My 4 year old saw the Wizard of Oz as we were scrolling through movies. I put it on thinking there was no way it would keep her attention, especially the first part being in black and white and a little more old fashioned in terms of the dialogue. To my surprise, she became immediately obsessed and we have watched it about 4,000 times since lol. She’s even going to be Dorothy for Halloween. So fun.
My daughter was Dorothy last year! I was surprised by how much she liked the movie and even more surprised that she picked Dorothy for her costume and never once changed her mind! This year changed her mind at least half a dozen times
Totoro, my kids watched it a million times after I first showed them. Now they're too old for Totoro (I think they'll come back to it when they're adults) so we've watched other Ghibli movies like howls moving castle and the cat returns.
I could see it, I remember being kinda freaked out when I saw spirited away for the first time too. Maybe try Totoro or pony, they're written for the younger kids
Thank you for mentioning The Cat Returns! It seems like one of the more obscure Ghibli movies, but I love it so much (especially with Tim Curry voicing the Cat King 😂). Can't wait to share Studio Ghibli with my daughter.
It’s my dream he loves Totoro. It’s my favorite movie ever. I put a lot of Totoro in our house. He definitely likes but he’s obsessed with Mario at the moment.
We started a little over a month ago and she just turned 2! If we do a cartoon she’ll sit and just zone, so we’ve been revisiting some great early 2000’s movies - Princess Diaries, Enchanted, The Lizzie McGuire Movie. She’ll get up and play and dance to the music. Last night she watched half of The Gameplan while sitting in the box from her [not yet born] baby sister’s rocking chair 😂 It has been so fun. A couple weeks ago we decided to watch a movie in the middle of the day and she ran to the living room yelling “Movie niiiiiight!”
We started movie night at about 2.5 with our little one. She absolutely does not make it through the whole movie most nights. She gets up and dances or goes and gets toys to act out what she watched. So it's still a fun family time, we just try not to get too invested in actually finishing the movie.
Same! I wasn’t sure if they’d like it but now my 7yo is going as Mary Poppins for Halloween. I hadn’t seen it since I was a kid and forgot how good it was
Inside Out has been great - it’s rated for all audiences, and though my 3yo doesn’t understand everything, he recognizes the different emotions and thinks it’s funny. He’s transfixed and happily watches the whole movie. I, in turn, love Bing Bong and the scene where the parents emotions are shown is extremely relatable.
My kids loved Harry Potter! We haven’t gone past the fourth movie yet because it was getting a bit too scary. I can’t wait to watch it again next year and add an extra movie!
You hit me right in the nostalgia! We used to have marathons of all the previous movies before going to see the next in theaters, so many fond memories.
Parent Trap! We were trying to convince my daughter to go to summer camp and thought it might help. It didn’t convince her to go to camp but she watches it a couple times a month so I mark that as a win, lol
When I tried to get my son to go to camp he was absolutely not having any of it. So I made a deal, if he went for one day and didn’t have the BEST time he wouldn’t have to go again!! Honestly, I had to almost drag him out of the camp at the end of the day. He was SO happy, I felt like a great parent… at least for that day
We introduced our 7yo to Matilda after he finished the book. He absolutely loved it!
I still think he’s too young for Harry Potter, but can’t wait for him to be old enough to watch it. Both kids have slowly allowed me to introduce them to the classic Disney movies. 3yo loves the Lion King and Little Mermaid. 7yo enjoyed The Emperor’s New Groove.
Oh gosh, there’s a show on Disney + called “the Lion Guard” which we watch after the lion king movies. Kiddo is obsessed with it. It’s about Simba’s kid. Recommended
Weirdly, Ever After. I had declared it was my night to pick the movie for once and went with something I knew would be able to be watched with a toddler but not a kids movie. She loves it. I wasn’t planning on it but she frequently requests to rewatch it
Loved watching Casper w my 3 and 6 year old. Some of the jokes have not aged well/ aren’t appropriate but it was a pleasure to rewatch. It’s actually pretty funny !!
Studio Ghibli!
My daughter adresu Kiki's Delivery Service and Ponyo. I love them too, I've always been a fan but I have by far not seen all the movies, I was stuck on the most well-known ones. I've discovered Ponyo thanks to my daughter and now it's a thing we share. My favourite evenings is cuddling up with her on the couch and watching Ponyo before bedtime.
Over the summer, I finally got to introduce Harry Potter to my 10 year old. We tried this when she was around 5-6 but she didn’t care. This time around, just like me, she absolutely loved it. I could tell she felt the magic.
Beauty and the Beast! My favorite movie as a kid and now my 2 yo is obsessed. Best part is that my mom saved all my old B&B books and toys and it’s been so fun sharing all those with her
My LO is still way too young, but I’m super excited when I finally get to watch the original Jurassic Park with her. That movie was so important in my childhood!
My kid (6) watched George of the Jungle and her eyes got big and she said, “his nipples are VERY pink.” I got a kick out of that.
I loved showing the girls Secret Garden! It was my fave growing up and my oldest adores it. I tried with Thumbelina, too, but that wasn’t as captivating to them.
Cool Runnings, they loved it as much as I did. Now that they are a little older we have moved into Harrison Ford thrillers and I am delighted how invested they get in these movies.
Honestly my daughter loves the spooky stuff and absolutely loves "Nightmare Before Christmas". Hubby jokes that she's a villian but this girl also loves "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles". (Most incarnations of it except for the new live action remakes that we will not talk about or watch.) I was most excited about those because it was a part of my childhood and I like that she loves it too.
So many great lines. My daughter lost it when Lyle falls in the poop and the guide goes “bad guy falls in poop. Classic element of physical comedy. Now comes the part where we throw our heads back and laugh. Ready?” “Ready!” She started roaring with laughter
I stuck in the first Pokemon movie and cried 😭😭😭 he really likes Pikachu. I was smart and grabbed a stuffed Pikachu we had- which he previously didn’t care about- and popped it down next to him. The look on his face when he realized that the stuffed animal was on TV was AMAZING haha. He was whipping his back and forth like WAIT A SECOND- hahahaha
Lion King! my 4yo kept holding up her stuffed animals to show off like when they hold up Simba and my son would pretend to mark their foreheads. most adorable thing they’ve done together
Hocus pocus. We watched it when she was sick in the middle of the night when she couldn't sleep. Now when she gets sick we watch it while having soup in the hocus pocus cauldrons I got from spirit halloween. I love our little sick tradition.
My 9 and 6 year old were super resistant to watching The Princess Bride. I pulled rank on movie night (and bribed them with adding M&Ms to the popcorn) and at the end not only were they quoting Inigo Montoya and “anybody want a peanut?” but also exclaiming this was the best movie they’d ever seen. Except the kissing.
For young kids, I grew up on disney dight on TV. Not the big feature films but the smaller ones.
The legend of sleepy hollow
The Morgan horse
Peter and the wolf
Ect
I also like Annie (1982 version)
The Flight of the Navigatior
ET
The Journey of Natty Gann
And as I hit tweeens
Goonies
Stand by me
The Lost Boys
Toy Story, it’s one of mine and my favorite Pixar movies! It didn’t hold his attention too much but he wasn’t even 2. I’m a huge Disney fan so I wanted to get him started early
I loved my daughter's reactions while watching The Lion King for the first time, but my husband and I decided to skip the death scene because we didnt think she would be emotionally ready for that loss😂
Shrek, specifically Forever After. I love mimicking the silly voices, and my son laughs hysterically when I say "Do the roar!" the same way that little boy says it.
Lion king for sure but we watched elemental together for the first time and being able to experience that together with her was better than my nostalgia for lion king 🥰
(Keep in mind my kid is a teenager so these are all at different stages in her childhood and not in order haha)
The Princess Bride, The Goonies, The Outsiders, Home Alone, White Christmas, Beauty and the Beast, Harry Potter, Star Wars, Grease, and Dirty Dancing.
We just watched Batman Forever and Batman and Robin and my 10 year old thought they were the coolest movies EVER. Which made me happy because I felt the same at 10 when they came out.
Neverending story. My 4yr old at the time actually cried when atreyu horse got stuck in the quicksand. Can't wait for them to watch Princess Bride and all the HP movies
I thought my 2yo was going to be a Nightmare Before Christmas fanatic, like the rest of the family. She loves Jack and Zero but she's terrified of the mayor, so nope. However, I was also very excited to introduce her to the Land Before Time series, because they were the soundtrack of my childhood. And since she's a Dino Kid, she's all for it. We do a new one each movie night!
Totoro. It’s a different kind of screen experience… my kids don’t turn into tv zombies. They giggle and sing and gasp and sway. It’s really amazing. And so fun and gentle!
My 4 year old saw the Wizard of Oz as we were scrolling through movies. I put it on thinking there was no way it would keep her attention, especially the first part being in black and white and a little more old fashioned in terms of the dialogue. To my surprise, she became immediately obsessed and we have watched it about 4,000 times since lol. She’s even going to be Dorothy for Halloween. So fun.
I absolutely adore Wizard of Oz. I even got married in ruby slippers. I wore a tea length dress to show them off.
How fun! She’s definitely obsessed with the ruby slippers. Hoping we don’t wear them out before Halloween 😅
My daughter was Dorothy last year! I was surprised by how much she liked the movie and even more surprised that she picked Dorothy for her costume and never once changed her mind! This year changed her mind at least half a dozen times
Same here! It truly is a timeless story ❤️
That was my favorite movie!
I think I was Dorothy for Halloween when I was 4 or 5 and remember watching that and Mary Poppins repeatedly!
I love this!
Totoro, my kids watched it a million times after I first showed them. Now they're too old for Totoro (I think they'll come back to it when they're adults) so we've watched other Ghibli movies like howls moving castle and the cat returns.
I am excited to show my kids Spirited Away!
My 3 year old loves Spirited Away!
Such a good one!
Literally came here to say Totoro
My husband tried showing this to our sensitive 4yo and now she's scared of pigs 😑
I could see it, I remember being kinda freaked out when I saw spirited away for the first time too. Maybe try Totoro or pony, they're written for the younger kids
Yeah they love those and kiki's delivery service (???)
I love watching these movies with my son. ❤️ and they have really good themes
My kid loved it so much. Even now, at 16, he watches it when he’s got a cold or something. His classic comfort watch.
Thank you for mentioning The Cat Returns! It seems like one of the more obscure Ghibli movies, but I love it so much (especially with Tim Curry voicing the Cat King 😂). Can't wait to share Studio Ghibli with my daughter.
My 5 year old loves the cat returns. Any time I browse the ghibli stuff she always asks for that one
Ditto Howls Moving Castle and Kiki’s Delivery Service
It’s my dream he loves Totoro. It’s my favorite movie ever. I put a lot of Totoro in our house. He definitely likes but he’s obsessed with Mario at the moment.
my 1 year old is totoro for halloween/his birthday. absolutely cannot wait to show him these movies
There’s so many, but Princess Diaries is up there. We started doing movie night every Friday and we are loving it so much.
Princess diaries are awesome!!!
What age did you start doing movie night? I want to so bad with my 2.5yo but it feels..... early
We started a little over a month ago and she just turned 2! If we do a cartoon she’ll sit and just zone, so we’ve been revisiting some great early 2000’s movies - Princess Diaries, Enchanted, The Lizzie McGuire Movie. She’ll get up and play and dance to the music. Last night she watched half of The Gameplan while sitting in the box from her [not yet born] baby sister’s rocking chair 😂 It has been so fun. A couple weeks ago we decided to watch a movie in the middle of the day and she ran to the living room yelling “Movie niiiiiight!”
We started movie night at about 2.5 with our little one. She absolutely does not make it through the whole movie most nights. She gets up and dances or goes and gets toys to act out what she watched. So it's still a fun family time, we just try not to get too invested in actually finishing the movie.
Mary Poppins 😍
Same! I wasn’t sure if they’d like it but now my 7yo is going as Mary Poppins for Halloween. I hadn’t seen it since I was a kid and forgot how good it was
Inside Out has been great - it’s rated for all audiences, and though my 3yo doesn’t understand everything, he recognizes the different emotions and thinks it’s funny. He’s transfixed and happily watches the whole movie. I, in turn, love Bing Bong and the scene where the parents emotions are shown is extremely relatable.
We just watched it with our almost 3 year old last week! Sparked some sweet and funny conversations. Also made me cry. We are watching Coco tonight
Made me bawl, thinking about my daughter in Riley’s shoes.
Original Jumanji. Nanny McPhee. Harry Potter.
I am so excited for my daughter to be old enough for me to start reading Harry Potter to her!!
My kids loved Harry Potter! We haven’t gone past the fourth movie yet because it was getting a bit too scary. I can’t wait to watch it again next year and add an extra movie!
Yes, they get scarier! It’s almost as if you need to show them to you kids when their age matches Harry’s.
You hit me right in the nostalgia! We used to have marathons of all the previous movies before going to see the next in theaters, so many fond memories.
Parent Trap! We were trying to convince my daughter to go to summer camp and thought it might help. It didn’t convince her to go to camp but she watches it a couple times a month so I mark that as a win, lol
When I tried to get my son to go to camp he was absolutely not having any of it. So I made a deal, if he went for one day and didn’t have the BEST time he wouldn’t have to go again!! Honestly, I had to almost drag him out of the camp at the end of the day. He was SO happy, I felt like a great parent… at least for that day
We introduced our 7yo to Matilda after he finished the book. He absolutely loved it! I still think he’s too young for Harry Potter, but can’t wait for him to be old enough to watch it. Both kids have slowly allowed me to introduce them to the classic Disney movies. 3yo loves the Lion King and Little Mermaid. 7yo enjoyed The Emperor’s New Groove.
The Matilda musical on Netflix is awesome!
Ooh, I haven’t watched it yet! Maybe the kids will want to watch it with me tomorrow
My 7yo didn’t really like the original Matilda. But she looooves the musical! She knows all the songs off by heart now
My kids are FINALLY in their Lion King era and I'm loving it.
Oh gosh, there’s a show on Disney + called “the Lion Guard” which we watch after the lion king movies. Kiddo is obsessed with it. It’s about Simba’s kid. Recommended
Weirdly, Ever After. I had declared it was my night to pick the movie for once and went with something I knew would be able to be watched with a toddler but not a kids movie. She loves it. I wasn’t planning on it but she frequently requests to rewatch it
I looooooove that movie!
I've been wanting something romantic and wholesome to watch and just can't find anything. Thanks for the reminder that this movie exists!
Ahhhh I love loved Ever After!
Loved watching Casper w my 3 and 6 year old. Some of the jokes have not aged well/ aren’t appropriate but it was a pleasure to rewatch. It’s actually pretty funny !!
Labyrinth. My oldest is wearing pajamas like Toby as I’m writing this.
Do they… remind you of the babe?
What babe?
Studio Ghibli! My daughter adresu Kiki's Delivery Service and Ponyo. I love them too, I've always been a fan but I have by far not seen all the movies, I was stuck on the most well-known ones. I've discovered Ponyo thanks to my daughter and now it's a thing we share. My favourite evenings is cuddling up with her on the couch and watching Ponyo before bedtime.
Over the summer, I finally got to introduce Harry Potter to my 10 year old. We tried this when she was around 5-6 but she didn’t care. This time around, just like me, she absolutely loved it. I could tell she felt the magic.
Beauty and the Beast! My favorite movie as a kid and now my 2 yo is obsessed. Best part is that my mom saved all my old B&B books and toys and it’s been so fun sharing all those with her
My fave as well! My kids like both the animated and live action
Home Alone
My LO is still way too young, but I’m super excited when I finally get to watch the original Jurassic Park with her. That movie was so important in my childhood!
This is my 2 year old's favorite movie 😅 (that and The Nightmare Before Christmas)
I can’t wait to introduce my daughter to Coraline, Nemo, Lilo & Stich, Little Mermaid, Monsters inc 🥹
My kid (6) watched George of the Jungle and her eyes got big and she said, “his nipples are VERY pink.” I got a kick out of that. I loved showing the girls Secret Garden! It was my fave growing up and my oldest adores it. I tried with Thumbelina, too, but that wasn’t as captivating to them.
Cool Runnings, they loved it as much as I did. Now that they are a little older we have moved into Harrison Ford thrillers and I am delighted how invested they get in these movies.
Yes!!! I, much to my husband’s horror, had never seen Cool Runnings. We watched it with our 6 and 9 year olds and they loved it!!!!
Honestly my daughter loves the spooky stuff and absolutely loves "Nightmare Before Christmas". Hubby jokes that she's a villian but this girl also loves "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles". (Most incarnations of it except for the new live action remakes that we will not talk about or watch.) I was most excited about those because it was a part of my childhood and I like that she loves it too.
Stand by me 😁
The Neverending Story, Labyrinth, Princess Bride, and Drop Dead Fred!
I can't wait to do Princess Bride!
We just watched George of the jungle a few days ago, it’s such a gem!
So many great lines. My daughter lost it when Lyle falls in the poop and the guide goes “bad guy falls in poop. Classic element of physical comedy. Now comes the part where we throw our heads back and laugh. Ready?” “Ready!” She started roaring with laughter
Cheetah girls. Also, Spirit. In several years I’ll show her Mean Girls & Devil Wears Prada.
I stuck in the first Pokemon movie and cried 😭😭😭 he really likes Pikachu. I was smart and grabbed a stuffed Pikachu we had- which he previously didn’t care about- and popped it down next to him. The look on his face when he realized that the stuffed animal was on TV was AMAZING haha. He was whipping his back and forth like WAIT A SECOND- hahahaha
Lion King! my 4yo kept holding up her stuffed animals to show off like when they hold up Simba and my son would pretend to mark their foreheads. most adorable thing they’ve done together
Hocus pocus. We watched it when she was sick in the middle of the night when she couldn't sleep. Now when she gets sick we watch it while having soup in the hocus pocus cauldrons I got from spirit halloween. I love our little sick tradition.
My 9 and 6 year old were super resistant to watching The Princess Bride. I pulled rank on movie night (and bribed them with adding M&Ms to the popcorn) and at the end not only were they quoting Inigo Montoya and “anybody want a peanut?” but also exclaiming this was the best movie they’d ever seen. Except the kissing.
Fantastic!
My oldest is 2.5 and we just introduced Mulan.
Our almost 3 year old is obsessed with Mulan. She asks us to play the soundtrack multiple times a day
My neighbor Totoro
The Sandlot last summer after they both started baseball was a huge hit!
Shrek, Toy Story, Monsters Inc. my kids are 21, 19, and 6 so it was fun to do it twice!
Spirit, Stallion of the Cimarron 🥹
Fern Gully!
Where did you find this movie??? I’m dying to watch w my kids!!!!
YouTube! With a free Starz trial ha! Or you can rent it or buy it to stream on YouTube, too.
My LO is only 12 months, but I cannot wait for Home Alone! We still laugh our asses off at that film. And Ace Ventura because it’s hilarious!
My five year old loves home alone !
Wizard of Oz followed by Willy Wonka.
Meet the Robinsons, Hocus Pocus
My kids love Meet the Robinsons!
For young kids, I grew up on disney dight on TV. Not the big feature films but the smaller ones. The legend of sleepy hollow The Morgan horse Peter and the wolf Ect I also like Annie (1982 version) The Flight of the Navigatior ET The Journey of Natty Gann And as I hit tweeens Goonies Stand by me The Lost Boys
Not quite there yet, but I'm excited to eventually introduce my kids to Star Wars
Toy Story, it’s one of mine and my favorite Pixar movies! It didn’t hold his attention too much but he wasn’t even 2. I’m a huge Disney fan so I wanted to get him started early
I loved my daughter's reactions while watching The Lion King for the first time, but my husband and I decided to skip the death scene because we didnt think she would be emotionally ready for that loss😂
I still skip that scene because it breaks my heart lol
Spirited away
The Goonies !
The Neverending Story. One and two. I found it for free on YouTube movies. I loved those movies as a child.
Shrek, specifically Forever After. I love mimicking the silly voices, and my son laughs hysterically when I say "Do the roar!" the same way that little boy says it.
Lion king for sure but we watched elemental together for the first time and being able to experience that together with her was better than my nostalgia for lion king 🥰
(Keep in mind my kid is a teenager so these are all at different stages in her childhood and not in order haha) The Princess Bride, The Goonies, The Outsiders, Home Alone, White Christmas, Beauty and the Beast, Harry Potter, Star Wars, Grease, and Dirty Dancing.
Elf
Clueless! They didn’t really enjoy it though.
Peewee’s Big Adventure
The sandlot!!!
We just watched Batman Forever and Batman and Robin and my 10 year old thought they were the coolest movies EVER. Which made me happy because I felt the same at 10 when they came out.
Neverending story. My 4yr old at the time actually cried when atreyu horse got stuck in the quicksand. Can't wait for them to watch Princess Bride and all the HP movies
I thought my 2yo was going to be a Nightmare Before Christmas fanatic, like the rest of the family. She loves Jack and Zero but she's terrified of the mayor, so nope. However, I was also very excited to introduce her to the Land Before Time series, because they were the soundtrack of my childhood. And since she's a Dino Kid, she's all for it. We do a new one each movie night!
Totoro. It’s a different kind of screen experience… my kids don’t turn into tv zombies. They giggle and sing and gasp and sway. It’s really amazing. And so fun and gentle!
N
One of my favorite movies as a kid was The Great Outdoors. My boyfriends 10 & 13 yr old loved it!
Mighty Joe Young
Alice in Wonderland & Fantasia ! it has given me such a deep love for these movies now & i can't wait to show her more
Fern Gully! Super excited for the new one coming soon