So here is my totally unofficial, unscientific, just for fun list of our family’s top 50 films for children.
50. Prince Caspian
49. Shrek 4
48. Old Yeller
47. Short Circuit
46. Sinbad- legend of the 7 seas
44. Surfs Up
43.ET
42. Mary Poppins
41. How to Train Your Dragon
40. Sound of Music
39. The Rescuers
38. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
37. Wallace and Grommet and the case of the Ware Rabbit
36 George of the Jungle
35. Hoodwinked
34. Chicken Run
33. A Bugs Life
32 Wizard of Oz
31. Iron Giant
30. Home Alone
29. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
28. Matilda
27. Aladin
26. Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone
25. Joseph and the Technicolour Dreamcoat
24. Ice Age
23. Wall E
22. Madagascar
21. Kung Fu Panda
20. Prince of Egypt
19. Monsters Inc
18.Peter Pan
17. Shrek
16. Time Bandits
15. Despicable Me
14. Voyage of the Dawn Treader
13. Dumbo
12. Jungle Book
11. Horton Hears a Hoo
10. The Incredibles
9. Karate Kid
8. Up
7. Princess Bride
6. Lion the Witch and the Wadrobe
5. Lion King
4. Toy Story 3
3. Toy Story
2. Finding Nemo
1. Toy Story 2
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My top ten
10. Up
9. Cars
8. Happy Feet
7. The Incredibles
6. Finding Nemo
5. Monsters Inc
4. Ratatouille
3. How to Train your Dragon
2. Toy Story
1. Madagascar
Have watched all of these multiple times, Pixar films in particular are AMAZING!!
good call on how to train your dragon - loved that movie - forgot to put it in - hmmm will have to rethink - maybe madagascar 2 gets bumped off the list
I wouldn't consider myself an expert on children's films - that's a genre that will be revisited in the coming years for us. However, I'm surprised Shrek 3 makes it into the list - I found that the most disappointing of the Shrek trilogy. It's fairly old school, but The Sound of Music surely should be there as a children's classic, though you rescued your classics with the like of Old Yeller.
I've not seen the Joseph film you include - is it better than Prince of Egypt?
Personally, I think more Disney could have gone in there, and Wallace & Grommit, but that's where personal preference comes in.
What do your kids have as their top 10?
prince of egypt is a good call as is Sound of Music - hmm let me rejig
I'd have to add Watership Down, The Railway Children and Honey I Shrunk the Kids to your list. Also I'm wondering how you would define a kids film as opposed to a film that is suitable for kids to watch or a family film for example? Many of the films on your list aren't just for kids, particularly the many Pixar films. I'd also question Time Bandits as being a kids film even though it has a child protagonist. Also it could be argued that things like the original Star Wars films, all rate 'U', and accompanied by a raft of merchandising, are also kids films.
Surely you'd have to have Bolt in there?
An interesting list - although very much dominated by modern American animation. And this is where I start to get geeky...
The obvious omission is clearly any work by Hayao Miyazaki (in fact, Studio Ghibli doesn't seem to get a look in). My Neighbour Totoro is regarded by many (including Pixar boss John Lassiter and animation legend Terry Gilliam) as the greatest animated film ever - something I'd be inclined to agree with. At the very least, his latest film, Ponyo - a homage to The Little Mermaid - should have made the grade.
Sticking to the more recent, mainstream films, you've not included any of the major blockbusters such as Back to the Future or Raiders of the Lost Ark, let alone Star Wars: A New Hope (the less said about the prequels, however, the better...). Even Who Framed Roger Rabbit is probably worthy of a children's list.
Going slightly further back, and plugging into our own childhood, Dougal and the Blue Cat (far superior to the CG Magic Roundabout film of recent years) is certainly worth a look.
I'm intrigued that there are no films from the early days of Hollywood. Charlie Chaplin could easily be a contender - take your pick from Modern Times, the Gold Rush, the Circus or, probably the most obvious one for children, the Kid. Buster Keaton's Sherlock Jr is another classic showcasing probably the greatest comedian of the last 100 years. Or, if you feel these may be a little "highbrow", why not go for Harold Lloyd's Safety Last?
Moving into the sound age, but sticking with physical comedy, Laurel and Hardy are still able to raise many a laugh in young and old. My choice would be Way Out West but there are more than enough to go for (Sons of the Desert and Our Relations would be a couple of others to consider).
There are also no classic swashbucklers to get the excitement pumping. Yes, there's The Princess Bride (although chances are some of the jokes will go over the heads of little ones) but what about the greats from the early days of the silver screen? The Thief of Bagdad may be a little too far back (although it paved the way for all the action movies since) but Errol Flynn in The Adventures of Robin Hood is certainly more than adequate. And, depending on how young the kids are, the original King Kong with Queen of Scream Faye Wray (rather than the disasterous 1970s remake or Peter Jackson's bloated attempt) is a thriller from start to finish (I suspect the Japanese Godzilla films may be a little too much for young tastes - not least because of the subtitles - but when they get older, definitely worth showing them one of these too).
Of course, unless your kids are bilingual, there's no point looking abroad too much. However, relatively silent films such as The Red Balloon and Tati's brilliant Monsieur Hulot's Holiday shouldn't cause them any trouble.
Well, those are just a few thoughts. I've left off anything too scary (Coraline is a modern classic but, depending on the age and disposition of your kids, may leave them with nightmares). At the very least, it may introduce a few films that you've not seen yet either.
Oh, and interesting that you went for the Lion King rather than Kimba the White Lion, the 1960s Japanese series which Disney allegedly plagarised for their own film. But I digress... ;-)
My neighbour Totoro is a great recommendation - going to check that one out of Lovefilm
We have both Totoro and Ponyo, as well as Howl's Moving Castle (amazing), Spirited Away (amazing), and Kiki's Delivery Service (great). We bought "Castle in the Sky" and promptly took it back because of the machine gun violence (2 year old). Anyways, just wanted to say that your extend-a-mix comment made my day and is a shining example of why I keep a long attention span. I love getting through all the crap to find that one piece of art that makes it all worth it, in this case a comment.
Eh?! Home Alone and Star Wars IV not in the top five :(
CARS!!!
I have to put Cars at number 1. I have a 3 year old and the only thing he will watch is Cars.
#48. Did you mean 'Old Yeller?"
tangled and the goonies! amazing films
BEE Movie ppl!! Also ELF
- the rest I agree with :)
you forgot Labyrinth, Willow, never ending story and a few other good ones from the 80s you dumb azz noob