I just want to preface that these are just my personal opinions. Maybe you don’t like these movies. That’s okay. These are just some that I remember watching as a small child.
I was in class, talking with my friend over the masterpiece that is Anastasia. We were talking about how the film Anastasia is one of those movies that you just love for its animation, storyline, and music in it. While rewatching Anastasia, I got thinking. How many movies of our childhoods have we forgotten about? I took myself down a deep rabbit hole of movies that my childhood consisted of that I erased from my memory.
- Thumbelina
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I was often called “Thumbelina” by my family because I am very short. But, nicknames aside. I had to go to the farthest corners of my mind for this one. I can’t remember a lot about Thumbelina. Just that she was this tiny little fae creature whose going to marry a mole but then finds another tiny little fae man and they fall in love, get married, and live happily ever after. There’s an iconic song moment called “Marry the Mole” I must have liked it so much that I remembered bits and bobs of the song from not hearing it for over a decade.
Tumblr post by @angelstills of Thumbelina (1994) - The Secret of NIMH
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Now this movie holds such a special place in my heart. I don’t know what it was, but watching this movie, I sat still in front of the TV. The magic of the necklace, the dopiness of Jeremy Crow. The seriousness of the topic of animal testing. We, as little children, were given the beauty of the movie, and we all decided it was about the magic of rats and mice instead of the cruelty of human beings. And you know what, I respect that.
Tumblr post by @dailyflicks of The Secret of the NIMH (1982) - Cats Don’t Dance
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Okay, here’s a movie that childhood me shoved to the back of her cranium. Listen, if you ever thought to yourself, what if animals were musically inclined and were trying to break into the 1930s of Hollywood? This is the movie for you. This is not a Disney movie, and we’re all kinda used to animals having sentience. I’m staring right at Zootopia. I hadn’t forgotten one scene where all the animals have their spirits broken by the villain. (A little girl of unknown age, but I wanna kick her teeth in though). They, our animal cast, talk about just quitting and going back to their previous lives. I guess this tugged on my heartstrings because this is the only scene I remember.
Tumblr post by @para-que-no-nos-borren of Cat’s Don’t Dance (1997) - How to Eat Fried Worms
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This is one of those films that if you didn’t watch it as a child, you would have known that it existed. Truly this is one of those really obscure movies that belong only in our memories. I had to watch a trailer for this one because I was almost sure I was making it all up. But no, very real. The bully in this is Adam Hicks. If you don’t remember that name, he played Wen in Disney Channel’s Lemonade Mouth. I don’t think this movie is awful, but it’s one I’d keep in the far corners of my mind.
Tumblr post by @buffyann23 of How to Eat Fried Worms (2006) - A Troll in Central Park
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Okay, just like How to Eat Fried Worms, this one was deep in my early childhood memories. If I remember correctly, I really liked this movie as a child. Some things you just don’t remember like the hundreds of times you watched Aladdin until you could quote back all the lines. I remember thinking the backdrops to the movie were pretty. I just remembered the bridge scenes and that’s it. This movie is typical 90’s animation, so if that’s something you love, you’ll love most of the movies on this list. I rewatched the trailer and instantly knew that this was the film that I would sometimes try to remember as a child but couldn’t remember the name.
Tumblr post by @xesoteric-extraterrestialx of A Troll in Central Park (1994) - Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School
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Not only have I not forgotten about this one, but it’s also one of my favorite childhood movies that nobody ever knows about. It’s not that nobody knows the Scooby-Doo franchise. I mean it’s been going since the 60s, I believe. But, in the 90’s, a lot of spinoff thirty to hour-long movies were made, and this is one of them.
Tumblr post of @talesfromthecrypts of Scooby Doo and the Ghoul School (1998)
So, these are a few childhood favorites that I had lodged up in my memories. I hope you had a fun time going down memory lane with me. I felt like I unlocked so much. Maybe I’ll go back and rewatch these. I haven’t sat down and really let my inner child be free. Maybe after finals, I’ll go down the rabbit hole. Just like Alice. That would be fun.