# Help! Family Movie Night is in the doldrums **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 21, 2010, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-family-movie-night-is-in-the-doldrums/547481 "2010-07-21T16:48:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2010, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-family-movie-night-is-in-the-doldrums/547481/21 "2010-07-21T19:25:23Z")
The Rocketeer Adventures of Robin Hood (Errol Flynn version) Stagecoach (?) ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2010, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-family-movie-night-is-in-the-doldrums/547481/22 "2010-07-21T19:30:38Z")
I just want to add that **Cannibal Holocaust II** is much more toned down than its original, if you really feel you need to get your kids into the mythos of that genre. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2010, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-family-movie-night-is-in-the-doldrums/547481/23 "2010-07-21T19:54:09Z")
> [@](#): > > Or… > > Where the Red Fern Grows > > Ol’ Yeller > > Sounder I’ll take **Adventures of Mark Twain** , Mysterious Stranger section and all, over these heart-rending tear jerkers. ---
**Author:** ![Levolor\_the\_Blind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bc8723/32.png) [@Levolor\_the\_Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Levolor_the_Blind)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2010, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-family-movie-night-is-in-the-doldrums/547481/24 "2010-07-21T19:58:40Z")
Someone’s mentioned _Spirited Away_ so I’ll just add: _Kiki’s Delivery Service My Neighbor Totoro The Cat Returns Laputa: Castle in the Sky Porco Rosso Howl’s Moving Castle_ And my son (8 years old) and I have been working through _The Last Airbender_ series, 4 episodes at a time, as our movie night. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2010, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-family-movie-night-is-in-the-doldrums/547481/25 "2010-07-21T19:59:35Z")
> [@kingpengvin](#): > > May I suggest Monster movies from Universal’s great horror age. > Boys like monsters, and these are not too scary as to frighten them. > > Specifically I’ll point to Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein as well as 1941s the Wolfman > (Skip Dracula.. that still moves at a snails pace and is deadly dull the kids will be bored by the endless dialogue scenes) > > My boys got into these movies around age 6. > > Abbott and Costello’s monster movie phase was also a winner with them. Seconded. They are a little scary, but not too scary, Stream Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein from Netflix for them. Fang, whose seven, identified with Costello’s character. We’ll be trying out The Three Musketeers and The Four Musketeers in a couple of weeks. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2010, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-family-movie-night-is-in-the-doldrums/547481/26 "2010-07-21T20:13:43Z")
PG, if you don’t mind some bad words: _Smokey and the Bandit_ and _Cannonball Run_. The boys should like watching chases. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2010, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-family-movie-night-is-in-the-doldrums/547481/27 "2010-07-21T20:20:39Z")
_Galaxy Quest_ shouldn’t be any problem; nearly all of the jokes would go over their heads. ---
**Author:** ![kbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4491bb/32.png) [@kbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kbear)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2010, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-family-movie-night-is-in-the-doldrums/547481/28 "2010-07-21T20:22:36Z")
Zathura or Jumanji? ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-family-movie-night-is-in-the-doldrums/547481/29 "2010-07-22T00:17:54Z")
Many of our kids’ favorites were already named, but here are a few that haven’t been yet: _Monkey Trouble_ \*Andre \*(the Seal, not My Dinner With…) _Animals Are Beautiful People_ ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-family-movie-night-is-in-the-doldrums/547481/30 "2010-07-22T00:38:29Z")
i say get them into musicals, maybe? Annie Music Man Sound of Music (they’ll fall asleep by the time the Nazis roll around anyway) Mary Poppins My Fair Lady etc are all kid friendly and you’ll be providing a firm bedrock of broadway knowledge so they can win trivia nights at the local pub when they’re in college. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-family-movie-night-is-in-the-doldrums/547481/31 "2010-07-22T01:11:34Z")
Hot Lead & Cold Feet is one of Disney’s best live action movies from the 1970’s. Here is Netflix’s description: This Western features two dueling twin brothers (Jim Dale, in a dual role) with very different occupations: One is a harsh gunslinger, and the other is a humble employee of the Salvation Army. Together, the twins take part in a string of outlandish competitions to see who will take home a large family inheritance and thus rule the small town. Co-stars Don Knotts, Karen Valentine and Darren McGavin. My 8th grade class watched this so I was about 13. I liked it then and I’d watch it today as an adult if it was on. ---
**Author:** ![missouri65](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/74df32/32.png) [@missouri65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missouri65)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-family-movie-night-is-in-the-doldrums/547481/32 "2010-07-22T02:51:39Z")
I didn’t see any mention of The Three Stooges. I loved that stuff as a kid. I know several of these have already been named, but I want to point out that, especially with older movies, actors tended to do a lot of similar movies. If you like one of their movies, you might want to check out the others. Dean Jones and Don Knotts basically just played the same characters over and over again in different settings. I enjoyed the Hayley Mills movies: The Parent Trap, That Darn Cat!, and The Trouble with Angels. She did more, but these are the ones I remember liking. I also _really_ liked Dean Jones when I was a kid: The Love Bug movies, The Shaggy DA, The Ugly Dachsund, The Million Dollar Duck. I think I also liked Monkeys, Go Home! and The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit, but I don’t really remember them. I may be the only one, but I always liked the Tommy Kirk movies: The Shaggy Dog, The Misadventures of Merlin Jones, The Monkey’s Uncle, Son of Flubber. Tommy Kirk was also in Old Yeller, but that might be a little sadder than what you’re going for. Kurt Russell did some Disney movies as well. The only one I remember is The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes. It was okay, but other people might like it more than I did. I don’t think they were all Disney, but, as someone upthread said, Don Knotts did several kid-friendly movies: The Incredible Mr. Limpit, The Reluctant Astronaut, and The Ghost and Mr. Chicken. My parents love the Apple Dumpling Gang and the sequel. They watch them whenever comes on. Most of these have animals or physical comedy that your little one would probably enjoy. I recently caught a Dean Jones marathon, and found the Ugly Dachsund, and the first Love Bug to be very watchable. I didn’t like the Shaggy D.A. quite as much, and they didn’t show any of the others. I watched all of the Tommy Kirk movies in college or later, and really enjoyed them. Then again, I like the Frankie and Annette movies, so I know my taste is unusual. I tried to watch Benji a few years ago and couldn’t get through it, though. A lot of these movies have been remade, and some of them aren’t bad. Lohan was good in the Parent Trap, and Ricci in That Darn Cat! That also reminds me of Freaky Friday. You can pretty much take your pick on the version: Jodie Foster in 1976, Gaby Hoffman and Shelly Long in a 1995 TV version, and Lindsey Lohan with Jamie Curtis in 2003 (apparently rated PG but I can’t for the life of me remember why). I think Kirk Cameron did a remake of The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes. I didn’t like it as well as the original, and it has Kirk Cameron. It sounds like your kids may be willing to watch the older version, though, and you might enjoy the originals more, if for no reason other than nostalgia. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-family-movie-night-is-in-the-doldrums/547481/33 "2010-07-22T03:08:55Z")
> [@Levolor\_the\_Blind](#): > > Someone’s mentioned _Spirited Away_ so I’ll just add: > > _Kiki’s Delivery Service > My Neighbor Totoro > The Cat Returns > Laputa: Castle in the Sky > Porco Rosso > Howl’s Moving Castle_ Also the newer _Ponyo_. ---
**Author:** ![kidneyfailure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9f8e36/32.png) [@kidneyfailure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidneyfailure)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-family-movie-night-is-in-the-doldrums/547481/34 "2010-07-22T03:15:43Z")
Charlie Chaplin. His films are family-friendly gold. ETA: I’d be careful with the Three Stooges, though. As much as I love them, and as much as they’re a great example of good clean comedy, you don’t want the kids to start smacking each other. ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-family-movie-night-is-in-the-doldrums/547481/35 "2010-07-22T04:14:57Z")
Savannah Smile The Billion-Dollar Hobo The Cat from Outer Space Escape from Witch Mountain (the original!) My Dog Skip ---
**Author:** ![Leiko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Leiko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leiko)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-family-movie-night-is-in-the-doldrums/547481/36 "2010-07-22T04:36:49Z")
Follow That Bird- It’s a Sesame Street movie, starring Big Bird, and it is amazing. Besides Cinderella, it was my big brother’s favorite movie as a kid. It might freak out your younger kid, though- there are some intense sad parts. But the happy bits more than make up for them, in my experience. Have you considered watching documentaries? We never watched documentary film when I was a kid, but in terms of television, I was glued to episodes of Nova, Nature, and that show where Alan Alda talked about science (Scientific American Frontiers, but I had to look that up) when I was little (as early as I can remember onward), and then of course Bill Nye the Science Guy later (premiered when I was 5). How do you feel about old comedy, like The Three Stooges? “It’s not a vernacular, it’s a doiby!” was one of my favorite sayings ever when I was 4. ---
**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-family-movie-night-is-in-the-doldrums/547481/37 "2010-07-22T04:44:52Z")
Shelley Duvall’s _Faerie Tale Theatre_ is pretty good. Even though the stories are mostly the familiar ones, they have little twists and jokes all through them. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-family-movie-night-is-in-the-doldrums/547481/38 "2010-07-22T06:25:41Z")
Cinderella too scary? You have to toughen up your kid! Watch Hostel, or any of the Saw movies ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-family-movie-night-is-in-the-doldrums/547481/39 "2010-07-22T07:41:18Z")
Stuart Little (1 & 2, they’re both good). The Borrowers Labyrinth Neverending Story (first one only) Nanny McPhee ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-family-movie-night-is-in-the-doldrums/547481/40 "2010-07-22T11:54:11Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > I just want to add that **Cannibal Holocaust II** is much more toned down than its original, if you really feel you need to get your kids into the mythos of that genre. Good…_good_…your journey towards the Dark Side has made you powerful! 😃 Anyways, back to the OP, I’d also suggest monster movies. Specifically, giant monster movies, like most of Toho’s classic stable. Even the “serious” ones are pretty tame by today’s standards, and a lot of the later ones were designed with a younger audience in mind to begin with, so you should be pretty safe. _Godzilla vs. King Kong_ might be a good start. 'course, speaking as not-a-parent myself, I confess I’ve always wondered a bit at people limiting the stuff their kids see on TV, something which seems to get ever more cautious as time passes…when you consider the stuff the _parents_ must have watched when _they_ were children. I know for a fact that my father watched Jonny Quest (complete with machine-gunnings and the occasional screaming heathen natives) when he was a kid—and hell, when _I_ was 4 or 5, I was watching the Disney Channel. Do you have any _idea_ of the kind of twisted stuff they had on back then? _Starting_ with “[Return to Oz](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXw4P7str2Y&feature=related#t=4m25s)”? :eek: And I loved it! Hid behind the damn couch peeking at the screen, but I always came right back and did it again for the next rerun! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-family-movie-night-is-in-the-doldrums/547481.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-family-movie-night-is-in-the-doldrums/547481.md?page=3)