Into the West has been mentioned before and I'd like to agree whole-heartedly with the nod. Gabriel Byrne is fantastic as the father of two runaway Irish Rover boys. Any movie that teaches about Tír na nÓg is worthy.

Virginia's Run is a great "horse" movie with strong female protagonists (both sisters, after the older sister wises up about halfway through) and Byrne as a grief-stricken father coming out of his shell. Beautiful cinamatography taken in Nova Scotia and a great endurance horse race.

Please let me add "The Boy Who Could Fly", "My Bodyguard", and "A Little Romance" to the list. These are all for the somewhat older youngsters (10-13, I'd guess), and each delivers a unique experience, but they all address the idea that kids have lives and that it would be a very good idea for the adults around them to get their heads out of their posteriors and appreciate how real those lives are.

I loved the list, but I can think of a few films that I would think poor minorities would enjoy.

1. Meteor Man - a comedy about a black superhero, with a very positive message and a great cast.

2. Remember the Titans - Denzel Washington and is about racial tolerance without being sappy.

3. Jackie Robinson Story - corny but my four year old loves it.

4. Bingo Long - Fictionalized comedy of the Negro leagues with Richard Pryor, Billy Dee Williams, and James Earl Jones

5. Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman - I remember liking this as a kid.

You have a very good list, but without this Danny Kaye classic, it is a two-legged stool.

Vessel with the pestle has the pellet with the poison. No the flagon with the dragon has the brew that is true.

And its sequel! I promise, they will love it. (maybe 7 and up).

Madeline (1998)

Live action version with Frances McDormand.

A very enjoyable film.

The Sword in the Stone--Disney.

I vigorously second "Matilda," and will also add another Roald Dahl adaptation -- "The Witches." Best for kids a little older (8-10 and up), but for kids who like suspense and a little dose of horror, it's great -- a creepy story, well-told, but without gore and with a kid-friendly (but not cheesy) ending.

"Dark Crystal" is another one that I second. And even though I already mentioned it, I'm still going to reiterate: "The Last Unicorn." Definitely my #1 for best kids' movie, period. If you haven't seen it, DO!

Hope I'm not repeating - I did read through all the letters before posting, but might have missed it. I haven't seen it since it was originally in the theater, but my husband and I cried like babies. I'm sure that having to euthanize my favorite cat several days earlier had nothing to do with it.

Thank you for putting Iron Giant at the top of the list. We watched it again tonight, after a long hiatus, but only because we discovered we somehow don't own The Princess Bride.

Also thanks for the great ideas. I can't wait to see a nicely compiled version of the also ran/readers suggestions list.

I didn't respond to the first list, but am grateful that so many I'd thought of made your list.

Before I second some of things in the comments, I gotta say that I don't think either Watership Down, which I think is excellent, or Grave of the Fireflies, which is probably the single most depressing animated film of all time, would be suitable for children. Both are simply too violent for younger children. Watership Down is excellent though and might be held in reserve for the double digits.

The Fleischer Superman - gorgeous painterly art deco animation. A friend has a 2-year-old who regularly asks to come over to watch my Superman cartoons. "Superman! Superman helps!" 66 years old and he loves them.

Into the West - Great Irish film.

MP and the Holy Grail - my mom and I used to bond over this and the regular series. But especially the film. And there's Jaberwocky as well, also Terry Gilliam.

The Great Race - back in the long-ago of the Independent TV Station, KTLA 5 in L.A. would run this as a "special event, and it was another bond with my mom, who loved Curtis and Lemon in this. Great silly fun.

And with Halloween not all that far away, I'd like to recommend two "scary" movies at parent's approval - the Japanese anthology Kwaidan and the SF classic Five Million Years to Earth. The last is still effective and creepy without being violent. My friends and I realized we'd all been terrified by this as kids.

Wow, this list just keeps getting better. Some posters reminded me of a time when intergenerational movies were crucial to our family -- we had just moved from NY to Milwaukee in 1972, my siblings and I were 13, 12 and 7, and we were mostly hanging out with my grandmother in a hotel for 5 days while our parents got the house in order. Just on TV we were lucky enough to have A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, A Patch of Blue, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner and Raisin in the Sun -- social issues and tragedy in black, white and Irish-American (A Tree Grows in Brooklyn was my mother's favorite movie growing up). We were enthralled.

Oh, I would also add Into the West and one of my favorite movies ever, Elf. It's not just for Christmas!

My son is only 3 but this list is great and will get me motivated to start up the Netflix subscription again.

1 - Whale Rider - yes, it's been mentioned, but what fabulous appeal for the whole family

2 - someone mentioned Au Revoir, Les Enfants - since we're going French what about Zero de Conduite (Zero for Conduct), I saw this in a college film class and still remember it well almost 20 years later, full scale revolt of young students in a boarding school, great pillow fight. It was made in the 30's but was considered anti-authoritarian enough that the censors squashed it until after WWII. Any kid who is hating school will love it. But this might not count as I think it is only available in the European DVD format (Region 2).

3 - How the Grinch Who Stole Christmas (animated version from 1960's TV) - screened this at Christmas and my then 2.5 year old watched it daily for months, he still revisits it several times a week, Chuck Jones animation rocks!

Keep 'em coming.