Fun Family Movies to watch with Young Children?

We have this Shaun the Sheep. Not sure how it fits anyone’s definition of twaddle though! (It is pretty funny)

I remember another one my kids watched recently and loved.  It was called Follow Me Boys.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Follow_Me,_Boys!  And one to keep in mind for when maybe your son gets a bit older – Srgt. York  My kids LOVE this movie.  It’s an old black and white war movie about a man who is struggling with being drafted in the war when God says not to kill.  It was based on a true story and was just exxcellent.  It’s a war movie, but does not have tons of violence, but since you son is very sensitive, I’d hold off a bit.  But maybe you and your hubby could have a date night!  🙂  http://www.amazon.com/Sergeant-York-Two-Disc-Special-Edition/dp/B000HWZ4CA

Also agree with Follow Me Boys and Sgt. York (the 2nd for later)

There were a bunch of World-of-Disney movies that were great…

Charlie the Lonesome Cougar

That Darn Cat

Pollyanna  

The Computer who wore Tennis Shoes [a little cheezy mind you – but hey, they can see a university computer from the 1960’s!)

probably others….

We just finished The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry on Netflix. It was pretty great.

I know they are old, but do you watch Veggie Tales? They always have funny things in there that crack my husband and I up. And, of course, they have a good message.

Just a comment re. Veggie Tales worthy to ponder. I have two friends who allowed their kids to view Veggie Tales a bit when they were young. Both sets of children commented that they wished they’d not seen those movies because they continued to picture real-life Bible men and women as talking veggies as they grew. Now these are responsible, Christ following young men and women, but I found it interesting that they had this comment. 

We also liked Jonathan Sperry!

I haven’t read the other posts, so sorry if I repeat some.

An extremely underrated Disney movie is “So Dear To My Heart.” It’s about a boy who raises a black lamb and wants to take him to the county fair. My kids (and I) love it, and it has some catchy music. It is half live action, half cartoon (sort of like Song of the South). His grandmother has some great lines about how he’s too caught up in the things of the world rather than the things of the Spirit. And Burl Ives plays his songster uncle.

“Benji” is painful for parents, but kids like it. A stray dog goes about his business, falls in love, saves some children from kidnappers looking for a ransom, and becomes their family pet.

“Milo and Otis” was recommended – I do not recommend it because multiple animals died during the filming, and I can’t watch it knowing that. And now, neither can you. 🙂

“Ponyo”, “The Secret World of Arietty”, and “My Neighbor Totoro” are all very gentle and sweet animated movies. They are from Japan, but Disney did the dubbing, so it’s very good. Ponyo is loosely based on the Little Mermaid, but it is 5-year-old children rather than adults. A little fish becomes a girl so she can live with the little boy who kept her in a bucket. The Secret World of Arietty is based on the Borrowers books. My Neighbor Totoro is about two young sisters who move to the country to be closer to the hospital where their mother is staying. They meet the Totoro – the magical king of the forest (apparently, it’s a Japanese myth that most children are familiar with).

Don’t forget Shirley Temple movies. 

The BBC version of “The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe” is very good. The battle scenes are not scary, even for a child, and the script remains very loyal to the books. Unlike the Disney version. There is also a 1970s cartoon version that isn’t bad.

Danny Kaye in “Merry Andrew” is absolutely delightful. I love all the Danny Kaye movies, actually. “The Court Jester”, “On the Double”, etc. 

You can get old Reading Rainbow episodes on DVD these days. We like to watch those.