Entertainment Weekly’s Best Movies for Kids

In honor of this week’s release of “Horton Hears a Who,” the best movie for the family in a long time, Entertainment Weekly has put together a list of the 20 all-time best movies for kids. These are not movies to toss in the DVD in the back of the minivan or to give to the babysitter on the parents’ night out. These are movies that need to be shared, movies that create and strengthen connections, as all truly great movies do.
The obvious classics are there, of course, The Wizard of Oz, The Sound of Music, E.T. – The Extra-Terrestrial. A list of 20 only has room for one Harry Potter but squeezes all three The Lord of the Rings into one spot. I could quibble with them about their choice of a Disney animated classic — they choose The Lion King while I would have gone with Pinocchio, for me the best-ever hand-animation, story, and soundtrack. And for a Disney live-action classic, for me, the wonderful The Parent Trap is edged out by the even more wonderful Pollyanna .
With only 20 choices Entertainment Weekly had to bypass some of my favorites like Finding Nemo, Yellow Submarine, and The Black Stallion. But there is no question that every movie on EW’s list is one that the whole family should take time to watch together. And then watch again.