Movie Suggestions for 5-7 year old boys

[Grace and Granola]

For my son's 6th birthday we are having a sleepover, so I thought I would get a video from the library for the kids to watch after dinner.  I'm not completely up on the latest movies of the past few years and every time I check one out I'm usually disappointed by the amount of violence or crude jokes.  I may be on the conservative side (ok, I really am when it comes to media!)  but I do want to make sure to get a movie that none of the mothers would have an issue with.  There will be about 8 boys, all of them between 5 and 7 with the exception of my 4 1/2 year old son.

Help!  Please give me some ideas for fun, clean, age appropriate movies :)

[Mummoth]

Does it have to be a new movie? My son loved The Neverending Story around that age (and when he was 6, DD was 4... the only bit I thought might be scary was the scene with the wolf, and she was fine)

Recently, we saw Mr.Popper's Penguins.... nothing stuck out in my mind as being strongly offensive... but read the IMDB, because I was just surprised by some of the content! 

Are you going to tell the parents in advance what movie you plan on playing for the kids? That way they would have the option of picking their child up after dinner if they felt the movie was inappropriate for them.

[Grace and Granola]

It does not have to be a new movie. Any movie I can find at the library would be great!  I'll check into the Neverending Story.  I don't think I've seen that one.

I'm almost positive that I am at the most conservative end of the spectrum, so I have a feeling if I'm ok with a movie then most parents will too!  But it is a good idea just to check in with the other parents.

For reference, some movies that my kids have see that I am fine with:  Ice Age, Finding Nemo, Lion King (though my son thinks it's scary), Madagascar, Happy Feet.   Talking animals seems to be a theme here :)

[Neera]

Mary Poppins, Mr. Bean's holiday, Toy Story

[tbone_kneegrabber]

What about some of the muppet movies?

[Mummoth]

If Lion King is scary, then I'd probably stay away from The Neverending Story for now, it's not animated. My kids like Over the Hedge, Shark Tale, and Open Season for animated movies. Oh, and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, and Despicable Me.

[Grace and Granola]

Thank you!  This is a great start :)

[laila2]

chitti-chitti bang bang

[berry987]

ooo!! I have three boys. ages 6, 4 and 2 and we do a Friday night movie night every week so they've seen a lot of movies. Their favorites:

The Incredibles

The Karate Kid

Monsters, Inc

Kung Fu Panda

Night at the Museum

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (only the first one...they get progressively scarier)

Shrek

ET (has some scary parts, though)

[yentroc]

Rio is a great new movie that my 6 yr old is obsessed with.  The bad guy/bad bird are not very scary.  It is a bit of a love story, but sweet.  We really like it.  Super fun music!

[4evermom]

Bolt, G-Force, and Over the Hedge were favorites of my ds...  All three are animal based and my library system has them.  They are a little older so the kids might have missed them the first time around.   I think Bolt would be my top choice for your age range.  It's a little cleaner and innocent.

Bolt is about a dog who is a movie star but he is kept on the set all the time and he thinks he really does have super powers.  He escapes because he thinks his co-star, a girl, is in trouble.  He ends up across the country trying to get home.  It's funny seeing how he rationalizes it when his super powers don't work in the real world (styrofoam must be like Superman's kryptonite!) and sometimes he does things that work out from sheer luck.  It takes him a while to realize he isn't really a super dog.

G-Force is about hamsters (and a mole) who are spies.  They've been equipped with a gadget that allows them to talk.  The lab where they live is shut down and they get put in a pet store.  They get adopted and have to escape their new homes to stop the evil guy. This one is a little more worldly, maybe not the best for the younger end but I suspect most mainstream folks would think it's fine for 5 yos.

Over the Hedge is about animals who wake up from hibernation to discover a housing development has been built over the hedge.  A new animal in the area shows them the ropes of dealing with humanity.  He stole some food from a bear at the beginning of the movie and is tricking the other animals into helping him replace what he stole because the bear threatened him.  Happy message at end with the other animals telling him he shouldn't have been deceitful, they would have helped him, family sticks together. 

There is some website that give a ton of details about movies.  It's really great when you have a sensitive kid and want to avoid certain things that most reviews or other parents wouldn't think to mention.  Let me see if I can figure it out...  Ah here it is - Kids in Mind.  Here is there review for Bolt.  You can put the other movies in the search window. http://www.kids-in-mind.com/b/bolt.htm

Oh, we liked Planet 51, too!

[LynnS6]

Commonsensemedia.org has some great lists:

http://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-lists

Ones I'd recommend would be:

Up

Cars (or Cars2)

The Muppet Movie

My Neighbor Totoro

Homeward Bound

Over the Hedge

Charlotte's Web

Bolt

Lady & the Tramp (too mushy for the boys?)

Benji

The Incredibles

Toy Story/Toy Story 2

I would NOT do Harry Potter -- I think it's too scary for young kids.

[BubbleMa]

My Neighbor Totoro

Ponyo

Toy Story (any of them)

Up

Kung Fu Panda

Garfield

Bolt

G-Force

Ponyo and My Neighbor Totoro might be a little boring for them, depending on what kinds of movies they're used to seeing.  DSS (6) didn't enjoy them, because he watches things like Transformers, Spider Man, G.I. Joe, etc. at his mom's house.  Kung Fu Panda, G-Force, and Garfield get major laughs around here.  The kids watch those three (especially Kung Fu Panda) over and over.

[wookie]

My 5.5yo (and his friends) enjoy:

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

The Incredibles

Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs

Lion King (1 & 2)

The Ant Bully

The Land Before Time series

I agree, Harry Potter may be too scary. Most of the superhero animations are even too scary at this age.

[NicaG]

Despicable Me

Toy Story (any of the 3)

I don't think parents would have issues with either of these movies, and they appeal to a wide range of ages/maturity levels.

[mistymorning]

How to Train a Dragon is a favorite around here!  But my kids are obsessed with dragons.  And I like it because it doesn't have all the adult jokes thrown in-it is truly a kids movie.