), and (delightfully done) product placement.
so its imperative they know the original green killjoy whose shoes were too tight.
(They might even eventually stumble across DickensA Christmas Caroland make a literary connection.)
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Fiercely independent and with a great love of books, shes a princess role-model parents can endorse.
Give them the foundation to understanding and appreciating cinema history with one of Chaplins most personal and accessible films.
The movie is a fable of wastefulness and endurance with an extraordinarily poignant truth at its heart.
Buena Vista/Courtesy Everett Collection
Get your kids in front of this classic, stat!
every facet of Oz has been endlessly recycled, revamped, and recontextualized.
Sprinkled with references toThe Wizard of Oz,E.T.became an all-time classic in its own right.
Not that keeping a dragon as a pet is without its dangers.
Unlike most animated movies, this hero isnt invincible and even courageous risks have real consequences.
The violence leaves marks, but itsThree Stoogescartoonish.
Universal / The Kobal Collection
When things get scary or unsure, Falks narrator steps in.
When the kissing and the cheesiness start, the kid (Fred Savage) interrupts with an eye-roll.
Theyre kids from a variety of backgrounds, all faced with a challenge thats all but insurmountable.
Walt Disney Pictures/The Kobal Collection
Its like a classic Norman Rockwell painting if said painting included a campy leg-lamp and pink bunny pajamas.
Youll thank yourself when your kid rewatchesWonderful Lifeas a grown-up and realizes that the title is kind of ironic.
Serious question: Does watchingIts a Wonderful Lifemake you a better person?
Disney
But the plot hardly matters.
From a comedy standpoint, the film is chock full of bits and lines that are abnormally funny.
(Rocky?The Bad News Bears?)
Walt Disney Co./Courtesy Everett Collection
(A suitable distaff alternative isMy Girl.
Dont be in such a rush to grow up, sweetheart.
Jack Sparrow is all of that in human form.
Disney
Do you give your kids the pre-history ofSupermanand Tim BurtonsBatman?
Do you start them off with the lightheartedSpider-Manor the darker-tingedX-Men?
Even better:Crouching Tigeris an action-movie starring not one, but two strong heroines.
Courtesy Film Forum/Janus Films
Disney
Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection
20th Century-Fox Film Corp.
Disney
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20th Century Fox/Everett Collection
ILM
Paramount Pictures
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The Kobal Collection
Buena Vista Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection
Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures
Everett Collection
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20th Century Fox/The Kobal Collection
20th Century Fox/Everett Collection
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Mary Evans/ Courtesy Everett Collection
Merie Weismiller
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