Eating My "Spinach"--Ten Childhood Movies I've Come to Love as an Adult

After compiling this list of childhood movies, what is interesting to me is that when I was a child, I didn't actually like watching many of these films-seven of them, in fact. Yet, today I absolutely love and appreciate all of them. I would recommend the movies on my list to anyone and everyone as fulfilling cinematic experiences, not just to children but to adults as well. Why did this happen? How did it happen? I have no real explanation for this phenomenon, but I am aware that it is the truth.

Maybe it's the whole "I don't want to eat my spinach" situation-that a child doesn't like to be forced to eat and then later comes to realize, "Hey; this isn't so bad-give me more!" Yet, that metaphor doesn't stick-for instance, I clearly remember enjoying "Back to the Future" at the time it was released. Of course, it's hardly fair to refer to "Pee Wee's Big Adventure" as spinach-it's not spinach at all. Maybe it's a rutabaga, but not spinach.

I actually can recall that a good number of these movies were shown during group lunch or early assembly at my elementary school. We would be allowed to go to the auditorium after eating our meal and in the meantime between classes they would put on cartoons or a movie on the pull down screen. We wouldn't finish them in one day-they would play over the course of a week. The scenes imprinted themselves in my memory as they flashed by-returning to my memory when years later I would find myself discovering them on television or on a DVD. These movies all left a lasting mark:

10. Pee Wee's Big Adventure: For the bicycle, seeing Pee Wee in a feature length movie and the classic line "I'm a loner, Dottie, a rebel".

9. Labyrinth: My younger sister loved this movie as a child and therefore I hated it. Years later I came to find out it's a pretty great movie about leaving childhood and entering the age of adolescents. David Bowie still comes off as a bit of weirdo, but you can't knock the songs, or the creative use of Muppets. P.S. My sister and I get along fine.

8. The Wizard of Oz: A lot of children stay away from this movie because they are scared easily by the imagery of the monkeys and The Wicked Witch. I was never one of those kids and would always tune in to watch it when it was shown on television.

7. Annie: Another movie I hated to watch when they showed it in school but have grown to appreciate due to its heart and the songs. The little dog too... (ah! Had to get that line in somewhere)

6. Disney's Robin Hood: I always loved the story of Robin Hood as a child and the cartoon version quickly caught my imagination. King Richard as a cowardly lion was always good for a chuckle.

5. Back to the Future: Michael J. Fox was an early hero of mine thanks to the first of the time-travelling epic. The car was cool, the time travel concept sparked my interest and the cliffhanger at the end made me desperate to see the next chapter. This also was one of the first movies that I could quote chapter-and-verse with my friends, who would respond in kind.

4. Stand By Me: One of the first "road" movies I saw and a very formative lesson in the "brotherhood of men" dynamic.

3. Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory (1971): As a child I used to hate the beginning and want to fast forward to the factory scenes. Back then I thought the first act was too slow and showed too much poverty (although that was the point-to demonstrate the miracle of Charlie finding the Golden Ticket). The Oompah-Loompahs also weirded me out, but didn't deter me from watching. I don't remember if I read Dahl's book before or after watching the movie, but I know I enjoyed both.

2. The Princess Bride: Another children's classic...an early favorite because Andre the Giant had a starring role (being a wrestling fan even then). This one had a bit of it all...action, drama, romance, comedy. I thought Cary Elwes was the man for a long time afterwards. This is also an infinitely quotable movie. I still bust out the "Halo, my name is Inigo Montoya" barb at a moment's notice.

1. Disney's The Lion King: Flat out one of the best cartoons ever made. The music, the story, the animation all came together to create the defining childhood movie of my developmental years. I watched this one with my sister over and over, singing the songs over and over. Good times (see I told you we got along fine). As for the sequels, this is flat out one of the best cartoons ever made.

I had a realization as I reviewed this list one more time. I first watched many of these movies when I was a child, but now as an adult I can see some of the deeper themes and more adult situations. The curse words sprinkled in like a touch of sugar in a piece recipe; the burgeoning issue of sexuality-it's all there. "Willy Wonka" has an edge of the psychedelic, "Back to the Future" asks if we can go back and change the past, how would that affect the present and our future? "The Princess Bride", "Stand By Me" and "Labyrinth" are all about coming-of-age.

These meanings were there all along, hidden in between the light hearted fun and the dramatic moments. However, I was too young back then to recognize and understand them. I do understand them now (or at least better than when I was a child). Maybe that's why all of these movies are on my list now at twenty-nine, whereas most of them wouldn't be there if you asked me when I was nine years old. Good movies, like fine wine, take years to fully take in and comprehend.