BFI's Top 50 Films for Children

[arsaib4]

Here's British Film Institute's recently published list of Top 50 films for children up to the age of 14.


In alphabetical order:


A Day at the Races (Sam Wood, 1937, USA)

The Adventures of Robin Hood (Michael Curtiz/William Keighley, 1938, USA)

Au revoir les enfants (Louis Malle, 1987, France/W.Germany)

Back to the Future (Robert Zemeckis, 1985, USA)

Beauty and the Beast (Gary Trousdale/Kirk Wise, 1991, USA)

Bicycle Thieves (Vittorio De Sica, 1948, Italy)

Billy Elliot (Stephen Daldry, 2000, UK/France)

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (Steven Spielberg, 1982, USA)

Edward Scissorhands (Tim Burton, 1990, USA)

Etre et Avoir (Nicolas Philibert, 2002, France)

Finding Nemo (Andrew Stanton/Lee Unkrich, 2003, USA)

It's a Wonderful Life (Frank Capra, 1946, USA)

Jason and the Argonauts (Don Chaffey, 1963, UK/USA)

Kes (Ken Loach, 1969, UK)

The Kid (Charles Chaplin, 1921, USA)

King Kong (Merian C.Cooper/Ernest B.Schoedsack, 1933, USA)

Kirikou et la sorcière (Michel Ocelot, 1998,
France/Belgium/Luxembourg)

La Belle et la bête (Jean Cocteau, 1946, France / Luxembourg)

Le Voyage dans la lune (Georges Melies, 1902, France)

Les Quatre cents coups (Francois Truffaut, 1959, France)

Monsieur Hulot's Holiday (Jacques Tati, 1953, France)

My Life as a Dog (Lasse Halstrom, 1985, Sweden)

My Neighbour Totoro (Hayao Miyazaki, 1988, Japan/USA)

The Night of the Hunter (Charles Laughton, 1955, USA)

Oliver Twist (David Lean, 1948, UK)

The Outsiders (Francis Ford Coppola, 1983, USA)

Pather Panchali (Satyajit Ray, 1955, India)

Playtime (Jacques Tati, 1967, France/Italy)

The Princess Bride (Rob Reiner, 1987, USA)

Rabbit-Proof Fence (Phillip Noyce, 2002, Australia)

Raiders of the Lost Ark (Steven Spielberg, 1981, USA)

The Railway Children (Lionel Jeffries, 1970, UK)

The Red Balloon (Albert Lamorisse, 1956, France)

Romeo + Juliet (Baz Luhrman, 1996, USA)

The Secret Garden (Agnieszka Holland, 1993, UK/USA)

Show Me Love (Lukas Moodysson, 1998, Sweden/Denmark)

Singin' in the Rain (Stanley Donen/Gene Kelly, 1952, USA)

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Disney, 1937, USA)

Some Like it Hot (Billy Wilder, 1959, USA)

The Spirit of the Beehive (Victor Erice, 1973, Spain)

Spirited Away (Hayao Miyazaki, 2001, Japan)

Star Wars (George Lucas, 1977, USA)

To Kill a Mockingbird (Robert Mulligan, 1962, USA)

Toy Story (John Lasseter, 1995, USA)

Walkabout (Nicholas Roeg, 1971, UK)

Whale Rider (Niki Caro, 2002, New Zealand)

Where is the Friend's House? (Abbas Kiarostami, 1987, Iran)

Whistle Down the Wind (Bryan Forbes, 1961, UK)

The White Balloon (Jafar Panahi, 1995, Iran)

The Wizard of Oz (Victor Fleming, 1939, USA)

[tabuno]

The Missing and The Curious


Among the possible missing fine children's movies are:

The Incredibles (2004). One of the most vibrant, contemporary (for its age) animated movies with socially relevant, humorous characters of its time.

Holes (2003). Another strong growing up and probing into the childhood psyche movie.

The Sound of Music (1965). A musical that still resonated with a strong component for children in a fabulous epic quality.

Mary Poppins (1964). This is one of the classical children's musical of all time starring Julie Andrews, a strong British component, omitted by its own British Film Institute.

Stand by Me (1986). Another turning of age classic of three boys learning about death and adventure and growing up.

Fly Away Home (1996). One of the most inspirational children's animal movie.

The Sound of Music (1965). One of the best children's musicals of from the decade of the 60s.

Miracle on 34th Street (1947). One of the most endearing children's movie about Christmas with an ending that is memorable.

The Miracle Worker (1963). Patty Duke's memorable role as young Helen Keller, a blind, deaf-mute.


Among the more questionable movies selected by BFI:

A Day at the Races (Sam Wood, 1937, USA) . A comedy for adults.

The Adventures of Robin Hood (Michael Curtiz/William Keighley, 1938, USA) - adult action adventure, appears that children are not the target audience here.

It's a Wonderful Life (Frank Capra, 1946, USA). This movie is more considered a family movie rather than strickly a children's movie (Miracle on 34th Street would easily trump this movie for it's children's focus as a genre).

King Kong (Merian C.Cooper/Ernest B.Schoedsack, 1933, USA). This movie was more of a fantasy/monster/horror genre than children's movie (though as time passes, it has almost become a gentler, more fantastical-fairy tale since it was produced).

Raiders of the Lost Ark (Steven Spielberg, 1981, USA). Strictly an epic action/adventure genre with a softer touch and a juvenile component but not a children's movie.

Singin' in the Rain (Stanley Donen/Gene Kelly, 1952, USA) . A dance musical, not children's movie.

Some Like it Hot (Billy Wilder, 1959, USA). Obviously wrongly selected as this is an adult comedy.

[hengcs]

According to some sources, the top 10 after the debate are

1. Spirited Away (Hayao Miyazaki, 2001, Japan)
2. The Wizard of Oz (Victor Fleming, 1939, USA)
3. Les Quatre Cents Coups (400 Blows) (François Truffaut, 1959, France)
4. The Night of the Hunter (Charles Laughton, 1955, USA)
5. Where is the Friend's House? (Abbas Kiarostami, 1987, Iran)
6. Show Me Love (Lukas Moodysson, 1998, Sw/Dk)
7. Toy Story (John Lasseter, 1995, USA)
8. ET The Extra-Terrestrial (Steven Spielberg, 1982, USA)
9. Bicycle Thieves (Vittorio De Sica, 1948, Italy)
10. Kes (Ken Loach, 1969, UK)

;)

[hengcs]

Anyway, I thought they missed
-- Children of Heaven ...

* and a few more to list *

[wpqx]

Wouldn't have picked Show Me Love for children, but well who knows who voted on this. Rabit Proof Fence would most likely bore any child to death, but well maybe this is specifically designed for British children who need to get used to being bored early in life.

[tabuno]

The American Film Institute had offered up some representative and notable animation and children's films worthy of consideration as the "best" of children's films:

ANIMATION
Bambi (1942)
Alice in Wonderland (1951)
Lady and the Tramp (1955)
The Sword in the Stone (1963)
A Boy Name Charlie Brown (1969)
Snoopy, Come Home (1972)
The Land Before Time (1988)
Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
The Little Mermaid (1989)
The Lion King (1994)

CHILDREN'S
Heidi (1937)
The Little Princess (1939, 1995)
The Swiss Family Robinson (1960)
National Velvet (1944)
The Yearling (1946)
The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T (1953)
Old Yeller (1957)
Born Free (1966)
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968)
A Christmas Story (1983)

[hengcs]

Originally posted by wpqx
Wouldn't have picked Show Me Love for children, but well who knows who voted on this. ...

Hi,
there are some info (albeit not much) about the process here
http://www.bfi.org.uk/education/events/watchthis/