Save Dumbo’s surrealist “Pink Elephants on Parade” sequence, this could be one of the most complex Disney cartoons of all time. The Sword in the Stone wanders like the mind of its wizard Merlin — who turns Wart into a fish, a squirrel, and a very small bird to the tune of “Higitus Figitus” and “Mad Madame Mim.” So smart and sophisticated is a magical hero that slays a dragon, not with a sword, but a germ.THE LORD OF THE RINGS (Trilogy)
This trilogy defined the modern fantasy genre with its exceptional book-to-film translation and its faithful rendering of epic battles. If you’re reluctant to go in for the long haul, try the drinking game: take a shot every time Frodo says “Oh, Sam …” and you’ll be done before Gandalf reincarnates.NEVERENDING STORY
Luckily for Bastian, his elementary school has a convenient, spooky attic where he can skip class to travel to the mystical land inside a book that he stole on a whim. If he doesn’t sound like a good role model to you, recall that he’s skipping school to read a book. The book in question is the only Choose-Your-Own-Adventure that doesn’t suck.
THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS
Jack Skellington, the jaded Pumpkin King of Halloween-town, destroys Christmas in a misguided attempt to revamp the holiday Halloween-style. Tim Burton’s animated movie-musical still enjoys cult status for its haunting soundtrack and fantastic plot. You can enjoy this creepy classic at any time of year, but every October, the 3D version re-releases in theatres nationwide.
THE GOONIES
Picture Indiana Jones, except with a group of inept kids. The Goonie gang runs way over the recommended daily value of dead bodies, ancient skeletons, and booby traps, all in search of a hidden treasure that could save their town from demolition. Warning: may cause severe feelings of nostalgia and an unrelenting wish to find a pirate’s map in your parents’ attic.STAR WARS (First Trilogy)
The most classic of classics. Watching Return of the Jedi again will remind you of the good old days, when everybody’s biggest gripe about the Star Wars franchise was the unrealistic Jabba puppet. (Incidentally, Leia’s slave bikini is still the best thing about the trilogy, despite widespread abuse of her outfit by unfit Star Wars convention attendees.)HOOK
Hook is the best Peter Pan spin-off out there, if only because Robin Williams’ portrayal of Pan can bring grown men to nostalgic tears. There's just something about the littlest lost boy contorting Williams’ face into a smile that gets you every time. Not to mention that Dustin Hoffman was born to play the villain of childhood nightmares.THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDOBE
If the overwrought CGI in the 2005 Narnia bugged you, pick up the 1988 BBC version, which loyally follows C.S. Lewis’ original plotlines via elaborate animal puppets. You might miss the histrionic chase scenes and high-budget battles of the new Narnia, but the kids in the 1988 film act more naturally – maybe because the directors made Aslan out of fur instead of a blue screen.THE ICE STORM
Journey to a magical world in a far away place: Connecticut, the 1970s, a fairylike realm of angst, swingers parties, and electrocution.
THE ADDAMS FAMILY
Related:
The last Potter, Review: Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant, Wizards and masterpieces, More 
- The last Potter
The end is never easy, is it?
- Review: Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant
You’ve seen it all before: a boy with a special destiny tangles with the occult and gets sucked out of his normal life and into the twilight realm of the supernatural, in the process setting the stage for paranormal war between good and evil.
- Wizards and masterpieces
At “Harry Potter: The Exhibition” at the Museum of Science, when a robed attendant places the sorting hat on a visitor’s head and soon after a door whooshes open to reveal the Hogwarts Express, you find yourself filled with the kind of giddy expectation you feel when getting your hands on a Potter book the day it’s released.
- Movies on the Midcoast
Yet again, this year’s festival tackles an admirable hodgepodge of subjects — online gaming junkies, Harry Potter fanatics, and even Cockney gangsters in London’s East End.
- Can't escape Snape at LeakyCon
Sure, Figawi Race Weekend is a blast, but how many times in my life would I have the opportunity to mingle with more than 750 J.K. Rowling devotees? So, this past Memorial Day weekend, I decided to skip Nantucket and join the all-ages, international assembly of Potter-heads at Boston's Park Plaza Hotel for LeakyCon 2009.
- How big is Harry Potter
Considering all the hype surrounding the seventh and final book in the Harry Potter series, you would think that the July 21 release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is one of the most anticipated events in human history.
- Dance Monkey: Lizz Winstead
It will be called Harry Pott-him .
- Hairy Potter
Whatever else it may be, the Harry Potter Edda is surely the most popular narrative about the dawning of pubertal awareness ever created.
- Comics for Christ
Young Laurel Templeton spends her summer vacation “kidnapped by five cyborg flies and shrunk down to insect size so [she can] travel back in time with them to save the world from an evil spider.” You know, typical stuff.
- Breaking the spell
How did a “children’s story” become the literary epic of our time?
- Weird science
Lines in Anticipation of the Final Installment of the Harry Potter Series, After Reading About the “Fringe Research” Being Conducted by the Pentagon.
- Less
Topics:
Ultimate Lists
, Celebrity News, Entertainment, Fred Savage, More
, Celebrity News, Entertainment, Fred Savage, Baron Munchausen, Fairuza Balk, Inigo Montoya, Michael Keaton, Roald Dahl, Val Kilmer, Gene Wilder, Less
