This past weekend, its all about the Childhood Films Blogathon by Let’s Go To the Movies run by Caz! I know I’m a little late to the party but I still wanted to give it a go.
I’m a pretty nostalgic person. Nostalgia can get me through a lot of my childhood movies. Although, I’d say most of my choices are pretty standard. However, growing up in a Chinese family from Hong Kong, my choices are a mix between Hong Kong comedies and English animation. What you also need to know is that I love animals. I still am a sucker for movies with animals. So as I put the list together, I realize that sort of thing along with some classics, Disney, Studio Ghibli, and some that I almost forgot about. I originally had a huge list of about 20 but after some thought, I decided to do a list of 15 Childhood Films. Most of them still can grab my attention.
Enough of this rambling, let’s do this! Its not in any particular order…I just can’t list them that way and make those choices. Plus, I’d have to rewatch a few of these.
1) Balto (Review)
My childhood involved a lot of watching Balto. Its a fantastic story of a wolf dog in Alaska. Not only that but the humor is awesome. I think as I rewatch this now, I still laugh quite a bit. Its an adventure to watch Balto and his friends find the cure for a city. One of my things on my bucket list because of this movie is to ride those sleds pulled by dogs. I can’t remember what to call them in English anymore.
2) Mary Poppins
Mary Poppins holds one of those crazy memories where I got really mad at my parents when I was a little girl. When you’re little, these things matter more. Its also the reason why I didn’t get to see the beginning portion of Mary Poppins until recent years when I bought a copy of the movie for my Disney collection. Mary Poppins is that nanny that you wanted, even if you didn’t have nanny. They took to adventurous places and fantasy lands and that cheery disposition can make us smile any. Mary Poppins is “practically perfect in every way”. In my mind, she still is.
3) The Sound of Music
Talk about a musical adventure that lasts through time. The Sound of Music meant a lot less about the story than it was about the music when I was younger. Now, I understand more the war and all that 16 going on 17 business 😉
4) My Neighbor Totoro
I grew up with Chinese dubbed versions of Miyazaki movies. Because Miyazaki movies were released in gaps of years, it usually meant that different ages had different ones that grew up with them. Mine was My Neighbor Totoro. While Castle in the Sky and Nausicaa were my cousins’ favorites. This remained the one that stuck the most with me. Plus, who can’t love kids whose Chinese dubbed names was as simple as Tissue and Toilet Paper 😉 I’m not even joking. Thats what it sounds like. And then various furry cutesy creatures that were magical and needed to brush their teeth but dropped nuts on their path which the little girl called drumsticks (chicken drumsticks). I know its a weird translation but these little details stuck to me. Especially when my childhood best friend and I used to re-enact the whole scene under the house where the little Totoro creatures were running from the little girl. Can you tell I still love it to bits? I can talk hours on this so I’ll stop now and move on to the next one.
5) Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey
Thinking about it, this movie popped in my head fairly quickly. What’s weird is that I haven’t seen this one in at least a few years. It still has some good moments and that ending still gets to me. The voice cast for this unexpected trio is fantastic (not that I knew that when I was younger). I’d definitely need to jump back into this one again.
6) Cinderella (Review)
It was a battle between Cinderella and The Little Mermaid but I did watch Cinderella a thousand times more. I may have had a gap of not being so girly-girl when I was younger. And I’m still not. I like dresses and beautiful gowns and all that stuff but I still prefer wearing my workout clothes and baggy shirts but that doesn’t mean that I don’t like sitting down and watching me some Cinderella. Fantastic songs and just the classic fairy tale 🙂
7) The Land Before Time
I’m going to go on record here. I haven’t watched the first one quite so much as I have the sequels. Why? Just because I didn’t own The Land Before Time and I did for the 2nd-5th one. Believe me when I tell you. I like the 2nd and 5th quite a bit because of the character Chomper, a baby T-rex. The Land Before Time was also the time when I really liked dinosaurs a lot. Archaeology was a thing and these characters were just awesome. I have to say though, I did rewatch it a while back and it doesn’t quite stand the test of time but nostalgia made me like it a lot more than I probably should have.
8) Babe
I always wonder if people know about Babe. Babe is so clueless and honestly, his life is a mix of tragedy and luck all mixed together. But Babe has a lot of lessons also and as kids, we learn a lot about it because while Babe is learning how to deal with others, I was also in that phase of my childhood.
9) Its Take Two
The Olsen twins was a thing when I was a kid like Full House was also. While I don’t remember quite so much about Full House, Kirstie Alley was also huge during this phase and all those factors got us to rent this movie and eventually tape it off TV. Summer camp, friends, kids matchmaking and all the crazy that goes along with it. This movie taught me what sloppy joes were and man, do I crave one every time I watch it. Although, I haven’t seen this in a while until last summer (or this one, I can’t remember) on the plane and didn’t even get a review up but I still liked it a lot.
10) Mrs. Doubtfire
Robin Williams is a staple in my childhood. He was the man of many voices. He was fun as a voice for Genie in Aladdin and he was also the father who would do anything for his kids, even if it meant being their nanny and going through the craziness of having to transform into an old nanny. On top of that, he had to boast his skills by being a British nanny and everything after that is just hilarious.
11) Once Upon a Forest
Once Upon a Forest is that lost one. I don’t really think anyone knows this one too much because guess what, FernGully came out at about the same time but of course, being a kid to my parents, they didn’t know FernGully (which I only saw after I started this blog) but my collection was all about Once Upon a Forest. Animals surviving after their home is trampled by humans invading their forest space and having to save their friend by finding a cure far far away. Once Upon a Forest needs another viewing from me desperately. I don’t know how I’ll feel watching it now but I think I’ll still love it 🙂
12) Tricky Brains (Review)
Another staple of my childhood was Stephen Chow. The Stephen Chow now is not who he used to be. Although, he still has quality humor, its slightly changed from the movies that he started with. The movie that my cousins and I sat around to watch the most was Tricky Brains. Stephen Chow is absolutely absurd in this as the trickster who wants to ruin this guy’s engagement to a rich girl pretending to be poor by being the guy’s long lost brother. The tricks he pulls are just roll on floor laughing funny. Of course, I had to not learn all the swearing and slang. It was the deal for me watching Stephen Chow when I was younger. Still, it was a ton of fun and just fantastic memories with my cousins.
13) Future Cops (Review)
Future Cops was also a big thing because it had three of what we called The Big Four (Andy Lau, Aaron Kwok, Jacky Cheung) in this. They were the stars to be in Hong Kong in early 90s. They were fantastic actors as they were talented singers. Adding in Ekin Cheng, Simon Yam and another comedy actor less renowned around the world, Dicky Cheung, mix it up with the best combat game ever Street Fighter and put in futuristic sci-fi thing and we have Future Cops.
14) Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer
Who even knows Rainbow Brite? I wonder that all the time! I did. I even had this little plush toy that I still have from this movie (or I think it was a show). This is the one that I have added into my collection in the last few years but never got around to watching again. Definitely something I’m looking at doing but its also one I think might not stand the test of time. Who knows, right?
15) All’s Well That Ends Well (Review)
Just for good measure, another Stephen Chow’s movie had to go on here. Plus, it was a Chinese New Year movie that had somewhat of a parody thing going for it with replicas of Ghost and Terminator at certain points. Its a hilarious ride for this one especially with the loving memory of Leslie Cheung who was a huge pop star that the Hong Kong entertianment industry sadly lost in 2003.
Here you go! This just made me want to go back and watch all of these. I had a few runner ups but I just didn’t have time to make this any longer, like The Jetsons Movie or another Disney feature like Lady and the Tramp and The Little Mermaid. Although to be fair, I was a tomboy when I was in elementary so I had a phase where I didn’t watch Disney princess movies much. Memories and nostalgia, love it all!
A huge thanks to Caz for thinking up this blogathon and taking me a journey back into being a kid all over again 🙂
Tranquil Dreams 