Monday, May 17, 2010

Children of the 90s Readers' Choice Childhood Movies: You Pick Your Favorites!

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Every time I do some sort of countdown list or compilation post, the comments end up chock-full of suggestions for alternative entries or challenges to the post's choices. In the spirit of making Children of the 90s a full-fledged, interactive experience, we want you to vote for your favorites. This may sound suspiciously to you like I'm asking you to do the heavy lifting, and you might be right. Don't worry, though, it's all in the name of effective group reminiscing. It all checks out as legit, I promise. We've looked into it.

I've already delved a bit into the Readers' Choice territory with last week's examination of popular 80s and 90s children's books, of which a post filled with your awesome suggestions is forthcoming. This Reader's Choice countdown, though, is a bit different. I was inspired by a conversation I had with a few friends about how the movies we loved so dearly as children may not measure up against the judgmental yardstick of time, but we tend to continue fervent reverence of these films nonetheless. Nostalgic value is pretty powerful--believe me, I've seen Encino Man and Teen Witch as an adult. The fact I was even able to make it through is a true testament to my childhood devotion. Some of those dancing sequences are pretty brutal.

Whether or not your favorite childhood movies have stood the test of maturity, there's something special about a film you loved unconditionally as a child. It will always hold a special place in your heart, probably just left of the arterial residual buildup left my Koala Yummies and Gushers. Even when you know deep down that some of these movies are not objectively good, that knowledge isn't enough to quell the swell of love you feel for it.

So, the public has spoken. Or rather, the public will speak. Or type. Something like that. Either way, it'll be fun, so come along for the ride. If this experiment fails horribly, I have plenty of untapped 90s material, but I thought it might be a fun twist. You let me know your top 3 favorite childhood movies, and then I think of a clever, humorous way to compile them in a grand countdown post.
Just in case you're still not totally clear on how to make your incredibly valuable ideas heard, I'll get things started with my own list. Feel free to judge, mercilessly, as I'm sure you will:

1. Girls Just Want to Have Fun
2. The Princess Bride
3 Troop Beverly Hills

My boyfriend rightly pointed out that my incredibly skewed childhood viewpoint is one-sided--the girl side. I can't help it, I'm a girl. He made me promise to give a shout-out for Independence Day, just in case any males out there are gagging at my choices. Sorry about that. Feel free to add your own testosterone-tinted selections to balance out the frilly sentimentality of my own.

So knock yourselves out, 90s kids. What were your top favorite childhood movies? Drop your list in the comments, and I'll write something worth your while on the top choices. At least that's the idea--it requires a little bit of action on your part. Let the interactivity begin!

41 comments:

Lorelai said...

1. The Chipmunk Adventure
2. Home Alone 2 (closely beating out Home Alone the first)
3. To Grandmother's House We Go (Do Olsen Twin telemovies even count?)

Also, this is really embarrassing, but I've never seen The Princess Bride. I wanted to for a long while, but now I feel like it won't live up to the hype. Please, someone tell me I'm wrong!

vanessa steck said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
vanessa steck said...

Oh boy.
1. It Takes Two (another Olsen twin movie...there needs to be a post on Olsen twins movies!)
2. Clueless
3. Home Alone 3

miss jille said...

1. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
2. Ghostbusters
3. The Muppets Take Manhattan

And I still love all of them...

Anonymous said...

I would have to say

1. My Girl
2. Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead
3. The Never-Ending Story

If I could pick a couple more I would say The Secret Garden and a Little Princess too. I loved those movies.

Unknown said...

1. Troop Beverly Hills
2. Clueless
3. 3-way tie w/ Care Bears Movie, Snoopy Come Home and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (sorry, that's cheating a bit)

Tracita Linda (Tracey) said...

1. Mrs. Doubtfire
2. A Little Princess (Nostalgia...didn't we all want to be princesses in our own rights?)
3. Matilda

Anonymous said...

in no particular order.. mighty ducks 2, empire records & cant hardly wait =)

Sarah said...

1. Adventures in Babysitting
2. My Father the Hero
3. Curly Sue

This makes me really want to watch all of these...

Sadako said...

1. Addams Family Values
2. Home Alone
3. Clueless

Breezer said...

1. Clueless
2. Wild America (Devon Sawa AND JTT? Come on!)
3. My Girl

Anonymous said...

1. Annie
2. The Cutting Edge
3. Adventures in Babysitting

Bree said...

1. The Princess Bride
2. Goonies
3. The Neverending Story.

waterbuffalospice said...

1. Brink!
2. clueless.
3. Balto.

Tracy said...

1. House Arrest
2. Annie
3. A Little Princess (UK version)

Chelsea said...

This is really hard lol...a top TEN would have been a little easier...

1. Home Alone (still one of my absolute faves today)
2. Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (the first one...none of the sequels..they were VERY dumb)
3. Troop Beverly Hills (still very much in love w/this movie today..my mom even loved it haha)

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE your blog! Only thing worth reading on the internet really. Keep up the good work!

Anonymous said...

1. The Lion King
2. Toy Story
3. 10 Things I hate About You

But I love all 90's teen movies - way better than what these young teeny boppers are growing up with today. :)

bookharlot said...

1. Clue
2. Walk Like a Man (did anyone else watch that besides me and my friends?)
3. Gremlins

Mike said...

Your boyfriend is a genius. Independence day was definitely on my top three as a kid. I think I even wore out my VHS. My top three are as follows...

1. Independence day
2. Camp Nowhere
3. Maybe a tie between Dunston Checks In and Richie Rich...

Anonymous said...

Leaving out the glaringly obvious Disney movies, I'd have to say Problem Child, Beetlejuice, and Drop Dead Gorgeous. (Which, to this day, is my all-time favorite.) And @bookharlot, I've definitely seen Walk Like a Man, more than once. :)

John W. said...

This is real tricky considering I watched many movies growing up and still do today. I guess I'll just throw out three random movies I watched numerous times as a kid.

My Girl
Casper
HeavyWeights
(bonus movie: Wayne's World)

Unknown said...

1. Matilda
2. A Little Princess
3. Parent Trap - Lindsey Lohan version (I blame this entirely upon my little sister who watched it incessantly.)

nikki said...

Holy Crap. How do I narrow this down to only three?

1- Pump Up the Volume
2- A League of Their Own
3- Don't Tell Mom, the Babysitter' Dead.

Honorable mentions to Newsies, Swing Kids, and My Girl.

Ren said...

1. Once Upon a Forest
2. The Great Mouse Detective
3. Matilda

Tr!sh said...

1. The Princess Bride
2. Annie
3. Dance Till Dawn (made for tv movie)

Deidree said...

These are still my favorite movies, so I guess I'll list them...

1. Titanic
2. The Labyrinth
3. The Princess Bride

Clueless would be fourth, fyi. Kind of how it appears right now, lol.

Kristen said...

1. The Last Unicorn
2. Beauty and the Beast
3. Don't Tell Mom the Baby-sitter's Dead

And I must honorably mention Aladdin, Clueless, and The Chipmunk Adventure.

Unknown said...

1. Clueless
2. A League of Their Own
3. The Lion King

Jen said...

I really need to do a top 10, but since you asked specifically for 3, here's the 3 I watched the MOST:

1. Don't Tell Mom The Babysitter's Dead
2. Troop Beverly Hills
3. Camp Nowhere

Anonymous said...

To be honest, I wore out my Disney Sing-Along tapes more than anything else until I was about 5. But as far as actual 90s movies:
1. The Lion King
2. Oliver and Company (it was actually released in 1988, but I watched it on video through the 90s)
3. The Parent Trap--Lindsay Lohan version

Honorable mentions: The Secret Garden and An American Tail/Fievel Goes West

Tahleen said...

I'm so excited that so many people love Troop Beverly Hills as much as I do. I own it on DVD. Anyway, here are my top 3:

1. Troop Beverly Hills
2. Heavyweights
3. Hocus Pocus

I don't care what time of year it is, I will watch Hocus Pocus anytime, anyplace. That goes for the other two as well, even if they aren't seasonal.

RAY J said...

Off the top of my head (live action, not cartoon, as there's too many)

The Sandlot
Milo & Otis
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: The Secret of the Ooze

have you tried to watch a TMNT movie in the last few years? I bought the 2nd one for like $5 at Walmart when I was in college... I have new sense of compassion for my dad, to think I made him sit through the terrible puns and corniness of this movie, lol...

Heather Taylor said...

1. The Secret Garden
2. Clueless
3. Anastasia

Anonymous said...

1) Now and Then

2) Camp Nowhere

3) Mrs. Doubtfire

Rookie of the Year would be #4

Unknown said...

1: Don't Tell Mom, The Babysitter's Dead
2. Girls Just Want to Have Fun
3. Labyrinth

yolanda said...

1. Clueless
2. An American Tail [I used to have the whole movie memorized, lol]
3. Ladybugs [I was a BIG Jonathan Brandis fan, lol...may he rest in peace :( ]
4. Hook [couldn't leave this one off the list]

Kristie said...

I know this survey has ended but I still wanted to play along! :)

1. The Boy Who Could Fly
2. Troop Beverly Hills
3. Teen Witch

Honorable Mention:
1. Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead
2. Maid to Order
3. Grease 2
4. Girls Just Want to Have Fun
5. Some Kind of Wonderful

I really could go on and on...lol
Have a great day!

Anonymous said...

I know I'm too late to participate but what the hell. It's fun making lists. One of my top 5 favorite childhood activities was making lists. ;) No fooling!

1. The Little Mermaid

I still remember the absolute joy and wonder I felt. I skipped out of the theatre. Really. And I went back many many times. Beauty And The Beast was magical too, and maybe a little more polished to perfection. But Mermaid was first and made the biggest impact. I related to Ariel's daddy issues, sang "Part Of Your World" constantly, refused to eat fish (until my parents forced me). TLM was the first DVD I got, back in the Limited Issue barebones primitive days of DVD. Before I even had a DVD player, okay?

2. Back To The Future

I know this movie so well, have every line memorized...it's like an old friend. And no wonder - I made my parents rent this so many times we could've bought it 100x over. Eventually we did. In fact it was my very first VHS purchase. Awww!

3. Annie

Another multiple rental, but I didn't rush to buy it and when I saw it years later as an adult... I was a bit embarrassed and puzzled as to why I'd liked it so much. But I've got to be honest and include it as a childhood fav. I've since come around to kind of being okay with liking it, in a corny guilty-pleasure way. (And Miss Hannigan's so delightfully mean!) It's not very difficult to see why Younger Me was so addicted. I love musicals and those are some catchy songs. It's a love letter to the Golden Age of Hollywood, and I love old movies. Anne Of Green Gables is my childhood fav book and clearly Annie, another fiesty redheaded orphan, reminded me of Anne. Also, I suspected (or maybe just wished? ;)) I was adopted. So there ya go!

jesswolf22 said...

1.Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles( for my 7th birthday it was my gift and let me say that i watch to many times that the type stop working.
2.Edward Scissorhands(i had just turn 8 when i had first seen this movie.
3.the Silence of the Lambs( i was 9 when i first saw this. it still my favorite.


I'm 24 now and i still love those three.

Nicole Koskovich said...

I know it's over, but here are my top three, non anitmated, favorites.

1. Heavyweights
2. Wild America
3. A Little Princess. -

Rokn Bostan said...

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شركة ركن البستان لخدمات المنزل

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