made ‘Up’ so great with an added touch of the mad-cap, a more accessible message for the very young, and a main character that should inspire immediate rather than hesitant delight.  Whatever else Carl Fredrickson may be, he is not immediately likable.
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2. ‘The Court Jester’ (1955) - A strange piece of work, but still one of the great farcical comedies of the mid-century.  Danny Kaye is at his clownish best, here, with excellent supporting work from Glynis Johns, Angela Lansbury and Basil Rathbone, and everything - the songs, the slapstick, the action pieces - works very well.  Good, solid fun.
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3. ‘The Prince of Egypt’ (1998) *and* ‘The Miracle Maker’ (2000) - It may be cheating to include two in one slot, but I can’t honestly choose between them, for one thing, and they make a pretty compelling double feature, for another.  As a sort of sanitized children’s primer to Salvation history, they could be far, far worse; as works of art in their own right, they set the standard rather than only rising to meet it.  Perhaps there is some material in them - such as the Plagues of Egypt - that might prove too intense for some younger viewers, but the merits soar so astoundingly high that it would easily be worth the necessary explanations.  On top of all that, the two are just breathtaking, visually, and in completely different (though oddly complementary) ways; the smooth, elaborate animation and the topographical vastness of ‘The Prince of Egypt’ give way to the more physical, more tangible, more intimate figure-work used to tell the Gospel story in ‘The Miracle Maker.’  I’ve watched them back-to-back several times; it’s three hours or so well-spent.
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4. ‘Watership Down’ (1978) - I’m hesitant to include this, given its brutal majesty and occasionally terrifying elements, but it remains pretty much unequaled as both an adaptation of an already-excellent book and a morally-serious work that’s aimed at children even if it sometimes misses them. 
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5. ‘Fantasia’ (1940) - I don’t really know what I can say to make people understand why this is so excellent if they don’t get it already.  Most people do, thankfully.
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6. ‘The Lion King’ (1994) - A contentious inclusion, possibly; a lot of people seem to be hesitant about praising it too much, for various reasons, but I am not one of them.  Here we have the best of several worlds: the best music of which Disney has ever conceived for a film, the best and most attemptedly-accurate animal animation in a feature of this type, the most morally-serious and compelling story in family-accessible cinema of that period, and more besides.  There are aspects of it that I would gladly eliminate, like the imbecilic trio of hyenas, some of the more exuberant and childish musical numbers, and so on, but at its base it remains the story of how one destined for a great and burdensome responsibility must overthrow the temptations of a competing - and much easier - philosophy to take his rightful and heaven-mandated place.  The time Simba spends with Timon and Pumbaa is not just a delightful interlude; it’s a teetering dalliance upon the precipice of Hell (however good-natured and well-intentioned his hosts might be), and if we cannot exult when he cries out to the priest (Rafiki) that he is foreswearing it and going back, well, why are we even watching movies to begin with?
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7. ‘Kiki’s Delivery Service’ (1989) - While I personally prefer the more daring (and monstrous) ‘Grave of the Fireflies’, ‘Kiki’ remains the most broadly appealing of the Studio Ghibli works.  While some parents may balk at a story featuring a young witch as a protagonist, the “magic” presented is entirely limited to flying on a broom and some light herbology on the part of Kiki’s mother.  Moreover it is a quite touching story about the difficulty of first finding one’s way in the world, and of the help that can sometimes be found along the way.  All of this is wrapped up in a visual palette and environment that are as breathtaking as anything Miyazaki has ever done (even more so because they are utterly outside of his usual fantastical milieu), and is one of those rare films that, like the previous year’s ‘My Neighbor Totoro’, has neither villains nor acts of villainy.  Still, there’s nothing simplistic about it.  Don’t underestimate it.
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8. ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ (1952) - For the sheer joy of sound and movement and - a lesson not often emphasized by family-friendly films - keenly-honed competence, it’s very difficult to beat Donen and Kelly’s classic extravaganza.  It’s one of those great films that not only plays well to any level of viewer, but ages with them as well.  When I first saw it at the age of ten I loved it for its slapstick and jokes and amazing colours; watching it again earlier this year (on the big screen, no less) was a whole new experience, revealing levels of hilarity involving the Hollywood Studio System of which the younger me had not the faintest idea.  There’s something for everyone, basically, and the dance numbers are among the finest ever put to film.  I guess it would be fair to note that any film involving Cyd Charisse that isn’t set in a magical ancient village will probably have a certain amount of sex appeal involved that could spoil its otherwise well-earned “family” tag, but she’s only in it briefly, after all.
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9. ‘The Iron Giant’ (1999) - While the first two acts are merely good, the third and final act is where this becomes one of the most audacious and unexpected excursions into seriousness that I’ve yet seen in what had previously just been a sort of whimsical kids’ movie.  Even ‘Watership Down’ can’t really match it, as it was serious from the very start.  ‘Iron Giant’ takes “tra-la-la” and builds it up into “OMG.”  There’s a lot here to please anyone.
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10. ‘Bambi’ (1942) or ‘Lady and the Tramp’ (1955) - Both have much to recommend them, and I don’t really know which I’d put ahead of the other.  On the one hand they are very similar; stories of the fascinating and sometimes dangerous aspects of coming to understand a new part of life.  On the other hand they are quite different; ‘Bambi’ is jointly a tribute to the beautiful innocence of youth and a stirring meditation on the nature of kingship, while ‘Lady and the Tramp’ is a class-based romance that emphasizes personal qualities and virtues (predominantly courage and a sense of fair play) over the weary Inshallah-ism that would seem to otherwise govern the relationship between the aristocrat and the peasant.  Which one I prefer depends on the day, really.  ‘Bambi’ is certainly more juvenile, while ‘Lady and the Tramp’ is more cheesy and stereotypical.  Crucially, though, neither of them is wicked.
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Honourable mentions include every other Pixar film (especially ‘Ratatouille’), ‘The Secret of NIMH’, ‘The Sound of Music’, ‘The Fantastic Mr. Fox’, ‘Coraline’, several Disney films (‘Robin Hood’ and ‘Beauty and the Beast’ in particular), and probably a good deal of other stuff that’s not occurring to me off the top of my head.

Films to be loved:
Casablanca
The Robe
Treasure Island
Oklahoma
The Rainman
Show Boat
The Quiet Man
Around the World in 80 Days
High Noon
Gone With the Wind
High Society
Exodus
The Bells of St. Mary’s
Malice in the Palace
McClintock
Road to <ANYWHERE>
And the perennial Christmas favorites:
Holiday Inn
White Christmas
Going My Way
Christmas in Connecticut
Sorry this list is so loooonnnng, but there are so many it’s hard to choose !

Sorry, I meant the Rainmaker, not the Rainman.

Alas, my attempts to produce even artificial line-breaks in the post above have failed.  I retire, then, a most contemptible scrub.

“Fearless Fagan” (1952), is the most amazing live action animal movie I’ve ever seen. Do yourself a favor and watch it.  TCM will occasionally show it. 

Have you ever seen a lion dive into a swimming pool?  From the diving board? Have you ever seen a man and lion lying in bed together?  This lion prances around like a house cat and is very affectionate.

One of the best family films I’ve ever seen.  Not to give the plot away, but the film will pull on your heartstrings as well.

The film stars Janet Leigh, Carleton Carpenter and Jackie the III (the MGM lion) as Fagan the lion.

The Sound of Music

What?  I’d been real disappointed if Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (#4), Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (#7), and Mary Poppins (#3)WEREN’T on the list.

I suppose I’ll be laughed out of this blog if I mention Doctor Dolittle (1968).  It’s a holiday staple in THIS housing unit.

The Homecoming is also mandatory viewing on Christmas Eve.

And what about the darling of the movies…Shirley Temple?!

Any Laurel & Hardy short-movie is fair game.

Most “classic” Disney movies should be on here.

How about a tangent conversation about the worst ‘family fare’ movies?  I am amazed at what it is put out there for ‘families’ that should never be seen by anyone!  For my family, recent movies for this list would be “Bedtime Stories” and “Cloudy with Chance of Meatballs” - both just awful.

Or what about a ‘Worst Book to Movie Adaptation’?  My kids would put “Eragon” or the new “Percy Jackson” movie on that list.  While both movies were ‘good’, they did not do justice to two really good books.  I hope anyone seeing those movies would not dismiss the books (series, actually) based on what they watched.

Wow…Princess Bride has yet to be mentioned….that was like my favourite movie ever as a kid, after Star Wars.
Ahem…
I agree with most of what SDG said, but I think I would add:
•Original Star Wars trilogy
•Princess Bride
•WALL•E & UP(BTW, does anyone else feel reminded of Frodo on Mt. Doom during the last part of the movie when Wall-e keeps getting more and more wrecked as he tries to save humanity? I am thinking particularly of when he is repeatedly being crushed as he tries to hold up the Lido-deck).
•Castle in the Sky
•And for the older kids: Howl’s Moving Castle and Spirited Away
•And while I don’t think they would make any ‘Top 10’ list of mine, I really like City of Ember (the only family friendly post-apoc movie I know of), Mulan, and How to Train Your Dragon. Oh, and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (the basilisk scene is one of my favourite parts from the whole series).

I thought that Eragon has hilarious, though nothing like the book. The book I found enjoyable, even if it was highly derivative (though by the third book I was rooting for the Empire).

Other favourites:Elf, Ponyo, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, all animated versions of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings(moreso for the imagery than the faithfulness to the originals).

And at the risk of sounding like a total nerd, I’ve found some of the Pokemon movies strangely enjoyable (they’re the closest thing to family-friendly Lovecraftian cosmic horror I think I’ve ever seen, and I only wish Miyazaki would try his hand at some[cosmic horror, that is]).

Some excellent additions! Beowulf, I was waiting for someone to nominate The Princess Bride! (Coincidentally, there’s a new Blu-ray/DVD edition out yesterday and I just taped a “DVD Pick of the Week”  segment for Friday’s REEL FAITH recommending it.) Star Wars is also a good call.
 
On Laurel & Hardy, LRoy, I’ll plump for Babes in Toyland/March of the Wooden Soldiers. On Chitty Chitty and Willy Wonka, we’ll have to agree to disagree!
 
Nick Milne: Very good list. Other than The Lion King (we disagree pretty much entirely there), I like everything you have to say. :) (BTW, the comment engine appears to ignore single-character paragraphs. My expedient is to type an html non-breaking space (&nbsp;). That holds the blank line nicely.) On Lady and the Tramp, are you familiar with Whit Stillman’s takedown in The Last Days of Disco?

P.S. Rachel, excellent proposal for a spin-off thread! Will definitely take you up on it. Cheers.

I am utterly disappointed in SDG. How can anybody (especially a family-film reviewer) NOT like “Mary Poppins”? Anathema sit, I say!! I was just thinking the other day how fun it would be to watch “Mary Poppins” with my nieces… I think I might buy the DVD one of these days.

Anyway, my family film list is long, but by no means incomplete:

“Mary Poppins” - An absolute MUST see.
“Beauty and the Beast”
“Robin Hood” - Really funny, plus it has one of the best representations of a churchman in animated history.
“Toy Story, TS 2 and TS3” - I think the whole trilogy should be treated as 1 movie, perhaps the best family fare in decades.
“Wall-E”
“UP”
“The Incredibles”
“Castle in the Sky” - My favorite of all Miyazaki films.
“Raiders of the Lost Ark”
“Star Wars” - The ORIGINAL trilogy, that is. The 3 ill-conceived “prequels” don’t exist for me, and are no more than badly written cinematic fanfiction.
“Bedrooms and Broomsticks” - Kudos to the people who mentioned this little gem, it’s been years since I’ve seen it, but remember it very fondly. :)
“Peter Pan” - Not the Disney version (which is OK), but the English cinematic version (with real children) that came out some years ago. I just loved how it portrayed parenthood and growing up.
“The Prince of Egipt” - The parting of the Red Sea gave me the chills. Very memorable.

“Anyway, my family film list is long, but by no means incomplete”.

Argh. I meant to say “but by no means COMPLETE”. Silly me…

Go ahead, keep it up, Team Mary Poppins. I can feel my scathing anti-MP review percolating inside me…

The Yearling with Gregory Peck.

“How about a tangent conversation about the worst ‘family fare’ movies?”

Great idea. Up front, I would nominate “Madagascar”, “Madagascar 2” and “Happy Feet” as best “family films” for homosexual partnerships.

My favorite family films (I know a couple of these probably would not appeal to young children, but I figured I would list them anyways.)

A Man for All Seasons
Bringing Up Baby
It’s a Wonderful Life
Wall-E
The Sound of Music
Chariots of Fire
Mary Poppins (sorry SDG)
Singin’ in the Rain
The Ten Commandments (1956 version)
Star Wars
Fiddler on the Roof
Finding Nemo
My Fair Lady

what about Fiddler On the Roof?

Having never sat down to watch the film in full, I wanted to ask: “How does WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT look on a list like this?”

“How does WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT look on a list like this?”

Out of place, I would say. :) Definitely not a movie for kids, there’s some violence and lots of sexual innuendo, it’s more geared towards teens and/or adults.

It’s tough to say what the best family films are. Typically, it’s hard to get a film that will entertain fully both kids and adults without having anything objectionable in it.

Films that the kids will want to see over and over again tend to bore adults. Likewise, the films that the adults like that they’d like to share with the kids tend to bore the younglings, or at least not be too appreciated by them.

Anything by Pixar I guess could fit the bill of good family fare. But I think it’s good to get outside the animated world.

I honestly don’t have a list. It’s hard for me to really pick something.

Thanks, Steve; glad we’re (mostly) on the same track.

Since I can’t seem to find a review for it on DF, what, exactly, is it about ‘The Lion King’ that you find so contemptible?  If that’s even the word.

Also, no, I’m not familiar with the treatment of ‘Lady and the Tramp’ to which you refer.  I’ll sure look into it, though.

Anyway, I’m looking forward to both the counter-thread and the angry-mob-inducing ‘Mary Poppins’ review.  I’ve often contemplated writing reviews for movies I already know I seriously dislike, but the amount of time and energy that would have to be invested in a project of that sort seem incommensurate with the results.

So don’t worry, ‘Six-String Samurai’ and ‘Daughters of the Dust’; you’re both safe… for now.

Here we go, sort of in order: Aladdin, Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Kiki’s Delivery Service, Where the Wild Things Are, Willy Wonka [Gene Wilder], Howl’s Moving Castle, Alice in Wonderland [live action, 70s, with Fiona something or other], Whisper of the Heart, Hercules, Sinbad, Harry Potter/Azhkaban, Fly Away Home, Porco Rosso, Milo and Otis

Both of my sons were willing to spend a little quiet time watching “The Wind in the Willows”. (Not the Disney version but the one directed by Dave Unwin.)

Thanks Veronica. I now know I won’t be recommending it for family consumption. I still look forward to watching it in full though!

Good call on Whisper of the Heart, though I think it is probably more enjoyable for older kids(being mostly a love story). Younger kids might enjoy The Cat Returns, which is kind of a spiritual sequel to Whisper of the Heart.

Nick, if I may shove my oar in: I don’t The Lion King is at all contemptible, but neither do I see any reason to be enthusiastic about it. I really like the opening “Circle of Life” number and “Can You Feel the Love Tonight”, but the rest of the songs don’t do much for me, and neither, crucially, does Simba himself. To me he comes across as just a whiny adolescent. (A big part of the problem is his voice as an adult lion: after hearing his father voiced by James Earl Jones, for crying out loud, I find it incredible that they could have thought whoever they hired to do Simba was the right choice. Hayden Christensen in the Star Wars prequels presents exactly the same problem.) The final scene with Scar - the <SPOILER>“I’m too nice to kill you, I’ll let the hyenas do it” moment</SPOILER> - rings false to me. Timone and Pumba aren’t very funny, and in the more serious parts, it seems to rely entirely upon types - the wise old shaman, the king’s conniving brother, the spunky female playmate-turned-love-interest, etc. - mechanically included without much feeling or any special insight.

“Good call on Whisper of the Heart, though I think it is probably more enjoyable for older kids(being mostly a love story). Younger kids might enjoy The Cat Returns, which is kind of a spiritual sequel to Whisper of the Heart.”

Gah! How could I have left “Whisper of the Heart” out of my list?! Shame on me! Can’t believe I haven’t seen “The Cat Returns” yet, but I plan to to do that soon (otherwise I’ll never forgive myself!).

I know I am late to this thread, but did nobody like The Black Stallion?  The scenes on the island have an almost mystical intensity and the racing part of the film is great fun.

I loved The Yearling and think it’s a travesty that it was overlooked.  Good call, Gerald Reiner.

Among my favorites growing up were Bambi and Old Yeller.  I liked The Sound of Music and Mary Poppins too. 

I don’t care much for the modern stuff, though I did enjoy The Incredibles and Finding Nemo.

Bob Chase:  Yes, The Black Stallion is a beautiful, family film.

You didn’t like Willy Wonka? Even with Gene Wilder’s fantastic acting? Oh, well, having seen it I guess it’s not so much “family” entertainment as is it for older tweens/teens and their nostalgic parents. In that movie’s defense, it was better than the modern version with Johnny Depp. *shudder* The new version is just wrong on so many levels.

My personal favorites are The Lion King, Cars, Horton Hears a Who (both the old cartoon and the new version), anything Charlie Brown, The Prince of Egypt, My Neighbor Totoro (this one is more for little kids than older ones), Ponyo (the English dub was actually GOOD), Robin Hood (the Disney animated one with the animals), How the Grinch Stole Christmas (the cartoon, not the live action), and Star Wars (I saw the OT as a kid, so those for family viewing, and the newer ones for once the kids get older/more addicted). Oh, and the animated version of “The Hobbit”, which I both loved and was frightened by as a child. Honorable mentions include “101 Dalmations” and “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” (both of which I LOVED as a kid but haven’t seen in forever).

Has anybody seen the Spanish movie “Marcelino Pan y Vino”? I remember seeing it several times in my childhood, and I highly reccommend it for kids and adults alike. A beautiful Catholic movie!

Veronica:

Marcelina Pan Y Vino is absolutely wonderful.  One of the best of all time!

Oops, pardon, “Marcelino”!

@ Screech The Mighty: The Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame??? Ugh. Does incredible violence to the central message of the tale.

Give me Charles Laughton any day of the week. Of course, that’s not really a family film. Too dark, though not as dark as Hugo’s original. Nonetheless, it gets the central message:  no matter how “nice” we are, we still shudder at the weirdos and creeps. We may try to be nice… but they can see that we’re trying. And it hurts, justly or not.

@introvert.prof: Yeah, the Disney one. I mostly just put that on the list because I loved it when I was a kid. Don’t even ask why, I just did. That and the music is pretty. Although, now that I think about it, I’d wait until my kids are a *touch* older before I let them watch it. I’ve never heard of the Charles Laughton one. I might have to watch that one day…

Here is a list of family movies we have enjoyed recently. Having several kids ranging in age from 10 to 18, of both genders, finding movies that everyone can enjoy is quite challenging. Here goes:

“The Waterhorse” is near the top of my list, although I haven’t seen it mentioned here yet. It’s a beautiful story, well acted, enough suspense and excitement for those who want that, and tenderness for those who want it. Great filming, story, dialogue, acting. It’s awesome. It was filmed in New Zealand, I think by the same people who did Lord of the Rings. Breathtaking…

“The Sound of Music,”
“Singin’ in the Rain,”
“Seven Brides for Seven Brothers”
“Dr. Doolittle” (with Eddie Murphy)
“The Emperor’s New Groove”
“Finding Nemo”
“It’s a Wonderful Life”
“My Fair Lady”
“National Velvet”
“Nim’s Island”
“Parent Trap” (the newer one, with Lindsey Lohan)
“Peter Pan” (not the cartoon, the one with real people, from a few years ago)
Pride and Prejudice (the A & E one)(It’s 6 hours long, but can be broken up easily - it was originally a mini-series)
“Princess Bride”
“Princess Diaries”
“Princess Protection Program” (good messages, clean, lots of fun to watch)
“Racing Stripes”
“Sabrina” - the newer one with Harrison Ford, Julia Ormond, and Greg Kinnear - a love story, but touching, handled very cleanly, etc.
“Speed Racer” (2009) (it might be a little hard for young kids to follow the story line, but they would probably still enjoy it)
“The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe,” and “Prince Caspian” (the recent ones)
“The Shaggy Dog” (from Disney a couple years ago, with Tim Allen)
“Wall-E”
“Yours, Mine, and Ours” with Rene Russo and Dennis Quaid - very fun, lots of antics with a big, blended family (both parents are widowed, not divorced - several of the kids were adopted)
“Aliens in the Attic” (one scene with a bikini, but otherwise pretty tolerable - lots of fun, excitement, suspense - lighthearted, but decent - wouldn’t be on my top 10, but worth watching)

I classified my top 10 family films using the criteria: absence of impurity and sensuality because these stick to children’s brains like tar and should be avoided at all cost. I am listing the films by descending order of impact: 1- Sound of Musid; 2- Song of Bernadette; 3- Ten Commandments; 4- The Bells of Saint Mary; 5- Going my Way; 6- The Robe;
7-Josuah; 8-Toy Story-1 & 2; 9-Beauty and the Beast; 10-While you were sleeping (Teenagers)

One more - the musical 1776 should be considered. A good introduction to the American musical theater, and a painless history lesson to boot. The only possible problem is some language, but I think most parents wouldn’t worry about the amount that’s there, at least not past the 3/4-decade mark or so. I think, though this is counterintuitive, it may be more accessible to young children than Singin’ in the Rain. I’d be interested to hear SDG’s or anyone else’s opinion on this.

Posted by Nick Milne: “Since I can’t seem to find a review for it on DF, what, exactly, is it about ‘The Lion King’ that you find so contemptible?  If that’s even the word.”
I’d like to see some Decent Films reviews of the Renaissance Disney films, especially for Beauty and the Beast (the best Renaissance one in my opinion.) I know there’s an article about them (which I’ve read), but some individual ratings and reviews would be nice.
Oh, and if you do write that Mary Poppins review, SDG, don’t go too hard on it.:) At any rate, it’s a lot better than its ripoff, Nanny McPhee. (And it’s also better than Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang, but that’s not saying much.)
As for the top 10 list, I’d go with most of the films already mentioned, especially It’s A Wonderful Life, Singin’ in the Rain (the Broadway melody sequence is easily skipped on DVD, and doesn’t have much to do with the plot anyway), Star Wars, anything by Pixar, especially the Toy Story trilogy, and some of the better animated Disney movies (Bambi, Fantasia, Snow White, Pinocchio, Beauty and the Beast, Winnie-the-Pooh, 101 Dalmatians, Sleeping Beauty, and…I doubt anyone will agree with this…The Adventures of the Great Mouse Detective. It’s not too well-known, but it’s a pretty good movie, although there’s that bar scene which can be skipped when watching with younger kids.)

FWIW, some of my favorite family films are:
-Singin’ in the Rain
-The Sound of Music
-It’s A Wonderful Life
-Toy Story 2 (and other Pixar movies)

I think I only saw one mention of Court Jester. All of you who haven’t seen it need to. And I have never seen ET.

Steven, I don’t know if you recall having a contest to come up with Princess Bride lines and the next person had to try and come up with the next line but that is still one of my favorite games and one of my favorite movies. So many things in life make me think of lines from that movie. You could do a blog on peoples favorite Princess Bride quotes.

I think mine is, “Everybody move.” Runner ups

He’s been mostly dead all day.
Only compared to some.
Stop saying that.
Humperdiiiiinck, Humperdinck, Humperdinck, Humperdinck (or however that’s spelled)
I could go on and on.

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