"My Neighbor Totoro" by Miyazaki

It's the best kid movie out there. Sweet but deals with some adult issue's (their mother's in the hospital). Takes place both in a foreign country (Japan) and in the country (which to most kids is like a foreign country) but it still totally accessible to your typical American kid. Also, it has a great fantasy element but it's not violent.

Also, the movie's protagonists are girls, which is very rare in the male dominated kids movie market. Nonetheless my 2 boys love the movie.

Really I can't recommend it enough. I'll also be very disappointed if you (A movie critic!) haven't already seen it.

My kids love The Music Man and The Sound of Music. Not all musicals are appropriate for kids or catch their attention, but those do. And it's one of those cultural touchstones--it's important to know what "There's trouble in River City" means, or why Maria is a problem. I love Pixar, don't get me wrong, but musicals are a welcome break from animated cars, fish, and bugs.

We heard "76 Trombones" in a parade this weekend, and my kids could sing the song.

This film scared the crap out of me when I was 10 years old in the late 60's. Especially the part when Lon Chaney Jr. morphed into the wolfman via time lapse photography. This to me was the height of special effects!

When my kids were around 10, I showed it to them at a birthday party. They laughed continuously and commented how fake (!) the wolfman scene was.

Its great for birthday parties.

(I rented other Abbott and Costello movies ... not very good)

THE SECRET OF ROAN INISH - Lovely, unusual fable. John Sayles at his best.

Or for lighter fare...

THE 5,000 FINGERS OF DR. T - Dr. Seuss, undiluted. Fantastic production design, catchy tunes, and some mind-blowing musical setpieces.

The animated film "Abel's Island" (adapted from the book by William Steig) thoroughly held my attention as an adult.

Also, I confess an affection for that old animated version of "The Hobbit."

Magdelene - Girl orphan tale, but lots of twists and fun. Not sure I spelled it right. Stars the woman cop from Fargo.

Any Dick Van Dyke movie - that man was a master... I can appreciate that now.

The Iron Giant - For animation, Brad Birds first work - super super... hip! Well worth looking for.

My favorite movie of all time is "Yellow Submarine," while "Help!" is my favorite comedy. Can you really go wrong with the Marx Brothers? Monkey Business, Horsefeathers, Duck Soup, A Night at the Opera. Chaplin from "The Gold Rush," to "Modern Times," should be fine for children (as would surely pre-The Kid shorts). For Keaton I prefer Sherlock Jr., The Navigator and Steamboat Bill. "Spirited Away" is an obvious choice. Renoir's "The River" is a not so obvious one, and I wonder if you could get away with "Pather Panchali." I wonder if children would enjoy "A Man Escaped?" I may be the only of your readers who likes "Around the World in 80 days," but I think children would enjoy it. After all, ten years old read it, or at least I did. "Oliver!" is another underrated best picture winner. As for Disney movies my choice is "Alice in Wonderland," which I find endlessly inventive, refreshingly unsentimental, while Kathryn Beaumont clearly has more brains that almost every other animated Disney heroine put together. I also have a weakness for "Fantasia." Children should like the That's Entertainment trilogy, and then you can see if they like the actual musicals. "Meet me in Saint Louis" strikes me as an obvious start. I actually prefer "The Great Muppet Caper" among muppet movies. I wonder if they would like "M. Hulot's Holiday." Children may be too hyperkinetic these days. David Lean's "Great Expectations" strikes me as a good choice as well. "Hope and Glory," "My Life as a Dog," "The Empire of the Sun," and "Where is the Friends' House," are four excellent movies from 1987 that are about children. Why not try "Battleship Potemkin" if you want to force cinephilia on them. "I was Born, but..." may be even better for children. When I was 7 years old I was haunted by seeing the mid-50s Soviet animated film "The Snow Queen." And now it's on DVD.

Oh, yes, also "Matilda."

Matilda,

Spirited Away,

Arabian Nights (the year 2000 miniseries version with John Leguizamo as the genie in the lamp.)

Old Musicals the campier the better, (my kids were hooked on Fiddler on the Roof for a while)

Any of the original Godzilla movies.

Buster Keaton's "The General", especially for kids who love trains.

Old TV shows on DVD: Flash Gordon, Dr. Who (the really old ones are a hoot), Brisco County Jr.

Kiki's Delivery Service (Hiyao Miyazaki)

Endearing, beautiful, girl-positive, and more accessible (and less violent) than other Miyazaki films, though Princess Mononoke, My Neighbor Totoro, and Spirited Away also fit the bill.

Really original and funny animated film from 1983 produced by George Lucas. Great score also. Only available on VHS.

My wife's favorite is Miyazaki's Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind.

And an oddball suggestion, Felix the Cat: The Movie. Quite bizarre and entertaining.

2 more unusual Disney films: The Cat From Outer Space, and Escape to Witch Mountain.

Oh, and Muppets from Outer Space! Hilarious!

Happy Vacation

The Adventures of Robin Hood with Errol Flynn. The Thief of Bagdad with Conrad Veidt and Sabu. If they are willing to watch a movie with subtitles, Cocteaus Beauty and the Beast.

Okay let's see...

• You said "no Disney" but consider taking a step back in time for some unheralded Disney classics like "The Cat From Outer Space," or the Kurt Russell trio of "Computer Wore Tennis Shoes" movies (which turn Russell into a brainiac, an invisible man, and a super-strong guy). You can really see Disney's mastery of the extended chase scene in these!

• There are lots of other cool old Disney flicks, including Sean Connery's first-ever role in "Darby O'Gill and the Little People" (I believe), and of course the obvious choices like "Freaky Friday," "Parent Trap," the "Witch Mountain" flicks and the "Herbie" movies, all of which have been or are about to be remade, usually starring Lindsey Lohan....so it's best to stick with the originals.

• Jim Henson stuff: the "Muppet" movies, but also "Dark Crystal" and "Labyrinth"....though they're weird. The latter has lots of music and imaginative little side-stuff. In that realm, there's also "Legend" and "Willow," one of which stars Tim Curry as a devil, and one featuring Tom Cruise in a loincloth squatting all the time.

• "Hawmps!" This is a movie about what happens when some goofy protagonists decide to bring camels to the Wild West. I loved it as a kid, can barely remember it now. I vaguely recall them using a camel to pull the bars off of a jail window.

• "Babe" and "Babe Pig in the City": From the director of "The Road Warrior"... (Two pigs enter, one pig leave)

• "The Neverending Story" is an interesting 1980s movie, and I seem to recall enjoying "The Flight of the Navigator" which is where a kid finds and learns to drive an alien spaceship that's really cool.

• I haven't seen it but I've always wanted to see "The 1,000 Fingers of Dr. T," or maybe it's 5,000 fingers, or 500... Can't remember. But it's one of Dr. Seuss's few forays into non-animated territory. Maybe it's good?

• "Clifford" is an all-time favorite, starring Martin Short and Charles Grodin. Short plays a 10-year-old child who's irredeemably devious. The pranksterism and Grodin's escalating anger are infectious.

• Another terrific Martin Short film is "Innerspace" starring Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan. This one's completely palatable for kids (very little violence) and has a fun "Fantastic Voyage"-style miniaturization plotline that keeps building on itself. (There's your Disney connection)

• Buster Keaton movies. Great slapstick. Obviously you can't go wrong with the Little Rascals either. Maybe Three Stooges if you can stand them. Charlie Chaplin. Probably not Jacques Tati. If the kids are at the "boogers are funny!" stage you could add Mr. Bean to the list. The remake of "Mad Mad Mad Mad World," a.k.a. "Rat Race," is remarkably good (better on the small screen than the big one).

• Obvious stuff: "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure" is great for kids. Cute mall scenes, etc. Other obvious choices include "Goonies," "Stand By Me" (if only for the barfing scene), the "Pee Wee's Big Adventure," "E.T.," of course "Star Wars," "Princess Bride," "Willie Wonka," "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" (beware the Child Catcher!), "Ghostbusters," "Big," "Back to the Future," and.... (there are dozens I am forgetting).

• When I was a kid I really liked "The Incredible Shrinking Woman" (Lily Tomlin and Marc Blancfeld) but it must not hold up well because I don't even think it's available anymore -- but I can still remember the "Galaxy Glue" jingle in the movie!

• "Better Off Dead" is probably more appropriate for pre-teens, but there's nothing in this I can imagine being offensive or disturbing for kids. The scene of the animated hamburger, or the food that crawls away, or the "two dollars" newspaper kids, and many other elements would all go over pretty well.