10 OF THE MOVIES I GREW UP WATCHING IS ALL HAPPY NOSTALGIA
Would you believe me if I said, I watched very few films growing up? By “growing up,” I mean a little kid through 15, 16 or thereabouts. If you find that hard to believe, just trust me when I say, it did happen. Because of this, I also have a limited number of titles I could watch. This means that the childhood movies I grew up watching were on full repeat.
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I cannot remember for sure, but I do think some of the time, we did watch the TGIF TV shows while eating our usual Friday night pizza, but beyond that, our movies were limited to those we knew were good and wholesome or the 30s, 40s musical films. Later, I went through a John Wayne movie phase too, it was a thing and now anytime I see them pop up on Prime, I have nostalgia. The other day I, for some reason, was thinking about these movies and thought, why not write about them. Since nostalgia, according to pop culture, is super in (disposable cameras, 90s fashion), this seems fitting. So here we are. Let’s take a peek into the movies of my childhood.
CHILDHOOD MOVIES I GREW UP WATCHING
1: ANASTASIA (1997)
Ok, I grew up watching this gorgeous animated film ALL THE FREAKING TIME. I think, if I had to guess, because at the time, I don’t know what I thought, I was fascinated by the idea of a lost girl being a princess. It’s still a nostalgic favorite.
10 OF THE MOVIES I GREW UP WATCHING IS ALL HAPPY NOSTALGIA #MEMORIES #NOSTALGIA #POPCULTURE #ANNEOFGREENGABLES #ANASTASIA #GOODMOVIES #CHILDHOODMOVIES Share on X2: ANNE OF GREEN GABLES
The 1980s adaptation of this series based on the L.M. Montgomery novels is (was?) one of my most favorite. There’s something about the character of Anne Shirley that is just so lovely. She’s sassy, but also very relatable (albeit not the sass). All around, these Sullivan productions are just classics.
3: CHARLOTTE’S WEB (1973)
Throwing it way back to childhood, we watched this one ALL THE TIME. I mean, it is cute with its ragtag group of farm animals who become the best of friends. Plus it’s based on the classic novel, too and it has LOADS of reviews, the average of which is high.
4: EMMA (1996)
Seeing this one came when I was older, probably in my teens, but it was still something I could watch and did like. Same could be said for the 90s adaptation of Sense & Sensibility which I don’t like (now). My cousin owned the VHS tape, and naturally, I had to borrow it frequently. childhood movies
5: DISNEY MOVIES
I don’t have a memory of watching any one Disney movie all the time. I’m told when I was little, The Little Mermaid was my obsession and I do seem to remember that The Aristocats was popular. Beyond that I don’t know if I loved anything though I re-watched movies like Cinderella, The Rescuers or The Fox and the Hound.
6: MARY-KATE & ASHLEY MOVIES
Watched so many of these including Billboard Dad and Passport to Paris. In fact, just writing this is making me want to relive how painful these are (production, script, fashion) just for nostalgia’s sake. Although to be fair, something like It Takes Two isn’t as bad since it was a feature film whereas most of Mary-Kate and Ashley’s movies were straight to video productions.
7: PRIDE & PREJUDICE (1995)
Given how I gush over the 2005 adaptation ALL THE TIME this addition may surprise you. Honestly, plain and simple, I do love the feature version and consider it my favorite. However I grew up watching 90s A&E adaptation on repeat. Featuring Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle, my mother and I were repeat watchers of this and we loved every moment. Now if I do watch it, it’s a nostalgia watch. I’m also quite overdue for a re-watch.
8: THE PRINCE OF EGYPT
Used to watch this frequently. I mean, the music is pretty, and I remember I even owed the soundtrack. Probably still have the CD somewhere. This is an animated feature from Dreamworks about the story of Moses. childhood movies
9: THE PRINCESS DIARIES
This was one of the first movies I watched that was “new” without my mom knowing what it was all about. Don’t get me wrong, she knew I watched it (it was a Christmas gift), it was just one of those films we didn’t know much about prior to seeing it. Needless to say, when I received it for Christmas, it was a highlight.
10: THE SOUND OF MUSIC
Is there anything more classic than The Sound of Music? I’d guess no. I’m not a lover of musicals in that I want to watch them all the time, but this one is timeless and lovely and sweet and romantic and all the good things. There’s a reason why “A Few of My Favorite Things” is one of the film’s most famous songs.
Did you watch any of these? Were the formative for you in anyway? Which ones have you not see? Would you still watch any of these? What childhood movies were part of your movie-going? Comment all your comments. Let’s get our nostalgia hats on.
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Great post! A lot of these are nostalgic for me too, like Anne of Green Gables, Princess Diaries, Mary-Kate & Ashley videos. I also loved Madeline and Roger & Hammerstein’s Cinderella. I could go on and on. Nostalgia and childhood are comfy topics to discuss.
We love good nostalgic topics! :) I watched the cartoon versions of Madeline. I cannot even remember the year they were from. I’d also forgotten that I used to watch Ever After all the time too! So many memories with those MK and Ashley videos too. Glad you dropped by, as always, Chanel!
I haven’t seen The Prince of Egypt in ages, but I loved it when I was young. That soundtrack was awesome!
Right? That music… so good! :)
I also had a really limited number of movies that I got to watch until I was about 12. The Sound of Music, Across the Great Divide, The Many Adventures of Winnie-the-Pooh, The Lone Ranger (the ’50s movie), The Journey of Natty Gann, Giant, The Blue and the Gray, and the animated Robin Hood got the most watches, along with the Disney TV series Five Mile Creek. We had to rent all those from the video store or borrow them from the library, except for The Sound of Music, which someone taped off TV for us. For years, that was the only movie we owned a copy of!!!
Ohmygosh! I saw ‘Natty Gann.’ Cannot remember when, but I think I even owned it on VHS at one point. Ah, yes! I watched “Five Mile Creek” too. I think I was older when I saw that though because my uncle talked about it, and at one point, he found a bunch of VHS tapes somewhere that he bought so they came to our house to watch. We rented a lot (and weirdly, I miss that) and through the years did collect lots of VHS Disney movies. They were special buys for us at Christmas or a birthday. Now I don’t know what to do with them because we don’t even own a VHS player anymore! ;)
Have you heard, there’s a rumor in St Petersburg… Ha! I loved that movie. The Sound of Music was one of two films we had recorded on VHS and the first movie I could ever remember watching. I used to pretend I was Liesl in the glass house and run around the room singing I Am Sixteen, before shouting Whee!!! So many of these films are part of my childhood too.
How did I miss this post in May?! YES to this whole list, though I confess to only watching Anastasia a time or two when I was a kid. And, the P&P miniseries isn’t one I’ve frequently rewatched.
But as the for the rest of the list, you’ve covered some definite childhood favs. It Takes Two and Pocahontas were obsessions, and I seem to remember growing up with The Sound of Music songs and The Prince of Egypt soundtrack (I definitely have the CD somewhere). The Parent Trap (Hayley Mills AND the Lohan version) was another fav.
I also watched a few adultier movies on repeat: While You were Sleeping, the Star Wars trilogy (original 3), and Fools Rush In. I, too, had a big John Wayne phase (we’ve talked about this!).
I probably saw “While You Were Sleeping” as a “younger” teen too. Most I didn’t because my mom didn’t like me watching just anything so I didn’t. It was lots of repeat favorites. But in some ways, I’m glad for that looking back. I loved Sound of Music and Anne of Green Gables. My dad got tired of these repeats when we’d watch something together, but he was a good sport. :) I have the Prince of Egypt CD somewhere too.. or I did. Fools Rush In is really fun. I saw it again for a re-watch recently and the John Wayne phase!! It was a whole thing. My uncle owned a BUNCH of VHS tapes so we borrowed those all the time. Those were what my dad liked better.