Great lost/underrated children's movies

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Preferably for quite SMALL children, plz.

― adam.r.l. (nordicskilla), Thursday, 24 February 2005 19:45 (twenty years ago)

You mean kids who will grow up to be dwarves?

Anyway...Matilda.

― Huk-L, Thursday, 24 February 2005 19:48 (twenty years ago)

Anyone seen Dr. Seuss' 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T???

― peepee (peepee), Thursday, 24 February 2005 19:49 (twenty years ago)

Wow, I was just gonna suggest 5,000 fingers! I've seen about 15 minutes of it, and I always liked the Man or Astroman? song that uses a bit of it as an intro.

― jel -- (jel), Thursday, 24 February 2005 19:53 (twenty years ago)

Bedknobs and Broomsticks. Not lost, but definitely underrated.
From the days before Philip Schofield and Children's BBC from the broom cupboard, I vaguely remember the Friday Film Special. There was one they showed sometimes which involved ghosts too, but I have no idea what it was called. Anyone else remember?

― beanz (beanz), Thursday, 24 February 2005 19:53 (twenty years ago)

Disney's The Black Hole
The Peanut Butter Solution

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Thursday, 24 February 2005 19:56 (twenty years ago)

Flight of the Dragons. I don't remember if it's actually any good or not, but I sure thought it was when I was a wee lad.

― Huk-L, Thursday, 24 February 2005 19:56 (twenty years ago)

Terminator, my cousin used to watch it all the time.

― jel -- (jel), Thursday, 24 February 2005 19:57 (twenty years ago)

I have seen Dr T and love it!

― adam.r.l. (nordicskilla), Thursday, 24 February 2005 19:57 (twenty years ago)

One of my favorite movies as a child was Wizards, which, it turns out, is extremely fucked up.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Thursday, 24 February 2005 19:58 (twenty years ago)

just got in a discussion with a friend about how great and strange Peanut Butter Solution is and how no one remembers it.

― andrew m. (andrewmorgan), Thursday, 24 February 2005 20:00 (twenty years ago)

What is it???

― adam.r.l. (nordicskilla), Thursday, 24 February 2005 20:00 (twenty years ago)

The Court Jester! I used to love Danny Kaye as a kid. Also, The Adventures of Picasso, a Swedish comedy from 1978 that's basically a silent film.

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Thursday, 24 February 2005 20:02 (twenty years ago)

It's like, these ghosts use peanut butter to make these potions that...uh...god, that movie was so weird.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Thursday, 24 February 2005 20:02 (twenty years ago)

Chuck Jones's Rikki Tikki Tavi and The White Seal were finally just released on DVD. They are sublime. However, one is about snakes and the other has attempted seal-clubbing, but both are solidly G-Rated.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Thursday, 24 February 2005 20:03 (twenty years ago)

Can I mention Emmett Otter's Jugband Christmas here? It used to be on network tv every Christmas, and now I can barely ever find anyone who even recognizes the name.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Thursday, 24 February 2005 20:04 (twenty years ago)

The bad-guy band was called like the RIVER BOTTOM NIGHTMARE BAND for pete's sake!

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Thursday, 24 February 2005 20:04 (twenty years ago)

I'm still trying to hunt down reasonable copies of The Little Mole aka "Krtek". Learn of my favorite ever cartoon character here

He would be suitable for the youngest children.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Thursday, 24 February 2005 20:05 (twenty years ago)

OMG that mole is the cutest thing I've ever seen!

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Thursday, 24 February 2005 20:07 (twenty years ago)

Yes he is. The animation is amazing. Every background is beautiful.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Thursday, 24 February 2005 20:07 (twenty years ago)

When I'm feeling especially twee, I consider him my alter ego. Like, he's the only thing I would ever get tattooed!

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Thursday, 24 February 2005 20:08 (twenty years ago)

He is also Czech.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Thursday, 24 February 2005 20:09 (twenty years ago)

Ah yes, the Mole is great! They used to show it on Finnish TV constantly when I was a kid. If I remember correctly there was one episode where they showed an anatomically correct birth...

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Thursday, 24 February 2005 20:09 (twenty years ago)

You can get all sorts of Mole merchandise in Prague, I brought a friend of mine, who's a big Mole fan, a stuffed toy, she was delighted.

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Thursday, 24 February 2005 20:10 (twenty years ago)

I'm still trying to hunt down reasonable copies of The Little Mole aka "Krtek". Learn of my favorite ever cartoon character here.

Haha! I know Krtek well! We almost bought a giant (like, 4ft tall!) Krtek in the airport on our way home from Prague!

XPOST!!!!

― adam.r.l. (nordicskilla), Thursday, 24 February 2005 20:11 (twenty years ago)

"Look at the birds... up in the trees..."

"We're not birds! We're a jugband!"

I'll vote for a production of the Film Board of Canada: Paddle To The Sea, based on the book. It's an amazing film about a little wooden canoe carved by a sick child and sent on an epic journey to the ocean... it's even slightly educational.

And, of course, "The Red Balloon," possibly the greatest children's film ever made.

― andy --, Thursday, 24 February 2005 20:12 (twenty years ago)

xpost
OMG!!! I would make him the best man at my wedding and leave everything to him in my will!

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Thursday, 24 February 2005 20:14 (twenty years ago)

I knew they did an Imax sequel of "The Black Stallion," but have they ever done a theatrical re-release of the original? That seems like kind of a timeless movie... I LOVED it when I was a kid.

― andy --, Thursday, 24 February 2005 20:16 (twenty years ago)

Spencer, that Krtek page is wonderful.

― adam.r.l. (nordicskilla), Thursday, 24 February 2005 20:19 (twenty years ago)

I love him! There are German DVDs, but they're expensive (and PAL).

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Thursday, 24 February 2005 20:20 (twenty years ago)

Does anyone Rainbow Brite? God I loved that movie as a kid! Brite was cool!

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Thursday, 24 February 2005 20:21 (twenty years ago)

And the robot horse was über-cool!

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Thursday, 24 February 2005 20:21 (twenty years ago)

"Does anyone remember"

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Thursday, 24 February 2005 20:21 (twenty years ago)

Here I was hoping that the Rainbow Brite was a Finnish dance I'd never heard of before.

― The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Thursday, 24 February 2005 20:22 (twenty years ago)

http://home.comcast.net/~saellow/krtek.autootje.jpg

― adam.r.l. (nordicskilla), Thursday, 24 February 2005 20:23 (twenty years ago)

My wife LOVES Rainbow Brite.

― adam.r.l. (nordicskilla), Thursday, 24 February 2005 20:24 (twenty years ago)

Shake it, Tuomas!

http://www.rainbowbrite.net/pics/rb14.gif

― The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Thursday, 24 February 2005 20:24 (twenty years ago)

In retrospect, all those Don Bluth animated films from the 80s (Land Before Time, An American Tale, All Dog's Go to Heaven [all of them EXCEPT Secret of NIMH]) have aged HORRIBLY.

x-post thanks to my sister's obsession with Rainbow Brite & My Little Pony et al, I know exactly which robot horse Tuomas just referenced! THe only time during the whole Rainbow Brite movie I didn't feel like a tool!

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Thursday, 24 February 2005 20:24 (twenty years ago)

From the days before Philip Schofield and Children's BBC from the broom cupboard, I vaguely remember the Friday Film Special. There was one they showed sometimes which involved ghosts too, but I have no idea what it was called. Anyone else remember?

There was a *really scary* one about a haunted Cornish tin mine - was that the one you're thinking of?

The one about a Welsh nuclear power station going into meltdown was pretty scary, too - but of course it all works out OK in the end.

― caitlin (caitlin), Thursday, 24 February 2005 20:26 (twenty years ago)

There was some sort of a cyborg boy hero who rode the horse, but he didn't matter because Brite was a lot cooler. That was probably the first time I fell in love with a cartoon character.

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Thursday, 24 February 2005 20:27 (twenty years ago)

I used to love those Faerie Tale Theatre things as a kid. In retrospect, they may be quite bad and/or scary. But c'mon: Mick Jagger is the Chinese Emperor! Spock is in them! and OMG adam ELLIOT GOULD PLAYS THE GIANT in Jack and the Beanstalk.
Also, The Secret of Roan Inish is quite delightful.

― jocelyn (Jocelyn), Thursday, 24 February 2005 20:28 (twenty years ago)

what was that one about the dog, the one who stopped that war?

― mark p (Mark P), Thursday, 24 February 2005 20:28 (twenty years ago)

A Dog of Flanders?

― jocelyn (Jocelyn), Thursday, 24 February 2005 20:28 (twenty years ago)

For some reason Henry Selick's James and the Giant Peach has always been left in the shadow of his Nightmare Before Christmas (not gothy enough?), even though it's almost as good, only the songs are better in Nightmare.

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Thursday, 24 February 2005 20:32 (twenty years ago)

ittp://www.kratkyfilm.cz/catalogue/images/large/381a.jpg

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Thursday, 24 February 2005 20:33 (twenty years ago)

i seem to remember thinking that the film version of The Mouse and His Child by Russel Hoban was pretty good, but I don't know if it really was or not.

― kyle (akmonday), Thursday, 24 February 2005 20:33 (twenty years ago)

http://www.kratkyfilm.cz/catalogue/images/large/381a.jpg

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Thursday, 24 February 2005 20:34 (twenty years ago)

http://www.kratkyfilm.cz/catalogue/images/large/51b.jpg

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Thursday, 24 February 2005 20:34 (twenty years ago)

Oh man, Henry Sellick's stop-motion James & The Giant Peach is one of my son's favorite movies. It was single-handedly responsible for this short phase of time in which he faked a British accent everywhere. It does the twee/scary balance so perfectly, and it's so much more bright and sunshiney than Nightmare Before Christmas.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Thursday, 24 February 2005 20:37 (twenty years ago)

the phantom tollbooth!

― grumble, Thursday, 24 February 2005 20:38 (twenty years ago)

check out the caterpillar in the lower right of the last pic!

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Thursday, 24 February 2005 20:39 (twenty years ago)

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0002V7NXO.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

― jocelyn (Jocelyn), Thursday, 24 February 2005 20:39 (twenty years ago)

THE POINT
THE SNOWMAN (animated, mostly silent thing. gorjuss.)

― Ian John50n (orion), Thursday, 24 February 2005 20:40 (twenty years ago)

Twice Upon a Time

― The Obligatory Sourpuss (Begs2Differ), Thursday, 24 February 2005 20:50 (twenty years ago)

from an Amazon review of that movie (never released widely, although it played for months in Oregon in 1983, I saw it like six times): "Ralph the All Purpose Animal, his silent but ever - so - cool sidekick Mumford, a no-nonsense fairy godmother , aspiring actress Flora Fauna, and "perspiring superhero" wannabe Rod Rescueman attempt to save the town of Din from the eternal nightmares of the evil Murkworks, headed by villian extraordinaire Synonammess Botch and his flock of evil vultures Rudy and the Minions. "

― The Obligatory Sourpuss (Begs2Differ), Thursday, 24 February 2005 20:54 (twenty years ago)

"Obviously the Mole, being a Chzec, appreciates a good pint."

http://members1.chello.nl/~e.bruyn01/Molletjebladzijden/krtekbord.jpg

― j.lu (j.lu), Thursday, 24 February 2005 20:56 (twenty years ago)

ha! another coincidence w/stuff mentioned here: i am all unshaven today and i put on my black wrap-around shades and i thought i looked like that leader type dude in the riverbottom nightmare band!

peanut butter solution involves a kid who wants his hair to grow. and it does. a lot. even "down there." out the bottom of his pants leg! which weirded me out as a pre-pubescent.

― andrew m. (andrewmorgan), Thursday, 24 February 2005 21:15 (twenty years ago)

the last unicorn, maybe it hasn't aged so well though. I'm glad someone already mentioned secred of roan inish.

Did they make cricket in times square into a movie, or was that my imagination? I loved those books.

― teeeny, Thursday, 24 February 2005 21:40 (twenty years ago)

Yes! Chuck Jones did it. It's on The White Seal DVD as a bonus!!

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Thursday, 24 February 2005 21:45 (twenty years ago)

http://cdn.nflximg.com/us/boxshots/large/60032294.jpg

― Tortoro, Thursday, 24 February 2005 21:47 (twenty years ago)

I think A Cricket In Times Square was an animated feature, I remember it vaguely.

WATERSHIP DOWN shows children how their problems can be solved with violence.

― andy --, Thursday, 24 February 2005 21:49 (twenty years ago)

http://www.scifilm.org/images3/watershipdown3.jpg

― andy --, Thursday, 24 February 2005 21:51 (twenty years ago)

Andy, I just said it just came out on DVD! There's also another 'Cricket' cartoon on the Rikki Tikki Tavi disc.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Thursday, 24 February 2005 21:53 (twenty years ago)

i was a big fan of Dr. Suess' The Lorax

― andrew m. (andrewmorgan), Thursday, 24 February 2005 22:27 (twenty years ago)

I just got that on DVD too! I'm going into fully regressive mode!

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Thursday, 24 February 2005 22:29 (twenty years ago)

I'll vote for a production of the Film Board of Canada: Paddle To The Sea, based on the book.

I'm a fan of the book. Is the film animated?

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Thursday, 24 February 2005 22:31 (twenty years ago)

Actually, Paddle To The Sea is NOT animated... so you actually see the little indian canoe going down all these waterfalls, through a forest fire, all the way to the Great Lakes and then to the ocean... it's a pretty amazing film.

― andy --, Thursday, 24 February 2005 22:50 (twenty years ago)

i have never seen the film of leon garfield's BLACK JACK (which had uk cinema release) but ALWAYS wanted to — penman gave it a rave in v.early 80s in nme film review section

― mark s (mark s), Thursday, 24 February 2005 23:38 (twenty years ago)

oh man! my favorite part of the peanut butter solution is that he loses his hair because of "hairum scarum:" a condition where your hair JUMPS OFF YOUR HEAD because you are so scared!! also that he is kidnapped by a man who makes paintbrushes out of his oodles of hair?so good, so weird.

― gunther heartymeal (keckles), Thursday, 24 February 2005 23:40 (twenty years ago)

I agree with Gunther. Her and I talk about the Señor quite a bit.

― jill schoelen is the queen of my dreams! (Homosexual II), Thursday, 24 February 2005 23:42 (twenty years ago)

I was the Senor for halloween one year. Although I didn't have JIM (pronounced JEEM) to keep me company.

― gunther heartymeal (keckles), Thursday, 24 February 2005 23:43 (twenty years ago)

The Peanut Butter Solution

Nick, are you crazy? This is one of the perviest movies I've ever seen. It's terrrrrrrrrible!

― Remy (null) (x Jeremy), Friday, 25 February 2005 03:00 (twenty years ago)

The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T is a total trip. Blew my mind as a kid.
The Last Unicorn is excellent.
Also The Brave Little Toaster and The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars. Both awesome animated movies for kids that parents can enjoy, too,
Oh... Black Stallion, of course, and there's also a very good version of Black Beauty that was made in the early '90s, I think. Directed by Caroline Thompson. Beautifully made and quite faithful to the book.

― Hey Jude, Friday, 25 February 2005 03:08 (twenty years ago)

I must see this Paddle to the Sea movie. The DVD is only $60 at Amazon!

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Friday, 25 February 2005 03:19 (twenty years ago)

I want to see the Belle et Sebastien movies. I wish they would make movies with Petit Nicolas.

― youn, Friday, 25 February 2005 04:12 (twenty years ago)

Every kid should see "Time Bandits". It should be mandatory.

Oh, and I was in love with "Magical Mystery Tour" when i was 5 or so...

― Adam Bruneau (oliver8bit), Friday, 25 February 2005 04:55 (twenty years ago)

the last unicorn, maybe it hasn't aged so well though

I saw "The Last Unicorn" a couple years ago and it hadn't aged badly at all.

― J-rock (Julien Sandiford), Friday, 25 February 2005 06:43 (twenty years ago)

http://www.filethirteen.com/reviews/santaclaus/santaclaus.htm

― Pangolino again, Friday, 25 February 2005 06:43 (twenty years ago)

It's not lost or unknown or anything, but Disney's Robin Hood is horribly underrated relative to other Disney movies. It seems pretty clear to me that it's easily the best Disney animated feature ever, but no one else seems to see it.

― Dan I. (Dan I.), Friday, 25 February 2005 07:34 (twenty years ago)

Ah Time Bandits. Also Clockwise.

Never show small children the animated LOTR (the ending 'll only confuse them)

― Matt (Matt), Friday, 25 February 2005 07:50 (twenty years ago)

Clockwise: only film ever to be filmed in Grimsby. yay!

― caitlin (caitlin), Friday, 25 February 2005 08:33 (twenty years ago)

The Muppets Take Manhattan (not that any adults underrate this, but I don't know how many kids now have seen it)

― jocelyn (Jocelyn), Friday, 25 February 2005 13:46 (twenty years ago)

I loved the animated Robin Hood, the wee tune the cockerel sings at the start is fab.

I also loved the Don Bluths mentioned above too. All Dogs Go To Heaven was tremendous, gambling pooches? Superb!

― Rumpsy Pumpsy (Rumpie), Friday, 25 February 2005 13:53 (twenty years ago)

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory too scary for kids tho

― holojames (holojames), Friday, 25 February 2005 20:06 (twenty years ago)

i loved and feared both The Black Stallion and Time Bandits. both involved total abondoment of the kid involved, which really freaked me out. the end of Time Bandits really got to me!

― andrew m. (andrewmorgan), Friday, 25 February 2005 20:12 (twenty years ago)

one year passes...

The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T is a total trip

on Turner Classic tonight at 8. Warp your offspring ... in their do-mi-do duds!

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 23 March 2006 18:09 (nineteen years ago)

i remember thinking the Care Bears movie was awesome, also the original animated He-Man

― ryan (ryan), Thursday, 23 March 2006 18:12 (nineteen years ago)

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