funforkids

The kids were up bright and early this Thanksgiving morning and ready for family fun.  The only problem is, the family fun does not start at 7 A.M.!  With lots of things that I want and need to do and two boys that are amped up already I turned the television on with the hopes that they would find something great to watch and thus give me a little time to gather my thoughts and to get some things done.  Luckily Thanksgiving day is usually a great day for Holiday movies, marathons, and t.v. specials so I was able to find quite a few great choices.  We began with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (a movie I love) but we ended up changing it because the little guy is afraid of the tunnel scene.  Do you remember that scene?  I was terrified of it too as a child; as Mr Wonka loads everyone onto the boat (just after Augustus Gloop has been lost down the chocolate River) and he begins to sing that eerie haunting song:  “Is it raining? Is it pouring?….”    Chills.  Poor kid–He’ll probably have many nightmares now.  Gene Wilder was amazing in the movie though, and there are so many memorable moments too such as the introduction to the factory where Gene Wilder sings that sweet song.  Second up in the line up was “The March of The Wooden Soldiers”  which was/is also a great movie.  That movie has been played on channel 11 on Thanksgiving day ever since I was a young child.  My brother Michael and I always watched it.  Talk about another crazy but classic film!  If you have never seen the movie you must take time out to see it.  The main characters in the movie  are Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy who become unlikely heroes in this storybook town where everyone in the movie is a fictional character taken from the various fairy tales that we grew up with as children.  Little Bo Peep is being courted by I think it’s Little Boy Blue but he goes by the name of TOM-TOM, but the evil Mr. Barnaby wants her to marry him at all costs.  When he fails to win her, Barnaby kidnaps her to the land of the bogey men (boogie men?) and Stan and Ollie promise to return her safely home.   So why is this considered a holiday movie?  Well, There are huge Wooden Soldiers that were made by accident by Stan and Ollie for Santa Clause and in the end the Wooden Soldiers help to rid the Storybook Village of the Bogey Men and the evil Barnaby.  It really is a great movie.  Unfortunately it is a bit too scary for the little ones.  My five and three year old children liked the movie up until the time the Bogey Men were introduced.    In the end we put on the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.  Tonight we will cuddle up on the couch and watch The Peanuts Thanksgiving special.  I am looking forward to the next few weeks of Christmas classics.

Trackback URI | Comments RSS