Saturday night, some friends and I went to go see a midnight showing of Labrynth. Honestly, I didn’t see this movie until I was 20, so it’s never had that special a place in my heart. To my hearts joy, though, we discovered someone screwed up in the scheduling, and instead, we were treated to a viewing of The Dark Crystal, which was my all time favorite movie as a small kid. The Skeksis were absolutely awesome and terrifying, and I’ve always wanted one of those swords they used in their “Trial by Stone.” It was just a great fantasy movie, especially for a little kid. Suspense, enough monsters and ghoolies to keep me afraid yet interested, and a fun plot. It was a good weekend.
So, what are some other great childhood movies you remember?
The Goonies - The thought that there’s a huge adventure with pirates, gangsters and treasure all in your own backyard is the stuff of childhood dreams.
Ack! The Dark Crystal freaked me out! I remember The Secret of Nymm being a big kids movie. That one disturbed me too. I guess I was a pansy-assed little kid.
Now all I can remember is the weird stuff. Maybe I’ll be back later with some ones that I enjoyed.
Lorie
The movie that stuck with me longer than most did was hands down, Bless The Beasts and Children.
Running a close second was Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, a film so FILLED with double entendres and innuendo that it makes “Shrek” look like “Bambi”.
Additionally, the fantasy and incredibly layered The Phantom Tollbooth cannot be forgotten.
And, since I was only 9 years old when my father took my brother and I to see the Philadelphia premiere weekend showing of it, I guess I must add in 2001:A Space Odyssey
They just don’t make movies like that any more…god, I’m old.
:rolleyes:
Cartooniverse
I used to loveRock and Rule, which my local cable provider played incessantly (along with Superman: The Movie).
It’s an animated, futuristic, post-Apocalyptic music video-type thing with sort of “proto-furries” as characters. It’s not available on tape or DVD, so I haven’t actually seen it in about fifteen years and I suspect I wouldn’t enjoy it nearly as much as I did when I was ten.
Ray Harryhausen’s The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad. Arguably his best film, it gave us the first good Cyclops and a real fire-breathing dragon in “Dynamation/Dynarama” (Harryhausen’s name for his method of mixing his stop-motion effects with his actors) and gaudy color. Imitated lots of times since (startting with the much paler Jack the Giant Killer, which went so far as to steal the same actors and director), but never as successfully. Like a good Disney pary ride, it succeeded by taking itself seriously. Good Stuff. Now that I have it on DVD, I’ve corrupted my daughter with it.
(It came out in 1959. Even though I didn’t see it on its first run, I’m clearly a lot older than you kids. Heck, Labyrinth came out when I was in my second grad school!)
I’d say the movie I remember and loved the best from my childhood was Dr. Strangelove. I do remember leaving the theater (I was twelve at the time) thinking it was the best movie I’d ever seen.
Others were OK, but nothing impressed me as much as that.
My favorite childhood movie is Disney’s animated The Jungle Book, which is also the first movie I remember watching at a theater. I’m too young to have seen it first run so it must have been a re-release. Yes, I have seen it a few times since then and it still makes me laugh.
Let’s see, child of the late 60’s/early 70’s so:
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
Escape from Witch Mountain
Child of the late 70s/early 80s:
Parent Trap (the ORIGINAL with Haley Mills as the twins)
Summer Magic (another Haley Mills movie)
Goonies
E.T.
Wizard of Oz
My two favorites have already been mentioned - Escape from Witch Mountain and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
Star Wars came out when I was 9 so I suppose that counts too, but it just doesn’t have the same magical impact in my mind as the other two.
I also loved Sleeping Beauty and Peter Pan, but somehow I don’t think I actually saw the movies. I had a Viewmaster with those slides, and books. Remember back before cable and VCRs, when you had to actually see movies on TV or in the theater?
I didn’t see it until I was 20 (my friend hunted down some pirate copy on e-Bay after hearing that one of the characters shared her rather unusual name), but I still quite enjoyed it. I even started a thread about it a while back. It’s not by any means a great movie, but it was certainly interesting and entertaining – and Mok is the best villain ever.
The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Anderson.
This movie was shown on TV once a year when I was little girl and I cried every time I watched it. Kay and Gerda :sniff:
I’ve heard that Disney will be re-making it. They better not screw it up.
Honey
Escape to Witch Mountain and Toby Tyler were probably my favorites. Of course there was the Shirley Temple movies. I must have seen almost all of them.
An American Tail (otherwise known as “the Fievel movie”)
I loved that when I was little and I still love it, though I haven’t seen it in a while. Disney never plays it any more.
jessica
JessEnigma, that might be because it was not produced or released by Disney.
An American Tail was directed by Don Bluth, produced by Steven Spielberg, and released by Universal Pictures in 1986.
Cartooniverse
Whaaaaat? No votes for The Muppet Movie?
The Rainbow Connection used to give me that happy-but-slightly-sick-to-the-stomach-and-hairs-standing-up-on-the-back-of-the-neck-feeling that occurs so seldom in my life these days (except when listening to Shostakovich or Grieg…)
“Aah, a bear in his natural habitat. A Studebaker.”
“Aurora Borealis, shinin’ down to Dallas, cantchoo picture that!”
…and there was a line about Rolf the Dog taking himself for a walk…
Besides, just imagine how long Kermit had to train to ride a bicycle!
Time Bandits.
Dark Crystal, definitely.
E.T..
Does anyone else remember The Brave Little Toaster? That was my fave when I was little (b. 1981). I could still watch it today, it was so great. Jon Lovitz and Phil Hartman both did voices for it. But I seem to be the only person I know who remembers it.
Best Movie Ever. 