# Films you liked when you were a kid? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 29, 2004, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-you-liked-when-you-were-a-kid/226487 "2004-01-29T00:30:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![WereOtter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ac91a4/32.png) [@WereOtter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WereOtter)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2004, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-you-liked-when-you-were-a-kid/226487/21 "2004-01-30T02:38:47Z")
I have a theory that films that you see when you’re very young can have a special impact on you. Between the ages of say, 4 to 7 years, you are discovering what the world is like, and movies can give you that feeling of child-like wonder. For me, this time period was the early and mid-1960’s, seeing recent releases and re-releases at the drive-in with my parents. Films that seemed to have a profound impact on me: **Hatari** (I fantasized about having my own baby elephants) **The Pink Panther** (Capucine instantly became my ideal woman) **A Shot in the Dark** (I loved those karate fights) **Dr. Strangelove** (Is this how the world works?!?) **The World of Suzie Wong** (Exotic Hong Kong and sexy oriental women!) **The World of Henry Orient** (Girls are weird.) **Camelot** (So that’s what they mean by _love triangle_) **Charade** (How to have fun in Paris.) **Operation Petticoat** (WWII wasn’t all bad) **Father Goose** (Girls are still weird, but they’re also kind of cute.) **The Russians are Coming, The Russians are Coming** **The Sound of Music** (inspired my Grandma to MAKE ME take piano lessons.) **The Glass Bottom Boat** (Doris Day!) **How to Steal a Million** (More questionable role models.) Obviously, my parents weren’t taking me to Disney flicks. Probably just as well, I got see some really great stuff. I’m very nostalgic about this time period. Admittedly, some films that I loved when I was a kid now seem really stupid: **How to Murder you Wife** **What’s up Pussycat?** **Topkapi** **Donovan’s Reef** (it now seems appallingly sexist) Films have gotten a lot more cynical and blatantly sexual since then. Kids now have cable, VHS and DVD, so they are probably exposed to a much wider time frame for feature films. Hopefully parents are more selective than mine were. I think the quality of kid’s films is highly variable. **E.T.** was wonderful, but **Cats and Dogs** was crap. There have been some superior animated flicks: **The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, Shrek, Lilo and Stitch**. So I don’t think it’s so much when the films were made, as when in your life you saw them. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2004, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-you-liked-when-you-were-a-kid/226487/22 "2004-01-30T03:47:55Z")
SFX asside Star wars 4 5 and 6 I remember as MUCH better films than 1 and 2. It saddens me that such an amazing advancement as CGI is being wasted on crap films. Same goes for computer games. ---
**Author:** ![SanguineSpider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SanguineSpider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanguineSpider)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2004, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-you-liked-when-you-were-a-kid/226487/23 "2004-01-30T05:31:07Z")
Oh, _yeah_… anything with Danny Kaye in it (Thanks grandma!). _Inspector General_ and the other one where he’s mistaken for Robin Hood (I think) always made me laugh. Yes, I know he was gay but I think he had a great voice and danced amazingly well. I’d watch these Danny Kaye flicks with my grandmother all the time when I was a kid. She liked John Wayne movies, too, but I just could NOT get into those, pil-grim. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Griffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_Griffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Griffin)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2004, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-you-liked-when-you-were-a-kid/226487/24 "2004-01-30T11:26:49Z")
The Dark Crystal Mrs Frisby and the Rats of Nihm Robocop (I watched it when I was 14) Gremlins ---
**Author:** ![TERRA\_Rising](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@TERRA\_Rising](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TERRA_Rising)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2004, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-you-liked-when-you-were-a-kid/226487/25 "2004-01-30T11:31:12Z")
**The Princess Bride** , but only because I was such a HUGE fan of Andre’s ---
**Author:** ![Breezy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b3f665/32.png) [@Breezy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Breezy)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2004, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-you-liked-when-you-were-a-kid/226487/26 "2004-01-30T15:31:47Z")
I forgot to mention **Grease** and **Footloose**. I LOVED those two movies also! I STILL love **Grease** but I don’t really have much love left for the other one. haha ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2004, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-you-liked-when-you-were-a-kid/226487/27 "2004-01-30T16:23:52Z")
I just watched Mrs. Frisbee & the Rats of NIMH for the first time last week. It was kinda stupid. They took out all the best elements of the story\* in order to make room for the stupid crow sidekick that wasn’t funny at all. I was truly disppointed as it was one of my favorite books as a child. \*We were in the lab and they gave us shots we learned to read and escaped. – the best part of the book condensed into a 2 minute exposition! AG! ---
**Author:** ![facil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/db5fbb/32.png) [@facil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/facil)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2004, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-you-liked-when-you-were-a-kid/226487/28 "2004-01-30T16:34:04Z")
i will never forget a movie called _Krull_… it was about a man whos land is under attack by some really lame aliens. and he must gather a ragtag army of men…and some women i think…to fight the aliens and win his love back. oh…and he sticks his hand in flowing lava to get a wicked looking throwing star for use on the “big boss”. and remember _Ice Pirates_? it was the story of interstellar pirates who travel the galaxy causing mischief…there is a funny scene involving a “black” robot who knows kung foo…oh and it had cool time shifts near the end. everyone got really old in a matter of minutes…then they became young again…i think. ---
**Author:** ![RitzyRae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/aca169/32.png) [@RitzyRae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitzyRae)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2004, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-you-liked-when-you-were-a-kid/226487/29 "2004-01-30T16:44:11Z")
I almost forgot about Ladyhawke! A pair of cursed lovers - she is cursed to be a hawk during the day, while he is curse to be a wolf at night. Only during a moment at sunrise and sundown can the be together. Good fantasy starring a very young Matthew Broderick and Michelle Pfeiffer. ---
**Author:** ![foxymoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d26b3c/32.png) [@foxymoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foxymoron)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2004, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-you-liked-when-you-were-a-kid/226487/30 "2004-01-30T17:09:20Z")
These are all movies I was taken with as a kid (anywhere from age 8 to 15, I think). I watched them all so many times that I’m sure they must have had a significant impact on me. Flash Gordon Clash of the Titans Oh, God! All That Jazz Girls Just Wanna Have Fun The Breakfast Club Sid and Nancy ---
**Author:** ![foxymoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d26b3c/32.png) [@foxymoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foxymoron)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2004, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-you-liked-when-you-were-a-kid/226487/31 "2004-01-30T17:10:42Z")
Oops. That would be ‘Girls Just Want to Have Fun’. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-you-liked-when-you-were-a-kid/226487.md?page=1)