Childhood Favourites: Growing up in the 1980s
A list of my favourite movies as a kid, for good or bad. Some I still love, others not so much. But these were the movies I would watch over and over, back in the days of VHS and analog television sets with dials you had to turn.
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- DirectorDon BluthStarsElizabeth HartmanDerek JacobiDom DeLuiseTo save her ill son, a field mouse must seek the aid of a colony of rats, with whom she has a deeper link than she suspected.The first movie I remember watching (in the cinema) was actually 'The Fox and the Hound,' but this was the first movie I watched all the way through--and loved. Dad rented it from a neighbourhood movie rental "store" set up in somebody's house. Mom figured out how to make a copy... and the rest was history.
- CreatorBonnie ZacherleStarsLaura HarrisWillow JohnsonMaggie Blue O'HaraThe adventures of a young girl living in a rural fantasy world with her friends, a gang of magical, rainbow-colored talking ponies.The Ponies as I knew them. They never sounded or looked this way again, which disappointed me as a kid, even after I became a fan of the TV series.
- DirectorHal SilvermintzStarsRussi TaylorRobert RidgelyDiana McCannonStrawberry Shortcake travels to Big Apple City to compete with the Peculiar Purple Pieman of Porcupine Peak in a televised bakeoff.It's a cute movie, and the songs are actually quite nice, in a vaguely 1970s fashion. Years later, I finally found out why the notion of kohlrabi cookies would be off-putting to the average kid. Also, massive kudos to the screenwriters for using kohlrabi to begin with, as I have never heard it come up in any other movie since.
- DirectorsGerry ChiniquyJeff HaleTerry LennonStarsTammy GrimesPaul WilliamsCharlie AdlerFeline sorceress Catrina and her lizard servant Rep, who loves her, force enslaved little furry Bushwoolies to make her magic potion. They revolt and escape, so she plans to replace them with Little Ponies, who are having a costume ball.My first language growing up was Spanish, so I practiced a lot of the English I was learning at school with this movie. It also led me to hearing and gleefully quoting lyrics such as "Your papa kuwaits" instead of "Your public awaits!" Every now and then, my sisters and I will cry out, "Bushwoolies unite!"
- DirectorsFumihiko TakayamaJohn DanylkiwStarsAileen QuinnLorne GreeneMari OkamotoAnimated version of the classic story of a young farmgirl who is transported to the magic land of Oz.This movie is--as I understand it--very hard to find now-a-days. I loved it. I did not grow up watching the 1939 MGM movie, rather THIS was my introduction to Oz (in its dubbed, US version). And not a bad one either, as it's closer to Baum's book than any other adaptations I've seen. Pity no one has submitted pictures for it.
- DirectorHal SutherlandStarsLiza MinnelliMilton BerleMargaret HamiltonDorothy returns to Oz, discovers witch Mombi's plan to conquer with monster green elephants. With help from Pumpkinhead and Woodenhead, she tries to stop Mombi's army and warn her friends in Emerald City about the threat.Did not age well (not even when I watched it), but I still liked it, especially the Witch Mombi. Lazy Filmation animation. I probably liked this because the female character designs were similar to Filmation's 'He-Man' and 'She-Ra' cartoons.
- DirectorJohn PaulStarsAnna RussellMildred DunnockFrank RogierAn "electronic puppet" version of the Humperdinck opera, adapted for children and using spoken dialogue as well as Humperdinck's music.This movie is amazing. I thought so as a kid, and even more so now, when its utter weirdness and odd sense of spookiness is even more obvious. I watched a Spanish dub, and will still sing the Spanish lyrics to an opera I have never seen or heard: "Las brujas van / montadas en escobas!" Highly recommended if you can find a copy.
- DirectorsRichard WilliamsAbe LevitowDon BluthStarsClaire WilliamsDidi ConnMark BakerRaggedy Ann and Andy leave their playroom to rescue Babette, a beautiful French doll kidnapped by pirates.
- DirectorRaymond JafeliceStarsRussi TaylorRobert RidgelyJack BlumWhen Strawberry Shortcake moves into her new house, all her friends in Strawberryland throw her a surprise housewarming party, and they even invite several new friends that she had recentlly met on a trip around the world; Mint Tulip from the Netherlands, Cafe Ole from Mexico, Crepe Suzette from France, Almond Tea from China, and the British twins, Lem and Ada. They all bring their pets and favorite recipes, too. The party is going great until the sinister Peculiar Purple Pieman from Porcupine Peak sneaks in and steals all the food, along with Lem & Ada, who are hiding in the box they brought containing the recipes. To get them and her new recipe box back, Strawberry Shortcake and all her friends must work together to outwit the Pieman and Sour Grapes.I'm going to be honest, I remember the songs much more than I do the plot of this movie. In fact, my family will still sing "Pack 'em up and move 'em out" during any house/apartment move to this day. This (and all the other Strawberry Shortcake movies) seems rather bizarre to my modern sensibilities--none of the characters are rude or eccentric or "hip." Everyone is just nice and friendly and inoffensive, and no one feels the need to pretend they live in the 80s. Things were very different back then.
- DirectorKimio YabukiStarsKeiko TakeshitaTarô ShigakiAsao KoikeA prince falls in love with a princess cursed to change into a swan by day, but their love is threatened by the sorcerer who keeps her imprisoned.The movie that kicked off my love of anime and all things Japanese. I watched the version with Don Johnson as Prince Sigfried. Extremely hard to find now-a-days. As with many of the other anime/Japanese movies on this list, this was first rented from a music/video rental store located down the road from my house, next to La Panaderia Happy Face. I loved this movie so much that, years later, I had a seamstress make a copy of Odille's black ball gown for my high school prom.
- DirectorTomoharu KatsumataStarsFumie KashiyamaMariko MiyagiTarô ShigakiA mermaid falls in love with a human prince, which leads to tragedy.Ah, anime. Good ole anime, so not afraid to introduce children to incredibly depressing stories that end in... the heroine's suicide? This was my introduction to Hans Christian Anderson's Little Mermaid, which means I knew the original, less-than-happy version of the story years before Disney introduced the world to Ariel. This was (and is) a sad movie, but I loved it.
- DirectorGisaburô SugiiStarsTonpei HidariMasachika IchimuraNobue IchitaniA young peasant boy named Jack climbs a giant beanstalk and stumbles upon a city in the clouds ruled by an evil queen.This is a great movie, and has pretty much guaranteed my utter disinterest in any other version of Jack and the Beanstalk. Funny, spooky at times, and with great songs. My memory of this is spotty, but I believe this movie was first rented at Sears, back in the days when video rental outfits popped up in the oddest places (including supermarkets).
- DirectorPeyoStarsGeorges AtlasJacques BalutinAngelo BardiA villain named McCreep steals the Smurfs' magic flute, an instrument that makes people dance wildly, and uses it to rob them. The Smurf King sends out Peewit to track down the thief and retrieve the flute.Watching this in the cinema was going to be a birthday gift to me. Then I got violently sick (threw up all over the frilly dress I'd worn for the occasion), and I had to wait for the VHS release. To this day, the line I remember most clearly is Peewee's "What's the matter with you? Can't you see I'm sick!" Fitting.
- DirectorArna SelznickStarsRussi TaylorRobert RidgelyJeri CradenStrawberry Shortcake goes on a camping trip with her friends including her newest friend, Baby Needs A Name who finds a new friend in the forest.The last Strawberry Shortcake movie I ever watched, already with a sense that the point was simply to add more and more new fruit and/or food-based characters. I watched a Spanish-dub, which annoyed me. I've always preferred movies in their original language, even as a seven-year-old. Did not much care for it, as I recall.
- DirectorsArna SelznickJay MillerDick SchneiderStarsGeorgia EngelMickey RooneyJackie BurroughsThe Care Bears team up with a troubled brother and sister who just moved to a new town to help a neglected young magician's apprentice whose evil spell book causes sinister things to happen.It was silly then, and it's silly now. Way too much talk of "feelings" and "caring" and "sharing," which I greeted with the eye-rolling spirit of Grumpy Bear. But I still have (and will probably always have) a soft spot for the songs in this movie, especially Carole King's "Care-a-Lot." As a kid, some of the possession scenes scared me a wee bit.
- DirectorDale SchottStarsMaxine MillerPam HyattHadley KayThe Care Bears try to help a young girl at summer camp who, in an effort to revamp her dorky social status to agility and skill, enters into a sinister bargain with a shape-shifting demon posing as a young boy.I remember I liked this one much better than the first Care Bears movie back in the day, chiefly because of the possessed Camp Counselor who was clearly the Devil (because in a movie about Goodness and Light, my favourite character would be the villain). I also really liked the songs. What I didn't like? The universe building from Care Bears I was completely rebooted, which played with my eight-year-old head.
- DirectorRobert ZemeckisStarsMichael J. FoxChristopher LloydLea ThompsonMarty McFly, a 17-year-old high school student, is accidentally sent 30 years into the past in a time-traveling DeLorean invented by his close friend, the maverick scientist Doc Brown.The first live-action movie I ever watched. I hid in my room the first day Mom and my sisters watched it, because Michael J Fox had also been in 'Teen Wolf' and Michael Jackson had scared the socks off me with the "Thriller" video, so eight-year old me thought 'Back to the Future' was a Horror movie. Once watched, it became a lifelong favourite.
- DirectorJohn BrahmStarsGilbert RolandAngela ClarkeFrank SilveraIn this story based on true events of 1917, three Portuguese children share a miraculous, prophetic vision of the Virgin Mary.
- DirectorIvan ReitmanStarsBill MurrayDan AykroydSigourney WeaverThree parapsychologists forced out of their university funding set up shop as a unique ghost removal service in New York City, attracting frightened yet skeptical customers.Egon. Sigourney Weaver. The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. I'll be honest and admit that, at eight, most of the other, finer plot points (academia, womanizing, environmental and safety regulations, apartment living, etc) went right over my head. But the theme song was great! The video for said song was the first thing that played as Mom set up our brand-new parabolic antenna (which made our house look like a NASA observatory), ushering in the era of HBO, Showtime, and Cinemax.
- DirectorDon CoscarelliStarsMarc SingerTanya RobertsRip TornA sword-and-sorcery fantasy about a young man's search for revenge. Armed with supernatural powers, the handsome hero and his animal allies wage war against marauding forces.Sometimes my Catholic elementary school teachers did not feel like teaching, so they'd trudge us up to the library to watch movies. This was one of those movies. It seemed strange then, and outright flabbergasting now. As a nascent Metalhead and RPG/Fantasy Geek, though, I ate this right up: Evil wizards! Warrior women! Magic! Awesome!
- DirectorJohn GuillerminStarsTanya RobertsTed WassDonovan ScottSheena grew up in the African wild, raised by a mystical witch woman. When her foster mother is framed for a murder Sheena is forced to flee, helped by her ability to talk to animals and her knowledge of the jungle.Not sure what to say. I'm pretty sure this movie was some sort of exploitation deal. But Tanya Roberts was in it! And she had animal friends! And, erm, barely a costume...? I never asked Mom what she thought of my watching this movie (more than once).
- DirectorRidley ScottStarsTom CruiseMia SaraTim CurryA young man must stop the Lord of Darkness from destroying daylight and marrying the woman he loves.I first heard about this movie from my older sister, who watched it at school during one of those days when teachers substituted teaching with random (and age inappropriate) movie watching. She loved it (but described scenes that weren't actually in the movie), and shared her enthusiasm with me. My introduction to Tim Curry, Tom Cruise, and Ridley Scott. I love the (US) soundtrack by Tangerine Dream (plus the Bryan Ferry song "Is Your Love Strong Enough") to this day.
- DirectorRon HowardStarsTom HanksDaryl HannahEugene LevyA young man is reunited with a mermaid he briefly encountered as a boy and falls in love with her without knowing her secret.Following the acquisition of a parabolic antenna (and HBO) my sisters and I were able to watch a lot of movies we would not have been allowed to watch at the cinema (and no one had already checked out the VHS either!). One of them was 'Splash,' which captured my imagination immediately: It was about a mermaid! My introduction to Tom Hanks, back when leading men didn't have to look like square-jawed models.
- DirectorWalter MurchStarsFairuza BalkNicol WilliamsonJean MarshDorothy, saved from a psychiatric experiment by a mysterious girl, is somehow called back to Oz when a vain witch and the Nome King destroy everything that makes the magical land beautiful.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsHarrison FordKate CapshawKe Huy QuanIn 1935, Indiana Jones is tasked by Indian villagers with reclaiming a rock stolen from them by a secret cult beneath the catacombs of an ancient palace.
