Human memory is an extremely bizarre thing. It happens that sometimes we forget very important facts and moments that took place quite recently, while for whole decades we remember to the smallest detail all sorts of films or cartoons that we saw only a couple of times in our childhood.
We remember well the names of the characters of these films, their signature lines, and as soon as someone sings just a couple of notes from the musical theme of these films, we happily pick up and sing until the end of the whole day. We may even forget the name of the film, but we will never dismiss from mind our emotions when watching it.
The AskReddit community once asked the question "What's a movie you saw as a kid that only you seem to remember?" and the thread went viral instantly, with nearly 13.4K upvotes and over 20.6K comments across different generations of redditors. At least among the answers there are films from the seventies, as well as relatively recent ones that came out at the beginning of this century.
Bored Panda made a selection of the most popular, touching and nostalgic comments for you, so feel free now to scroll to the very end, and then - who knows, maybe you will take an old and dust-covered VHS player with your favorite cassette from the attic, plug in the cables and, for an hour or so, go back to that beautiful, unattainable childhood...
More info: Reddit
#1 An American Tail (1986)
InevitablePiano6848 said:An American tail
Famous-Honey-9331 added:
Ah yes, the animated mouse musical that taught me about immigration at the turn of the century. Pogroms, "no cats in America and the streets are paved with cheese" random Ellis Island name changes, the rise of social justice, suffrage, labor movements, and Tamanny Hall! "Are we men, or are we mice?!" "MICE"
Image credits: InevitablePiano6848
#2 The Black Cauldron (1985)
For years, none of my friends believed that The Black Cauldron existed. I saw it in the theater, and never saw it again until several years ago. Convincing my friends that it existed (before the internet) was no easy task.
Image credits: ericwimberly
#3 The Rescuers (1977)
UGotUrsIGotMine wrote:The rescuers!
Ashitaka1013 responded:
The example that first comes to mind of a movie- particularly a Disney movie- where the sequel was better than the first. Rescuers Down Under.
Image credits: UGotUrsIGotMine
#4 All Dogs Go To Heaven (1989)
All dogs go to heavenThis film was so traumatizing even tho it was a kids movie, its seems like a nightmare that just became a movie.
Basically about dogs that are gambling and taking drugs lol
Image credits: astridsdragon
#5 The Adventures Of Milo And Otis (1986)
MrLittle237 wrote:Milo and Otis. Anyone???
Jamileem responded:
Yes I remember this. As a kid I used to confuse this one and Homeward Bound because they were both about lost pets trying to find their way.
Image credits: MrLittle237
#6 The Last Unicorn (1982)
tonybeetzzz wrote:The last unicorn
Pacman_Frog adds:
AND it's a movie about travelling through a desert with a horse with no name!
I always cry when poor old Molly Grue admonishes The Unicorn and then immediately forgives her. It takes strength to accept life as it is given to you.
Image credits: tonybeetzzz
#7 FernGully: The Last Rainforest (1992)
hiyoneighbourino wrote:Fern gully
Thor42o added:
Basically all these movies are just dances with wolves. Fern gully, Atlantis, avatar, the last samurai, pocahontas and quite a few others all follow the same premise. Good guy from bad group gets enmeshed with locals, usually falls for a girl, discovers their magical culture, ends up joining them and defends them from his group.
Image credits: hiyoneighbourino
#8 The Indian In The Cupboard (1995)
InevitablePiano6848 wrote:The Indian in the cupboard!
tooglam2giveadamn adds:
My grandparents had this movie and the vhs case came with a key and a tiny figurine. The opening of the vhs had a “keyhole” and the backside of the cover insert looked like wood paneling so you could flip it backwards to make the entire thing look like a cupboard and then put the figurine inside
Image credits: InevitablePiano6848
#9 Rikki-Tikki-Tavi (1975)
DingusFap said:Rikki Tikki Tavi
kingdomheartsislight replied:
So many of these forgotten movies are Chuck Jones’ work. Cartoon Network used to have Chuck Jones marathons and it made me love so much of his movies and shorts. I wish they would go back to showcasing a certain animator’s work. It was cool to see what their specific styles looked liked.
Image credits: DingusFap
#10 The Brave Little Toaster (1987)
icarus_swims answered:The brave Little toaster
Vetiversailles added:
I rewatched the whole thing this year. Still f**king incredible. The cars singing while being destroyed—that whole scene and song is pure art.
God that movie f**king slaps
Image credits: icarus_swims
#11 The Borrowers (1997)
koala_loves_penguin told:The Borrowers
InfinityLDog answered:
In 2010 Stubio Ghibli did a version called "Arriety"
LadyBug_0570 added:
I remember watching that movie on cable when I was in the hospital post surgery.
You may know the kid who played Arietty's younger brother. Tom Felton. AKA Draco Malfoy.
Image credits: koala_loves_penguin
#12 Flight Of The Navigator (1986)
Environmental-Fix-71 wrote:Also Flight of the Navigator
HerrIndos answered:
Wasn't Paul Reubens (aka Peewee Herman) Max, the ship's robot?
Also, I remember this movie feeling super intense, though I know it wasn't. It's weird how movies can generate such strong feelings as a kid.
Image credits: Environmental-Fix-71
#13 The Hobbit (1977)
Melopossum wrote:The animated version of The Hobbit
Wetworth replied:
That was a great film, but did you know that Leonard Nimoy released a song called Bilbo Baggins?
? Bilbo! Bilbo Baggins, greatest little hobbit of them all ?
Image credits: Melopossum
#14 *Batteries Not Included (1987)
Hello_Mr_Fancypants answered:Anybody else remember Batteries Not Included?
BlackwoodBear79 added:
This movie hits so differently when I was a kid, versus when I was an adult.
I always knew there was something wrong about Faye's issues but I didn't understand/couldn't process what it was. But I was a kid, and WOO alien spaceships.
Watching it as an adult I realize how broken she was.
Image credits: Hello_Mr_Fancypants
#15 The Pagemaster (1994)
Pagemaster. Remember that? MacAulay Culkin gets sucked into lots of books in a library. Loved it as a kid. Haven’t seen it since
Image credits: anon
#16 Time Bandits (1981)
Time Bandits. Scared the hell out of me as a kid. Get in bed and a damn horse jumps out of the closet. The whole movie could be different child nightmares.Edit: Big thanks to everybody who commented. Makes me feel a little more normal hearing the similar stories.
Image credits: scottbody
#17 Fly Away Home (1996)
prettyugly1 wrote:Fly away home
Jill4ChrisRed added:
My partner worked on a film recently with Anna Paquin in it and although she's famous for a ton of other things, THIS is the film I remember her for!
Image credits: prettyugly1
#18 Drop Dead Fred (1991)
BigCheifGrubzReport wrote:Drop Dead Fred
scrapperfromwayback added:
I have the DVD. Haven't watched it for like a decade. Put it on to keep my kids busy for 90minutes.... F**k it's inappropriate for children.
Image credits: BigCheifGrubz
#19 Rock-A-Doodle (1991)
bnturner92 wrote:Rock-a-doodle
*Thanks! Im glad so many people share the love!
BronzeHeart92 adds:
That was the movie where this boy encounters an owl and the owl starts barfing weirdly colored stars at him which turns him into a kitten, correct?
woobawooba21 answers:
Yes, that's correct
Image credits: bnturner92
#20 We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story (1993)
schrodingersb-tch wrote:We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story
lilac-aesthetic answered:
YES! This is one of my favourite movies of all time! Professor Screw Eyes is a classic villain and the little girl who wants the hat always gets me in the beginning.
Image credits: schrodingersb-tch
#21 A Little Princess (1995)
“A little Princess”Nobody seems to remember it but I remember it so vividly! It was a bit sad for a kids movie
Image credits: emma0070
#22 The World Of David The Gnome (1985-86)
Thenightswatchman answered:Not a movie but a tv show called David the Gnome. He had a fox he rode around on named Swift, I don't remember much else
lindseyangela added:
My favorite! He was an animal doctor and went around helping animals. I have the Gnomes book by Brian Froud and it has some amazing illustrations.
Image credits: Thenightswatchman
#23 Pippi Longstocking (1997)
Pippi Longstocking! It was an animated movie from 1997 that I loved as a kid, and I’ve never heard anyone ever mention it before.
Image credits: kasakavii
#24 Andre (1994)
When I was a kid I had a crush on a girl who was in a really dumb movie...she was friends with a seal. I wanna say it was called Andre.
Image credits: QuietlySmirking
#25 Sagwa The Chinese Siamese Cat (2001-02)
Loose_Prior_4683 replied:It's a TV show Sagwa the Chinese siamese cat
slutghetti added:
The theme song plays in my head all the time!
Hao peng you, hao peng you,
Sagwa shi wo de hao peng you
Hao peng you, hao peng you,
Sagwa shi wo de hao peng you...
Sagwa, you're my best friend...
Sagwa...
Image credits: Loose_Prior_4683
#26 Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken (1991)
I obsessively watched “Bedknobs and Beoomsticks” and “Pete’s dragon” as a kid, and have never met anyone else who’s ever watched either of them. I recently watched the original Pete’s Dragon and realized I still know it off by heart. And still sincerely enjoy it. Better than the remake.I also once watched “Wild Hearts Can’t be Broken” as a kid and LOVED it. Thought about it for years afterwards but whenever I asked anyone else about “This movie about a girl who performs a stunt where she jumps on a running horse at the top of a tall tower and jumps with the horse into a pool. And then goes blind but does it again anyway.” Everyone thought I was crazy. Thank you Disney Plus for confirming it DOES exist, I DIDN’T make it up, and got major nostalgia watching it again.
Image credits: Ashitaka1013
#27 The Mouse And The Motorcycle (1986)
mutombochaoskampf wrote:The Mouse and the Motorcycle
ShiraCheshire added:
I remember the book really fondly though. I remember some kid asking the mouse how he makes the motorcycle go, and the mouse tells him he just makes motorcycle noises and it works. Kid me was like "oh of course, that makes sense" but looking back that's hilarious.
Image credits: mutombochaoskampf
#28 The Busy World Of Richard Scarry (1994-97)
No body I know personally watched anything from the busy world of Richard Scaryy. Not a movie but I bought a DVD copy of the entire show series and my wife had 0 clue what it was.
Image credits: Cmcgregor0928
#29 Zoboomafoo (1999-01)
jniemela78 responded:the show zoomboomafu
KnockMeYourLobes added:
The ONLY reason I didn't mind watching this with my kid was because the Kratt Brothers were (and still are, I assume) incredibly hot. :D
Image credits: jniemela78
#30 Small Soldiers (1998)
No-Salamander-2001 said:Small Soldiers?
Talnadair answered:
Tommy Lee Jones as the bad guy soldier was classic!
awildsforzemon1 added:
This movie launched the rodeo burger at Burger King. So not only a great movie, but introduced the world to arguably the best burger that place has ever had
#31 Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983)
Something Wicked This Way Comes. I loved it, and I think I saw it alone because my friends bailed on me.
Image credits: MusicalLifeForever
#32 A Troll In Central Park (1994)
Stanley's Magic Garden (also known as A Troll in Central Park in later years).Edit: Apparently it was Stanley's Magic Garden in the UK and A Troll in Central Park in North America.
Edit edit: there seems no rules to what name you'd get lol. I'll leave this alone now.
Image credits: knowyourdarkness
#33 Johnny Dangerously (1984)
ilovejackiebot wrote:Johnny Dangerously I actually thought I made it up for years
Unit_79 replied:
You shouldn’t hang me on a hook. My father hung me on a hook once.
Once.
Neil_sm added:
I was always quoting Roman Maroni when my kids were younger and I was trying not to curse around them.
#34 Cats Don't Dance (1997)
Cats Dont Dance. I remember watching it a lot back in the late 90s and early 2000s. I think people just have forgotten about the movie.
Image credits: Havok1717
#35 Caravan Of Courage: An Ewok Adventure (1984)
A movie that took place on the Ewok planet (not Return of the Jedi) where a little girl and her brother crash land and are helped by the Ewoks, and they get caught in a giant spiderweb, and one of them gets sucked under a lake and can't break the surface of the water because it'a like glass.
Image credits: GoBoltsAmelie88
#36 Gay Purr-Ee (1962)
Champion_Kitchen wrote:I am adamant that this movie has to exist. It’s about two cats, a white girl cat and a black male cat. It’s some sort of oldies French setting where the female cat gets stolen by a villain cat and the black cat goes after her and tries to save her. I swear to god this movie exists but I have only ever seen it once and it was back when I was like 6 or 7. But gosh sometimes bits and pieces of that movie will pop in my head and I just can’t place a name on it or it could have been something I dreamt up..
RMMacFru added:
The name of the movie is Gay Purr-ee.
The female cat (Mewsette) was voiced by Judy Garland.
The hero make cat (Jaune-Tom) voiced by Robert Goulet.
The villain cat (Meowrice) was voiced by Paul Frees.
And one of the writers was Chuck Jones.
If you couldn't tell, I adore this movie.
Image credits: Champion_Kitchen
#37 Eureeka's Castle (1989-91)
Body_Latter answers:Can we do TV shows? Anyone remember Eureka’s Castle??
BlackLakeBlueFish told:
My daughter LOVED Eureka’s castle!!! She was Eureka for Halloween when she was 2 1/2. It was he first costume she chose. I was really proud of that costume!!! She’s 27 now, and very active in the cosplay community. I believe that that was her start.
#38 Quest For Camelot (1998)
ATLAZuko33 wrote:Quest for Camelot and the tv show Pirates of Dark Water
coykoi89 responded:
I watched it religiously as a child. One of my favorite non Disney cartoons. The soundtrack was gold too.
#39 The Last Dragon (2004)
It was a fake documentary on Animal Planet about dragons. It’s like archaeologists finding a frozen dragon skeleton and talking about how dragons were able to fly, breathe fire, etc.I apparently missed the part where they clarified that it was all a dramatization, because this movie had me CONVINCED that dragons were real, extinct animals for awhile.
Image credits: little_bear_
#40 Killer Clowns From Outer Space (1988)
Japetus02 wrote:Killer Clowns From Outer Space, definitely stumbled on that one too early in life somehow.
taniamorse85 answered:
I saw that movie when I was about 10 years old. My family was on a road trip, and we were staying in a motel one night. My father decided to find a movie to watch on TV, and he chose that one. I'm pretty sure he knew it was definitely not for kids and just wanted to mess with my brother (4 years younger) and me. I don't know how it affected my brother, but it took till my 20s (currently 36) before I was comfortable around clowns again.
#41 3 Ninjas (1992)
RollingRolling419 wrote:The 3 Ninjas. I had a major crush on Colt!
abandonallhope777 added:
We should run! We should hide! WE SHOULD KICK THEIR BUTTS!!!!
Me and my friends would play three ninjas but I was always made to be TumTum because I was the smallest.
Image credits: RollingRolling419
#42 Dunston Checks In (1996)
Dunston Checks In... I remembered something about a monkey in a hotel. Asked my older sister about it and she said I was losing it. Went to Google and found it again
Image credits: zxplatinum
#43 The Halloween Tree (1993)
somehotnerd wrote:Halloween tree
Spankpocalypse_Now answered:
Holy. F**king. S**t.
I’ve been trying to figure out what this was for the last 25 years. This is it. I couldn’t remember that it was a Ray Bradbury book. I certainly didn’t remember Leonard Nimoy voiced one of the characters.
God damn, thank you. I thought I was crazy. This is the line that I always tried to remember because as a kid I thought it sounded cool:
“The day Joe Pipkin was born all the Orange Crush and Nehi soda bottles in the world fizzed over…”
Image credits: somehotnerd
#44 S Club 7 In Miami (1999-02)
Not a movie but the S Club tv show. I think it was only on far like 3 seasons but I watched that show religiously and I don’t think any of my friends even cared about S Club 7.
Image credits: Mrs_Xs
#45 Napoleon (1995)
Napoleon!Not the dude. It’s about a puppy who wants to be a “wild dog” and gets stuck in a basket with balloons and flies to an island with a really mean cat.
#46 Buzz Lightyear Of Star Command (2000-01)
It wasn’t a movie it was a f*****g cartoon tv series spinoff of Toy Story (2?) called Buzz Lightyear of Star CommandI had a proper flashback zoom out moment when I remembered the wee red robot for some reason and couldn’t tell if I had made it up in my head, if it was a dream or what, but it was REAL
#47 Wee Sing In Sillyville (1989)
RobertoBologna said:Wee Sing in Sillyville
turtlecasey answered:
Rizzledee razzledee hey bambasidee knickety knackety wretchible quality willaby wallaby mow mow mow!
midnightelite added:
I LOVED THE WEE SINGS SERIES!! I also really liked the sillyville one! I've never met another person who's seen it!
#48 The Peanut Butter Solution (1985)
burttito replied:The peanut butter solution
lilac-aesthetic added:
That movie creeped me out as a kid! But the trailer calls it "a hair raising, heart warming, comedy adventure for the whole family"... I'm going to try to find somewhere to watch it now, ha!
Image credits: burttito
#49 Magic Island (1995)
Corey_Bee said:There was this movie that feels like a childhood fever dream to me now, this kid was walking around an island and finds a pizza tree. He climbs up and tries to eat a slice of pizza when a sand shark "swims" through the sand beneath the tree and traps him there. So he puts some bubblegum on the pizza and throws it down so the sand shark will eat it and get stuck in the gum.
tangledlettuce replied:
I always remembered the parts with the mermaid and thinking the pirate lady was played by Paula Abdul.
Leoluki25 added:
I watched this a few times as a kid, it's a s***ty bastardized version of Treasure Island with the oldest boy from Home Improvement. Moonbeam Entertainment productions
Image credits: Corey_Bee
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