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

I strongly second the rec of going to the older Disney live action movies
like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Mary Poppins, etc., as well as musicals like
Annie. Some (e.g., The Parent Trap) will be better if you wait a couple of
years, but some will be hits now as well as in a couple of years.

I'll also add a more recent live-action movie we all loved, Incredible
Journey. It's based on a good older (1940s?) book, but the movie is set in
probably the late 1980s or early 1990s. It's the story of 3 pets (2 dogs and
a cat) who set off across the country in search of their family, who has
moved away.

In a couple more years, you'll all probably like Fly Away Home about a
little girl who is stuck living with her dad, who she barely knows, after
her mom dies, and who becomes the "mother" to a flock of goslings who've
lost *their* mom. She ends up leading them on their annual migration south,
and in the process gets closer to her dad and lets go of her mom. Really
touching for us parents, and a great story for the kids, what with the cute
little baby geese and the "bad guys" trying to stop the girl from helping
the birds, etc.

Though you said you didn't want any swordplay etc., I'll still recommend
those old B monster movies with special effects by Ray Harryhausen, e.g.,
Jason and the Argonauts and The Golden Voyage of Sinbad. Please let him
watch those!! They're too fun.

I cannot imagine fast-forwarding through any part of Wizard of Oz, by the
way. Isn't having nightmares about the witch an essential part of growing
up?! (only half tongue-in-cheek). My general feeling is that if a kid can't
handle essential parts of a movie, such as the Dorothy-kidnapped scene in
Wizard of Oz, he should wait and see the movie when he's ready.
Fast-forwarding through parts of a great movie like Wizard of Oz is like
reading the "Illustrated Classics" version of Jungle Book. What's the rush?
If you can just hold off for another year or two, he'll be able to see the
unadulterated thing the first time around, and that experience cannot be
beat.