Tag Archives: family movies

The Little Bear Movie (2001)

If you’re not familiar with the character of Little Bear, allow me to take a moment to introduce you. He began as a children’s book character, the creation of Else Holmelund Minarik and illustrator Maurice Sendak. Later he was turned into a children’s television show which aired on Nickelodeon. He lives with his mother and father in a small but cozy cottage. His father is a fisherman and is often gone, so Little Bear spends much of his time with his mother. He also has friends – Cat, Duck, Hen, No-Feet (a snake) and a little girl named Emily and … Continue reading →

5 Children and It (2003)

“5 Children and It” is a fanciful tale set during the first World War. It starts out very much like “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.” Five children (instead of Lewis’s four) are sent to live with their uncle in the country while their father goes off to fight, and their mother goes to nurse the wounded. Upon arrival, they find that their uncle is eccentric, he has a housekeeper, and they are forbidden to enter a room. Sound familiar so far? However, then we branch off into differences. Robert, the middle boy (Freddie Highmore) is a spoiled child … Continue reading →

Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003)

I just had the most fun watching “Looney Tunes: Back in Action.” I’ve gone through a long dry spell when it comes to film and this was a blessed relief. Brendan Fraser stars as DJ Drake, a security guard on the Warner Brothers lot. Jenna Elfman is Kate, the vice president, who wants to make meaningful movies and can’t picture Daffy Duck as contributing to her overall goals. Bugs Bunny, she’ll keep, but the duck has got to go. Telling DJ to throw Daffy off the lot, Kate is sure she’s done what’s best for the company, but the Warner … Continue reading →

Balto III: Wings of Change (2004)

I hate to say this, but yes, there is a third Balto. I was just fine with one Balto, but the more installments they add, the more they’re drifting from the true story, and that just bugs me. But, moving on . . . In “Balto III: Wings of Change,” Balto and Jenna’s children are all grown up, and Kodiak (voiced by Sean Astin) once a puppy, is now a sled dog. He gets to help bring the mail into Nome, and feels a lot of pride in his job. His ambition is to some day, be lead dog. (But … Continue reading →

Thomas and the Magic Railroad (2000)

The “Thomas the Tank Engine” books have been delighting children everywhere since they first came on the scene in the 1980’s. I guess movie makers felt they had a surefire hit on their hands when they decided to make Thomas into a full-length feature film, but I think the poor producers were a little bit deluded in their dreams of grandeur. In “Thomas and the Magic Railroad,” Mara Wilson stars as Lily, an eleven-year-old who is going to visit her grandfather (Peter Fonda). Taking a wrong turn along the way, she ends up in the town of Shining Time, and … Continue reading →

Charlotte’s Web (2006)

Based on E.B. White’s classic children’s book and a remake of an animated movie by the same name, “Charlotte’s Web” is a wonderfully sweet and funny movie for the whole family. Dakota Fanning stars as Fern, a young girl who lives on a farm with her mother and father. They have been selling off their farm animals in order to buy the equipment they need to stay afloat, and when their sow delivers a litter, it’s known that those pigs will have to go too. When Fern sees her father getting ready to slaughter the runt of the litter because … Continue reading →

Balto (1995)

When I first picked up “Balto” for my kids, I didn’t know it was based on a true story. I was fascinated to learn the history behind the film, and I’d like to share a little bit of that with you before we leap into the film itself. Back in 1925, a huge outbreak of diphtheria swept through Nome, Alaska, leaving many children on the brink of death. The people badly needed diphtheria antitoxin, but the closest source was in Anchorage, nearly a thousand miles away. Another team brought the medicine as far as they could, then it was passed … Continue reading →

Cheaper by the Dozen (2003)

Tom and Kate Baker (Steve Martin, Bonnie Hunt) have twelve rambunctious children. That’s right, twelve. In a world where four children often constitutes a large family, twelve is definitely out of the norm. But they’re adjusting, mostly. Living in a huge old house out in the country, they’ve got things down to a system and manage to stay calm, cool and collected, except for those rare occasions when Beans, the family pet frog, gets loose and lands right in the middle of the breakfast table, spattering scrambled eggs all over everyone. Tom is fairly happy coaching a high school football … Continue reading →

The Fox and the Hound 2 (2006)

Disney has been acting very strangely lately. They’ve been going through their vaults, locating their most successful movies, and making sequels to them. Strangest of all – they’re finding movies that have a time lapse in them, and then making a movie to fill in that time lapse. Like how we see Bambi as a child and then an adult, so in Bambi II, we see what happened in that growing-up time. Well, Disney did it again with “The Fox and the Hound.” In “The Fox and the Hound 2,” we see a young Tod and Copper still hanging out … Continue reading →

Mulan II

Mulan (Ming-Na)has just returned from her adventures conquering the Huns and is a hero. All the girls in the village admire and respect her, thinking they want to be just like her. Mushu (voiced this time by Mark Moseley) is in Guardian Heaven. All the other Guardians agree that he has earned back his pedestal, and he is making the most of his moment in the sun. Li Shang comes to the Fa home to propose to Mulan, and the family couldn’t be more delighted. Mushu, however, is very upset. When Mulan gets married, her husband’s ancestors will start watching … Continue reading →