I second the Universal Monsters recommendation. And I will beg to differ Re DRACULA because of one actor who the kids will love… Dwight Frye as Renfield. Heeeehhhn heeehnn heehnn!
Rat Race.
Seriously, Rat Race.
Got tired of my kids taking hours in the library to pick movies, only to have them check out Rat Race for the hundreth time. This Rat Race obsession persisted from early grade school through high school! So we bought Rat Race, and I recently showed Rat Race to our Youth Forum at church (kids ranged 5th-12th grade). Rat Race still busted some guts.
And someone brought up Rat Race in a discussion here: “Which movie has the most Oscar winners/nominees?”. The answer? Rat Race.
Take a look at the Rat Race cast: Cleese, Thomas, Goldberg, Atkinson…
It’s a veritable Rat Race of Talent.
Yes, Rat Race has broaaaad humor. But, Rat Race is also clever.
Yes, Rat Race has tasteless humor. But, Rat Race is also a Jungian journey into the recesses of each protagonist’s psyche.
But, yes, Rat Race IS funny.
Thanks for the suggestions everyone!
Correction: The Disney movie that scared my oldest was Sleeping Beauty, not Cinderella.
They have already seen Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music. (Of course, after watching The Sound of Music, they got into a fight over who in the family could get to be which character: I was obviously Captain von Trapp, my wife was Maria, but the two boys argued about who was to be Friedrich and who was to be Kurt. We had to make a rule that you are no longer allowed to fight about The Sound of Music.)
They have also seen Babe and Babe: Pig in the City. Liked those movies a lot.
I have The Black Stallion (a great movie!) at home and tried to watch it once a few years ago, but the beginning with the horse stamping around the ship was deemed too scary by the kids and I had to turn it off. Maybe now would be a good time to try it again.
Thanks for reminding me about Muppet movies, and mentioning some good classic action/adventure stories. Those will go in the queue.
The only Miyazaki movie I’ve shown them so far is Ponyo. Maybe I could try Spirited Away or Howl’s Moving Castle, I’ll have to rewatch those first. Princess Mononoke, IMO, would be too bloody for them at this age. I don’t mind scary/creepy, but I don’t like too much blood or hitting. On the other hand, they both loved Kung Fu Panda. the “Return to Oz” clip that Ranchoth posted looked just about right. I’ll have to try and find that.
Leaffan: I’m sure my kids could watch the same movie every night too! But I sure couldn’t.
Archive Guy, when you say “The Adventures of Robin Hood”, I assume you mean the Errol Flynn / Olivia de Havilland / Basil Rathbone / Claude Rains version?
I don’t know if they would get much of the humor in Marx Brothers movies.
GuanoLad: You mentioend Nanny McPhee, that’s funny because both of them have been talking about a “Nanny McPhee” this week! I thought they got them from a library book. Maybe their grandma showed them the movie when they were at her house a couple of days ago? I had never heard the name before.
Rushgeekgirl: we also have game night, that’s Friday night. If they see a movie with Grandma during the week then Saturday night is game night instead of movie night. We were playing Lego board games but now the oldest wants to play Monopoly every time.
I don’t have time to mention everyone in here, but thanks to you, the children’s Netflix queue has movies for the rest of the year!
Try A Night at the Opera first. Much of that is visual.
Regarding chases, how about It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World?
I know there’s a new Wallace & Grommit movie out, but I don’t know if it’s available in the U.S. yet. Something about them being in the bakery business this time. When it is out, I’ll be first in line to rent it!
ETA: I don’t think Chicken Run has been mentioned. I could see that one again. As well as Flushed Away.
:eek:
[CENTER]…
:eek:[/CENTER]
There are two movies, based on the book series. The most recent hasn’t come out in the US yet. Due next month.
And Mr. Bean’s Holiday
Another movie ruined forever. I thought about watching it recently, but I couldn’t get the image out of my head of Rocky smacking around Ginger, and telling her she deserved it.
Another movie my kids checked out of the library constantly was The Rocketeer.
Great fun!
There are a couple of movies on tonight in Australia that fit your criteria.
Roald Dahl’s The Witches, which is a little creepy in places but is generally a good family adventure film.
101 Dalmatians, the live action version with Jeff Daniels, Joely Richardson, and Glenn Close (and Hugh Laurie).
Another movie that might work is Court Jester or The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (also Danny Kaye).
Here’s a clip from Court Jester and one from The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. Most of the fun comes from trying to repeat some of the tongue twisting things Danny Kaye could pull off. 
It should already be out (it’s called A Matter of Loaf and Death). I saw it as part of a pack with the W&G shorts just yesterday. I had wondered if it was a new movie, I’ll have to go back and get it.
double post
Just a side note: Don’t be hesitant to switch movies if the kids can’t stand one of your childhood favorites. Today’s kids have different tastes, and attention spans, and expectations of movies.
Especially humor: you may find that Groucho and Zeppo, or Alfalfa and Bu’whee’ or Moe vs Curly just doesn’t crack up your kids.
(they may not say “You must show me these stooges!” – Seinfeld reference)
I’ve started a couple of beloved classics, only to be greeted with yawns, or rolling eyes, or even a full-fledged revolt (hey, I swear I did not remember that the original Doctor Doolittle started with a half hour of Virtually Nothing Happening).
Now, if they didn’t like The Goonies, on the other hand, I’d have both kids listed on eBay by midnight.