There is something a little magical about popping up a huge bowl of buttery popcorn, throwing a mass of blankets and pillows on the floor, turning down the lights, and settling in as a family to watch a movie. The greasy fingers and the community kitchen towel “napkin”. The giggles and the “oohs” and “ahhs” that only children can make sound so delightful. The tiny snores from the little sleeping mass who just couldn’t keep their eyes open any longer snuggled against your body.
Family movie night is a special time in our house. Forgetting about the bills and the to-do lists and getting engrossed in the wonderment of cinema with my family from the comfort of our little “nest” of blankets and pillows has a way of making me feel perfectly content.
My kids are both under 6 years old which means the movies we pick for family movie night are kid-friendly and usually G-rated. But kid-friendly doesn’t mean you have to spend two hours watching Dora the Explorer wondering how you can shut that map up. I’m thankful that the movies we watch on family movie night are not only kid-friendly but adult-friendly too. Even better is that my kids are open to watching movies that weren’t made this decade—or the last several decades for that matter.
There are some really great movies from our childhood that we can’t wait to share with our kids. We have already watched some of our favorites for family movie nights—The Wizard of Oz, Bedknobs & Broomsticks, Mary Poppins, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory—and our 5 year old loved them all.
When we watch a movie together that I watched as child and I see that gleam of excitement in my children’s eyes—that same gleam I had in my own eyes when I watched that movie as a child—I feel like I’ve won the memory-making lottery. It’s nostalgia and new experiences all balled together into one awesome experience. It makes me want to scour Netflix and fill my queue with all my favorites from 25+ years ago for future family movie nights.
It will definitely include the these great movies from my childhood.
Princess Bride
Andre the Giant, awesome lines of dialogue that never get old, and Inigo Montoya.
Big
Zoltar, FAO Schwarz, and tiny corn.
Goonies
Pirates, adventures, and tiny but totally not-yet-creepy Corey Feldman.
A Christmas Story
Major awards, bunny pajamas, and Red Ryder BB guns!
The Dark Crystal & Labyrinth
Yes I realize these were both on my Totally Creepy Movies From Our Youth list but they are so much more than just creepy. Jim Henson’s involvement alone makes them a must see in my opinion.
Do you have any movies from your childhood that you can’t wait to share with your own kids? Share them with us in the comments!
Holly teaches design at a small NW Ohio college. She spends her days off hanging out with her foxy musician husband and their gorgeous new baby and ridiculously smart pre-school aged son. Holly has a passion for food, photography, beautiful letter forms, and the possibilities that can be found in a single sheet of well made paper. You can read more from Holly on her blog, Artist Mother Teacher.
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Okay, the only movie on this list I’ve seen is Christmas Story…and that was only last year. I know.
Kelli! You need to remedy this. Stat. I suggest you start with Princess Bride. Then Goonies.
I don’t have kids, but Neverending Story.
Yes! Make sure you have tissues handy for the Swamps of Sorrow.
oh, yes, many tissues.
Teen Witch, Halloweentown, Last Starfighter, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Pete’s Dragon, Pollyanna, Thomasina, and many others that are locked in my memory vault that I can’t think of right now.
We’ve watched Chitty Chitty Bang Bang with my first already! <3 I wonder if my boys would enjoy the original Parent Trap even a fraction as much as I did?
My kids are finally old enough to watch these awesome movies and we do for Friday Fun Night! Now, I’m just waiting for my girl to be old enough for Dirty Dancing and Stand By Me, ahhhh.
So fun! Are they enjoying them too?
Stand By Me – YES!!!! It’ll take awhile, mainly because of the language since my son is so young. And Gremlins. Which I already own. Oh, and Jaws. Which I absolutely love (but again, it has to wait until he’s older).
Also, when I was in my early teens (14, 15) my dad and I used to stay up late watching horror movies and making fun of them. (One of the cable stations would do Friday the 13th marathons every Friday the 13th, Halloween marathons around Halloween, etc.). At a time when my dad and I were fighting quite a bit, these movies gave us space to relax and reconnect, a way to remind us that we still liked being around each other, even when we didn’t agree on things. They are some of my best memories from high school, and I’m excited to share this with my teenage son, when he gets there
My dad and I used to watch the “Up All Night” movies together. Totally awful 80s B movies (think Howard the Duck, et al). LOVE that memory.
My sister and I loved Pippi Longstocking movieswe watched them all the time and I still watch them now! I also like Seiss Family Robinson, Freaky Friday, The Muppet movie.
We love the Muppets! My oldest has seen a good majority of the Muppet shows and we have watched several of the movies as a family. He is adamant that we purchase the entire collection.
I proudly introduced my grandson to the world of the Stooges (three, not Iggy and the), and he laughs his butt off! He also loves the Back To The Future trilogy. ( “one point twenty-one gigawatts!”)
I may be a little older than some of you, but my dad and I would watch old movies on Saturdays & Sundays in the late 70′s-early 80′s. Probably on TBS or TNT, whatever station it was that started all it’s shows 5 minutes past the hour. “Circus World” and “Hatari” with John Wayne. “The Greatest Show on Earth” with Jimmy Stewart. “North by Northwest” was another staple. “Magnificent Seven”. Not to mention “The Sound of Music” and “The King & I”. When I was a pre-teen, he would waltz me around the room during ‘Shall We Dance’.
The Princess Bride is still one of my favourites, even as an adult. I don’t know that’s it’s overly child-like but I sure loved Stand By Me too!
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