So many of us remember our first romance novel, and many more of us received (or stole) that novel from a relative. Passing down a much-loved book, romance or no, is something pretty common.
Last weekend, I shared The Princess Bride with my kids for the first time. It's 25 years old (gosh, I'm ancient) and it's still 90 minutes of movie awesome. I think my husband and I could quote most if not all of it, but afterward, my kids were doing it, too.
I got the idea from Stephen Thompson, part of the PCHH podcast, after he shared The Princess Bride with his children. I think there's a whole episode of 'pop culture you should hand down to your kid' in their archives.
Then a Twitter conversation with Jo Bourne, Kristen Callihan and Tien Tien after I tweeted about the movie night made me think. Bourne tweeted, “Never thought 2 pass it along. Then one day The Kid says “Mom, there's this great movie …” Later: “Re movies we can share with our kids. In the old days it was passing along a favorite book ….”
I Storified the entire Twitter conversation if you're curious to read it.
I have several books I'm holding on to so that I can share them with my children in a few years. But only recently have I looked at the DVDs I own that I've kept and not culled after many moves and a de-cluttering bonanza, and questioned WHY I'm holding onto them. Many are seasons of older tv shows like SportsNight or Northern Exposure, which someday I'll share and definitely re-watch on my own. But they're not quite ready for either (or interested, I should think). Aside from all the DVDs that are theirs, there are few films I own that are ready to share with them, except The Princess Bride.
One of the reasons The Princess Bride worked so well is that my older son, known here as Freebird, said afterward, “I know you liked the romantic kissing parts, Mommy,” which, yeah, I totally did, and Fred Savage can hush up about them already. They understood what parts were the parts I liked – and I knew which parts they liked (swordfights! Giant! Actual giant!). Having books in common is much like having a favorite film in common with someone. At the least it gives you plenty to talk about. Plus, there is no shortage of reboots from my childhood for my children to watch. I'm still amazed that some things, like Care Bears, My Little Pony, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and even Scooby Doo never really went away. There are new versions every few years, a super-familiar form of recycling.
A lot of the time, I'm encountering new versions of my own childhood programs on television or in theatres. Whether I like it or not, things I watched as a child are being re-presented to all of us, and it's kind of fun to explain the differences when I notice them. It makes me wonder if there are other films from years ago that they'd enjoy (I've been haunting IMDB a LOT lately) and if other folks have noticed all the reboots. What other movies would you want to pass down or share with your kids? What shows or films from your childhood are reappearing in your life?
I guess I am starting early. My oldest is five and already has deep love for Monty Python and Star Wars. We have also shared The Princess Bride and The Black Crystal. Also I have the entire series Fraggle rock on DVD and that is our rainy day treat 🙂
Muppets. Singing in the Rain. Sound of Music. 101 Dalmations. LOTS more. But only the introduction of the Star Wars trilogy, when we both had the flu one year, merited it’s own photo op:
Cute picture, bad punctuation – “its” own photo op, not “it’s” own!
My dad bought us the complete collection of Rocky and Bullwinkle videos when we were kids. We played them on repeat for years. Also, Anne of Green Gables, Pillow Talk, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Gidget (so bad but so good. Moondoggy!) Pride and Prejudice, Rodger’s and Hammerstein’s Cinderella, and the Wizard of Oz. And my favorite, The Sound of Music. A few years ago, one of my piano students told me that she had recently checked out a movie from the library and that it was “the best movie she had ever seen. Ever!” It was The Sound of Music. Totally made me melt. 🙂
My girls are in their 20’s now. Movies I converted them to when they were younger were The Sound of Music and Raiders of the lost Ark. In their teens they fell in love with Young Frankenstein and Ghostbusters. In the past year, my older daughter has become obsessed with The X-Files.
I just introduced my kids to The Princess Bride; couldn’t believe they had never seen it! They’re a deal older than yours but still loved it. Also recommend The Little Vampire and if you can find it, the fantastic miniseries The Tenth Kingdom. You will never be able to listen to the Bee Gees with a straight face again.
I’m a big vintage movie buff but have never been able to get my boys to sit still for a musical. However they love old monster movies like Godzilla etc. and WWII movies like The Great Escape. One thing I recommend highly are silent films; depending on age you may have to read the occasional title card out loud but for the most part they are pretty understandable without. My personal favorites are Buster Keaton (College, 7 Chances – the reboot of which was AWFUL – and The General), Charlie Chaplin (Modern Times, The Gold Rush) and anything with Douglas Fairbanks Sr, the ORIGINAL swashbuckler (Thief of Baghdad has some fantastic special effects for 1921!)
I absolutely love Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. In fact, my whole family does, and it’s probably one of the few old movie musicals that they will watch with me. The music, the dancing, the story line, the 7 brothers, the comedy!!! What’s not to love?
We recently shared Monty Python and the Holy Grail and the Indiana Jones series with our daughter. She loves the former and is almost obsessed with the later, to the point that one of the Halloween costumes she put together last year was Short Round, who she considers to be the star of the second movie.
we introduced our son to the Marx Brothers a few years ago. He loves the “why a duck” routine. We also showed him some TV classics, like Batman (Wham! Pow!), Fat Albert, and Underdog.
I don’t have any kids, but last year I introduced my much younger cousin (he’s 8) to The Lion King, which I LOVED as a kid. I’ve already tried to get him into Doctor Who, but aside from the “ooh, robots” that the sight of the cybermen engendered, he wasn’t really interested. I can’t wait to show him Hocus Pocus next Halloween—we were a little busy this year (scratch that—last year) to put it on for him. I also want to get him into Harry Potter, but I think he’s still a little too young for that series. (I have read some of the first book to him and he’s seemed a bit interested, but that might have just been about not going to sleep.)
My mom got me into a lot of the movies that I watch now, especially The Sound of Music and Singin’ in the Rain (am I the only one who finds Gene Kelly yummy?) which are two of my favorite movies.
My mom had me watch The Breakfast Club before starting high school because she figured it was a good way to prepare me for what that would be like—not really, but the movie is so good that it didn’t really matter.
Depends on the ages of the kids (I love A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, but not until at least high school), but here are a few classics:
MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL: I’d have to explain many of the Arthurian references (“See, there actually were knights who waited around bridges to fight would-be passers-by”) but it’s a real classic of comedy.
THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK: So they could see “Luke, I am your father” before it’s spoiled in a parody or casual mention.
THE IRON GIANT: An underrated classic that brings tears to my eyes at the end.
THE SEVEN SAMURAI: Because so much of what followed in action and drama comes from this (and that not everything needs explosions, or even color, to be great)
Oh, also the version of CYRANO DE BERGERAC starring Gerard Depardieu (sic?) and translated by Anthony Burgess. It’s one of the most romantic and beautiful stories I’ve ever seen.
For older kids (teens), I’d recommend Blackadder 🙂
So much that’s good about The Princess Bride that I’m sad I was introduced to it too young. Saw it in the theater when I was… 6, I think. Or rather, I saw it until the screaming eels, which freaked me the hell out, and I wanted to leave, so my mom took me out. Didn’t watch the whole thing until college, and I’ve never loved it…
An addendum to my earlier post: We introduced our boys to the joy of watching “Young Frankenstein” (The original, not the stage play) so they’d get all the jokes when we used them.
My mum introduced my brother and I to the film Bugsy Malone when we were kids and it was definitely a favourite.
Legend—Tom Cruise, Tim Curry, a couple of bobbly-horned unicorns, and gallons of glitter tossed all over everything. The US theater version (Tangerine Dream soundtrack) is light enough for younger kids; save the director’s cut for tweens.
Also, The Last Unicorn, which makes me cry every time.
The Goonies, Batteries Not Included, ET, Flight of the Navigator, Willow, Princess Bride, Legend, all of the Brat Pack movies when they’re older…We watch a movie together as a family every Saturday night, with popcorn and hot chocolate or lemonade (depending on the season.) It is a lot of fun to watch them experience something that I loved!
I love The Princess Bride. The comments have brought back many good movie memories.
I don’t think that they have been mentioned, but Ladyhawke and Willow were also great movies that I would pass along if I had kids.
Here’s what we’ve passed down to my kids (now all mostly grown):
Princess Bride
Labyrinth
The Great Race
Those Magnificent Men and Their Flying Machines
While You Were Sleeping
Singing in the Rain
On the Town
Court Jester
Father Goose
Charade
Some Like it Hot
In Search of Bobby Fisher
The Philadelphia Story (Katherine Hepburn is such a hoot in this)
Desk Set (my favorite Hepburn/Tracy movie)
My family is all about the movies. Some Scrin-clan favorites are:
-The Goonies
-The 1977 animated Hobbit
-Big Trouble in Little China
-These days, the Thief and the Cobbler.
I’m now reading through the comments and am remembering more! Like Marx brothers’ movies!
Our kids absolutely love Forrest Gump… they quote from it ad nauseum… it’s really kind of cute to hear them! I like the fact that while they may not understand all the adult parts of the movie, they are taking in the parts that matter… kindness, loyalty, and living your life to the fullest!
Am pleased to report that after said twitter conversation, I felt compelled to show The Princess Bride to the kiddies again. This time, they got it and we shared the love. Yay! My kids also found The Neverending Story and Labyrinth on their own through Netflix. Not as thrilling for me, however, as my sister watched those movies like 500 times in a row, and killed them for me.
My local cinema is showing a range of Disney movies from the 90s – Aladdin, Mulan, Pocahontas, and others – as well as some of the more recent ones – Rapunzel and Princess&Frog. I was thinking the 90s is probably a touch early for parents-with-children-of-viewing-age (unless they were like me and sat in movies like Beauty & the Beast with their similarly-geeky high school friends), but I suspect it may very well be a ‘family sharing’ thing.
I’m contemplating getting tickets myself. 🙂
I have to convince my Dad to watch TV with me most of the time, but he did get me to watch Back to the Future (I-III), Indiana Jones (I’m going to pretend we didn’t see four in the theatre when it came out) and Star Trek: The Origional Series. I’m now watching the Next Generation all on my own and I always stop to watch the others when they’re on TV 🙂 I, on the other hand, had to introduce my entire family (48-year-old parents and 16-year-old sisters) to The Princess Bride—-what’s up with that?!!?
My daughter (now an awesome Mum of her own at 25) and I have our absolute favorites to watch and some I remember watching with my Mum or Dad.
– The Cruel Sea
– The Black Stallion
– Monty Python & The Holy Grail
– Bambi
– Star Wars (IV, V & VI)
– Lust in The Dust
– The Wild Geese
– Shirley Valentine
– Rocky Horror Picture Show
Oh Sarah, I loved Sports Night, such smart and snappy dialogue.
Young Frankenstein is a good one. I remember my six yr old scared, but laughing his butt off with the rest of us. Good times.
Time Bandits is great! Crazy and full of wonderful cameos. My boys love it.
The first Terminator is a fantastic movie.
SNL skits from the seventies are so funny, what a crew of talent.
Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer with Burl Ives singing is really the best kids Christmas show. Despite teasing I watch it every year, and my boys, now teens always end up joining me on the couch. I love White Christmas too.
Movies my Mom handed down to me:
Sabrina
Father Goose
My Man Godfrey
Adam’s Rib and The Desk Set with Tracey and Hepburn.
And of course An Affair to Remember…….I have watched all of these so, so many times over the years.
Great Post, Thanks!
The Ghostbuster ambulance has been parked on and off at a Cadillac repair shop in my neighborhood for years. Everyone in the area has photos of kids and the Ghostmobile. Tourists are agog at seeing it always asking if it’s real. It is. Ghostbusters is probably one of the funniest movies ever made. Bill Murray and Danny Ackroyd with plasma beings and Sigourney Weaver what’s not to like!
It’s totally off topic but ThinkGeek has t-shirts featuring Inigo Montoya and his “prepare to die” phrase.
(I’m not sure if pasting the link will work but will try.)
http://www.thinkgeek.com/brain…
When my son was little we picked up a dvd collection of the original b&w mickey cartoons. It was his favorite for years and we always had to get it if it was there. Sadly I was a young broke mom and the dvd set was too expensive for me at the time and now it is “back in the vault”. But as he got older we watched Goonies, Ghostbusters, Back to the Future, dvds of the Muppet Show, and MacGyver. Recently, I shared Short Circut with him and some friends (gosh there was some bad words in there) but they all loved it- Johnny 5 is Alive!!
While I love ‘The Princess Bride’, if I was showing it to a child – especially a girl – I would make sure I discussed the problematic nature of Princess Buttercup’s character. The fact that the only female main character is passive, gullible and relies completely on the men around her, lets the story down in a major way. Little girls already think that men rescuing women is the status quo – they don’t need it reinforced any more.
“Labyrinth” would totally be a pass-down movie. David Bowie in tights and surprisingly attractive glittery mullet wig? Scrumptious! 😀
I should think it’s fairly obvious that The Princess Bride is my favorite movie of all time. 😀
I don’t have children, and I likely never will. Hubby and I are childfree by choice, but I have several nieces and nephews whom I dearly love. Naturally, I will indoctrinate them into the glories of Wesley and Buttercup at the earliest opportunity.
A few other movies I’d like to share include the LoTR series, the original Pink Panther series, and the marvelous Sherlock Holmes spoof Without a Clue.
I alos recently shared The Princess Bride with my seven year old daughter and was thrilled that she loved it as much as I do! Goonies was also a hit with her, much to my surprise. Another good one was Honey I Shrunk the Kids. She thought that was hilarious!
The Court Jester!! “The chalice from the palace has the pellet with the poison, but the vessel with the pestle has the brew that is true!” Such an awesome, daffy movie. It makes an excellent companion to TPB, as does Stardust from a few years ago. Stardust might be a little more mature, but I think it is a true heir to the fantasy/romance/comedy of The Princess Bride. I
I am biding my time to show my niece “The Wizard of Oz.” I suspect her Disney-centric house does not have a copy, which is a damnable shame.
Hear hear. I loved The Neverending Story! Also, I just pre-bought Winterblaze. As a matter of fact, I think you should stop posting comments on movie threads and get writing! Love your books so much.
The Princess Bride is definitely a movie that should be passed down and shared through the generations. It’s a classic. I actually know a woman I work with at DISH who hasn’t seen it though, and neither have her kids, so I’m planning to rent it for them from DISH’s Blockbuster@Home service. They have a huge selection of over 100,000 DVDs, so they always have the movie I’m looking for, and I can’t wait to show my friend and her kids the movie. I’m sure they’ll love it.
I watched Labyrinth with my kids. They loved it.
I don’t have kids, but I had tremendous fun watching The Princess Bride with considerably younger (college age) friends this summer…at an open-air screening in Spain, dubbed into Spanish. “I could give you my word as a Spaniard…” got a huge laugh from an audience of actual Spaniards, and when we got to the famous “My name is Inigo Montoya…” the whole plaza started applauding. Fun times.
In terms of movies shared with me when I was a kid….my mom showed me all the Astaire and Rogers movies, and from there most movie musicals. My dad was responsible for Caddyshack and Hopscotch, still two of my favorites. I’d pass any of those on in a heartbeat.