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Saturday, July 12, 2008 12:00 AM

The ultimate family DVD list

We asked; you answered. Here's the most-awesome-ever summertime list of offbeat, kid-friendly movies available on DVD -- as chosen (mostly) by Salon readers.

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  • Saturday, July 12, 2008 05:45 AM

    Brave LIttle Toaster and Mulan

    Loved the BLT.

    And, though it's against the rules, my daughters adore Disney's "Mulan." It was dismissed by as being too pc (read: the heroine isn't pining for prince charming, doesn't wear a Fairy Princess ball gown, and doesn't play kissy-face), but I think the story is compelling, and the message is powerful. It's as compelling a coming-of-age-quest-for-identity story as any. Mulan joins the army disguised as a boy. She's terrible at "boy stuff": fighting and tests of physical strength. But she figures out how to use her talents to advantage, and she doesn't give up because things are too hard. She is sometimes afraid. She makes mistakes. She loses friends. But doing the right thing (in this case, saving Imperial China from invaders) is more important to her than being liked.

    The message is applicable to both boys and girls (in a way that Cinderella, Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, at al, aren't on their surfaces). Mulan may not be as marketable as all those other doe-eyed Disney Princesses (no poofy dress), but she's become a great role model in our house.

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