S/O: First major motion picture you saw?

[Forget-Me-Not]

I was discussing the thread about earliest memories of news headlines/political events with my husband and we got on the subject of movies. I thought it would be a fun spin-off.

 

I remember going to see Bambi and ET in the theatre. First non-kid movie I really remember watching was Back to the Future.

[gardenmom5]

I remember seeing 2001:space odyssey in the theater. My parents didn't get a babysitter, I was bored and tired and tried to lay down on theater seats. yeah, right. It was a weird movie. I still think it's weird.

[cloversandlions]

My mom says she took me to see "Jaws" but I don't remember it. The first movie I *really* remember was "E.T." ...but it was also because it was my first real date ever. :) I'm sure I saw more than a few before that, of course, but it is the one that stands out the most in my memories.

[DaffodilDreams]

Star Wars!

[Negin]

Bambi and Sound of Music - but they used to show the latter on the big screen pretty much every year, both in Iran and in the U.K. (both places where I spent my childhood).

[HayleyKC]

My first movie in the theater was ET! I remember around that same time my favorite movies to watch at home were Wizard of Oz and Mary Poppins. Still love those two and have enjoyed sharing them with my kids.

[Heather in Neverland]

The original Clash of the Titans. :D

[Melissa in Australia]

I remember seeing E.T. and Ghost Busters.

 

 

Edited to add.. just remember the first movies were Watership Down and some musical where everyone was on roller skates Zanadoo or something like that

Edited August 4, 2011 by melissaL

[Amira]

I don't remember going to many movies at all when I was younger, but the earliest one I do remember is one of the old Star Trek movies (The Wrath of Khan, I think) at a drive-through. I'm not sure it technically counts because I slept through most of it.

 

Yes, I come from a family of Trekkers. Not fanatic (no one has every dressed up as anyone), but we all love a good Star Trek episode.

[LaxMom]

Jaws. I was 4. I still have water issues.

 

Then they took me to see The Godfather at the drive-in. I didn't fall asleep as planned.

 

I think the first age-appropriate movie I saw on a big screen was Star Wars, I think. (also at the drive in)

 

I saw the normal childhood movies on tv - the Sunday night family movie - Wizard of Oz, Bambi, the Hobbit, Rikki Tikki Tavi.

[laundrycrisis]

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. I think my parents did not have a sitter or something. I remember trying to sleep while the movie played.

[LidiyaDawn]

The Care Bears Movie - is the earliest that I remember...

 

and my first 'went to the movies at night' [cuz that was a growing-up milestone] was Crocodile Dundee…you wouldn't think it would interest a 9 year old that much, but I loved it --- it's still one of my favourite movies. :D

[Disney Dreaming]

Star Wars

[littlebug42]

I remember the movie Earthquake at the drive-in. I was only three and they are vague memories. The first I truly remember was The Jungle Book. It was playing at a local historic theatre. This is how I saw Song of the South as well.

[dancer67]

Pete's Dragon:001_smile:

[Upward Journey]

Snow White was my first ever theater movie. The next I remember seeing was either either Muppets Take Manhatten or maybe Empire Strikes Back (not sure of the timeframe on those).

[MamaT]

2001: A Space Odyssey with my sister and her boyfriend (now her dh). They took me on their dates when my sister had to watch me. I was only 5 and I remember not understanding a thing.

 

The first kid movie I remember seeing - Snow White.

[Mrs Mungo]

Aside from Disney movies? Star Wars!

[snickelfritz]

I was going to say E. T., but I also saw Bambi. The Smurf movie was in there, somewhere. So, whichever happened first.

[MaryE]

In an actual movie theater - The Fox and the Hound!

[Julie Smith]

I'm sure it wasn't the first, but "who framed Roger rabbit". Our good friends and neighbor came with us. The boy was the same age as me. He got scared? Excited? And threw the mostly empty popcorn box on his head.

 

Another time when at home we were watching, "the last unicorn". He cried and blew his nose into some kleneex. After doing this for awhile he ate the kleneex. :confused:

 

That's all I really remember about those movies.

[BeckyFL]

Oh, dear. I think this could show my age.... Mary Poppins. I also remember being traumatized by Bambi (first time I realized a mother could die) and I always hated watching the Wizard of Oz when it was aired on TV each year. Scary stuff. lol

[Rjmakmom]

The Lady and the Tramp was my first movie theater experience.

[Annie]

I'm pretty sure the first movie I saw in a theater was the Little Mermaid. :)

[ButterfliesandBooks]

Another Star Wars vote here :) and I still love it!

[Pamela H in Texas]

The first I *remember* is E.T.. But I had the soundtrack to Annie...and could my parents have neglected the Fox and the Hound?

[LizzyBee]

We lived out in the country and it was a long drive to see a movie, so we didn't do it often. I remember going to the drive-in to see Bedknobs and Broomsticks and Freaky Friday, but I don't know which one was earlier.

 

ETA: B&B came out in 1971 and FF in 1976, so I guess B&B was the first movie I saw.

[BearWallowSchool]

The first movie I went to see was Jurassic Park. It was for my older sister's birthday and I didn't even weigh enough to hold the seat down. I think I played with my chair the whole time. :lol:

[Paige]

My first that I remember was Bambi. I think it had been re-released to theaters. I remember the beginning but fell asleep before the second half. I thought I liked it and it was years before I realized his mom was shot! It was traumatic the next time I saw it because I was expecting a happy movie. LOL!

[Kathleen in VA]

I can'tremember which was first, but I went to see The Sword in the Stone for my 5th birthday and I remember going to a drive-thru to see Mary Poppins (in my jammies:)).

[Parrothead]

I don't remember. We were actually at the movies when I had to go to the bathroom. I was about 5. I went by myself, couldn't reach the paper towels and climbed on the sink to get to them. I fell and bruised my collar bone. I had to wear a sling for a few days. I have no idea what the movie was. We were in Italy at the time. This would have been 1971-2.

 

The next movie I remember seeing is Fantasia. Or maybe it was the Apple Dumpling Gang. I don't remember which I saw first. It would have been the mid-70s and I was about 8 or 9.

[Stratford]

I saw Annie at the drive-in when I was 3. It's the first movie experience I remember.

[Angel]

The first movie I remember seeing at the theater was The Black Stallion. I just looked it up and that was in 1979 so I was 7. I'm wondering if that was really my first movie or just the one I remember.

 

My older dd's first movie at the theater was Batman and Robin. She was in love with Batman :D She was 2.5 yo.

 

Younger dd's first movie at the theater was Finding Nemo. She was 2.5 yo.

[Elvis and Miss Kitty]

We went to the drive-in to see Tora, Tora, Tora! waaay back in 1970. I was 8 at the time.

[TrixieB]

I vaguely remember going to see a Pippi Longstocking movie, but I don't think that qualifies as a "major" motion picture.

 

The first blockbuster-type movie I saw was Star Wars. I was shocked when I watched it on DVD recently and there were characters added to some scenes that weren't there when I saw it in the theatre.

[mytwomonkeys]

i remember grease. i had the double album too & loved it.

[Catiejoy]

Me too, Fox and the Hound. My mom actually popped pocorn and we took it with us to the movie theater, didn't even have to hide it, sat in the front row!

[Caitilin]

E.T.! I guess I was 4, since I saw it in the theater. :tongue_smilie:

[Orthodox6]

My earliest memory of watching a movie at a theatre was being with my parents and brother at a drive-in for Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961 film). That would have made me six years old.

[VaKim]

Bonnie and Clyde, at the drive-in.

[KRG]

The Apple Dumpling Gang. My mom was pregnant w/my youngest sister and my other sister and I argued who was going to call the baby 'our little apple dumpling'.

[Ellyndria]

I have clear memories of seeing The Empire Strikes Back. I would have been 4.

[kchara]

Raiders of the Lost Ark. I was 3. The Wrath of Khan the next year. And I did see E.T. that year, too. That was my first kids' movie. My parents were very strange.

[Mom in High Heels]

Apparently I saw Star Wars on opening night in 1977, but I was only 3, so I don't remember it. My mom assures me I was there though.

 

The first movie I ever really saw (meaning I knew I was going) in the theater was the Aristocats. I still love that movie.

 

The first movie I ever went to by myself (with friends, not parents) was Back to the Future.

[Jeannie in NJ]

Lil Abner (musical) at the drive-in. Yup, I am that old.

[CalicoKat]

North Avenue Irregulars.

[piraterose]

My earliest memory of seeing a non-children's movie was Superman at the drive -in. I was 5 and remember going to the snack stand and being in my footie one piece pjs.

[In The Great White North]

Star Wars - an 8th grade field trip

[justamouse]

Star Wars. Drive in theater. With my parents in a huge Chevy van that he had made into a camping van. I hid under an afghan getting in. :-)

[Jenny in Florida]

Here's the thing: I grew up with a pair of movie lovers as parents. They weren't big on babysitters. So, I "saw" a lot of movies in my childhood, many of which I shouldn't have seen and several of which still provoke nightmares. (Wait Until Dark, which was released when I was three, for example.)

 

Every weekend, my parents would load the three of us in the car and go to the drive in. Often, it was a double feature, with something vaguely kid friendly first and then the grown-up movie. Sometimes, I went to sleep in the backseat as I was supposed to do, but not always.

 

Anyway, the first movies I remember being taken to see on purpose were Snow White (must have been the re-release in 1967) and The Jungle Book (also 1967). I'm not sure which one I saw first.

 

As an aside, we chose our daughter's first-movie-in-a-theatre very carefully and took her to see the re-release of the original Star Wars triology when she was about three. It must have worked, because she just keeps getting nerdier as she gets older. I'm glad we planted that seed!