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Great Movies for Upper Elementary


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So it's way past time to move away from goofy animations and Disney. I'm looking for recommendations for my 9-year-old DD.  We've really enjoyed 'The Incredible Journey' and 'Secretariat' recently. I'd love to hear about movies you've really loved with your kids and am looking for compelling stories that show what film offers in great storytelling, in the same way as our beloved books. 

 

Hope that makes sense!

 

 

 

 

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So it's way past time to move away from goofy animations and Disney. I'm looking for recommendations for my 9-year-old DD.  We've really enjoyed 'The Incredible Journey' and 'Secretariat' recently. I'd love to hear about movies you've really loved with your kids and am looking for compelling stories that show what film offers in great storytelling, in the same way as our beloved books. 

 

Hope that makes sense!

 

Don't bother looking. Other than Fiddler on the Roof and The Sound of Music, Secretariat is the best movie (well, story) evah. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE IT! And you know, he was born in Virginia. ;)

 

We like National Treasure, The Princess Bride, Night at the Museum and old movies.Not sure those are what you're looking for.

 

 I'll be watching the responses, but Secretariat is the best!

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My kids have liked:

The Sound of Music

Singing in the Rain

State Fair

My Fair Lady

Honey, I Shrunk the Kids

The Princess Bride

ET

Black Beauty (1994 version w/Sean Bean)

A Little Princess (Alfonso Cuaron version)

The Secret Garden (1993 version)

Little Women (Winona Ryder version)

Anne of Green Gables

Dolphin Tale (one of the main characters is homeschooled & it's treated very positively without ever really being commented on)

It's a Wonderful Life

 

And documentaries:

March of the Penguins

Earth

African Cats

Chimpanzee

Babies

 

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My kids are a little younger (DS will turn 8 this next month), but we do love the DisneyNature movies. They have also enjoyed the National Treasure movies, October Sky, The Princess Bride, and the Night at the Museum movies.

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Here's a big list of ideas -- note the year in parenthesis, so you know which version I meant. :)

 

 

Animated (not just "goofy", and not just for children!)

- Wreck-It Ralph (2012)

- Rango (2011)

- Secret of Kells (2010)

How To Train Your Dragon (2010)

Despicable Me (2010)

- Megamind (2010)

Tangled (2010)

Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)

- Wall-E (2008)
- Hoodwinked (2005)

The Incredibles  (2004)

The Secret World of Arrietty (2010) -- Japanese, but dubbed

- Spirited Away (2001) -- Japanese, but dubbed
- Howl's Moving Castle (2005) -- Japanese, but dubbed

- My Neighbor Totoro (1988) -- Japanese, but dubbed

- Yellow Submarine (1986)

- Fantasia (1940) -- OR -- Fantasia 2000 (2000)

 

Gentle Family Films -- more recent (after 2000)

- Kitt Kittridge (2008)

- Nim's Island (2008)

- Enchanted (2007)

- August Rush (2007)

- Akeelah and the Bee (2006)

- Duma (2005)
- Because of Winn-Dixie (2005)

- My Family and Other Animals (2005)

- I Am David (2003)
- Holes (2003)
The Rookie (2002)

- The Railway Children (2000)

 

Gentle, Family Films (1980-2000)

- David Copperfield (1999)

Fly Away Home (1996)

- A Little Princess (1995 -- movie, OR, 1986 -- TV mini-series)
- Babe (1996)
- The Secret of Roan Innish (1995)
Little Women (1994)

- The Secret Garden (1993)

Sarah Plain and Tall (1991) -- and seguel -- Skylark ( (1993)

- A Girl of the Limberlost (1990) -- TV movie

- Anne of Green Gables (1985)

- Never Cry Wolf (1983)

- The Black Stallion (1979)

 

Family Classics (1930-1980)

- The Parent Trap (1961)

- Pollyanna (1960)

- Swiss Family Robinson (1960)

- Friendly Persuasion (1956)

- The Red Balloon (1956)

- The Long Long Trailer (1953)

- Cheaper By the Dozen (1950) -- NOT the Steve Martin one

- National Velvet (1944)

- Little Women (1949)

- Oliver Twist (1948)

- Young Thomas Edison (1940)

 

Family Classics -- Musicals (1930-1980)

- Oliver (1968)

Sound of Music (1965)

- Help! (with the Beatles) (1965)

- Mary Poppins (1964)

- My Fair Lady (1964)

- Singin' in the Rain (1952)

- Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)

- Meet Me In St. Louis (1944)

- The Wizard of Oz (1938)

- Top Hat; Swing Time; Shall We Dance; Royal Wedding -- Fred Astaire musicals

 

Action/Adventure -- more recent (1980s-present)

- Hugo (2011)

- Forbidden Kingdom (2008)

- National Treasure (2007)

- Zathura (2005)

- Sky High (2005)

- Spy Kids (2001) -- and sequels #2, #3

- The Rocketeer (1991)

- Jim Hensen's The Storyteller (1988) -- TV series

- The Princess Bride (1987)

- Labrynth (1986)

- Ladyhawke (1985) 

- The Scarlet Pimpernel (1982)

 

Action/Adventure -- older (1950-1980) 

- Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1973)

- Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971) -- NOT the Johnny Depp one!!

- The Great Escape (1963)

- Jason and the Argonauts (1963) -- BEST animated skeleton sword fight EVER!  :D

- Ben Hur (1959)

- Around the World in 80 Days (1956) -- NOT the more recent version with Will Smith and Kevin Kline!!

- 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)

- Stalag 17 (1953)

- Ivanhoe (1952)

- The African Queen (1951)

- Treasure Island (1950)

 

Westerns

- Jeremiah Johnson (1972)

- True Grit (1969) -- the John Wayne version (the 2010 version is too intense/graphic)

- How The West Was Won (1962)

- The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence (1962)

- The Magnificent Seven (1960)

- Shane (1953)
- Fort Apache (1948)

- Stagecoach (1939)

 

Mysteries

- North By Northwest (1959)

- The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)

- To Catch a Thief (1955)

- Dial M for Murder (1954)

-  Rear Window (1954)

- And Then There Were None (1945)
- Gaslight (1944)
- The Maltese Falcon (1941)
- The Lady Vanishes (1938)

- Sherlock Holmes films -- 1930s/40s films with Nigel Rathbone, OR, 1980s PBS series with Jeremy Brett

 

Action/Adventure -- classic (pre-1950)

- The Sea Hawk (1940)

- The Adventures of Robin Hood (1939)

- Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938)

- The Lady Vanishes (1938)

- The Prisoner of Zenda (1937)

- The Prince and the Pauper (1937)

- The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934)

- Captain Blood (1935)

- The Most Dangerous Game (1932)

 

Humorous

- Muppets Most Wanted (2014)

- The Muppets (2011)

- The Muppet Treasure Island (1996)

- Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
- The Muppet Movie (1979)

- Evan Almighty (2007)

- The Blues Brothers (1980)

- The Great Race (1965) -- there is one very brief conversation about sexual equality / "what do you mean by sex"

- The Absent-Minded Professor (1961) -- ORIGINAL flubber movie
- Support Your Local Sheriff (1961)
- Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)
- A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1949)
- You Can't Take it With You (1938)

- Way Out West (1937) -- best of the Laurel & Hardy films

- A Night at the Opera (1935) -- best of the Marx Brother films

 

Silent Classics

- Black Pirate (1926) -- Douglas Fairbanks swashbuckling adventure

- Thief of Bagdad (1924) -- Douglas Fairbanks swashbuckling adventure

- The General (1926) -- Buster Keaton comedy

- Sherlock Junior (1924) -- Buster Keaton comedy

- Steamboat Bill, Jr.  -- Buster Keaton comedy

- Our Hospitality (1923) -- Buster Keaton comedy

- The Gold Rush (1925)  -- Charlie Chaplin comedy
- The Kid (1921) -- Charlie Chaplin comedy
- The Rink (1916) -- Charlie Chaplin comedy

- Safety Last (1923) -- Harold Lloyd comedy

 

Christmas

- Elf (2003)

- Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

- Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
- A Christmas Story (1983)
- Scrooge (1970) (musical)

- How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966)

- A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)

- A Christmas Carol (1951) OR (1984 - TV)

- Miracle on 34th Street (1947)

- It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

 

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1) I'm partial to movies like The Wizard of Oz or The Sound of Music.  Watch for movies which show up later in many cultural references.

Example: "A Bug's Life" has a homage to Star Wars near the end of the "show" scene in the city.  And I wonder, "Has my child seen Star Wars?"

2) Read Newbery Award winners together, and watch the movies.  I am surprised at how many of these have been made into movies.
Example: Holes or Ella Enchanted

3) My personal favorites:
Princess Bride

Willow

Dragonheart




 

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Wow, these are great lists! Thank you so much! Thanks especially for the categorized list with dates.

 

Some of these we've seen already (Mary Poppins and Sound of Music and even Star Wars), but some I've never even considered for her. 'Holes' was one of my son's favorite books, but I have not seen the movie. I tend to go slow with too much intensity-- we've got a lot of imagination around here.  :)

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 I tend to go slow with too much intensity-- we've got a lot of imagination around here.  :)

 

Same here; that's why my list is intentionally so gentle and includes a lot of older films -- they were usually less intense, but, like classic literature, many of those movies are part of the history and canon of film culture and are frequently alluded to in other works (as previous poster mentioned). :)

 

Here are a few more threads with good movies for elementary ages, all based around historical time periods:

I'm looking for movies to supplement Sonlight Core D (movies to go with US History)

Videos/DVDs/movies for Early Modern Times? (age appropriate for 7yo -- US & World)

Historical movies and documentaries to supplement Story of the World vol. 1 (ancient history)

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Oh my gosh, but we are a movie family. I just introduced my kids to Waking Ned Devine (they JUST removed it from Netflix streaming but I see it's still on Amazon streaming). They loved it! Of course there is that naked scene, which is the funniest part of the movie, but it's a rear view scene of two men about 70 years old, lol.

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