You should have just made a list of Miyazaki movies and then listed the others under "Also not bad."

I totally hated that part of the movie then, and thinking about it creeps me out even now (I'm 44). My kids do like Spirited Away, but when my husband took the 8 year old to see "Coraline" last year and I asked how it had gone she said "It was a mistake." So I think this list is pretty much right on target.

'nough said.

...if one hasn't seen it recently, they ought to. Incredible filmmaking.

Props for Fantastic Planet mention...what an incredible film! And the Dark Crystal will always give me nightmares...the Skecies haunt my dreams to this day...

but the movie was extremely toned down and "kidded" up. My kids were disappointed.

It's one of my favorite animated movies, but yeah. Not for kids.

I'm with the previous letter writer - Watership Down and The Plague Dogs, both by Martin Rosen, are tremendous adult films that just also happen to be animated.

...was not animated, btw.

I saw Witches in the theater (in my 20s then) and hadn't thought much about it in quite a while. But it really was a wonderful film, and Dahl does have that understanding of children's minds that lend believability to his tales. I had forgotten that Roeg directed this - I would never have pegged that.

Not that I didn't love the movie when I was a kid, but that film was pretty harsh - I mean, that opening sequence with Frith turning some animals into ravenous rabbit eaters and Fiver's vision of the field covered in within the first 10 minutes? The scene in which the original rabbit warren is first gassed and then torn open by bulldozers while the rabbits ARE STILL INSIDE?? Yikes!

There were quite a few animated films that weren't for kids back in the late 70s and early 80s: Fire & Ice (Frank Frazetta), Light Years (based on an Asimov story), Starchaser, and anything by Ralph Bakshi (the Ring Wraiths in his Lord of the Rings gave me nightmares for years).

Don Bluth's films (NIHM, Land Before Time & An American Tale) were lovely, but definitely had a more adult sensibility to them than Disney's films (which was why I liked them).

Oh, and Time Bandits? Fun film, but definitely not for kids.

Interesting concept, interesting list. I would add "Return to Oz" (1985). Sole directorial effort of legendary editor/sound-guy Walter Murch, and a way underrated and dark film that refused to sunny itself up MGM-style.

Just seeing the Coraline preview messed up my 8 year old's bedtime for weeks. In addition, the next few times we went to a movie, he would simply wait outside the theater until the previews were over with. He refused to even take the chance of seeing that preview again.

I thought it was incredibly creepy if only for the image of the box containing the 2 black buttons and the needle and thread. I have no idea why this was marketed as a children's movie.

Willow, Labyrinth, Legend sit among my favorite childhood movies along with the mentioned Dark Crystal. Looking back, not the best of kids movies, true, but they defined a whole portion of my generation and their fans are devoted. I look forward to the day when I get to sit with my children and watch the magic of these movies, along with the more recent ones that I have loved in my teenage & 20-something years. I hope that Where the Wild Things Are can be added to that collection.

Gremlins was actually a pretty good flick. What I was thinking (and not reading obviously) was Goonies, a truly dreadful movie that should have meant the end of Chris Columbus' career. Alas, he lived to work another day and, of course, was responsible for fucking up the first two Harry Potter films.

I don't know what to think about "Where the Wild Things Are." A part of me is sort of awed by the CGI work, but a larger part, the grownup part, doesn't quite identify with Max anymore. Not sure why, because I adored "Coraline." I suspect it's because I've seen too many real life versions of Max after roaming around the world and have come to appreciate the more civilizing aspects of grownup society. Either way, I don't think I'm going to see this movie unless my husband insists. I don't think I want my slight childhood attachment to Sendak's Max destroyed quite yet.

Oh, and you might be pleasantly surprised by "Kiki's Delivery Service" and one of my all-time favorites: "Totoro." Kiki is diverting, but after a long day at the office, I've been known to chill out to "Totoro," "Spirited Away," or "Princess Mononoke." Something about Miyazaki's love of Nature reminds me of my childhood experiences on the family farm here in the States and my cousins' wonderful Osakan grandmother and her tales of fox demons and ghosts during long summer nights. Both my 16 month old son and I love watching "Totoro" and I'll probably go on loving it long after he has outgrown it.

Lol..and I'm not ashamed to say I've seen or own almost every film in your list, but I disagree that "Gremlins" belongs there. As someone else said, "Watership Down" is a far better choice and I still remember the chills I experienced when I watched it for the first time as a child.

Just the PREVIEW for Coraline kept my 8 year old terrified for weeks. -- bingster

Our 12-year old, though having read the book, did not want to see the movie.

I took my 11 year old and a 19 year old friend with mild Downs to see this movie. My daughter loved it but then she and I giggled through Zombieland together a couple of weeks ago, that's her personality and outlook on life. The friend was so upset she went outside for a while- I thought she was using the facilities but she told me later she'd gone outside to cry, it upset her so much. I felt terrible! Takes all kinds...