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Home Alone (1990)
7.8/10on IMDb
Released
Kevin has a whole house at his disposal and treats it as something he can redesign for one frantic evening. The slapstick gets loud and painful-looking, but it is the small satisfaction of seeing a child think ahead of the adults that makes this a strong family-night pick.
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Matilda (1996)
7.0/10on IMDb
Released
Matilda works out what to do with her powers once she realizes how frightened her classmates are of Miss Trunchbull. It is a sharp choice for anyone who likes their school rebellion funny and just a little frightening. Miss Honey gives the story a place to breathe between the larger gags.
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The Sandlot (1993)
7.8/10on IMDb
Released
When the ball goes over the fence, the kids have to invent a way to get it back. Choose this for a summer movie where the grown-ups disappear into the background and a dog on the other side of a fence feels like a neighborhood legend.
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The Iron Giant (1999)
8.1/10on IMDb
Released
Hogarth has to work out what his enormous new friend can learn and what the adults will assume it is for. It is a tender pick for a family that can handle a tense military climax, with the boy’s determination giving the giant room to make a choice of his own.
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The Parent Trap (1998)
6.7/10on IMDb
Released
The twins learn about one another at camp and decide to swap homes. Choose the 1998 version if you want a plan that gives both kids something to do. Each has to live in the other’s routine while they work on the much bigger problem of getting their parents in the same place.
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Jumanji (1995)
7.1/10on IMDb
Released
Two children pick up a board game and discover that the only way out of its trouble is to keep playing. Go for this if your audience likes the suspense of each roll changing the room. The animals and the sense that home is no longer safe may be a lot for a younger viewer.
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Harriet the Spy (1996)
6.0/10on IMDb
Released
Harriet’s notebook gets her into trouble because she records what she actually thinks about people. That gives the movie a sharper edge than a simple junior detective story. Watch it when the audience is old enough to enjoy a child trying to think through the consequences of her own curiosity.
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The Baby-Sitters Club (1995)
5.7/10on IMDb
Released
Kristy and her friends decide to turn their babysitting business into a summer day camp. The plans matter because the kids have to keep the club together while family troubles and new feelings compete for their attention. Pick it for a funny, low-scare movie that leaves room for the disappointments friendship can’t fix.
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The Little Rascals (1994)
6.4/10on IMDb
Released
The clubhouse rules and the go-kart race let Alfalfa and his friends take their own plans far too seriously. Pick this for broad comedy with the scale of a neighborhood, where being accepted by the club can seem as important as winning the race.
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The Secret Garden (1993)
7.3/10on IMDb
Released
The 1993 film gives Mary something to put her stubbornness into once she finds the garden. It is the quieter pick for a child who likes seeing a closed-off place slowly become their own. The early grief has real weight, but curiosity gives the story somewhere to go.
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Free Willy (1993)
6.1/10on IMDb
Released
Jesse decides that what Willy needs is a way out of the park. That makes the connection between the boy and the orca a reason to act, rather than just a series of bonding scenes. Pick it for earnest animal rescue with credible danger and a strong sense of what the kid stands to lose.
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Fly Away Home (1996)
6.9/10on IMDb
Released
Amy helps raise a group of orphaned geese and later flies with them. The young pilot has a job you can follow one small success at a time. It is a good slower pick when you want a big outdoor adventure that gives as much attention to patience as it does to flight.
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A Little Princess (1995)
7.6/10on IMDb
Released
Sara keeps telling stories after she loses her standing at the boarding school. Watch for the way sharing something she invented changes what another child can bear. This is a strong choice for a readerly kid, with some harsh scenes around loss and the adults’ treatment of the girls.
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The Mighty Ducks (1992)
6.6/10on IMDb
Released
Charlie Conway has to take a penalty shot with his teammates watching. It’s the part that gives the story back to the players after so much time with their coach. Pick this for an underdog sports comedy where the tension comes from a kid deciding how to handle a moment the adults can’t play for him.
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Rookie of the Year (1993)
6.1/10on IMDb
Released
After his broken arm comes out of its cast, Henry discovers he can pitch fast enough to get the Chicago Cubs’ attention. The funniest pressure comes from a kid having to work out what he can do opposite grown professionals. It’s a light sports fantasy with a painful-looking fall at the start.
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Heavyweights (1995)
6.6/10on IMDb
Released
The campers realize that the grown-up who took charge has very different ideas about why they are there. Their decision to organize turns the summer-camp setup into a rebellion. This is one for older kids who enjoy a big comic villain and can handle jokes about weight and dieting.
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Camp Nowhere (1994)
6.1/10on IMDb
Released
Mud and his friends recruit a former drama teacher to fool their parents into sending them to a summer camp the kids invented. The longer they keep up the story, the more they have to organize the place themselves. Pick this when you want the freedom of camp with the suspense of a harmless-looking lie getting bigger.
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Hocus Pocus (1993)
6.9/10on IMDb
Released
Max and the other kids have to contend with the witches he helped bring back. Go for this when you want comic Halloween scares with a deadline at sunrise and enough room for the younger sister to do something besides watch. The opening is more ominous than the sisters’ later antics.
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The Witches (1990)
6.8/10on IMDb
Released
Luke spies on the witches’ hotel meeting and finds out what they have planned for children. Once he becomes a mouse, the small spaces in the hotel become part of how he fights back. Nicolas Roeg’s version is a good pick for kids who like real scares and can handle the witches peeling away their human faces.
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Casper (1995)
6.2/10on IMDb
Released
Kat is the person who takes the friendly ghost seriously, which pulls her into the mess at the mansion. Choose it for a gentler ghost story with more to say about losing someone than its busy haunted-house comedy first suggests.
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3 Ninjas (1992)
5.4/10on IMDb
Released
Three brothers get a chance to use what their grandfather taught them when grown-up trouble reaches the family. Choose this for the child-sized action fantasy, with spirited fight scenes and the extra satisfaction of seeing siblings work as a team.
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