CS Weekly Archive > The Big Picture > 5/29/09

Fun For All Ages:
Seven Great Family-Friendly Movies

By peter clines

As yet another Pixar film prepares to make the box office balloon, CS Weekly looks over a few other films the whole family can enjoy.

One of the many brass rings in Hollywood is the elusive four-quadrant film. It's a story that appeals to young and old, male and female. A film the whole family will enjoy—hopefully two or three times before buying the DVD. Alas, all too often family-friendly just means dumbing things down to the lowest common denominator. Far too many films forget that kids are little adults—they like a little emotion, they like being surprised, and they like being challenged. Sometimes they even like being scared. If you're not able to catch Up this weekend, CS Weekly offers up seven other films that both kids and adults will love…just for slightly different reasons.

Monster House
Screenplay by Dan Harmon & Rob Shrab and Pamela Pettler
Story by Dan Harmon & Rob Shrab
Little D.J. (voiced by Mitchel Musso) spends most of his free time keeping tabs on his neighbor across the way, a nasty old man named Nebbercracker (v. Steve Buscemi) who hates children and confiscates anything that touches his lawn. After Nebbercracker has a stroke while arguing with D.J.'s friend, Chowder (Sam Lerner), the old man's house begins to snatch toys itself—as well as the kids playing with them. Now D.J. has to convince Chowder, their friend Jenny (Spencer Locke), and anyone else he can that the old man's ghost has possessed his house and is attacking people…and then has to figure out what's really going on when Nebbercracker turns up alive.

What Kids Will Like
It's apparent from the start D.J. is smarter than most adults and his babysitter, at least when it comes to the house across the street, and what kid doesn't like to see movies that reflect life? This story stands out, though, because it's a scary movie for kids, one that hearkens back to early Disney films such as Pinocchio or Cinderella that didn't assume children were made of glass. The screenplay dances on the line of true horror, never crossing it, but letting kids get close enough to get a good chill.

What Adults Will Like
While the scares will affect only the most skittish of adults, the stakes are always higher when it's children being threatened. Plus, in what starts off looking like an simple ghost story, the screenwriters pull off a surprising twist and reveal a tragic love story at the root of all these problems.

The Spiderwick Chronicles
Screenplay by David Berenbaum and John Sayles and Karey Kirkpatrick
Based on the books by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black
After his parents separate, a resentful Jared (Freddie Highmore) moves to the old family home in New England with his mother, sister, and twin brother (Mary Louise Parker, Sarah Bolger, and Highmore again, respectively). When he finds a hidden dumbwaiter leading to a secret room in the attic, Jared discovers the life's work of his great-great uncle, the late taxonomist Arthur Spiderwick—an exhaustive field guide to the unseen world of faeries, sprites, and other creatures. The field guide could be dangerous in the wrong hands, though, and Jared and his siblings find themselves fighting an invisible army of goblins and trolls willing to kill to possess the book.

What Kids Will Like
Unlike a certain boy wizard (who we'll get to in a few moments), Spiderwick Chronicles appeals to kids because it's about kids. Not kids with strange powers or in faraway lands, but regular kids who listen to their iPods, tease their siblings, and sometimes make bad decisions with good intentions. Jared has no special powers, he's just a regular kid thrust into an amazing story right in his own backyard.

What Adults Will Like
Many of the story moments that make kids shudder with glee will creep out adults as they catch a lot of the subtle implications. The idea of invisible creatures surrounding, watching, and perhaps even touching us is a primal fear, and it's explored to the fullest here…even more eerily because these moments take place in broad daylight. This is a key theme to the story, and some of the things Jared fails to see aren't hidden by magic but by his own refusal to see them. It's as much a coming-of-age story as it is a tale of shape-changing ogres.

The Incredibles
Written by Brad Bird (also directed)
Mr. Incredible (v. Craig T. Nelson) used to be the epitome of superheroes, but after a series of legal problems he now spends his time as plain old Bob Parr, a low-level insurance clerk. Bob works nine to five, comes home to his equally superpowered and retired wife Helen (v. Holly Hunter) and kids, and dreams of his glory days. A ray of hope comes into his bleak existence when a woman named Mirage recruits him to stop a runaway robot. Back in uniform and happier than he's been in years, Bob thinks he's getting a second chance at being a hero. But there's a lot more to the situation than he knows, and soon Helen has to come out of retirement to save him.

What Kids Will Like
This story is fast and deceptively easy. On the surface are the humorous moments, like the problems Bob's phenomenal strength can cause in day-to-day life, plus the eventual fights with the giant robot and its master. However, there's also a sub-level to the narrative. Amidst the constant animated films about orphans and single parents, the Parrs are a complete family, and there's something reassuring in the idea mom and dad will always be there to protect you—and could even beat up a small army of henchmen to do it.

What Adults Will Like
Oddly enough, The Incredibles still stands as Pixar's only film to focus largely on a cast of adult human characters, which gives it a leg up for grown-ups right off the bat. Even more appealing are its sharp observations of how society defines being "great," from Bob's belittling a third-grade graduation ceremony to Syndrome's unusually intellectual plot to destroy all heroes by making everyone superhuman and thus rendering the term meaningless.

Muppets From Space
Written by Jerry Juhl and Joseph Mazzarino and Ken Kaufman
Even amidst his beloved Muppet family, the thrill-seeking bird-thing named Gonzo has always felt a bit alone and wondered where he's from. The answer comes in the form of a lightning strike that leaves him convinced he's an alien. Alas, the first people to notice his lawn-mowed messages and pirated broadcasts aren't creatures from another world, but bureaucrats from a secret government agency. Now Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie, and the rest of the Muppets need to rescue their friend from a fate worse than… well, actually, from a fate precisely like having his brain cut out and examined. Plus, it would seem someone else has seen Gonzo's messages, and they've been looking for him for a long time.

What Kids Will Like
It's the Muppets, and their best stories are always the ones where they interact with regular people in the real world. There's an inherent absurdity that comes from it. Add the silliness of Gonzo wrapped in tinfoil, aliens who communicate through food, and a grizzly bear that works for the Department of Defense, and it's hard not to have fun.

What Adults Will Like
Muppets From Space was that unfortunate film caught under the wave of unsatisfying projects released following the death of Muppet creator Jim Henson. This film, thankfully, is where Kermit gets his groove back. Adults will enjoy the celebrity cameos, along with the return of standards like Statler & Waldorf and the mind-boggling technology of Muppet Labs. Most importantly, the jokes are quick and slick, with plenty of innuendoes and ten-percenters about hot tubs, health insurance, and that guy at the office who takes his job just a little too seriously.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Screenplay by Steve Kloves
Based on the book by J.K. Rowling
After living for years with an abusive aunt and uncle after the death of his parents, Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) receives a letter telling him it's time for him to begin training at Hogwarts, a school for young wizards. Harry soon finds himself immersed (and often floundering) in a world of magic and supernatural beings where everyone knows more about him and his parents than he does…and more than a few folks have been waiting for him.

What Kids Will Like
The biggest appeal of the Harry Potter mythos has always been the idea someone can find out something wonderful about their own life. If that means they get to cast spells, ride a broomstick, and have a pet owl, well…all the better. More than any of the other films, The Sorcerer's Stone embodies the underdog idea of an unpopular kid who finds friends and love.

What Adults Will Like
While all the Potter movies have their charm, this first one is a solid story even as it gives an entry-level introduction to the world of Hogwarts. It could have been a mindless recitation of facts about Quidditch and magical pictures, but there's an actual story to be pieced together here as Harry catches fragments of conversations and discussions that all too often seem to revolve around him.

Lilo & Stitch
Written by Chris Sanders & Dean DeBois (both also directed)
Idea by Chris Sanders
Hawaii isn't exactly a paradise for Lilo (Daveigh Chase), a friendless orphan being raised by her all-but-destitute yet loving sister Nani (v. Tia Carrera) after their parents die. Enter Experiment 626 (v. writer-director Chris Sanders), a genetically engineered alien monster with impulse-control issues who crashes on Earth after escaping from the Galactic Tribunal. When Lilo mistakes the creature for an ugly dog, she adopts "the little angel" and renames him Stitch. Now all this broken family has to do is learn to trust each other, keep their no-nonsense child services rep (v. Ving Rhames) happy, and avoid the numerous alien bounty hunters who have chased Stitch to Earth.

What Kids Will Like
This movie is a wonderful throwback, far more like a Warner Bros. cartoon than anything of Disney's. When he's not assaulting people with ice cream cones, books, or Volkswagens, Stitch dresses up as a tourist, a hula dancer, and even Elvis. His alternating innocence and over-the-top cruelty wins over the audience long before Stitch himself realizes he has a chance for a much more fulfilling life than one just filled with maniacal destruction.

What Adults Will Like
Aside from being one of the wildest films Disney had released in decades (still holding the record for animated buttocks-against-windshield shots), the screenplay has a lot of very mature themes, chief among them what someone has to do—and sometimes can't do—to keep their family together. While Lilo tries to make her "dog" into a model citizen, Nani is desperately trying to meet the requirements child services has placed on her. It's an all-too realistic goal, and the consequences of failure are more disturbing than any stereotypical Disney villain.

Sky High
Written by Paul Hernandez and Robert Schooley & Mark McCorkle
As the son of The Commander (Kurt Russell) and Jetstream (Kelly Preston), young Will Stronghold (Michael Anganaro) is guaranteed a place at Sky High, the high school for fledgling superheroes. But like most teenaged boys, Will has a dirty secret he can't bring himself to admit to anyone but his best friend, Layla (Danielle Panabaker)—he hasn't developed a superpower yet. If Will can survive a sadistic gym teacher (Bruce Campbell) and school bad boy Warren Peace (Steven Strait), he might make it through enough of high school to deal with the return of his parents' archenemy.

What Kids Will Like
The only thing more humiliating than being the new kid in last year's fashions is being the new kid who can't pick up a car. In a Hogwarts for superheroes, Will is the boy who can't do anything. Even young children understand the separation of the jocks, the pretty girls, and the geeks, so there's a twofold joy when Will discovers he has inherited his father's strength. There's the simple joy of the character finding his new powers, but also that joy of finally being one of the popular kids, with all the fringe benefits that come along with fitting in. And if that's not enough, there's also a girl with the questionable superhuman ability to turn into a guinea pig.

What Adults Will Like
While Sky High has plenty of subtle pokes at the superhero genre, one of its strengths is the oddly realistic depiction of high school. Most folks look back on those years with alternating feelings of bliss and misery, and the screenplay hits just the right tone of authenticity, even when the students are throwing fireballs in the cafeteria. Plus, let's face it—we all knew the popular kids were secretly evil, and this film just confirms it.

Peter Clines grew up in the Stephen King fallout zone of Maine and made his first writing sale at age 17 to a local newspaper. He currently lives somewhere in southern California, and can often be found ranting on his cleverly named blog, Writer on Writing. His first novel, Ex-Heroes, will be released in fall 2009.



Monster House courtesy Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
The Incredibles, Sky High courtesy Walt Disney Home Entertainment

From the Trenches
Working screenwriters discuss in their own words a particular aspect of screenwriting, from the mechanics of writing to the personal and professional impact that writing has had on their lives. > VIEW ARCHIVE

The Big Picture

Features that cover all aspects of screenwriting, from our "Seven Best" lists to analysis of old favorites and new classics. > VIEW ARCHIVE

Weekend Read
Film, book, web site and technology reviews from a writer’s perspective. How can these items help a writer on his or her journey, or make that journey more enjoyable? > VIEW ARCHIVE

DVD Review of the Day
DVD reviews from a writer’s point of view. What aspects of this script and features of this DVD illuminate the writing, development, and storytelling process? > VIEW ARCHIVE