Wholesome Movies for Boys?

[mommytoC&T]

I was wondering if anyone can recommend good quality children's movies that would appeal to a 5-year-old boy. Most movies seem to revolve around the "good vs. evil" theme, however, my son is quite sensitive and doesn't like the evil characters. This is fine with me as I believe most movies marketed to children contain material much too mature and "heavy" for a young child. I'm looking for good, wholesome movies with pleasant storylines. Any suggestions are much appreciated!

[Mama2Bug]

The Adventures of Milo and Otis
Bob the Builder - The Knights of Fix-a-Lot
Harold and the Purple Crayon... and More Harold Stories
The Velveteen Rabbit
Any of the Scholastic Treasury videos

[MadiMamacita]

charlottes web, pippi longstockings, the incredible mr. limpet, the parent trap, freaky friday, dr dolittle,
i'm looking at the netflix page for family classics
http://www.netflix.com/SubGenre/Chil...ssics/656?pn=4

[mamatoablessing]

Check out this thread in the Books, Music & Other Media forum. It has a lot of awesome ideas.

http://www.mothering.com/discussions....php?t=1106530

[Evergreen]

What about movies from our generation? My six year old (girl but not girly at all) loves ET, Princess Bride, The Goonies (probably not wholesome and a bit scary- my kids like it though), Flight of the Navigator, Benji movies.

[lilyka]

it would depend on how sensetive he was. My little one really likes the Buddies movies (snow buddies, space buddies, etc) they are about a bunch of retriever puppies. like nails on a chalkboard to me but they love them. although there is a bad guy in the snow buddies story and a tense scene where mean dogs are treated poorly by their owner but the nice dogs decide it is morpe important to save them than win the race.

hotel for dogs (but there are some mean people), Mr Magoriums wonder emporium (the whole movie is revolves around Mr magoriums death but in a very sweet and gentle way) there is one with dakota fanning and a horse...Dreamer thats it....loved that movie. Winn Dixie is also good. might be too much for a sensitive child though....

[MsChatsAlot]

Moving to Books, Music & Media.

[zinemama]

Some of the movies listed above don't quite meet my definition of "wholesome" (Princess Bride, Goonies) or might be above a 5yo's level (E.T., Freaky Friday, Parent Trap).

I would recommend:

My Neighbor Totoro
Kiki's Delivery Service
The Black Stallion
Benji
Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang (some bad guys but they don't dominate the movie)
Bedknobs and Broomsticks
Herbie

[Think of Winter]

Mary Poppins.
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (just be prepared for the Child Catcher, he is awful.)

[camracrazy]

Originally Posted by Evergreen

What about movies from our generation? My six year old (girl but not girly at all) loves ET, Princess Bride, The Goonies (probably not wholesome and a bit scary- my kids like it though), Flight of the Navigator, Benji movies.

I was surprised by the bad language in ET when my kids watched it. I guess when I was a kid it went over my head! :

[Viola]

I asked my 5 year old what her favorite movie was, just because I was curious and thought it might work well. But it is the "dinosaur movie" meaning the BBC Walking with the Dinosaurs series. Animals get into conflict and die, so perhaps not a good choice.

She also really likes Ratatouille, but I'm not sure how wholesome it is. I love the Adventures of Milo and Otis.

[butterfly_mommy]

I was a sensitive child and Charlotte's Web made me cry so hard I threw up.

Also the child catcher in Chitty chitty bang bang still creeps me out

I loved Puff the Magic Dragon and Mary Poppins.

[mommytoC&T]

Wow! Thanks for all of the suggestions. I'll be looking for some of these at our library this afternoon. He has seen one of the Buddies movies and like it so we'll look for more of those. I remember watching Benji when I was little. He loves the dinosaur and shark series of shows on Discovery also. Funny how he is so sensitive to human conflict, but animals tearing each other apart is fascinating to him.

[Oriole]

Little Rascals?

[weliveintheforest]

My dd loves the Planet Earth dvds. Not movies, but fun to watch.

[transformed]

leave it to beaver!

Little bear.

The Little Soul and the Sun. (LOVE this one)

The Last Mimzy.

[RiverSky]

At the age of 5, I think we were still doing Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Movie, Blue's Clues videos, Sesame Street videos, Toy Story (Pixar movies are much less violent than Disney movies), I second the Little Golden Book videos (Pat the Bunny was surprisingly a favorite in our home for many years), and all of the Leap Frog DVDs (Letter Factory, Word Factory, etc., not for learning per se, just because of the stories! cute videos).

There are some Scholastic videos we have bought here and again (usually at discount stores like Marshall's) that were really story books made into animated videos and my children always loved those.

Stay away from the Polar Express. My 8 year old son screamed and cried in the movie theatre when the "ghost" was knocked off the top of the train by the tunnel...he didn't realize it was a ghost yet.

[HappyLittleHouse]

I have been checking out movies at commonsensemedia.org to find age appropriate movies for DS, almost 4. It rates them by age and then tells you what might be objectionable in them.

DS loves everything Pixar - Finding Nemo (has a few scary scenes), Toy Story, Monsters Inc., Cars, The Incredibles, etc. He also likes Land Before Time and the Planet Earth series. The Muppets movies have been popular as well. He *loves* Polar Express, but he's not afraid of scary things in movies too much, so the ghost wasn't a big deal.

[baglady]

I was pretty sensitive and Benji really upset me. Even though he is rescued, I was hysterical by the end. He's all alone and going through some rough stuff.

[Jennifer Z]

Homeward Bound - the second one...something like "incredible journey" I think, is a big hit with my nearly 4yo and tolerable by the parents. Cars isn't bad. Monsters (Pixar movie from a few years ago) isn't bad either.