What movies and shows had a positive influence on your life in your childhood?
I am going to be a father and am making a jellyfin setup for my child. I want to start early to make a good collection of movies and shows. So I am interested in knowing what other people experienced as positive influences in their lives.
Edit: English and Norwegian is fine, but I can always get dubbed versions of other languages. We will be speaking English and Norwegian with our child from birth. But want to introduce our child to many types of cultures, religions etc.
Edit 2: Thanks so much for so many great responses. Some of you must have spent quite some time compiling the list. Truly appreciate that ♥️
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The Iron Giant for sure
Supaman!
You stay.... I go.
I may be a grown ass adult, but that scene always gets the waterworks going.
A gun who chooses not to be a gun. As someone who's still dealing with their history as a soldier in the war on terror, I empathize with him more than I ever could as a child.
Princess Mononoke might be a little dark for an earlier age. There's some really brutal scenes in it.
Of course that didn't stop it from being my favorite from age 8 onward, but still.
Yeah there's literal dismemberment in the early scenes, plus thematically it's pretty mature too
I'm picturing a toddler seeing a soldier get beheaded by an arrow from horseback, looks over at Dad for emotional support, and Dad looks on with an approving grin, comfortable that he's made the right choice of early childhood films.
Also, The Matrix/Terminator as a suggestion for a small child is a big lol.
Terminator, the matrix and cowboy beebop are to much as well
Hell yeah yu yu hakusho is so good!!! So much raw emotion with great story telling and cool fights. I know he's the bad guy but when younger toguro turns down a ticket to heaven so he can suffer in purgatory cuz he thinks he doesn't deserve it gets me so hard everytime.
Phrasing! Hahaha
Lots of episodes can get a little violent but the first episode is golden for teaching perspective and that the "bad guys/good guys" dichotomy isn't what it seems, and to be kind to everyone, in a way that is a little easier to digest when they're little.
Funny that you point out the originals Disney movies, that made me think, did the remakes made any impact on the younger generation or is too soon to know that?
Man, I really hope those were just forgettable for them. The Lion King live action remake is so damn disappointing. All the emotion, all the storytelling, just gone. It's a very poor imitation of the original.
Remakes can be good. The new Dune movies are worlds better than the 70s movie; that is a movie that needed a proper remake. The new ones actually do the books justice.
The original you say.
Everything by Don Bluth. Literally everything his name on is childhood gold. Sometimes a little scary, but in a modern fairy tale sort of way.
An American Tale
All dogs go to Heaven
The Secret of NIMH
The Fox and the Hound
The Land Before Time
His movies never treated children like fools, a sentiment that's only recently becoming the standard for children's entertainment and he was doing it in the 80s.
It's mildly flooding in my area right now so I just watched Rock A Doodle the other day, one of my faves as a kid.
Chanticleer! Out of all his movies that was the one I followed the least as a kid. It confused me in a way it never really went away. I came back to it as a kid and I still don't really get it, but it has such a fairytale feeling to it.
Maybe not everything, there were a few less-than-greats in his catalogue. It's been a while, but I can't imagine The Pebble and the Penguin or A Troll in Central Park being particularly good as an adult.
Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli For Younger Kids:
For maybe when they're getting older?
Some other decent ones for kids of various ages:
Animated/Claymation
Series:
Movies:
Live Action Series:
Movies:
Edit: awful formatting... And typos
god beakman's world was amazing.
i'd also suggest bobby's world, which was on around the same time
I've tried finding good episodes to show now and it's been pretty hard. There are a few smatterings on youtube. The video quality is very low. Niche enough that there aren't many sources.
I was also amused to learn that when I was a kid I thought they were just talking like crazy freaks with a weird funny way of talking. As an adult, they're just new yorkers.
there's a good complete series torrent out there that i got; there's also a good complete series upload on archive.org too! for both beakman's world and bobby's world
Same Robin Hood as in the thumbnail for sure.
Also not yet listed, heavily 80s titles:
The Princess Bride
The Neverending Story
Beetlejuice
Big
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
The Dark Crystal
The Rats of Nimh
The Last Unicorn
An American Tale
Batteries Not Included
Fiddler on the Roof
Ghostbusters
Anything with the Muppets up to Treasure Island.
Back to the Future (2015 no longer the future fantasy it one was)
The Muppets Christmas Carol is downright perfect. Merry Christmas!
100% yes. Best version of the story ever made. Second to last good Muppet movie.
From a purely positive influence? Anything on PBS (wasn't allowed to have cable growing up)
Bill Nye would be the one non-PBS show I remember having an impact
Modernish stuff? Bluey, Miss Rachel, Pixar especially Wall-E, Brave, Coco, Soul, Encanto, Toy Story, Inside Out (when a little older). I like Coco, but Book of Life is an underrated alternative too.
I'll second my hero Mr Rogers.
We should all want to be like him.
Speedracer (probably at 5+ age)
Magic School Bus (original)
Arthur
Bluey
Bill Nye
All the ghibli movies
My all time favourite Miyazaki series: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_Boy_Conan It impacted me so much Istill think about it 40 years later...
Surprised PBS shows aren't mentioned more here, especially not Mr. Rogers Neighborhood being mentioned.
So in no particular order:
Mr. Roger's Neighborhood: great show for teaching kids to how to navigate emotions and complex situations like death and discrimination but in ways they can understand
Sesame Street: similar to Mr. Rogers but more for younger children
Bill Nye the Science Guy: Made science accessible and fun for children. Good way to build a sense of curiosity and desire for experimentation
Zoom: similar to Bill Nye in that it made me what to try all the activities they shared. Lots of fun games, recipes, brain teasers etc to keep kids busy. The fact that it had an all kid cast made it more accessible as a kid. Highly recommended since it seems less remembered than other PBS shows
Non-Educational:
The Simpsons: this may be divisive but I grew up when they were super popular and I believe it helped develop my sense of humor. The earlier episodes were also pretty wholesome
The Avatar (Last Airbender and Korra): well written show that is based on many East Asian cultures and touches on themes of depression, genocide, war, and hope (among many others). One of my favorite shows to this day
elephant show and reading rainbow <3
also wcvb in boston had a show similar to reading rainbow called a likely story
"Zoom zoom zoom! " is still stuck in my head to this day
Good on you for setting up the Jellyfin early, it's still on my to-do list
My personal favorite childhood movies/shows that made a real impact:
Fern Gully, the Disney animated originals (not remakes) mentioned elsewhere in the thread, Nightmare Before Christmas, Princess Bride, Neverending Story, Star Trek 4 (the whales one), Toy Story
Star Trek TNG and TOS, the old school B/W Addams Family, OG Looney Tunes, Nature on PBS, Nova on PBS, Mr Rogers, Arthur
Additional stuff I'll be adding to my own kid's Jellyfin (when I get to it)
Avatar the Last Airbender, Kipo and the Wonderbeasts, She-Ra:PoP (the Netflix one), Bluey, Storybots, Puffin Rock, Lucas the Spider, Trash Truck, Ms Rachel, Daniel Tiger, Elinor Wonders Why
The Neverending Story
Need to get that early childhood trama on lock with that atrax scene.
I know!! Heartbreaking stuff!!!
Avatar the last Airbender taught me to think when in conflict
Maggie and the Ferocious Beast (the first English cartoon I remember watching), Rolie Polie Olie, Martha Speaks, Franklin, Little Bear, Total Drama Island/Action, and 6Teen taught me English when I came to Canada.
Star Trek got me started on my path to tankiehood and sci-fi writing. Futurama also significantly contributed to the latter.
Pokemon, Wonderpets and Redwall (and many of the cartoons from the learning English category) got me interested in writing animal characters. Zootopia pissed me off so much with its inconsistent world building that it sealed the deal and made me obsessed with perfecting my own fictional animal world.
Family Guy taught me how not to write characters and their interactions.
How It's Made is just awesome and satisfying, no further comments.
Sesame Street is great for exposure to a variety of types of people and some cultures. PBS in general is pretty good for that.
Bluey is fun for parents and kids, though it can give kids some high expectations from their parents.
Numberblocks is a good math concepts/counting show.
Storybots is a good learning about the world kind of show.
Paw Patrol has some life lesson kinds of things, but has more action/adventure stuff.
The Animals of Farthing Wood was a banger show. It's because of that show that I began drawing as a kid. I love how epic it is and how it comments on deeper themes that are still important today. Among other things, it's all about how the animals are forced to immigrate to another park after their forest is turned into a highway for humans. That even after the arrive after a horrible migration, their presence isn't welcome because they disturb the old ways in the new park. How wars break out, friendships and alliances are formed and how everyone has to find a way to coexist and also keep the ever looming presence of humans at bay. It is truly a brilliant show that teaches you so much about life, death, nature and tolerance. And you know, you can also just watch the show as an entertaining epic for kids about animals without looking into all the political stuff, because it never really tries to cram all it's themes down your throat in the annoying way that a lot of media does nowadays.
Maybe hold off on showing the little one this show until they are at least kindergarten age. It's a bit rough sometimes, but it is not damaging.
Also, congratulations on becoming a dad! Glædelig jul ❤️
EDIT: FRIENDS! I LITERALLY JUST FOUND A REMASTERED VERSION OF THE WHOLE SERIES ON YOUTUBE!
GO WATCH IT HERE❤️
Whoaaaaaaa...this show...best environmental education a child can get from TV.
But seriously heartbreaking, I remember crying A LOT as child (maybe still would TBH).
Yeah I agree. It’s really brutal. As a kid I was especially heartbroken over Fox’s son’s storyline. The one with the wounded leg who goes to the city for awhile. His story was so friggin tragic, omg.
I was exactly looking for the name of that show in English as it is the one that instantly came to my mind when I saw the post. It's in no small part thanks to this one, and a couple of others (the magic school bus and once upon a time... life) I decided to do a PhD in animal behaviour.
Bluey. It's a really positive modern show , so not really from my childhood but it beats everything else from my childhood.
Bluey is a fantastic parenting manual. Seriously, it should be required viewing for anyone considering having a kid.
Cosmos
Sesame Street, Muppets, The Electric Company.
Completely dated, but these older shows introduced a white kid in whitesville to a completely different world. Plus fun, educational in a way that kids don’t mind.
Fraggle Rock as well!
Just kidding. Don't show your kid this movie unless it's as a joke when they're older. This might have been a Psyop.
I do actually recommend:
Brave little Toaster and Fivel Goes West. Those seem to stick out as most positive that I remember.
We swear we won't go rooooamin'
ok it was dumb but honesty still so nostalgic for me <3
'Member that cartoon where the protagonist used a Nintendo power glove and zapper?
Captain N: The Game Master
Idk if I ever watched that but you did remind me of this long forgotten underrated movie:
Maybe not for younger kids but probably ok for 10ish+
Remembering that movie also made me remember this bad ass classic (if I'm remembering correctly, I think is mostly appropriate for all ages?):
It was basically Home Alone meets IRL Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Instant Diarrhea
This looks like fun, can I find it online? Looks like quite the trip.
You're in luck! https://youtu.be/m0-vGW6p3zk
It even includes the intro from George and Barbara Bush
I am definitly not indian but I loved 3 idiots. The message it sends about you being you and how being smart works is amazing.
There is a really suprising suicide scene though but I didn't mind as a child cause its real quick, so watch at your own discretion.
Roseanne, the first few seasons showed a poor family which I was at the time.
Has there ever been another live audience sitcom that was as down to earth as Roseanne?
grounded for life
flight of the navigator
rainbow brite and the star stealer
care bears 2
wizard of oz (39)
sword in the stone
mary poppins
bednobs and broomsticks
charlottes web
petes dragon
drop dead fred
mother goose rock n rhyme
any of the bugs bunny/daffy duck movies
the wizard
neverending story
the pagemaster
follow that bird
american tail
all dogs go to heaven
brave little toaster
princess bride
jetsons meet the flintstones
the flintstones (94)
little monsters
mister wizards world
fraggle rock
muppet babies
ok that's enough i got carried away :)
Drop dead Fred! I loved that movie, probably one of my favorites growing up, not sure my parents were fansof that.
i wanted to play real burglers as a kid :(
The Pagemaster, so underrated. Great story about overcoming fear.
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (Gene Wilder version)
As a relatively new father (my daughter is around 2.5 years old), you have plenty of time. They'll be a loving little lump for a while.
What she has loved so far:
I'll come back and edit this with my own shows later.
Do not underestimate silent film! My kiddo loved them as a toddler. Here are some great starters:
Very engaging with way more visual gags than we usually see nowadays, few title cards, and a chance to talk with your kid about what is happening on screen (Ooh no, Charlie is stuck in the lions cage! How is Buster going to get on that runaway train?)
And eventually when they're a little older, getting your kid to sit down with you to watch Scorsese's Hugo (2011). It is an absolutely magical loveletter to early film, particularly Méliès' A Trip to the Moon.
Franklin ( the one about the turtle ). For the most part, I feel like almost all the content is good enough to show a young child considering it's one of those preschool age shows. May look a little old considering it's 90s animation and also doesn't have any traditional box sets ( it seems to be nothing but sets based around themes ), but I'm pretty sure every episode is on a Canadian company's yt channel ( region locked AFAIK, so having a VPN is advised ). Treehouse Direct, IIRC.
Also, for a friendly enough way of teaching religious lessons in a non-preachy way that is actually not eye bleach or racist ( looking at you, FInding Jesus ) or low quality slop maid solely to profit off of religious parents, VeggieTales. There's a reason why it was popular with Christians and non-Christians alike, besides the silly songs.
They can be fun to watch ( not including the 4th VHS episode where 3 characters get thrown into a furnace and magically survive thanks to a "glowing man" ( probably Jesus ) ) and can be good for opening a conversation on things like being nice to others despite differences or being thankful for what you have or a number of other topics they covered from the Bible. Honestly, one of the greatest Christian animated cartoons ever considering how it is probably the only Christian cartoon parents who are and aren't Christian could probably both agree on letting their kids watch.
Cannot speak for modern VeggieTales, though, so take my words with a shaker of salt just in case modern VeggieTales isn't as lesson oriented or anywhere near as good as the originals from the 90s and early 2000s.
Bluey and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (of not the remake) for kids shows. Bluey isa. Double hitter as it's great for kids and adults as well. There's a few tearjerker episodes in there for adults around life and kids growing up, along with just great ideas on how to parent and play. MMCH is great as it doesn't subscribe to the overly energetic constant cutting camera angles bullshit that's super addictive and bad for kids. Shows are calm, involve learning and problem solving, and are very much like 'okay get up and expend some energy, go play' at the end. Honorable mention to Tumbleleaf. It's for kids that are a bit older, is a little more weird, but still fun. Art style is cool on it as well. Best of luck building your library and congrats on being a dad!!
Bluey. Well, not my childhood but my daughter loves it. It's adorable, educational, relatable and super positive. And can hit you right in the feels.
Growing up I really loved the animated series Alfred Jonathan Quack or Alfred Kvakk in Norwegian. It's about a duck, his farther (I think) is a mole and the antagonist is a nazi-styled crow called Dolf. My favourite episode was about this island they visited which turned out to be the shell of this gigantic turtle.
Another favourite was The World of David the Gnome. It's about a gnome who lives in or under a tree and has all sorts of adventures with animals. The books it's based on are also great, I still have them.
I don't know if you can still find these series since they're pretty old.
It's not Jonathan, but Jodocus.
But I agree, Alfred J. Kvakk is legendary and very much recommended.
Oh, I copied the English name from Wikipedia, suppose that's wrong then.
It really is. I wish I could rewatch it, but it's not on anymore unfortunately.
I dunno, I haven't found that version on wikpedia. But I know him by that name from the German synchro and afaik the Dutch original also calls him that.
Yeah, he is called that in Dutch as well. I got the English name from the Dutch page, but there's no source mentioned.
Looking through the titles in different languages, it seems wild to me how different they sometimes are. Polish and Serbian also use some variant of Jonatan. Makes me wonder why, they felt the need to change that.
I don't know, but wouldn't have guessed that Jodocus was a common name in Dutch either, that needs translation to be more common sounding in another language.
To me it sounds like a made up name, that vibes with the character being a duck.
I always thought it was a made up name too, but apparently it's an archaic Dutch name. German version is Jost, which I imagine sounds like the Dutch version Joost, which is fairly common (I now one).
The English version is Joyce, which became a female name, which could explain why they didn't want to use that and chose Jonathan instead. Maybe other languages just followed that choice? I don't know. I much prefer Jodocus though.
Ferngully
Emperor's New Groove
Finding Nemo
Turning Red is newer but SO good
TV:
Avatar: The Last Airbender
Archiving it, to show my niece.
Me too!
I have Bluey and The Magic Schoolbus.
Finding Nemo was one that I always watched with my dad/makes me think of him
The Incredibles is always good
Wall-e is another favorite (tbh any disney/pixar movie from that era)
The Princess Bride is a classic
The Lego Movie came out when I was in highschool but its still a great kids movie
The Sam Raimi Spiderman trilogy, Tim Burton's Batman movies, and other superhero movies of that era
Any Wallace and Grommet movie (my favorite was the one where they go to the moon to eat cheese)
YES Wallace and Gromit is so fun, and I love introducing stop-motion animation to kids. And looking at them all, these movies seem to have a love for older pulpy genres like monster movies and noir
Here's just a few that I enjoyed as a kid and/or as an adult:
Lion King (1994)
Lion King 2: Simba's Pride
Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron
Balto
Tarzan (1999)
Atlantis: The Lost Empire
The Iron Giant
The Emperor's New Groove
A Goofy Movie
The Princess and the Frog
Wall-E
Finding Nemo
Jumanji
Avatar: The Last Airbender (MAJOR positive influence, especially the episode "The Guru")
Avatar: The Legend of Korra
Courage the Cowardly Dog
Mr. Rogers Neighborhood
Teen Titans (2003)
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Steven Universe
Adventure Time
Regular Show
Class of 3000
Aaahh!!! Real Monsters
Angry Beavers
Hey Arnold
Rocko’s Modern Life
Rugrats
Gullah Gullah Island
Legends of the Hidden Temple
Basically mid 90s Nickelodeon defined my childhood, and the media’s only gotten worse from there on out! :p
The Wild Thornberries
For when you child is very young, look for “Mighty Machines.”
Patch Adams
Look up the original Tik-Tak from the BRTN. it's non spoken animation with shapes, sounds and music. Great for toddlers. All the music is ingrained in me :D
Other good show from the BRTN was "Er was eens". They are split up in 4 main "seasons: de mens, de aarde, de ruimte and het leven.
History, how earth was formed and evolved, space and human biology.
Dutch and French, I'm not sure if it was ever dubbed English, but my kids watched this on repeat.
I'd like to think Babe taught me a thing or two about kindness and cooperation
🐑🐑🐖🐑 🐕🐓🦆🪿🐄
Half of the Ghibly movies. The other half i was too old already.
Once Upon A Forest (1993) [idmb:tt0107745]
In the wake of an environmental disaster, the children have to work together to solve problems, and save their friend.
Anything Mr. Bean.
Winnie the Pooh! The episode where they fall down the wishing well instilled in me a lifelong fascination with wishing wells.
I also used to watch a lot of the old Thomas the Tank Engine
Zorro (1957 but I was born later 😂) was certainly the most important show I seen in my youth. He made me choose fencing as sport for more than 10 years and he taught me to be honest and Fair when I was younger
For a slightly different take, I was mesmerized watching New Yankee Workshop and the old This Old House seasons as a kid and often wonder how much they contributed to practical skills and hobbies I have as an adult.
Doctor Who was the big one, but I didn't get into that until I was a bit older
I'm a dad, so a lot of these arewhat I've found for mine, which was of course influenced by my childhood.
Get The Owl House now for when they're a bit older, before Disney buries it in the ground.
Danger Mouse both old and new ones, the new ones are amazing.
Duck Tales both old and new, again the new ones are amazing.
Frozen and Moana are IMHO the best of Disney's movies, all of Pixar's catalogue.
Most anything NRK makes will be what you want watch. Minibarna mostly at first. All the Fantus stuff is good. Especially "Fantus of maskinene"
Tbh when hen reaches the age where hen will understand the more neuanced elements of a story you will have to fight off Paw Patrol and Spidey and his amazing friends with a stick. Whatever the kids in the kindergarten speaks off. Your old dusty slow shit will not be appreciated until much later.
Edit: Bluey! Bluey is amazing. Well written, funny, reflective and is engaging for both children and adults.
The episode with no dialog when it rains and they make a dam is perhaps the best TV I have seen in years.
Flukten fra dyreskogen , loved it as a child, but beware it is emotional carnage - animals dying left and right.
Pingu
La linea
Fantorangen and probably a lot of other nrk stuff
Remove the nightmare episode from pingu until they are older, that one caused some issues
Connections by James Burke
The original and prequel Star Wars films and shows: The Clone Wars in particular.
The 90s X-men
X-Men Evolution
The 90s Spider-Man
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003-2012)
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (OG and 2002)
Avatar the Last Airbender
The Dark Crystal
Fern Gully
The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1990s)
Phineas and Ferb
George Shrinks
Full Metal Jacket.
I'll not repeat what I've already seen listed, just wanted to add Castle of Cagliostro. Not quite as innocent as Disney's Robin Hood (which is an all time favorite of mine, wearing a shirt right now with Skippy and his wooden sword with the words "DEATH TO TYRANTS"). It's another great rogue with a heart of gold taking down the bad guy story though. I feel like we need stories like these now more than ever.
Anything and everything on pbs
I really like the pokemon show/anime. At least the original seasons (I kinda followed it until the sinnoh region
Other than that:
Ducktales (1987)
Avatar the last Airbender
Nils Holgersson
Weihnachtsmann und Co KG (original title: Le Monde Secret du Père Noël)
These are the shows I keep dearly in my heart
As for movies, I don't really have any recommendation besides "Wall-E" :(
But that's a phenomenal movie!
David the Gnome and Flight of Dragons
Kiteretsu (https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0305051/) This TV Show was responsible to ignite the fire of engineering and making things during my childhood.
Kochikame (https://www.themoviedb.org/tv/56426-kochira-katsushika-ku-kameari-k-en-mae-hashutsujo) I was a procrastinator and a lazy ass when I was a kid. So related to Ryotsu (main character) so much.
Hit em with that "My Friend Martin"
There's a very educational show from Denmark called John Dillermand.
...I'll see myself out. 🤣