Jumanji
Zathura
most Shirley Temple movies (for some reason my dd loves these)
wizard of oz
the never-ending story
the princess bride
charlie and the chocolate factory

Troop Beverly Hills
Flight of the Navigator
Monster Squad

Anonymous wrote:Whatever you do, don't let them watch "Poltergeist", like the hosting parents at the first sleepover I ever attended in 4th grade. Yikes.

I think I was at the same sleepover. WTF were those parents thinking? I was seriously afraid to sleep for months.

Whale Rider

Another vote for Secret Garden.
Also, Edward Scissorhands, Limony Snickett, Honey I Shrunk the Kids, the original Muppet Movie, Adventures in Babysitting, the Last Mimzy

Whatever you do, don't let them watch "Poltergeist", like the hosting parents at the first sleepover I ever attended in 4th grade. Yikes.

Anonymous wrote:As a kid, I loved the original Parent Trap, but I was disappointed recently to find that I didn't think it had aged well.

I too loved the original Parent Trap as a kid, but today prefer the Lindsay Lohan remake.

Swiss Family Robinson

I loved The Little Princess with Shirley Temple at that age. Apparently they remade it at some point, because my daughter saw the new version at a friend's house. I feel like showing her the Shirley Temple version just because...no one tops Shirley Temple.

I used to rent all the old Disney movies when I was 8 or so. I liked Pollyanna and the 3 Lives of Thomasina. Oh, and Music Man - I LOVED the Music Man!

Our kids -- now teens and tweens -- loved so many of these -- and, actually, on a rainy afternoon at the beach they will still watch some of them quite happily. This will sound a little wierd, but you might also try a Fred Astair-Ginger Rogers movie. You'd be surprised how funny these are to young kids -- even boys -- and how much they love the trick dances and special effects -- e.g., dancing on roller skates, dancing on the ceiling, etc. Also to the PP who asked about Wallace and Gromit -- yes, definitely a hit.

A few more suggestions:
The Black Stallion -- a great story and beautifully filmed
Spellbound -- documentaries about national spelling bee
Akita and the Bee -- fictional version of Spellbound
Mad Hot Ballroom -- dancing with the stars for the rugrat set (a documentary)
Eddie and the Million Dollar Cookoff -- Eddie has to choose between playing in the championship baseball game and unleashing his inner foodie
Lassie -- the version with Peter O'Toole as Granddad; absolutely beautiful-- both the collie and O'Toole are gorgeous
Bye Bye, Birdie
Oliver

Second the original Willy Wonka.

As a kid, I loved the original Parent Trap, but I was disappointed recently to find that I didn't think it had aged well.

Watched Jumanji lately with kids and DH. All of them loved it.

We love Wallace and Gromit, but my oldest is 6, so not her about the 9-year old crowd.

Anonymous wrote:Pete's Dragon

Love this. Watched it recently with DS. I sang all of the songs. He looked at me like I was crazy.

Heidi (the Shirley Temple version)