Oddball Kids' Movies

[filkertom]

Only a few miles away from me, on Huron Street in Ypsi, is a reasonably new Kroger. I wanted to see if it was as nice as the one on Maple Road, where I have been shopping for a number of years. (The one on Carpenter, technically closest to my new address, and the one up on North Campus are big and clean and have maybe 60% of the stuff at the Maple Road one. The ones at Georgetown and on South Industrial... the less said, the better.)

Not bad. The produce section is huge, and very well organized. The butcher shop and deli seem decent. No Chippery or Boston Market. Very good pharmacy and magazine sections, much larger than any other Kroger in town. One cheapie DVD rack.

And on that rack was a movie I've been meaning to get for years: The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T.

Live-action musical adventure, starring Tommy ("Timmy and Lassie") Rettig as Bart, a kid who dreams of a tyrannical piano teacher, Dr. Terwilliker (Hans Conried in fine form), determined to prove his "Happy Fingers" method is the ultimate way to learn piano. Bizarre, goofy flick -- one of those that you have to show people to prove it exists.

Did I mention that the story, screenplay, and lyrics are by Dr. Seuss?

What are some of your favorite non-standard kids' films? Things like The Phantom Tollbooth would count here -- most of us in fandom know about it, but it's not a "recognized classic" like Mary Poppins or Chitty Chitty Bang Bang or The Wizard of Oz. Oh, and, just to make it more interesting, try to keep away from fully-animated films. As an example, Mary Poppins is only partially animated.

ETA: Oh, let fly on the animateds. Heck, my freakin' example, The Phantom Tollbooth, is about 90% animated.

ETA2: As long as I'm thinking of it, the animated Snow Queen -- the one shown in the U.S. with the live-action intro by Art Linkletter.

Comments

[per_solo]

*nods* One of the ones I don't remember well, saw at a young age, and then years later, seeing a Bond film, kept going "Where do I know him from??"

Can't believe I forgot it, too. Need to get it on DVD at some point...

[misterseth.livejournal.com]

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang perhaps?

[per_solo]

No, was Darby O'Gill, sorry for the confusing wording of my reply. :-)

Saw Chitty Chitty Bang Bang once, as I recall, though I should watch it again, too.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Hee. I remember Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, by Ian Fleming (which is, I bet, why you were thinking Bond). It's another lame novel that was utterly different (and, I think, way better) in the movie. Terrible, uninteresting book, incredibly fun film.

Darby O'Gill and the Little People starred Sean Connery, pre-Bond, singing and dancing and everything. It's a joy.

[dandelion-diva.livejournal.com]

Oh yes. The scene where he's getting the king schnockered is pure gold.

I have a deep love for the live action Disney movies of that era. Most of the time, the stories were just so *good*.