# When you were a kid, what was your favourite film? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 6, 2009, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-were-a-kid-what-was-your-favourite-film/520154 "2009-12-06T02:24:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-were-a-kid-what-was-your-favourite-film/520154/21 "2009-12-06T03:58:30Z")
Robin Hood. In two different versions! The 1938 Errol Flynn flick _The Adventures of Robin Hood_ was probably my favorite. It was re-run a lot in the early-mid 1970’s TV and I watched it endlessly on a little black and white portable television and thus thought was a black and white film well into adulthood. But also Disney’s 1973 _Robin Hood_. Widely considered a lesser Disney flick, but I ate it up. It was the first soundtrack I ever owned :D. After that the _Planet of the Apes_ franchise was way up there. I had some of the action figures, including the treehouse. ---
**Author:** ![Jihi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jihi/32/17768_2.png) [@Jihi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jihi)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-were-a-kid-what-was-your-favourite-film/520154/22 "2009-12-06T04:03:20Z")
Born in '81. When I was a kid I loved Flight of the Navigator myself, though it’s been years since I’ve seen it. I’m not sure it would hold up to a current viewing based on what I remember of it. For movies that still hold up today, anything with Spielberg/Lucas involved. Star Wars, Indiana Jones, E.T., and the Goonies all saw many viewings. I also loved the “Secret of Nimh”, and the Dark Crystal. Both of those seemed so dark and mysterious at the time. Ghostbusters still remains one of my favorite movies of all time. I also, for some odd reason, absolutely loved Disney’s “Robin Hood”. The one from the 70’s where Robin and Marian were foxes and Little John was the bear from the Jungle Book. I was never a “Disney Kid” as for the most part I’ve never been all that interested in their movies, but for some reason this film really appealed to me. ETA: And I see **Tamerlane** beat me to it. 😃 ---
**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:** [December 6, 2009, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-were-a-kid-what-was-your-favourite-film/520154/23 "2009-12-06T04:09:29Z")
_Return of the Jedi_, though I was a teenager by then. I can’t recall a favourite when I was under ten. I didn’t go to see too many movies when I was that age, as I lived in a tiny fishing village in the middle of nowhere, and saw maybe three movies a year, and never got to see any twice. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-were-a-kid-what-was-your-favourite-film/520154/24 "2009-12-06T04:20:06Z")
**Back to the Future.** **The Fly** ('86 remake) would be a close second. BTTF is still one of my favorites. Up there with 2001 and Close Encounters. ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-were-a-kid-what-was-your-favourite-film/520154/25 "2009-12-06T04:27:51Z")
I am at the threshold of the age of home video. My kids definitely equate “favorite movie” with “a movie I pick off the shelf and watch over and over again at will”. But to me while growing up, my “favorite movie” would have been something that dominated my imagination, like the _Star Wars_ movies did… But I would only have seen it maybe once or twice in my life until that point, plus the occasional movie clip on a TV show about movies like the Oscars or somesuch (my parents not being the sort to take me to see the same movie again and again). On the other hand, there were other movies I also liked but got to see many, many, many times, enough to recite the dialogue and recall key scenes vividly even unto today. Obvious examples would be _The Sound of Music_ and _The Wizard of Oz_, which were televised every year on network TV, and most especially _Jason and the Argonauts_. I went to the same day camp every summer for something like 5 years running, and every time a scheduled outdoor activity was canceled they’d herd us into the auditorium of the high school building they were using over the summer and run a reel-to-reel projector for us onto a big screen. But all they had were a few reels of Popeye cartoons, and _Jason and the Argonauts_. I can still remember the skeletons coming out of the ground and the fight scene that followed. That was the only scene where the entire auditorium stopped farting around and watched the movie, often mimicking swordfighting in the seats (since we’d all see the movie up to 10 times a summer). YouTube shows [this clip](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yYeZMx1Y7U) which matches my recollection, which means it was the 1963 film adaptation. My family didn’t get a VCR until at least 1985 (by which time I was 14), and mostly used it to tape TV shows rather than buy home movies. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-were-a-kid-what-was-your-favourite-film/520154/26 "2009-12-06T04:33:27Z")
Little kid: _ **Disney’s Pinocchio** _ Medium kid: _ **The Subject Was Roses** _ Tweener: _ **Jeremiah Johnson** _ High School: _ **All That Jazz** _ ---
**Author:** ![SleepyDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@SleepyDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SleepyDuck)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-were-a-kid-what-was-your-favourite-film/520154/27 "2009-12-06T04:43:13Z")
Kid of the '70s, pre-VCR. Charlotte’s Web (Still like it, for different reasons nowadays) Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (I hate remakes, BTW, and yes, I actually did read the book. And the glass elevator sequel.) Gus (A doper flicked me some shit on this one, once, but he’s banned now so, karma right? I mean how could a young football fan not like a movie about a field goal kicking mule?) ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-were-a-kid-what-was-your-favourite-film/520154/28 "2009-12-06T04:44:17Z")
_Jaws_, which I saw at the theater when I was 8. My daughter, Sophia, her favorite movies are _War of the Worlds_ (the “Scary Monster Alien Robot Movie”, or SMARM for short) and _The Lord of the Rings_, especially any scene with [Legolove](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=514628). ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-were-a-kid-what-was-your-favourite-film/520154/29 "2009-12-06T04:53:12Z")
As I aged: Wizard of Oz The Incredible Mr. Limpet The Forbidden Planet the original War of the Worlds Star Wars ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-were-a-kid-what-was-your-favourite-film/520154/30 "2009-12-06T04:58:49Z")
[The 36th Chamber of Shaolin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_36th_Chamber_of_Shaolin), or some other Run Run Shaw/Golden Harvest Kung fu film they showed late night Fridays. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-were-a-kid-what-was-your-favourite-film/520154/31 "2009-12-06T05:02:10Z")
Also the Disney Robin Hood. I still enjoy watching it. ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-were-a-kid-what-was-your-favourite-film/520154/32 "2009-12-06T05:06:34Z")
I was 12 twelve years old in May of 1977. I ony saw Star Wars three times during its first run, but I knew kids from richer families who went to the theater every weekend that summer. ---
**Author:** ![kitemaker\_chuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a88e4f/32.png) [@kitemaker\_chuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitemaker_chuck)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-were-a-kid-what-was-your-favourite-film/520154/33 "2009-12-06T05:14:36Z")
Well, I’m 56-something. Among my favourites growing up… **You’ll Find Out!** **Forbidden Planet** **The Day the Earth Stood Still** (That’s the original version) **Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines** **The Dam Busters** ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-were-a-kid-what-was-your-favourite-film/520154/34 "2009-12-06T05:24:02Z")
My top 3 favorite movies growing up (roughly age 9 through high school years) were _Stalag 17_, _Bridge On The River Kwai_ and _Rear Window_. And they still top the list. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-were-a-kid-what-was-your-favourite-film/520154/35 "2009-12-06T07:52:51Z")
Star Wars, Dark Crystal, Neverending Story, Back to the Future were my early favs. ET and Gremlins were good too. Honorary mention to Sound of Music, Wizard of Oz, and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang for their annual TV appearances. ---
**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:** [December 6, 2009, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-were-a-kid-what-was-your-favourite-film/520154/36 "2009-12-06T08:31:10Z")
Journey to the Center of the Earth, The Time Machine, Charade, Wait Until Dark, The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad, Attack of the Killer Shrews, Pollyanna, Lady and the Tramp, The Parent Trap, The Trouble With Angels, Peter Pan (Mary Martin), Vertigo, The Birds, and assorted zombie movies. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-were-a-kid-what-was-your-favourite-film/520154/37 "2009-12-06T08:43:41Z")
The Beastmaster. > **[The Beastmaster (1982) ⭐ 6.2 | Action, Adventure, Fantasy](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083630/)** > > 1h 58m | PG ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-were-a-kid-what-was-your-favourite-film/520154/38 "2009-12-06T08:58:35Z")
Didn’t have a VCR growing up, but there were yearly showings of movies on television that were as big a carrot held over us kids, regarding homework and being ‘good’, as any holiday was. Sound of Music…Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang…Wizard of Oz…West Side Story…and my personal favorite, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate factory. I do believe Gene Wilder was my first crush! \<3 Oddly enough, as an adult, I confess I don’t care for musicals. But the ones I grew up with, I still absolutely adore. ---
**Author:** ![GESancMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gesancman/32/2923_2.png) [@GESancMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GESancMan)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-were-a-kid-what-was-your-favourite-film/520154/39 "2009-12-06T09:13:53Z")
Another one for _Star Wars_ here. It came out just before my 6th birthday. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-were-a-kid-what-was-your-favourite-film/520154/40 "2009-12-06T12:08:04Z")
\*The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms. \*Scared the bejesus out of me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-were-a-kid-what-was-your-favourite-film/520154.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-were-a-kid-what-was-your-favourite-film/520154.md?page=3)