Jump to content

Menu

Old Disney movies


Recommended Posts

I love the Kurt Russell movies. The Computer Wore Tennis Shoeswas one of my favorites. I also liked The Parent Trap, Mary Poppins, Swiss Family Robinson, The Shaggy Dog, and The Apple Dumpling Gang. These are the movies I remember watching the most when I was a kid.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

OK I know I am not the only one who dislikes the Swiss Family movie, and the portrayal of 'savages' who try to kill the proper family. It's one thing an to read an older, 'classic' book in the context of the times and discuss it, but it's quite another to a give a terrible modern movie a thumb's up for little kids without a little chat about it.

 

I don't mean to be cantankerous, but old movies don't get a pass from me just because they are old.

Edited by LibraryLover
Link to comment
Share on other sites

OK I know I am not the only one who hates the Swiss Family movie, and the portrayal of 'savages' who try to kill the proper British family. It's one thing an to read an older, 'classic' book in the context of the times and discuss it, but it's quite another to a give a terrible modern movie a thumb's up for little kids.

 

I don't mean to be cantankerous, but old movies don't get a pass from me just because they are old.

 

 

The "savages" were pirates weren't they? I've always just seen it as a fun adventure movie. :confused:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't mean to sound snarky, but the OP asked for suggestions of good movies and you've only pointed out ones that you dislike.

 

Now you've got me curious if there are any that are actually "good".

 

:lurk5:

 

Maybe not.

 

I do like Snow White (keeps the evil of the original), and Fantasia.

 

I like Mary Poppins (although it is nothing like the books) and The Sound of Music. I also like Finding Nemo.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The "savages" were pirates weren't they? I've always just seen it as a fun adventure movie. :confused:

 

Yes, they were pirates who were holding the grandfather hostage. I don't remember any savages. I like the movie because it shows a family being self-reliant, creative, and resourceful.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The "savages" were pirates weren't they? I've always just seen it as a fun adventure movie. :confused:

 

I see Swiss Family in an entirely different light, and that includes the book. (btw, my recollection was not that the attackers were also white.) The family thought their way was best and proper. They lived their old lives even on an island. Their experience did not give them any appreciation for a life outside their own world.

 

Which is not to say I didn't enjoy the book as a child. In fact, I loved it. (I didn't see the movie until I was a young adult and thought it was terrible.)

 

Is Matilda a Disney movie? What about Nannie McPhee? I love both of those, and I also enjoyed Monsters Inc and Toy Story. Are those considered old?

 

The first movies I saw as a child in the theater were 1. Mary Poppins, always my fave, even while I was upset by her sweetness. Mary was not sweet! 2. The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes, which I adored with all of my heart at the time. :)

Edited by LibraryLover
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't know if every single one of these is Disney, but we enjoy: Pete's Dragon, Robin Hood, Johnny Tremain, Pinocchio, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Pippi Longstocking, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Pollyana, Fantasia, The Sword in the Stone, 101 Dalmations, Davy Crockett, Alice in Wonderland, The Great Mouse Detective, Bambi, and The Jungle Book.

 

Ones that I don't like (just personal preference, but in general I don't like the way the characters behave):

 

Dumbo

The Fox and the Hound

The Little Mermaid

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Follow Me, Boys

 

Our favorite is "so Dear to My Heart" with Burl Ives. Wonderful, wonderful story.

 

Yes, yes, these are wonderful!!

 

Oh, and I'm thinking Swiss Family Robinson is about a Swiss family, not a British family.:D Couldn't pass that up - sorry. In any case, I can't imagine what is wrong with them living like Swiss people on a tropical island - I mean, if I got stranded on an island I'm pretty sure I'd live my life from an American pov. How else does one do it? I'm not sure it can be helped to live one's live from one's own pov. Did someone try to get them to look at life differently and they refused?:confused:

 

ETA: And I'm not sure what difference it makes what race the pirates are - they were pirates. You know, people who steal other people's stuff and then kill them? Pirates! I think the setting was during the Napoleonic Era because there is some mention made by the father to the mother about their decision to leave Switzerland being a good one because they didn't want their sons going off to war to fight Napoleon. Wouldn't that mean the pirates would most likely have been Barbary Coast pirates. Anyway, in my book, pirates are evil no matter what country they're from - of course you fight them. I'm having trouble seeing what's wrong with that.

Edited by Kathleen in VA
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, they were pirates who were holding the grandfather hostage. I don't remember any savages.

 

 

All I remember was that one of the "bad guys" was chubby and shirtless and had a set of "Daddaries". I remember sitting next to my mother in the dark while she shrieked with laughter as they bounced about, elbowing my father and gasping "Get a load of that pair".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am a sucker for Shirley Temple movies. You really do have to consider the racism, but she is so dang cute, and in a non toddlers and tiaras way. I consider them cultural literacy. ;) Of course, I also see old Disney movies as such.

 

Old 'stuff' can still have issues. I am not saying don't watch them, but one can't assume old = safe/OK. Many of these older films need some discussion or guidance, just as newer movies do. There wasn't anything particularly safe about media of yore. Anyone ever try to watch Spartacus, fi, with their kids thinking it's just some old Roman Hollywood 50's epic? I mean, when they toss the woman into the cell to tempt him and the guards leer and cheer, hoping to watch? Ick.

Edited by LibraryLover
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not specifically Disney but some of my old favorites

 

Starring Don Knotts:

 

The Incredible Mr. Limpet

The Ghost and Mr. Chicken

The Reluctant Astronaut

The Shakiest Gun in the West

 

Any films starring Abbott & Costello

 

The Absent Minded Professor (original Disney version)

 

Pretty much any films starring Jerry Lewis

 

Google for comedy movies in 60s and 70s. Lots of good stuff!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I can give a thumbs down to one with a sickening & lewd scene in which men terrorize a woman who is tied up and gagged. That would be the original That Darn Cat.

 

The We Are Siamese song from Lady and the Tramp is racist. Dumbo is also high on the racism scale.

 

Wow! Those are among my favorites! I never thought of them the way you describe them. Hmmm....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't think they are Disney, but the original Incredible Journey is wonderful, and Charlie the Lonesome Cougar is cute. Both are narrated by .... I'm blanking on his name, oh, he was killed in his old age when his caregiver parked him in his wheel chair and backed out the van, crushing him accidentally.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I see Swiss Family in an entirely different light, and that includes the book. (btw, my recollection was not that the attackers were also white.) The family thought their way was best and proper. They lived their old British lives even on an island. Their experience did not give them any appreciation for a life outside their own world.

 

I get what you are saying. I don't personally don't have a problem with my kids watching a movie like that. Lots of people have that viewpoint. I don't think it teaches my child that it is okay just by viewing it. We just read a book on William Carey and this subject was dealt with as he lived in India among the native people and the British kept to themselves. My kids live lives of assimilation and I find that daily life and appreciation of differences does far more than watching what some people in a story choose to do.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

LOl That be true. How right are you? LOL I will crawl under a rock. I won't even go trying to change British to Swiss. lol It's late and I'm stupid.

 

Yes, yes, these are wonderful!!

 

Oh, and I'm thinking Swiss Family Robinson is about a Swiss family, not a British family.:D Couldn't pass that up - sorry. In any case, I can't imagine what is wrong with them living like Swiss people on a tropical island - I mean, if I got stranded on an island I'm pretty sure I'd live my life from an American pov. How else does one do it? I'm not sure it can be helped to live one's live from one's own pov. Did someone try to get them to look at life differently and they refused?:confused:

 

ETA: And I'm not sure what difference it makes what race the pirates are - they were pirates. You know, people who steal other people's stuff and then kill them? Pirates! I think the setting was during the Napoleonic Era because there is some mention made by the father to the mother about their decision to leave Switzerland being a good one because they didn't want their sons going off to war to fight Napoleon. Wouldn't that mean the pirates would most likely have been Barbary Coast pirates. Anyway, in my book, pirates are evil no matter what country they're from - of course you fight them. I'm having trouble seeing what's wrong with that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I get what you are saying. I don't personally don't have a problem with my kids watching a movie like that. Lots of people have that viewpoint. I don't think it teaches my child that it is okay just by viewing it. We just read a book on William Carey and this subject was dealt with as he lived in India among the native people and the British kept to themselves. My kids live lives of assimilation and I find that daily life and appreciation of differences does far more than watching what some people in a story choose to do.

 

 

I should have said Swiss. ;) And I don't have a problem watching/reading and discussing the issues surrounding period lit or films.

 

Sometimes people (and I am not speaking to the OP) assume old movies are fine-- without need for discussion/are beyond reproach-- simply because they are old.

Edited by LibraryLover
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I reserved a bunch. I'm not sure which ones will be available on time so this gives us options. They have loved Herbie and Kurt Russell (thank you for that name reference) movies as well as Dean Jones movies so these are the ones I have reserved:

 

The Love Bug

Herbie Rides Again

Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo

Herbie Goes Bananas

The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes

The Strongest Man in the World

The Barefoot Executive

Now You See Him, Now You Don't

The Million Dollar Duck

The Ugly Dachshund

 

They have seen some of these and they bring about so much laughter. Hopefully they will have a couple to choose from on the last day of school.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The old Daniel Boone movies were great. No, I'm not worried about the Indians being maligned.

 

A great Disney movie was "Newsies". Fabulous. Musical. Christian Bale. Hardly anyone's heard of it and I can't imagine why. Another great little known is "Sky High". Kurt Russell. Hysterical.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Love that era. There is a Debbie Reynolds movie I enjoyed as a child -- Goodbye Charlie. Is used to frequently be a Sunday Afternoon TV Movie before cable and Netflix. lol

 

When I saw that as an adult I found it quite risque. The womanizing Charlie character dies and is reincarnated into a woman (Reynolds). He is still his old self, except in the body of a woman. He goes back to his own beach house, checks out his new boobs (he really likes them lol) , still lusts after women etc. I missed all of that as a kid.

 

I doubt the movie (1964) would pass muster here were it to be released today.

 

Oh, what about Yours, Mine and Ours with Lucille Ball? That's a goodie, isn't it? lol

 

 

Not specifically Disney but some of my old favorites

 

Starring Don Knotts:

 

The Incredible Mr. Limpet

The Ghost and Mr. Chicken

The Reluctant Astronaut

The Shakiest Gun in the West

 

Any films starring Abbott & Costello

 

The Absent Minded Professor (original Disney version)

 

Pretty much any films starring Jerry Lewis

 

Google for comedy movies in 60s and 70s. Lots of good stuff!!

Edited by LibraryLover
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The family in Swiss Family Robinson was Swiss, and there was no one for them to assimilate with since they were on an uninhabited island. The attackers in the Disney movie were pirates who were coming back to get the girl that they had kidnapped for ransom. The oldest two boys had rescued her from them earlier in the show. I believe the pirates were meant to look Asian, but were really white actors. I'm pretty sure if a band of Pirates were coming towards my family with swords and other weapons I would fight back also. The Disney version of Swiss Family Robinson was pretty darn corny but fairly harmless. My kids have been watching a cartoon series of Swiss Family Robinson, and if you can get past the Japanimation and semi corny voices it is actually pretty well done and very interesting. I believe it was made in like the 80's but they play it on Smile of a Child.

 

As far as old Disney movies how about:

Mary Poppins

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

Black Beard's Ghost

Darby O' Gill and the Little People(I don't remember this one very well.)

Davey Crocket

PollyAnna

Polly(a newer version of Pollyanna made in the late 80's or early 90's with an African American Girl)

Kidnapped

Johny Tremain(I have never seen this)

The Journey of Natty Gan

Flight of the Navigator

White fang

The Adventures of Huck Finn

Iron Will

Angels In the Outfield

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A great Disney movie was "Newsies". Fabulous. Musical. Christian Bale. Hardly anyone's heard of it and I can't imagine why. Another great little known is "Sky High". Kurt Russell. Hysterical.

 

I love Newsies! Forgot to add it to my list, and SkyHigh is really fun too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One other thing about the Pirates is the family was supposed to have been stranded on an island on their way to Australia so presumably they were on an island near Asia. I can't specifically recall the nationality of the actual actors but I do remember the captain having Asian looking attire and an Asian sword.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One other thing about the Pirates is the family was supposed to have been stranded on an island on their way to Australia so presumably they were on an island near Asia. I can't specifically recall the nationality of the actual actors but I do remember the captain having Asian looking attire and an Asian sword.

 

 

The book was written in the early 1800's, so there is a lot to discuss when we present the work (or the movie) today. Bad guys are never 'like us' and they are often out for 'our' women.

 

Remember that I am not saying, don't read or watch. I loved SFR as a child, but there are many layers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ok so here are some pictures for your perusal: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qw-mFWPFArw/S98JIn1QefI/AAAAAAAAAJ0/9fIWHPMcHkE/s400/pirates2.jpg'>http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qw-mFWPFArw/S98JIn1QefI/AAAAAAAAAJ0/9fIWHPMcHkE/s400/pirates2.jpg

 

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qw-mFWPFArw/S98JIn1QefI/AAAAAAAAAJ0/9fIWHPMcHkE/s400/pirates2.jpg

 

Thoughts Library Mom?

 

 

Seems to warrant discussion.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The book was written in the early 1800's, so there is a lot to discuss when we present the work (or the movie) today. Bad guys are never 'like us' and they are often out for 'our' women.

 

Remember that I am not saying, don't read or watch. I loved SFR as a child, but there are many layers.

 

I'm sure that is true, and I'm also sure that the Disney version is quite different than the book. :lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm sure that is true, and I'm also sure that the Disney version is quite different than the book. :lol:

 

 

There is a great element of cultural supremacy in the book. I read the book long before I saw the movie.

 

I am not saying one should not read it. One should read it. I think it's rightly a classic.

 

I'm missing why this part of the discussion is :lol:, however.

Edited by LibraryLover
Link to comment
Share on other sites

There is a great element of cultural supremacy in the book. I read the book long before I saw the movie.

 

I am not saying one should not read it. One should read it. I think it's rightly a classic.

 

I'm missing why this part of the discussion is :lol:, however.

I guess I'm just board. I have never actually read the book, but it is on the shelf waiting. The kids want me to read it to them, but it looks so long and daunting.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The old Daniel Boone movies were great. No, I'm not worried about the Indians being maligned.

 

A great Disney movie was "Newsies". Fabulous. Musical. Christian Bale. Hardly anyone's heard of it and I can't imagine why. Another great little known is "Sky High". Kurt Russell. Hysterical.

 

:lol::lol::lol: Newsies :lol::lol::lol: Ah, when the scariest threat was a pair of brass knuckles. Times have changed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here are some of my favorites (most of the ones I have seen!):

 

*** are the ones I can still watch over and over!

One and Only Original Family Band

The Million Dollar Duck

The Happiest Millionaire***

Summer Magic***

Pollyanna***

Swiss Family Robinson

Flight of the Navigator***

The Black Cauldron (it is very similar to The Lord of the Rings)

The Absent Minded Professor

Shaggy Dog

Escape to Witch Mountain (the original one, not the newer one)

The Apple Dumpling Gang

Old Yeller

Monkey's Uncle

Freaky Friday

Candleshoe***

The Cat From Outerspace

Darby O'Gil and the Little People***

The Parent Trap***

Babes in Toyland

In Search of the Castaways***

The Three Lives of Thomasina (my Sister's favorite)

Moonspinners***

The Gnome Mobile***

Mary Poppins***

 

If there is a remake, I prefer the original (except for Parent Trap, I like the new and old equally)

 

Don't overlook non-Disney Movies, especially the musicals!

 

Singing in the Rain

Rodgers and Hammersteins Cinderella (with Leslie Ann Downs)

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers

and The Sound of Music

 

Plus, All the Shirley Temple movies are great.

 

I did not read all of the other posts, but I did see one about racism in older movies - that was the culture of the time. It is not right, but that is history. Why avoid movies with those issues? You will be missing out on some great writing (much better than a lot of the junk that is made now!) You can talk to your kids about the racism if you want. Use it as a teaching moment, but let them enjoy the film. Let them enjoy the story, don't tear the movie to pieces because it is old and is in line with the culture of the time. We must learn from the past so that we don't repeat it. In these old films we have great records of the was things were; not in a historically accurate depictions of events that occurred, but in what we can gain from the culture depicted in the films.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...