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1. Pollyanna (1960)
directed by David Swift
featuring Jane Wyman, Hayley Mills, Richard Egan, Karl Malden, Nancy Olson, Adolphe MenjouEleanor H. Porter's story of Pollyanna, "The Glad Girl," was first filmed in 1920 by Mary Pickford. While entertaining, the Pickford version tended ... More
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2. August Rush (2007)
directed by Kirsten Sheridan
featuring Freddie Highmore, Keri Russell, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Terrence Howard, Robin WilliamsEstranged from his parents by circumstance and nudged toward a foster family, a young boy seeks out his long-lost folks and discovers prodigious ... More
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3. Mommie Dearest (1981)
directed by Frank Perry
featuring Faye Dunaway, Diana Scarwid, Steve Forrest, Howard Da Silva, Mara Hobel, Rutanya AldaWhen her adoptive mother Joan Crawford died in 1977, erstwhile actress/author Christina Crawford and her brother Christopher were left out of Joan ... More
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4. Where the Wild Things Are (2009)
directed by Spike Jonze
featuring Max Records, Catherine Keener, James Gandolfini, Paul Dano, Catherine O'Hara, Forest Whitaker, Michael Berry Jr., Chris Cooper, Lauren AmbroseVisionary director Spike Jonze brings Maurice Sendak's beloved children's book to the big screen with the help of hipster icon Dave Eggers, who ... More
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5. My Dog Skip (2000)
directed by Jay Russell
featuring Frankie Muniz, Diane Lane, Luke Wilson, Kevin Bacon, Caitlin WachsThe popular memoir by Pulitzer prize-winning author Willie Morris became this family comedy-drama about a boy and his dog. Young Willie Morris ... More
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6. The Sixth Sense (1999)
directed by M. Night Shyamalan
featuring Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment, Toni Collette, Olivia Williams, Donnie WahlbergIn this tense tale of psychological terror, Dr. Malcolm Crowe (Bruce Willis) is a child psychologist whose new patient has a problem far outside his ... More
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7. A Little Princess (1995)
directed by Alfonso Cuarón
featuring Eleanor Bron, Liam Cunningham, Liesel Matthews, Rusty Schwimmer, Arthur MaletA privileged, free-spirited young girl tries to adapt to life in a strict boarding school in this charming, critically acclaimed children's fantasy. ... More
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8. Because of Winn-Dixie (2005)
directed by Wayne Wang
featuring AnnaSophia Robb, Jeff Daniels, Cicely Tyson, Eva Marie Saint, Dave MatthewsIt's not finishing school or a traditional upbringing that causes ten-year-old Opal to learn about the world outside of her own backyard, but rather ... More
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9. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (2008)
directed by Mark Herman
featuring Asa Butterfield, Jack Scanlon, Amber Beattie, David Thewlis, Vera FarmigaVera Farmiga, David Thewlis, and Asa Butterfield star in Little Voice writer/director Mark Herman's adaptation of John Boyne's novel concerning the ... More
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10. My Mother's Castle (1990)
directed by Yves Robert
featuring Julien Ciamaca, Philippe Caubère, Nathalie Roussel, Didier Pain, Therese LiotardThis charming motion picture relives the beautiful childhood memories of noted film director and writer Marcel Pagnol. While attending school in ... More
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11. Simon Birch (1998)
directed by Mark Steven Johnson
featuring Ian Michael Smith, Joseph Mazzello, Ashley Judd, Oliver Platt, David StrathairnList of all editionsThis comedy-drama features a narration by Jim Carrey, looking back to childhood in a manner similar to the narration on TV's The Wonder Years. The ... More
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12. National Velvet (1944)
directed by Clarence Brown
featuring Elizabeth Taylor, Mickey Rooney, Donald Crisp, Anne Revere, Angela LansburyList of all editionsAlthough National Velvet was the first starring role for 11-year-old Elizabeth Taylor, the early part of the film belongs to Mickey Rooney in the ... More
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13. Follow Me, Boys! (1966)
directed by Norman Tokar
featuring Fred MacMurray, Vera Miles, Lillian Gish, Charlie Ruggles, Elliott Reid, Kurt RussellList of all editionsFollow Me, Boys!, Disney's paean to the Boys Scouts of America, leaves no cliché unturned: we're even offered the old reliable "kid hanging over ... More
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14. Billy Elliot (2000)
directed by Stephen Daldry
featuring Julie Walters, Jamie Bell, Gary Lewis, Jean HeywoodList of all editionsBrassed Off meets My Name Is Joe in this gritty coming-of-age drama about a young son of a poor English coal miner who dreams of being a ballet ... More
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15. The Man without a Face (1993)
directed by Mel Gibson
featuring Mel Gibson, Nick Stahl, Margaret Whitton, Fay Masterson, Gaby HoffmannList of all editionsMel Gibson made his feature film directing debut with this drama, loosely based on the book by Isabel Holland, which combines elements from The ... More
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16. Savannah Smiles (1982)
directed by Pierre de Moro
featuring Mark Miller, Donovan Scott, Bridgette Andersen, Peter Graves, Chris RobinsonList of all editionsSavannah Smiles is a sweet little film that proved a surprising hit on the Saturday matinee circuit. Mark Miller and Donovan Scott play a pair of ... More
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17. My Girl (1991)
directed by Howard Zieff
featuring Macaulay Culkin, Anna Chlumsky, Dan Aykroyd, Jamie Lee Curtis, Richard Masur, Griffin DunneList of all editionsHoward Zieff directed this comedy-drama about the emotional awakening of a young girl in a small Pennsylvania town during the summer of 1972. Anna ... More
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18. Off the Map (2005)
directed by Campbell Scott
featuring Joan Allen, Valentina D'Angelis, Sam Elliott, J.K. Simmons, Jim True-FrostList of all editionsCampbell Scott directed this offbeat comedy drama about a free-thinking family who find themselves confronted by the more regimented outside world. ... More
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19. Captains Courageous (1937)
directed by Victor Fleming
featuring Spencer Tracy, Freddie Bartholomew, Lionel Barrymore, Melvyn Douglas, Charles GrapewinList of all editionsA boy learns life-changing lessons about the importance of friendship and the dignity of labor in this adventure saga based on a story by Rudyard ... More
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20. Where the Red Fern Grows (2003)
directed by Lyman D. Dayton, Sam Pillsbury
featuring Dabney Coleman, Dave Matthews, Kris Kristofferson, Ned Beatty, Joseph AshtonList of all editionsBased on the 1961 children's novel by Wilson Rawls, Where the Red Fern Grows is a family-oriented drama four years in the making. This project is co ... More
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21. Rigoletto (1993)
List of all editionsGiuseppe Verdi's beloved opera arrives on the small screen for the whole family to enjoy in this film designed to spark conversation among family ... More
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22. I Am David (2004)
directed by Paul Feig
featuring Ben Tibber, James Caviezel, Joan Plowright, Hristo Shopov, Silvia De SantisList of all editionsA young boy is sent on a remarkable odyssey as he flees a Communist prison camp in this historical drama, set in Eastern Europe in the early '50s. ... More
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23. Toby Tyler (1959)
directed by Charles Barton
featuring Kevin Corcoran, Henry Calvin, Gene Sheldon, Bob Sweeney, Richard EasthamList of all editionsChild star Kevin "Moochie" Cocoran shares his top billing with a chimp, Mr. Stubbs, in this story about a forlorn lad who runs away from his foster ... More
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24. How Green Was My Valley (1941)
directed by John Ford
featuring Walter Pidgeon, Maureen O'Hara, Donald Crisp, Roddy McDowall, Barry Fitzgerald, Anna LeeList of all editionsSpanning 50 years, director John Ford's How Green Was My Valley revolves around the life of the Morgans, a Welsh mining family, as told through the ... More
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25. Tideland (2006)
directed by Terry Gilliam
featuring Jodelle Ferland, Janet McTeer, Brendan Fletcher, Jeff Bridges, Jennifer TillyList of all editionsFollowing the death of her drug-addicted mother, a whimsical young girl follows her chemically dependent father to a remote prairie house to discover ... More







