The Observer - 04.08.2019

22

The Observer

04.08.19 Film

Above: Laputa:

Castle in the

Sky (1986).

Inset right:

Gene Kelly goes

through his

paces in the

classic musical

Singin’ in the

Rain (1952).

Alamy,

Moviestore

Collection

Above, from left:

Watership Down

(1978); The

Secret of Roan

Inish (1994).

Below: Wallace

Shawn, Robin

Wright and

Andre the Giant

in The Princess

Bride. Rex,

Alamy, Fox

Your childhood cinema classics

Last month our critic Mark Kermode chose

his favourite 25 fi lms for children and readers

responded with their recommendations.

Wendy Ide introduces a selection

T

here’s a special

emotional bond with

the fi lms we discover

as children that is

somehow purer,

more cherishable

than anything we forge later in life.

For me, a bedrock moment in my

love of cinema was working my

way through a box of VHS copies of

1930s musicals, mesmerised by the

glittering repartee and the effortless

elegance of old Hollywood. Even

now, watching clips of Fred Astaire,

Ginger Rogers and Eleanor Powell

tap routines is a shortcut to a happy

place. But, as shown by the response

to Mark Kermode’s excellent and

very personal list of 25 of the best

fi lms for children published here

two weeks ago , everyone has

their own treasured childhood

movie touchstone.

The replies to the list include

passionately argued cases for

everything from Who Framed Roger

Rabbit (which would defi nitely make

my own roll call of best children’s

fi lms) and The Princess Bride

(likewise) to the Roberto Be nigni-

starring holocaust drama Life Is

Beautiful (not so much). But the

point of Mark’s list, and the aspect

that makes it such a rewarding

read, was the decision to embrace

the scope of family cinema at its

broadest possible interpretation.

As anyone with children under 10

will no doubt concur, much of the

more recent content targeted at

younger audiences represents a

world of pain for older ones – just

gaze into the hollow, haunted eyes

of any adult who has had to endure

The Emoji Movie.

Rather than churned out bargain-

basement kids’ movies, the audience

is far better served by fi lms that

emphasise the “family” in family

entertainment – a collective,

unifying experience to be shared

and enjoyed by all ages. This might

entail taking children out of their

comfort zone a little, with subtitles

or silent fi lms; with the wrenchingly

sad ending of Kes, for example or,

to give a more recent example, the

genuinely scary peril in Paddington,

another fi lm that was a popular

choice with readers. Nicole Kidman

as a renegade taxidermist lovingly

stroking her glinting arsenal of

scalpels while Paddington lies

unconscious provides a shiveringly

terrifying moment.

But as someone whose formative

childhood movie experiences

included a possibly unhealthy degree

of tap-dancing, I was particularly

delighted to see the support for

Singin’ in the Rain in the readers’

responses. It’s a terrifi c suggestion,

and one that goes to the top of

my movie-night viewing list of

fi lm treasures to share with

my eight-year-old.

Bedknobs and Broomsticks

(1971)

Blitz-era musical fantasy starring

Angela Lansbury as a witchcraft-

practi sing governess.

“That football scene will always be

a delight. As well as the comedy,

Bedknobs may have been the fi rst

time many children were introduced

to war coming to our doorsteps

and the real impact of the war on

children not many generations

before them.”

stuckinazoo

The Princess Bride (1987)

William Goldman’s wry fairytale

adventure, in which a farmhand must

rescue a princess.

“The fi lm that has everything:

Fred Savage , Columbo , a giant,

Billy Crystal , Robin Wright (grrrr),

magic, sword fi ghts. Has to be more

engaging for kids than Kes, surely.”

June Junes

Singin’ in the Rain (1952)

Eff ervescent classic musical with

Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds

as silent fi lm stars struggling to

make a talkie.

“I saw Singin’ in the Rain as a

child in a cinema (in the early

70s, a re release), walked into

the theatre as a six or seven year

old, not having a clue of what I

was about to see (other than it

looked like a happy movie), and

by the end credits I was in heaven. It

is the one fi lm that changed my life

for the better and it has not a single

sad moment in it. The fi lm I treasure

the most.”

Nebelglanz

Watership Down (1978)

An animated tale of rabbits in peril,

based on the unsettling 1972 novel by

Richard Adams.

“ [My] fi rst cinema experience

[which] possibly traumatised mum

more than me. It’s an animation

classic, a creation myth for rabbits,

and, like the most popular fairy

tales, kids can actually cope with the

horror and being a bit scared.”

Annabel Houghton , south-west

London

Jason and the Argonauts (1963)
Th e legendary quest for the golden
fl eece, with pioneering stop-motion
animation from Ray Harryhausen.
“I remember my grandparents
showing me it in the early 90s,
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