Friday's Five Favorites

Yesterday, we took the kids to the Long Island Game Farm. It was great, mainly because we pretty much had the entire zoo to ourselves. We walked among the deer, cooed at baby lambs that were only hours old, and tried to get a cockatoo to dance to our singing. We are not the Von Trapp family (more like the Von Crapp Family), so we only resulted in the bird screaming at us.

In honor of our beautiful day out, I've dedicated today's post to my top five favorite movies that involve animals. I'm calling it Friday's Five Favorites and I hope it will be the first of Friday traditions.

Please, feel free to leave your favorites in the comment sections!!! Okay, here we go:

Number 5:
MIGHTY JOE YOUNG (1949)

I have not seen this movie in years, but I have so many found memories of watching it every Thanksgiving afternoon, just after the Macy's parade, when I was a kid. The classic claymation style FX just went hand in hand with being dressed up in a frilly dress, drinking Pineapple Juice leftover from Mom making Sweet Potatoes, and the smells of that turkey roasting in the oven.

Number 4:
CHARLOTTE'S WEB

I enjoy both the animated and the more recent version starring Dakota Fanning. I loved the book as a child and I love how my daughter recently discovered it. The animated version holds the same memories for me as The Wizard of Oz. Back in the days before VCR's, when Charlotte's Web was going to be on television, it was a big deal. A big event. It meant throwing down pillows and blankets on the floor and making Jiffy Pop. It was a family night.

Number 3:
RATATOUILLE

Rats in the kitchen? Only Disney can make that adorable and fun. This colorful movie combines two of my passions...cooking and storytelling. The only flaw with this movie is that it is not available in Smell-O-Vision. Ah, to smell the scents that little Remy was cooking up.

Number 2:
HOMEWARD BOUND

I have a serious love/hate relationship with this movie. I love this movie. Two dogs and a cat travel the wild to make it back home to their family. I hate how this movie turns on the waterworks every...single...darn...time. I can't even THINK about this movie without getting all welled up. Oh, geeze! Here I go! Sniff, sniff... But I still love this movie.

Number 1:

THE LION KING

If you have not seen this movie yet, run, don't walk to rent it!! This is Disney at it's finest. Loosely based on Hamlet with Tribal African influenced music and amazing animation, this movie is a masterpiece. You'll laugh. You'll cry. You'll fall in love with Simba, Pumbaa, and Timon. And if you are anything like my son, you will become obsessed and drag your family into the obsession.