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

[kilbia.livejournal.com]

How "recognized classic" is Bedknobs and Broomsticks?

I also remember a film called Waterbabies, but I don't remember much of it other than being entranced by it, so I guess it wasn't my favorite.

And in case you never get around to asking about fully-animated ones, The Last Unicorn, beeyotch! =P

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

I certainly think Disney would like Bedknobs and Broomsticks to be recognized as a classic. ;) And we'll get to the animateds soon enough.

ETA: Silly frickin' me. Just remembered that The Phantom Tollbooth is about 90% animated. Okay, animateds are fair game. :)

[ladystarblade.livejournal.com]

Legend. Oh hush, it had unicorns in it!

And the Trifecta of 1980s Fantasy should stand here...The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, and The Neverending Story. Three 'kids' movies that didn't assume kids were stupid.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

I own all of those but The Neverending Story, which I should get at some point. Dunno that Legend counts as a kids' movie, if for no other reason that Mia Sara's dance....

[archanglrobriel.livejournal.com]

"The Brave Little Toaster is one of my favorites. I mean, it's a story about a toaster, for cryin' out loud. "The Incredible Mr. Limpet" was one that I loved when I was really small. Remember that one? Don Knotts as a neurotic fish? Oh and then there's "Gay Purree" with art by Andy Warhol and a cat voiced by Judy Garland...really you can't go wrong with that one.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

I have got to get Limpet and Gay Purr-ee. Love 'em both. For some reason, the song "Bubbles" (sung by Robert Goulet and Red Buttons) earworms me now and then.

[archanglrobriel.livejournal.com]

*laugh* Me too. That whole sequence is one of my favorite animated bits ever.

[thistlethorn.livejournal.com]

Your mentioning The Wizard Of Oz made me think immediately of 1985's Return To Oz with Fairuza Balk as Dorothy (although I wasn't a child when it came out). Beautifully done, and far truer to the Baum books in look and feel than the classic Judy Garland film (much as I love it). I always found the whole wardrobe full of heads thing so deliciously horrifying in the books, and they did a fine job of it in the movie, too.

"kids" movies

[j-e-richards.livejournal.com]

I'm very fond of the Angelica Huston (either "Rats" or "Mice") where she is the head witch turning nasty little children into mice. As is always in these tales (tails) she is foiled by the little dears, but it's a great film.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

We used to have The Worst Movie Critic In History™ at the Ann Arbor News. His name was Christopher Potter, and he was one of the biggest idiots, most pretentious jackasses, and most wrong critics EVAR. Not so bad on theater (although still pretentious), but at movies, feh. He actually wrote at one point that David Lynch's Dune just might be the best movie ever made, because of the clarity of the vision of the director.

Over a period of twenty-odd years, Potter and I agreed on precisely one movie: Return To Oz. When I read that he also thought it was a dark, complex, very well made film, much deeper and more interesting than the usual Disney fare, I spent a moment reflexively considering if I really felt that way about it -- if Potter liked it, what shit was I overlooking?

Re: "kids" movies

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

I think you're thinking of The Witches, based on the Roald Dahl book.

[briansiano.livejournal.com]

_Watership Down_.

[bayushisan.livejournal.com]

I'm glad that I'm not the only person who remember Water Babies. I remember liking it a lot but I've not seen it for a very long time.

[snobahr.livejournal.com]

• The Worst Witch series, which I think was done by BBC (I know it's British, but I'm apalled at the "English" dubbing, putting American accents over the already-English-speaking actors).
• Stuart Little
• The original live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
• Even though it's not technically a "kids' movie," I feel that no childhood can be complete without at least one viewing of The Adventures Of Robin Hood (Erroll Flynn, not Disney)
• Flash Gordon is up there, too.

[bayushisan.livejournal.com]

I'll second The Incredible Mr. Limpett and Gay Pur-ee. I'll put my vote in for the Last Unicorn as well. It's one of my favorites.

I'll put in votes for two old Danny Kaye movies as well. Those being The Secret Life of Walter Mitty and The Inspector General. Both wonderful movies and very heartfelt. The kind of movies that you don't see much any more.

[misterseth.livejournal.com]

Here's an obscure one: Jack and the Witch. An early 60s anime often shown on the SFM holiday network. It's about this young boy Jack and his animal friends who encounter a group of goblin children ruled by a beautiful/evil witch. Here's a YouTube clip:

Got Limpet

[capplor.livejournal.com]

it was in the supermarket.

Was just thinking about Gay Puree, when the song "Bubbles" surfaced in my mind like flotsom. The kids would like that.

Does anything by Miyazaki count?

Oh, and Alakazam the Great. (I had no idea it was supposed to be Japaname when I watched it.)

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Another one I have to get, and another one at the edges of "kids' movie". Scary little flick.

What am I saying? As a kid, I loved scary flicks.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

And I'll raise you Hans Christian Anderson, although that's closer to "classic" status.

[ruisseau.livejournal.com]

There was this movie called The Apple Dumpling Gang that I saw several times as a kid.

And of course, there's the live action space stuff from the 80's: The Explorers and Flight of the Navigator. I also loved D.A.R.R.Y.L.

I guess Goonies is a bit too classic now.

And more for teens than kids, but I was a kid when I saw it, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun with Helen Hunt and Sarah Jessica Parker. I watched that to death!

[gridlockjoe.livejournal.com]

I had no idea Dr. T was out on DVD. I will have to get that for my mom.

One short film that I remember vividly from school was "Winter of the Witch". Hermione Gingold was an old witch whose haunted house was moved into by a mother and her young son. The son befriends the witch, and the witch starts making "happiness pancakes" which were accompanied on screen with psychedelic blue dots. I finally tracked down a copy.

[bayushisan.livejournal.com]

True. Danny Kaye had a lot of wonderful movies, and I don't think he quite gets the credit he deserves as an actor.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

I loved The Apple Dumpling Gang. The kids were just okay, but, dude! Bill Bixby doing comedy, with Don Knotts and Tim Conway. And Harry Morgan, and David Wayne, and Slim Pickens, and John McGiver, and a rather hot pre-Webster Susan Clark....

Re: "kids" movies

[j-e-richards.livejournal.com]

yes..that's it..(excuse "brain fart") wonderfully creepy set at British seasort.

[bayushisan.livejournal.com]

A better Disney western type movie is Hot Lead and Cold Feet.