Salon asks for the Best Family Films
Posted on June 2, 2008 at 8:16 am
I like Salon movie critic Andrew O’Hehir very much. He covers the less mainstream films, independent, foreign, and festival fare and I always enjoy his take on what he sees. He is on vacation this week and in something of a turnabout he has asked Salon readers for their suggestions for DVDs for his family to share. A lot of great choices are on the list already, from known classics like “My Neighbor Totoro,” “The Secret of Roan Inish,” “Yellow Submarine,” “Fantasia,” “The Court Jester,” “The Princess Bride,” “Time Bandits,’ and “The Music Man” to some more unusual choices like “Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein,” “The Sven Faces of Dr. Lao,” “The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T” (the only movie ever written by Dr. Seuss), and “The Point.” Take a look at the list to get some great ideas for summer family viewing and add your own favorites!
As a kid we went to Disney movies almost exclusively. One of them has become one of my family’s favorites as well. Swiss Family Robinson has all the stuff necessary to please everyone in the family.
Another childhood favorite was Summer Magic. Of course, it didn’t hurt that I had a thing for Haley Mills (reduced to a role on Saved by the bell – sad). But Burl Ives really carried the movie. Got’ta crawl to the Ugly Bug Ball!
As for a great, funky, flukey, family flick, go to “Little Miss Sunshine”.
Oh, “Swiss Family Robinson” (the animal race! the newcomer to the island! the booby-traps for the pirates!) is a great favorite of mine, as is “Summer Magic.” I adored Hayley Mills and “Ugly Bug Ball” is a great musical number. Both movies are in my book along with “Pollyanna” and the original “Parent Trap.” O’Hehir asked for non-Disney recommendations but a number of commenters reminded him of some of these classics.
I’m also a fan of “Little Miss Sunshine,” but for mature teens and adults only.
My favorite Myazaka is “Porko Rosso”, but I am a sucker for seaplanes. My kids and I all like “Castle in the Sky” a lot, too. In terms of other films, of the non-Disney variety, The Man from Snowy River (1 and 2) is near the top of the list. Also, I really like The God’s Must Be Crazy (also 1 & 2) – though my kids did not really appreciate them until they were teens. And from my own ‘tween years, two great films “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” and later “The Sting” – Newman and Redford were a fantastic team – and great things have come from both of their successes (I am a huge fan of the Hole in the Wall camps for handicapped kids)