The Black Stallion

Carroll Ballard, 1979 (8.5*)

One of the best horse stories ever, from the children's novel by Walter Farley. A young boy, played by Kelly Reno, on an ocean voyage is intrigued by a black stallion on board, when a sudden shipwreck strands them both on a deserted island. The boy and the horse become inseparable friends out of loneliness and mutual need.

After rescue, the two are returned home, and an aging Mickey Rooney, a former race horse trainer, gives a wonderful and Oscar®-nominated performance for supporting actor as he persuades the boy to race the almost wild stallion. Beautiful cinematography and an inspiring G-rated story make this one of the best family films. A classic in the Disney tradition established in the 1950's, this is my favorite Rooney performance on film; he's not so over-energetic and obnoxious in his older age.

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The Story of the Weeping Camel

Byambasuren Davaa, Luigi Falorni, Germany, 2003 (8.9*)

This German documentary follows a family of Mongolian shepherds' daily lives. After the camel birthing season, the last newborn colt, a pretty white boy, is rejected by his mother. The shepherd sends his two sons on a trip to a nearby town to find a healing musician to help the mother accept her offspring.

We follow the daily life of the shepherds, which is primitive and weather-beaten in the harsh, beautiful Gobi desert, yet they also have total freedom. They can simply move their animals to another location if they want and be elsewhere in a day. In the towns, satellite tv is available and many ride motorcycles rather than camels, so the modern world is there if they want it - they chose to continue to live simply.

This is a beautiful and unusual story in a beautiful setting, even more amazing since it's a documentary - we follow the story of the young rejected camel, played by Botok with Ingen Tenne as the mother camel, as it plays out for the shepherds. This story that seems a much legend as truth won several film festivals, usually the audience award for foreign film, and was an Oscar nominee for documentary. Awards page at IMDB

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Au Hasard Balthazar

Robert Bresson, France, 1966, bw (8.3*)
This is a very tough film to review, as it has high marks for artistic merit, yet it's a very hard film to watch, as it involves the cruelty of man toward beasts of burden, in this case a cute little donkey named Balthazar. We follow the story of a donkey from its infancy, from good owners to completely despicable ones who have this tiny donkey pulling wagon loads of hay and people, or pulling on a water wheel, being forced with a whip to move at all. One girl in particular, played by Anne Wiazemsky, who is shunned by people as the town's local 'painted lady', is very kind to Balthazar, yet her boyfriend and his scooter gang constantly play pranks on the hapless donkey and even beat him needlessly at one point.

Semi-Spoiler Alert: This film has one of the most poignant and poetic endings on film; only the most heartless of people will not be touched or even outraged by this story. Some say it's a faith-rooted religious parable, but taken simply as the story of one animal's lifetime, it carries great weight as a moral fable. Psychologists now know that serial killers are usually cruel to animals growing up, and I can only extrapolate that people who could treat a small donkey this way could never make good parents if unfortunate enough to have kids, or even passable citizens; they'll most likely be criminals, soldiers, or prison guards, each with a streak of cruelty. Highly recommended as one of the best films from France, but with major reservations: not for kids, not for the squeamish, not for those extremely sensitive to animal treatment. #50 (2011 update) on our top ranked films on the net survey.

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Babe

Chris Noonan, 1995 (10*)
Babe (from an award-winning children's novel) is my favorite children's film and animal film both. It qualifies as real action, but uses animation to make the animals mouths move so they can talk, and it works superbly. Oscar®-nominated actor James Cromwell is terrific as the farmer who buys piglet Babe for a Christmas dinner but finds something special in the pig, whose voice was Christine Cavanaugh's. The film was nominated for Best Picture, losing to the inferior Titanic. This riotous comedy from Australia actually hurt pork sales nationwide after its release.
Quote: I hear that if you don't do something useful, the humans eat you! (The Duck, who wants to be a rooster)

Awards Won (17)

U.S. Oscar – Special Effects
Best Fantasy Film - Acad. Of SF – Fantasy Films
Best Film Score – Australasian Perf. Rights Assoc.
Cinematography of the Year – Australian Cinematographers Soc.
Best Comedy Film – British Comedy Awards
Best Family Film – Critics Choice Award (Broadcast Film Critics)
Best Director, Original Music – Film Critics Circle of Australia
Best Feature Film – Genesis Awards
Best Comedy/Musical Picture – Golden Globes
Golden Screen, Germany
Studio Crystal Heart Award – Heartland Film Festival
Film of the Year – London Critics Circle Film Awards
Newcomer of the Year (Chris Noonan) – London Critics
Best Sound Editing, Golden Reel – Motion Pic. Sound Editors, USA
Best Film – Nat. Society of Film Critics Awards
Best New Director (Noonan) – New York Film Critics Circle Awards

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A Charlie Brown Christmas

Dir: Bill Melendez, 1965 (8.6*)
All you have to do is hear the terrific Vince Guaraldi jazz piano music, which is worth owning on CD, naturally, and this tv cartoon special lights images in your head that can evoke waves of humorous nostalgia. The comic strips of Charles Schultz come alive, and along with “The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” (which parodies Easter and Christmas both, with promises of the "great pumpkin" appearing overnight in the pumpkin patch to leave presents for believers), these are must-see’s for kids of all ages, and anyone with heart. The wry tone, the simplicity, the kids voices, Linus' love of Beethoven, Lucy pulling the football back (a joke that never gets old), the silent dances of Snoopy (who fantasizes himself to be wartime aerial ace The Red Baron) all this works perfectly and are short enough for the short attention span world. These are now some of the best holiday classics for the whole family, and can be enjoyed again and again.

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Beauty and the Beast

Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise, 1991 (9.1*)
Best Musical/Comedy Picture (GG)
This is the animated Disney version, and one of their best animated films ever. Much of the design for the animation movement mimics camerawork on early Hollywood musicals, which is appropriate since this also has some songs that are very well integrated into the plot, which is basically about a trapped princess who falls in love with a "beast of a man". This was the first animated film nominated for a Best Picture Oscar, and is a treat for kids and adults both. Three songs were nominated for Oscars, a first. Two Oscars (Music Score and Song)

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101 Dalmatians

Wolfgang Reitherman, 1961 (8.2*)
Animated Disney doesn't get any better than this. Dalmatians have a litter of 15 puppies, and if that isn't enough of a problem, the evil Cruella De Vil, the voice of Yvonne DiCarlo and probably the best name for any film villainess, wants to make a fur coat out of a hundred-and-one Dalmatian puppies. Man, that's evil personified! Of course we have heroes, narrow escapes, nail-biting, but it is Disney, so you feel confident that they won't skin 101 puppies! Forget the live action remake, this version is the one to see again and again.

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Hidalgo

Dir: Joe Johnston, 2004 (8.9*)
This is based on the true story of the greatest long-distance horse racer of all time. By the film’s beginning, Frank Hopkins (Viggo Mortensen) had won over 500 races in North America without a loss, but of course his horse Hidalgo was the real winner. Arab shiek Omar Sharif hears of this legend, and convinces him to come to Arabia and participate in a 3000-mile desert race in which half the teams don’t survive. Though technically not a western, it looks like one, and does feature a horseman in the wilderness. One of the best horse racing stories ever filmed, also a great adventure film.

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Never Cry Wolf

Carol Ballard, 1983 (8.3*)
Autobiographical film of biologist Farley Mowat, based on his memoirs, and played by Charles Martin Smith (American Graffiti) in a rare dramatic part. Mowat studied caribou and wolves in the British Columbian tundra of Canada to see if wolves were wiping out the caribou, with surprising findings.

Not packed with action, but there's one terrific scene of Mowat running naked with a caribou heard, and another where he and a male arctic wolf mark his territory. This is a gorgeous nature film, with beautiful cinematography by Hiro Narita, Oscar nominated sound.

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Winged Migration

Dir: Jacques Perrin, Jacques Cluzaud, Michel Debats, 2001, France (10*)
This awe-inspiring documentary was shot over several years, and at over 200 worldwide locations, and is presented without much narration so that we feel like we’re part of the flying birds ourselves. The effect is to show how incredible migrating bird populations are, and how we need to preserve them for the future of the planet.

Breath-taking, one of the best nature films or documentaries ever shot. Another rarity, it's G-rated.. This should be on everyone's top 100 list.

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Planet Earth

Released 2007, 5 discs (10*)
One of the most major undertakings in the history of video, filmed over 5 yrs at over 300 locations on earth and involving thousands of people, and with a 25m budget. This nature film attempts to show the diversity and awe-inspiring majesty of the planet we and other creatures live on. This is about ten hours of some of the most jaw-dropping stuff you will ever see. Some footage is so rare that it took years to get a minute of film, such as snow leopards in the Himilayas. Each type of geography is covered in its own episode: mountains, jungles, forests, deserts, oceans, fresh water, etc. Not to be missed!

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Finding Nemo

Dir: Andrew Stanton, 2003 (9.8*)
One of the best animated childrens films, all the qualities of classic Disney. Thoroughly enjoyable story with funny dialogue, made funnier by the casting of Albert Brooks and Evelyn Degeneres. The story concerns dad fish Broooks looking for son fish Nemo who gets swept up in a tropical fish collectors net, and ends up in a dental office aquarium! Creepy stuff… but not as creepy as Chicken Run. Along the way he runs into Degeneres, and various sea creatures, including some lovable sea turtles. This is a must see, best five all-time for animation. The others: Snow White, Fantasia, Beauty and the Beast, Toy Story. (I also like The Incredibles, Cars, Hoppity Goes to Town, Curse of the Were-Rabbit) Well, Wallace and Gromit's Amazing Adventures are the best, but all short films - still, four Oscars in all!

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