Here’s a list of movies I want my kids to see before they grow up. Some of them I want them to see for the place they hold in our collective culture, others that whose special place is more peculiar to our family.

1930s (n=2)

• Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
• The Wizard of Oz (1939)

1940s (n=4)

• Pinocchio (1940)
• Citizen Kane (1941)
• Dumbo (1941)
• Bambi (1942)

1950s (n=6)

• Treasure Island (1950)
• Alice in Wonderland (1951)
• Peter Pan (1953)
• Lady and the Tramp (1955)
• 12 Angry Men (1957)
• Sleeping Beauty (1959)

1960s (n=9)

• One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961)
• The Parent Trap (1961)
• The Sword in the Stone (1963)
• Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
• Mary Poppins (1964)
• The Sound of Music (1965)
• Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967)
• The Jungle Book (1967)
• 2001 A Space Odyssey (1968)

1970s (n=15)

• The Aristocats (1970)
• Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971)
• The Godfather (1972)
• Robin Hood (1973)
• The Godfather Part II (1974)
• Jaws (1975)
• Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
• Rocky (1976)
• The Bad News Bears (1976)
• Star Wars (1977)
• The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977)
• The Rescuers (1977)
• Grease (1978)
• Midnight Express (1978)
• Apocalypse Now (1979)

1980s (n=28)

• Airplane! (1980)
• Caddyshack (1980)
• The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
• Chariots of Fire (1981)
• Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
• The Fox and the Hound (1981)
• Return of the Jedi (1983)
• Scarface (1983)
• Animal Farm (1984)
• Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
• The Karate Kid (1984)
• The Terminator (1984)
• The Breakfast Club (1985)
• An American Tail (1986)
• Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)
• Dirty Dancing (1987)
• Full Metal Jacket (1987)
• Spaceballs (1987)
• The Brave Little Toaster (1987)
• The Land Before Time (1988)
• The New Adventures of Pippi Longstocking (1988)
• All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989)
• Dead Poets Society (1989)
• Do the Right Thing (1989)
• Honey I Shrunk the Kids (1989)
• Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
• The Little Mermaid (1989)
• Uncle Buck (1989)

1990s (n=66)

• GoodFellas (1990)
• Shipwrecked (1990)
• The Rescuers Down Under (1990)
• Backdraft (1991)
• Beauty and the Beast (1991)
• Hook (1991)
• Terminator 2 Judgment Day (1991)
• A Few Good Men (1992)
• A League of Their Own (1992)
• Aladdin (1992)
• FernGully The Last Rainforest (1992)
• Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)
• My Cousin Vinny (1992)
• Reservoir Dogs (1992)
• The Buttercream Gang (1992)
• The Mighty Ducks (1992)
• Grumpy Old Men (1993)
• Homeward Bound The Incredible Journey (1993)
• Jurassic Park (1993)
• Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)
• Schindler’s List (1993)
• The Sandlot (1993)
• Dumb and Dumber (1994)
• Little Women (1994)
• Pulp Fiction (1994)
• Speed (1994)
• The Lion King (1994)
• The Ref (1994)
• The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
• A Goofy Movie (1995)
• Apollo 13 (1995)
• Before Sunrise (1995)
• Braveheart (1995)
• Hackers (1995)
• Heat (1995)
• Heavyweights (1995)
• Jumanji (1995)
• Pocahontas (1995)
• Tommy Boy (1995)
• Toy Story (1995)
• A Time to Kill (1996)
• Independence Day (1996)
• Jerry Maguire (1996)
• Multiplicity (1996)
• Space Jam (1996)
• The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)
• Anastasia (1997)
• Good Will Hunting (1997)
• Hercules (1997)
• Liar Liar (1997)
• Selena (1997)
• Starship Troopers (1997)
• Titanic (1997)
• Vegas Vacation (1997)
• American History X (1998)
• Half Baked (1998)
• Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)
• Mulan (1998)
• Rushmore (1998)
• Saving Private Ryan (1998)
• The Prince of Egypt (1998)
• The Truman Show (1998)
• Fight Club (1999)
• Office Space (1999)
• She’s All That (1999)
• The Boondock Saints (1999)
• The Matrix (1999)

2000s (n=39)

• Battle Royale (2000)
• Gladiator (2000)
• Memento (2000)
• O Brother, Where Art Thou (2000)
• Snatch (2000)
• The Emperor’s New Groove (2000)
• Shallow Hal (2001)
• Shrek (2001)
• Super Troopers (2001)
• The Lord of the Rings The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
• Training Day (2001)
• Minority Report (2002)
• Reign of Fire (2002)
• Spider-Man (2002)
• The Lord of the Rings The Two Towers (2002)
• 28 Days Later (2003)
• Elf (2003)
• Finding Nemo (2003)
• How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003)
• Mystic River (2003)
• The Lord of the Rings The Return of the King (2003)
• Hotel Rwanda (2004)
• Man on Fire (2004)
• Mean Girls (2004)
• Napoleon Dynamite (2004)
• The Notebook (2004)
• The Polar Express (2004)
• Syriana (2005)
• Children of Men (2006)
• The Departed (2006)
• The Wind That Shakes the Barley (2006)
• V for Vendetta (2006)
• Enchanted (2007)
• Hot Fuzz (2007)
• Juno (2007)
• No Country for Old Men (2007)
• Iron Man (2008)
• Kung Fu Panda (2008)
• WALL·E (2008)

2010s (n=16)

• Easy A (2010)
• Incendies (2010)
• Inception (2010)
• Tangled (2010)
• Brave (2012)
• Cloud Atlas (2012)
• Django Unchained (2012)
• Frozen (2013)
• Mr. Peabody & Sherman (2014)
• The Lego Movie (2014)
• Whiplash (2014)
• Storks (2016)
• Get Out (2017)
• Eighth Grade (2018)
• 1917 (2019)
• Joker (2019)

2020s (n=3)

• Hamilton (2020)
• The Menu (2022)
• Oppenheimer (2023)