EW Greatest Movies Ever Made - Kids (Live Action)
by michaelseaman | created - 26 Aug 2012 | updated - 26 Aug 2012 | PublicFrom the book published in 1996, based on home viewing.
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1. E.T. (1982)
PG | 115 min | Adventure, Family, Sci-Fi
A troubled child summons the courage to help a friendly alien escape from Earth and return to his home planet.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Henry Thomas, Drew Barrymore, Peter Coyote, Dee Wallace
Votes: 437,890 | Gross: $435.11M
2. The Wizard of Oz (1939)
PG | 102 min | Adventure, Family, Fantasy
Young Dorothy Gale and her dog Toto are swept away by a tornado from their Kansas farm to the magical Land of Oz, and embark on a quest with three new friends to see the Wizard, who can return her to her home and fulfill the others' wishes.
Directors: Victor Fleming, King Vidor | Stars: Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr
Votes: 428,941 | Gross: $2.08M
3. Mary Poppins (1964)
G | 139 min | Comedy, Family, Fantasy
In turn of the century London, a magical nanny employs music and adventure to help two neglected children become closer to their father.
Director: Robert Stevenson | Stars: Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke, David Tomlinson, Glynis Johns
Votes: 186,162 | Gross: $102.27M
4. King of the Hill (1993)
PG-13 | 103 min | Drama, History
A young boy struggles on his own in a run-down hotel after his parents and younger brother are separated from him in 1930s Depression-era Midwest.
Director: Steven Soderbergh | Stars: Jesse Bradford, Jeroen Krabbé, Lisa Eichhorn, Karen Allen
Votes: 8,830 | Gross: $1.30M
5. Benji (1974)
G | 86 min | Adventure, Family, Romance
A stray dog saves two kidnapped children.
Director: Joe Camp | Stars: Peter Breck, Deborah Walley, Patsy Garrett, Allen Fiuzat
Votes: 5,202 | Gross: $39.55M
6. The Miracle Worker (1962)
Approved | 106 min | Biography, Drama
The story of Anne Sullivan's struggle to teach the blind and deaf Helen Keller how to communicate.
Director: Arthur Penn | Stars: Anne Bancroft, Patty Duke, Victor Jory, Inga Swenson
Votes: 20,516 | Gross: $5.45M
7. Little Women (1933)
Passed | 115 min | Drama, Family, Romance
A chronicle of the lives of sisters growing up in 19th-century New England.
Director: George Cukor | Stars: Katharine Hepburn, Joan Bennett, Paul Lukas, Edna May Oliver
Votes: 7,935 | Gross: $4.58M
8. The Addams Family (1991)
PG-13 | 99 min | Comedy, Fantasy
Con artists plan to fleece an eccentric family using an accomplice who claims to be their long-lost uncle.
Director: Barry Sonnenfeld | Stars: Anjelica Huston, Raul Julia, Christopher Lloyd, Dan Hedaya
Votes: 180,127 | Gross: $113.50M
9. Born Free (1966)
PG | 95 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama
The story of George and Joy Adamson and the orphaned lion cub, Elsa, they adopt.
Directors: James Hill, Tom McGowan | Stars: Virginia McKenna, Bill Travers, Geoffrey Keen, Peter Lukoye
Votes: 7,022
10. National Velvet (1944)
Passed | 123 min | Drama, Family, Sport
A jaded former jockey helps a young girl prepare a wild but gifted horse for England's Grand National Sweepstakes.
Director: Clarence Brown | Stars: Mickey Rooney, Elizabeth Taylor, Donald Crisp, Anne Revere
Votes: 8,007
11. Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)
Not Rated | 83 min | Comedy, Family, Fantasy
The Wolf Man tries to warn a dimwitted porter that Dracula wants his brain for Frankenstein monster's body.
Directors: Charles Barton, Walter Lantz | Stars: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Lon Chaney Jr., Bela Lugosi
Votes: 19,581 | Gross: $4.80M
12. The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (1974 TV Movie)
TV-PG | 110 min | Drama, History
Story of a black woman in the South who was born into slavery in the 1850s and lives to become a part of the civil rights movement in the 1960s.
Director: John Korty | Stars: Cicely Tyson, Eric Brown, Richard Dysart, Joel Fluellen
Votes: 2,506
13. Old Yeller (1957)
Approved | 83 min | Adventure, Drama, Family
A teenage boy grows to love a stray yellow dog while helping his mother and younger brother run their Texas homestead while their father is away on a cattle drive. First thought to be good-for-nothing mutt, Old Yeller is soon beloved by all.
Director: Robert Stevenson | Stars: Dorothy McGuire, Fess Parker, Tommy Kirk, Jeff York
Votes: 15,181 | Gross: $21.91M
14. Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989)
PG | 93 min | Adventure, Comedy, Family
The scientist father of a teenage girl and boy accidentally shrinks his and two other neighborhood teens to the size of insects. Now the teens must fight diminutive dangers as the father searches for them.
Director: Joe Johnston | Stars: Rick Moranis, Matt Frewer, Marcia Strassman, Kristine Sutherland
Votes: 166,455 | Gross: $130.72M
15. The Adventures of Huck Finn (1993)
PG | 108 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama
In Missouri, during the 1840s, young Huck Finn fearful of his drunkard father and yearning for adventure, leaves his foster family and joins with runaway slave Jim in a voyage down the Mississippi River toward slavery free states.
Director: Stephen Sommers | Stars: Elijah Wood, Courtney B. Vance, Robbie Coltrane, Jason Robards
Votes: 9,249 | Gross: $24.10M
16. The Karate Kid (1984)
PG | 126 min | Action, Drama, Family
A martial arts master agrees to teach karate to a bullied teenager.
Director: John G. Avildsen | Stars: Ralph Macchio, Pat Morita, Elisabeth Shue, Martin Kove
Votes: 244,699 | Gross: $90.82M
17. Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey (1993)
G | 84 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama
A fun-loving American bulldog pup, a hilarious Himalayan cat, and a wise old golden retriever embark on a long trek through the rugged wilderness of the Sierra Nevada mountains in a quest to reach home and their beloved owners.
Director: Duwayne Dunham | Stars: Michael J. Fox, Sally Field, Don Ameche, Don Alder
Votes: 51,230 | Gross: $41.83M
18. Sounder (1972)
G | 105 min | Drama, Family
The oldest son of a loving and strong family of black sharecroppers comes of age in the Depression-era South after his father is imprisoned for stealing food.
Director: Martin Ritt | Stars: Cicely Tyson, Paul Winfield, Kevin Hooks, Carmen Mathews
Votes: 4,827 | Gross: $3.10M
19. The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984)
G | 94 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama
Kermit and his friends go to New York City to get their musical on Broadway only to find it's a more difficult task than they anticipated.
Director: Frank Oz | Stars: Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Dave Goelz, Steve Whitmire
Votes: 22,733 | Gross: $25.53M
20. The Secret Garden (1993)
G | 101 min | Drama, Family, Fantasy
A young, recently-orphaned girl is sent to England after living in India all of her life. Once there, she begins to explore her new, seemingly-isolated surroundings, and its secrets.
Director: Agnieszka Holland | Stars: Kate Maberly, Maggie Smith, Heydon Prowse, Andrew Knott
Votes: 44,514 | Gross: $31.18M
21. The Parent Trap (1961)
Passed | 129 min | Comedy, Family, Romance
Teenage twin sisters swap places and scheme to reunite their divorced parents.
Director: David Swift | Stars: Hayley Mills, Maureen O'Hara, Brian Keith, Charles Ruggles
Votes: 24,005
22. The Yearling (1946)
Approved | 128 min | Drama, Family, Western
A boy persuades his parents to allow him to adopt a young deer, but what will happen if the deer misbehaves?
Director: Clarence Brown | Stars: Gregory Peck, Jane Wyman, Claude Jarman Jr., Chill Wills
Votes: 6,471 | Gross: $5.20M
23. White Fang (I) (1991)
PG | 107 min | Adventure, Drama, Family
Jack London's classic adventure story about the friendship developed between a Yukon gold hunter and the mixed dog-wolf he rescues from the hands of a man who mistreats him.
Director: Randal Kleiser | Stars: Ethan Hawke, Klaus Maria Brandauer, Jed, Seymour Cassel
Votes: 22,471 | Gross: $34.79M
24. Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971)
G | 100 min | Adventure, Comedy, Family
A poor but hopeful boy seeks one of the five coveted golden tickets that will send him on a tour of Willy Wonka's mysterious chocolate factory.
Director: Mel Stuart | Stars: Gene Wilder, Jack Albertson, Peter Ostrum, Roy Kinnear
Votes: 227,567 | Gross: $4.00M
25. The Absent Minded Professor (1961)
Approved | 97 min | Comedy, Family, Sci-Fi
A college professor invents an anti-gravity substance which a corrupt businessman wants for himself.
Director: Robert Stevenson | Stars: Fred MacMurray, Nancy Olson, Keenan Wynn, Tommy Kirk
Votes: 9,284 | Gross: $25.38M
26. Adventures in Babysitting (1987)
PG-13 | 102 min | Adventure, Comedy, Crime
A babysitter must battle her way through the big city after being stranded there with the kids she's looking after.
Director: Chris Columbus | Stars: Elisabeth Shue, Maia Brewton, Keith Coogan, Anthony Rapp
Votes: 49,170 | Gross: $34.37M
27. Short Circuit (1986)
PG | 98 min | Comedy, Family, Sci-Fi
Number 5 of a group of experimental robots in a lab is electrocuted, suddenly becomes intelligent, and escapes.
Director: John Badham | Stars: Ally Sheedy, Steve Guttenberg, Fisher Stevens, Austin Pendleton
Votes: 66,385 | Gross: $40.70M
28. Beethoven (1992)
PG | 87 min | Comedy, Drama, Family
A slobbering St. Bernard becomes the center of attention for a loving family, but must contend with a dog-napping veterinarian and his henchmen.
Director: Brian Levant | Stars: Charles Grodin, Bonnie Hunt, Dean Jones, Nicholle Tom
Votes: 76,537 | Gross: $57.11M
29. March of the Wooden Soldiers (1934)
Passed | 77 min | Comedy, Family, Fantasy
Opposing the evil Barnaby, Ollie Dee and Stanley Dum try and fail to pay-off Mother Peep's mortgage and mislead his attempts to marry Little Bo. Enraged, Barnaby's Bogeymen are set on Toyland.
Directors: Gus Meins, Charley Rogers | Stars: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Virginia Karns, Charlotte Henry
Votes: 7,563
30. Treasure Island (1950)
PG | 96 min | Adventure, Family
The treasure seeking adventures of young Jim Hawkins and pirate captain Long John Silver.
Director: Byron Haskin | Stars: Bobby Driscoll, Robert Newton, Basil Sydney, Walter Fitzgerald
Votes: 9,478
31. The Black Stallion (1979)
G | 118 min | Adventure, Family, Sport
After being shipwrecked with a magnificent horse off the coast of Africa in the 1940s, a boy bonds with the stallion, and trains him to race after their rescue.
Director: Carroll Ballard | Stars: Kelly Reno, Mickey Rooney, Teri Garr, Clarence Muse
Votes: 14,047
32. Swiss Family Robinson (1960)
G | 126 min | Adventure, Family
A Swiss family must survive being shipwrecked on a deserted island.
Director: Ken Annakin | Stars: John Mills, Dorothy McGuire, James MacArthur, Janet Munro
Votes: 18,180 | Gross: $40.36M
33. Free Willy (1993)
PG | 112 min | Adventure, Drama, Family
When a boy learns that a beloved killer whale is to be killed by the aquarium owners, the boy risks everything to free the whale.
Director: Simon Wincer | Stars: Jason James Richter, Lori Petty, Michael Madsen, Jayne Atkinson
Votes: 83,046 | Gross: $77.70M
34. Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
PG-13 | 103 min | Comedy
A popular high school student, admired by his peers, decides to take a day off from school and goes to extreme lengths to pull it off, to the chagrin of his Dean, who'll do anything to stop him.
Director: John Hughes | Stars: Matthew Broderick, Alan Ruck, Mia Sara, Jeffrey Jones
Votes: 386,822 | Gross: $70.14M
35. Freaky Friday (1976)
G | 98 min | Comedy, Family, Fantasy
A mother and daughter find their personalities switched and have to live each other's lives on one strange Friday.
Director: Gary Nelson | Stars: Barbara Harris, Jodie Foster, John Astin, Patsy Kelly
Votes: 14,098 | Gross: $25.94M
36. The Red Pony (1949)
Passed | 89 min | Drama, Family, Western
A ranch boy is gifted with a colt, grows to love him but the colt escapes, with tragic results.
Director: Lewis Milestone | Stars: Myrna Loy, Robert Mitchum, Louis Calhern, Shepperd Strudwick
Votes: 1,221
37. My Side of the Mountain (1969)
G | 100 min | Adventure, Family
As young Sam Gribley runs away he learns about nature.
Director: James B. Clark | Stars: Ted Eccles, Theodore Bikel, Tudi Wiggins, Paul Hébert
Votes: 1,176
38. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)
PG | 93 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
Four teenage mutant ninja turtles emerge from the shadows to protect New York City from a gang of criminal ninjas.
Director: Steve Barron | Stars: Judith Hoag, Elias Koteas, Josh Pais, David Forman
Votes: 104,903 | Gross: $135.27M
39. Where the Red Fern Grows (1974)
G | 97 min | Drama, Family
Where the Red Fern Grows is the heartwarming and adventurous tale for all ages about a young boy and his quest for his own red-bone hound hunting dogs.
Director: Norman Tokar | Stars: James Whitmore, Beverly Garland, Jack Ging, Lonny Chapman
Votes: 3,775
40. The Ernest Green Story (1993 TV Movie)
101 min | Biography, Drama
Follows the story of Ernest Green, one of the Little Rock Nine who were the first blacks to integrate into an all white school.
Director: Eric Laneuville | Stars: Morris Chestnut, Robert Alexander, Steven Allen, Katherine Bernhardt
Votes: 326
41. A Friendship in Vienna (1988 TV Movie)
Unrated | 100 min | Drama, History
In 1930s Vienna, two best friends, a Jewish girl and a fascist's daughter, both witness the unification of Germany and Austria, and question the impact it has on their lives.
Director: Arthur Allan Seidelman | Stars: Edward Asner, Stephen Macht, Jenny Lewis, Kamie Harper
Votes: 165
42. The Incredible Mr. Limpet (1964)
Approved | 99 min | Animation, Comedy, Family
Meek and mild mannered bookkeeper Henry Limpet has few passions in life. It's mid-1941 and he would love to join the Navy but has been rated 4F. His friend George Stickle is in the Navy and... See full summary »
Directors: Arthur Lubin, Gerry Chiniquy, Robert McKimson, Hawley Pratt, Bill Tytla | Stars: Don Knotts, Carole Cook, Jack Weston, Andrew Duggan
Votes: 5,972
43. The Man from Snowy River (1982)
PG | 102 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
In 1880s Australia, after young Jim Craig's father dies, he takes a job at the Harrison cattle ranch, where he is forced to become a man.
Director: George Miller | Stars: Kirk Douglas, Tom Burlinson, Terence Donovan, Tommy Dysart
Votes: 10,031 | Gross: $20.66M
44. Harvey (1950)
Approved | 104 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
Due to his insistence that he has an invisible six foot-tall rabbit for a best friend, a whimsical middle-aged man is thought by his family to be insane - but he may be wiser than anyone knows.
Director: Henry Koster | Stars: James Stewart, Wallace Ford, William H. Lynn, Victoria Horne
Votes: 58,269
45. Kidnapped (1960)
Approved | 97 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
In Scotland in 1751, young David Balfour is shanghaied aboard a ship where he meets Jacobite rebel Alan Breck Stewart with whom he escapes to the Scottish Highlands, dodging the redcoats.
Director: Robert Stevenson | Stars: Peter Finch, James MacArthur, Bernard Lee, John Laurie
Votes: 1,609
46. All Creatures Great and Small (1978–1990)
TV-PG | 50 min | Comedy, Drama
The trials and misadventures of the staff of a country veterinary office in Yorkshire from the 1930s to the 1950s.
Stars: Christopher Timothy, Robert Hardy, Peter Davison, Lynda Bellingham
Votes: 4,403
47. Home Alone (1990)
PG | 103 min | Comedy, Family
An eight-year-old troublemaker, mistakenly left home alone, must defend his home against a pair of burglars on Christmas Eve.
Director: Chris Columbus | Stars: Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, John Heard
Votes: 653,192 | Gross: $285.76M
48. Heidi (1937)
Passed | 88 min | Drama, Family, Musical
A plucky little orphan girl gets dumped abruptly into her gruff, hermit grandfather's care, then later gets retaken and delivered as a companion for an injured girl.
Director: Allan Dwan | Stars: Shirley Temple, Jean Hersholt, Arthur Treacher, Helen Westley
Votes: 4,944
49. Into the West (1992)
PG | 97 min | Adventure, Family, Fantasy
Grandpa Ward gives a horse he found to his grandchildren, who keep it in their tower-block flat in Dublin. The horse is stolen from them, and the two young boys set out to find it and flee on it.
Director: Mike Newell | Stars: Gabriel Byrne, Ellen Barkin, Ciarán Fitzgerald, Rúaidhrí Conroy
Votes: 3,184 | Gross: $4.79M
50. Oliver! (1968)
G | 153 min | Drama, Family, Musical
After being sold to a mortician, young orphan Oliver Twist runs away and meets a group of boys trained to be pickpockets by an elderly mentor in 1830s London.
Director: Carol Reed | Stars: Mark Lester, Ron Moody, Shani Wallis, Oliver Reed
Votes: 41,434 | Gross: $16.80M
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