Hey, I Don't Want To Grow Up! (Top 10 Films in general)

Member Name: Sue Hoskinson

Product:	Top 10 Films in general
Date:	19/01/02 (239 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good lighthearted fun, suitable for everyone

Disadvantages: I couldn't pick more

Everyone loves kids movies, right? Well I’m no exception and sometimes I’d rather watch something from our Disney collection than anything else!

We’ve been collecting Disney movies since our youngest son was born in 1991 and have quite an impressive selection now. There are also quite a few by other companies too but for some reason the Disney ones always come out on top, most of the time.

I’ve decided to pick 10 of my favorite kids movies because choosing films for adults is just too hard and I can’t pick less than at least 50 if I have to make a list from just ‘grown up’ movies.
There is no particular order in which these films have preference, just the order I found them on the shelf.

Here goes!

Small Soldiers: I think this was released in 1998 (the print on the video is way too small to read clearly) and it’s by Dreamworks. It runs for 110 mins.
This is a wonderful story about toy soldiers and their created enemies, the Gorgonites that are computerized but things don’t go quite the way the manufacturers plan. The two main toy characters are Chip Hazard, voiced by Tommy Lee Jones and Archer, voiced by Frank Langella.
The soundtrack for this is very loud and there’s loads of action too, I loved it and still do. It probably isn’t suitable for very small children but my son was 7 years old when he first saw it and he was completely enthralled by it. If you’ve never seen this – give it a try, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it!

George of the Jungle: Disney’s adaptation of Tarzan! This movie is 92 mins long and I can’t find a release date – sorry!
What can you say about this one? It’s hilarious. Brendan Fraser plays the boy raised by gorillas and is so inept that he’s brilliant. Whenever we need a little cheering up this is the movie we put on, it really is so silly you can’t help b
ut laugh and it never seems to lose it’s appeal!

The Mighty Ducks: Another Disney and it runs for 104 mins. They’ve made 3 Ducks movies and I’ve seen them all but this one is the best by far!
Emilio Estevez shines as tough lawyer Gordon Bombay that has to coach peewee hockey for community service. The ragtag team he gets is completely hopeless as a team but with his help they really come together as a team.
You don’t have to like ice hockey to watch Ducks, it’s a great family movie that had the whole of my family cheering and laughing at the antics they get up to! This movie includes some great music and has the famous ‘We Will Rock You’ by Queen. In the other Duck movies they also include ‘We Are The Champions’.

Aladdin: Who hasn’t heard of Aladdin? Disney have made 2 sequels to the original but, again, I feel that this one is by far the best in the set and it runs for 90 mins.
Robin Williams voiced the Genie and stole the movie! It’s set in the mythical city of Agrabah and tells the story of a street-smart peasant named Aladdin and his mischievous monkey, Abu.
The movie won 2 Academy awards, one for best song and the other for best score.
I don’t really know exactly what I love about Aladdin, everything I suppose. It makes me laugh – Genie is just brilliant and I think he works on both levels, appealing to both kids and adults.
The second Aladdin movie didn’t appeal to me because Robin Williams didn’t voice the Genie and it didn’t sound right. He did return to do the final one, which is almost as good as the original, at least I think it is!

Jumanji: Tri Star produced this little gem and it’s 104 mins long. Jumanji is a board game with a difference; once the game has been started you have to complete it!
Robin Williams is the star and plays the role of Alan Parrish who is bullied as a child. He
finds the game and starts playing it with his friend Sarah. Everything goes pear-shaped when he gets sucked into the game and disappears right in front of Sarah and stays there for 26 years!
I love this movie, it’s full of wonderful special effects and adventures that we can only dream of. The battle to complete the game is immense and has you on the edge of your seat trying to second-guess what will happen next. I’ve seen this one loads of times and I never really grow tired of it! The jokes can be corny but they still make me laugh.

Hercules: Disney’s 35th masterpiece that runs for 93 mins. If you’ve never had the pleasure of seeing Hercules then you’re missing a treat.
Taken from the Gods as an infant, Hercules grows up in the mortal world not knowing anything about his heritage. While trying to ‘fit in’ he discovers that Zeus is his father and that Hades is trying to put together a hostile takeover of the Universe. It’s Hercules mission to prevent this from happening and it is hilarious.
James Woods voices Hades to perfection – he’s just brilliant and his one-liners are great. Danny de Vito who is another great addition to the movie voices Hercules trainer Phil.
It’s a typical Disney movie full of songs but they’re all great and fit very well.

Mary Poppins: Okay I know this isn’t everybody’s cup of tea but I love it, it reminds me of my childhood! This has to be Julie Andrews’s most famous role and it won 5 Academy awards in 1964 including best actress.
The Banks children are a real handful, they manage to chase out every nanny that their parents hire until Mary Poppins comes into their lives. She has a magical carpetbag that seems to be empty but still produces a number of amazing things!
I’ve always loved the way Mary Poppins mixes real-life and animation with such wonderful results and considering how old this
film is it’s impressive to say the least. It’s a movie that all children should see at least once but some may find sitting still for 139 mins quite difficult!

Toy Story: The first movie ever animated completely with computers is wonderful. It’s just 81 mins long and I felt it could have been even longer!
Toy Story is about Andy and his toys. When he gets a new Buzz Lightyear figure for his birthday his old best toy Woody becomes jealous. Tom Hanks does the voice for Woody and Tim Allen does Buzz, they’re both excellent.
I loved the way this movie showed that you have to work together and put your differences aside if you want to succeed. It’s great fun and has some wonderful characters as well as the two main ones including Hamm, the piggy bank.
The sequel is equally as good as the original, which is unusual, and I love both of them.

Jungle Book: This is inspired by the Rudyard Kipling ‘Mowgli’ stories and is only 78 mins long. Disney’s version is fast-paced and full of wonderful songs. Mowgli is the little boy that is raised by wolves who try to encourage him to leave the forest to live with his own people; this isn’t quite as easy as it sounds because Mowgli has never even seen a human!
This is one of the first movies I ever saw in the theaters when I was a small child and will always hold a special place in my heart. I loved all the songs and booed when the man-eating tiger Shere Khan appeared. Baloo the bear will always be my favorite character along with Bagheera the Black Panther.

Shrek: Well I just had to include this one didn’t I! It’s another Dreamworks movie and is 93 mins long.
Mike Myers does the voice for Shrek who is a green ogre that lives alone in his swamp until Lord Farquaad (John Lithgow) bans all fairytale characters from his land and they end up in the swamp. Shrek decides to get back the deed to the swamp from Lord Far
quaad by rescuing Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) from the dragon. Donkey who is voiced by Eddie Murphy is Shreks sidekick for the adventure!
There isn’t anything I can say about this movie that you probably know already know except that I think it’s one of the best I’ve ever seen! My son has played this almost continuously since Christmas and I’m still not fed up with listening to it. The jokes are wonderful, and work for both adults and children alike. The soundtrack grows on me more every time I hear it and I’ve found myself humming along on more than one occasion!

There are loads of others that I wanted to include but it’s such a hard thing to choose which movies are better than others, don’t you agree?
My reasoning for the ten I’ve chosen is that I’ve seen them all more than 5 times and enjoy them every time they’re played. I would recommend them all to anyone who wanted to watch a light-hearted movie with their kids or just by them selves!

Thanks for staying with me this far!!
Read you later, Sue.

Summary: