Childhood just got a little less cuddly

Last weekend, I went to New York state with my parents and brother to go Christmas shopping at the outlets and while my brother and I were enjoying the pool at our hotel, we took a walk down Nostalgia Lane, and it made me realize that sets my childhood apart from a lot of other people I know.

When my brother and I were little (me a lot littler than him since he’s seven years older), our parents did not care what we watched. And I mean, did not care one bit. Their motto was that if we were old enough to turn on the channel or put in the movie, we were old enough to watch it. And in their mind, there was absolutely no distinction between an animated film and a cartoon. As a result, I have never seen Barney, Sesame Street, or Blue’s Clues. Even as a child I had good sense enough to watch something else.

Also as a result, I have an interesting collection of films that characterize my childhood. This is a list that I would like to share since it’s surprising to me that number of people who have never seen, or heard of, any of these films. And you really should watch them if you have not.

!) The Flight of Dragons
In a world where humanity is turning to logic over magic, Carolinus the green wizard decides to build a shield around the magical world to preserve it for all eternity. Ommendon the red wizard and Carolinus’ brother (and appropriately voiced by James Earl Jones) stands in his way, so Carolinus must call for a quest to steal Ommendon’s red crown and the source of his power. The quest is led by a man named Peter Dickinson (who is also the author of the book that the film is based on, and voiced by the late John Ritter), who is the first man to come from both worlds or science and magic. He is joined on his quest by a dragon, a knight, a forest elf, an undead world, and an archer in a series of delightful and horrific episodes that he must endure throughout his journey to face Ommendon.

(Peter Dicksons' first encounter with a dragon.)

2) The Last Unicorn
Alright, so I know a lot of people who are familiar with this film, but it is more than worth mentioning for those of you who are not. This is the tale of a unicorn who hears a rumor that a great bull had rounded up all the other unicorns and shepherded them into the sea, and she is the last. This leads her to leave the comfort of her forest and embark on a quest to find and rescue the others. Accompanied by a wizard who inadvertently turns her into a human and a forest thief’s wife who has lost all hope in the world, she must save the others before the bull entraps her too.

(The unicorns running from the red bull.)

3) Wizards
Similar to Flight of the Dragons in that it tackles a similar magic vs. technology theme, this is a tale set in a post-apocalyptic world where a wizard named Avatar must save the world from his evil twin brother, Blackwolf, who likes to confuse his enemies in battle by projecting films of Adolf Hitler speeches. Avatar is also joined by a promiscuous elf queen, a vengeful and short-tempered elf soldier, and an assassin named Peace who is struggling to break free of Blackwolf’s mental conditioning. This is definitely one of the more adult films that I watched as a child, and the message is much more powerful than I was able to handle as a child, but now that I’m older I have a much greater appreciation of the film I enjoyed so much as a child.

(The assassin, Peace.)

4) Watership Down
I’m going to assume that everyone has seen, read, or heard of this film. I think it’s safe to say that this is a movie that traumatized everyone’s childhood, but in case I’m wrong, I will say this: it’s about bunnies dying. Bunnies drowning, bunnies getting shot, dead dead bunnies. And there really isn’t anything else to say about it.

(Yes, this was the necessary photo.)

5) Dot and the Bunny
A mix of animation and live action footage (much to the vein of Wizards only far less disturbing in nature), this chronicles the tale of young Dot on her adventure through the Australian outback. Dot makes a promise to a mother kangaroo to find her lost joey, and an orphaned rabbit overhears this and pretends to be a kangaroo in order to get a mother. This is a much less violent and adult-content film than the others, but it does have a bittersweet quality to it: Dot can’t stand the bunny and tries to abandon it at every turn, and the rabbit is all alone having no parents or family of its own.

(Sorry this picture sucks, there wasn't a lot out there!)

So, as you can tell, I was pretty into quests as a child. I was also into obscure films that you can’t get on dvd now (but are well worth busting out the vhs player for), and that I probably shouldn’t have been watching as a child. Maybe it explains a fair amount about the person that I ended up becoming. Or maybe not. You decide.

Whatever you do, check these films out if you haven’t already seen them.