Let's Go to the Movies Part 1

     One of the things I enjoy is a good old fashioned movie.  Whether in the theater with buttered popcorn at your knee (do you have any idea how many calories those things have?  yikes!)  or checking out the latest redbox title or even pulling out an old VHS tape (gasp, that's right sometimes we're real old school at my house), there's nothing like a 2 hour escape to refresh yourself.  My problem is that I like them so much, I have a hard time narrowing them down.  So this will have to be a series of posts- though probably not in a row- breaking my favorites into genres.  Today's sampling: animated/family films.
     I may not have children living at my house full time, but I still really love kid movies.  Maybe it's the feeling of being a kid again or just the absence of some of the trash that appears in other films, there's something special about movies you can watch no matter who's in the house.  Here are a few...or maybe a few more than a few...of my favorites in no particular order:
   1. Enchanted- 2007 starring Amy Adams and Patrick Dempsey.  Giselle, Prince Edward and Robert in a modern day fairy tale love triangle when the beautiful damsel in distress is separated from her true love by an evil queen/witch and has to wait in New York City for his rescue.  When I first saw the trailer for this movie I was at the theater with my sister and cousin.  Anyone who has seen me get excited has no doubt noticed how I clap my hand and wave my arms and laugh really loud.  Well, when it came to the part in the trailer where Prince Edward was in Central Park singing to try and find Giselle and gets hit from behind by the bicyclists, I got so excited (see above behavioral issue).  My cousin turned to stare at me, though I'm sure I have no idea why, and laughed as I was saying, "I want to see that movie so bad!"  She turned to me and said, "I forgot how fun you are to watch movies with, Laura," and laughed some more.  Ah, shucks, you're making me blush!
   2. The Karate Kid- 1984 Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita.  Who knew learning karate was so easy.  Wax on, wax off, Danielsan!  Poor Ralph Macchio getting picked on by a bunch of black belt teenage snobs.  Good thing Mr. Miyagi kicked all of their butts in like 2 minutes all by his old man self!  I have to say, I think he got a lot of slave labor out of Daniel in the lessons he taught him.  And I was totally awed by Mr. Miyagi's magic clap that healed Daniel's leg after an illegal sweep during a tournament Daniel wasn't qualified to fight in.  But the crane move saved the day at the end.  Whew, that was a close one!
   3. The Muppets- These darling...um...what are they really...anyway, have been around for a long time.  Way back when I was a tyke their TV show was so cool!  Over the years they have had a number of successful movies.  Here are my favorites: A. The Muppet Movie- can't forget Kermit sitting in the swamp with a banjo singing "The Rainbow Connection".  B. The Muppet Christmas Carol- I love Kermit as Bob Crachit.  Having Gonzo play Charles Dickens was a nice touch, and I absolutely love the songs.  C. Muppet Treasure Island- Tim Curry is such a good pirate. I love the pirate roll call and the rats on a cruise who share their ship, but I find the man that live sin Fozzie's finger a bit strange.  And of course our latest installment: The Muppets- we bought the soundtrack to this one and we now all have "Life's a Happy Song" memorized.
   4. The Nightmare Before Christmas- 1993.  Tim Burton's imagining of Halloween Town and Jack Skellington the Pumpkin King, Sally, Lock, Stock and Barrell, and of course good old Sandy Claws is a fun new direction to the wonder of holidays and Christmas.  This is not a movie Lyle likes but I find the imagination that went into this one amazing.  I love Jack's attempts to scientifically find out why Christmas is so special.  Poor Jack, just trying to spread his own brand of holiday cheer and he pretty much ruins Christmas.  And Mr. Oogie Boogie certainly didn't help.  Again, amazing score and songs.  Good job Danny Elfman!
   5. Song of the South- 1946 Disney Classic.  I know you can't buy this movie now in the U.S.  People seem to find the portrayal of Uncle Remus and the African American people offensive.  But I will never forget Br'er Rabbit making the tar baby or Br'er Fox and Br'er Bear being sucked into the whole "Please don't throw me in the briar patch" debacle.  These are classic stories.  And where would we be without the song "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah"?  That's a song Lyle likes to sing to the kids and one my grandfather (who died when I was 6) sang to me as a little girl.
   6. Toy Story- 1995 Tim Allen, Tom Hanks (voices).  Now tell the truth, how many of you young'uns (or in my case not so young'uns) went home and tried to sneak a peek to find out if your toys really did move when you weren't there.  Pixar's first movie, and the first full length computer animated movie ever, took us by storm and we fell in love with Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Mr. Potato Head, Rex and the rest of the lovable characters from this hilarious portrayal of what a toy's life just might be like.  Two sequels, both in my opinion quite good, added to the fun.  To Infinity and Beyond!
   7. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial- 1982 Henry Thomas and a young Drew Barrymore.  This one I remember seeing in the theater.  How fun seeing the young siblings discover, care for and try to help E.T. get home.  We watched him talk for the first time, fly bikes across the moon and grieve when we thought he and Elliott were going to die.  And oh, my heart broke when E.T. went home.  It was supposed to be happy but my 5 year old heart was crushed that E.T. couldn't just stay with Elliott and play all day.  I bawled all the way home.

   8. The Family Dog 1987- Nobody will recognize this one.  It was one of my family's absolute favorites growing up.  It was a 20 minute short animated story that featured in the TV series "Amazing Stories" (does anyone remember that one?) about a suburban middle class family and their dog.  It may not sound like a funny premise, but with Steven Spielberg, Frank Marshall, Kathleen Kennedy and Brad Bird as producers on it, you know it has to be good.  This poor dog, he gets tortured by the kids living in the house, ignored or disciplined by the parents and finds himself in the doghouse (I'm so punny!) when he can't stop a robbery from taking place in his home.  I bought this one on DVD from Amazon (I think it was) because I loved it so much.
   9. Mary Poppins- 1964 with Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke.  A classic story of a very remarkable woman who flies literally into a family's life to help them learn to recognize the importance of each other then promptly leaves them to their familial bliss.  Along the way they dance on the London rooftops via traveling through chimneys, pop into a chalkboard painting and win a derby race on a carousel horse and have a tea party on the ceiling.  Some of Disney's best songs come from this movie: Let's Go Fly a Kite, Chim-Chiminey, Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, Feed the Birds and Spoonful of Sugar to name a few.
   10. The Princess Bride- 1987 Robin Wright, Cary Elwes, Peter Falk, Andre the Giant, Mandy Patinkin, Chris Christofferson, Billy Crystal, Wallace Shawn and a young Fred Savage as the sick kid.  So many one liners from this movie!  As you wish.  Inconceivable!  Hello, I am Inigo Montoya; you kill my father, prepare to die!  Who can forget the Cliffs of Insanity, the Fire Swamp, the pirate ship Revenge, Rodents of Unusual Size, the Pit of Despair, Miracle Max, Buttercup, Prince Humperdink, a very mealy-mouthed priest, a six-fingered murderer, the shrieking eels and the man in black.  Love the grandfather reading this to his sick grandson.  And check out the graphics on that video game Fred's playing.  High tech stuff!

Well, I guess that's all for this installment.  Come back for more entertaining movie choices from yours truly.  Same Bat-time, Same Bat-channel!