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Old June 7th 04, 02:47 AM
Taed Nelson
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Default Recommendations of good non-animated "family" films for two parents and a 3-year-old?

I'd like to get some recommendations of true family films, something that
would interest both parents and our 3-year-old.

We've watched most of the recent "classics", such as those by Pixar and
Disney. Many of the older Disney ones are too violent (such as _Fox and the
Hound_) or scary. We also really like some of the anime such as _Kiki's
Delivery Service_.

However, I want to watch something other than animated films, and that's
where I'm having trouble... I've looked through the library and video store
twice and have come up with very few titles that would interest all of us.

The big issue is that we want to avoid any violence, guns, swords, and the
like, but I don't think that there are any other hot-button issues. Other
adult themes such as nudity and paying taxes aren't an issue for us, but I
doubt there are any "family" films with that. I also don't want to watch
any bad movies!

The story also has to be simple enough on some level for a 3-year-old to
follow and understand.

A great film (though there are some parts we have to fast-forward through)
for us was _E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial_. My son understood most of the
movie, and even cried at both the beginning (where the space ship leaves
without ET) and where ET dies. (He can be surprisingly sensitive.) (It was
also the re-release with the guns edited out, so it worked well for out
sensibilities.) _The Wizard of Oz_ also worked out well, again with just a
little bit that needed to be skipped over. (That developed a big interest
in tornadoes, though, so we're read a number of books from the library about
them.) He also sat through _Whale Rider_, and also cried when the whales
were stuck on the beach. _Babe_ is another good example (however, _Gordy_
is so bad that we stopped it about 15 minutes into it).

I'm also considering taking him to the 1956 version of _Around the World in
80 Days_ next week at The Stanford Theatre -- from what I've read, I think
it should be fine for him, particularly since it has planes, balloons,
trains, and so on, which he's really into these days. Has anyone seen this
and care to comment on it's level of violence (hitting, guns, swords, etc.)?

Any other movie recommendations along these lines?

(Thanks in advance.)