Aristocats (1970)

Why it's here:
Are you kidding? After Sometimes a Great Notion, we clearly needed something animated and innocuous! Actually, I remembered watching this one as a child and being charmed by it. I figured the boys would too.

Specs:
1 1/2 hours, animated; rated G

Our family's average rating on a scale from 1-10:
7.0

More about the film and our reaction to it:
This is charming and sweet, just as I'd remembered it. The story is of a rich woman who has no family, but a "devoted" butler, a cat and the cat's 3 kittens. The woman writes a will leaving her entire estate to the cat, whereupon the butler becomes jealous. He kidnaps the cats and disposes of them out in the country. The cats manage to get away from him and connect with a warm-hearted stray cat and become a team, traveling together.  They go on amazing adventures and sing "Everybody Wants to Be a Cat," and do other sweet charming funny things. Its great.

High recommendations for family from us all!

Iconic image:

Steamboat Willie (1928)

Why it's here:
The first "talkie" cartoon.

Specs:
8 minute short. Black and white, animated talkie

Our family's average rating (on a scale of 1-10):

6.67

More about the film and our reaction to it:
What was cool about this was learning that the title Steamboat Willie was a play on Buster Keaton's Steamboat Bill Jr - also part of the festival. It is so great to not just read that trivia note, but to read it having just seen Steamboat Bill Jr. Details like that, in context, make this festival so fun.

This was a far more satisfying talkie experience than The Jazz Singer, though, like The Jazz Singer, it didn't really have much dialog. Mickie only says one thing.

But with or without the incentive of synchronized sound, the film is cute and worth watching as a very early example of a cartoon character with which we are all so familiar.

I suppose it won't surprise anyone to hear that the kids enjoyed it more than I did.

Iconic shot:

Gertie the Dinosaur (1914)

Why it's included:
This is a very early example of an animated film and may be one of the first that you would properly call a "cartoon" -- intended to be light, fun and friendly for kids. Created by hand-drawing 10,000 images, it pioneered animation techniques.

Specs:
12 minutes long, black and white, silent. And very easy to find online.

Our family's average rating (on a scale of 1-10):

7.13

More about the film and our response to it:
Fun and unique, Gertie the Dinosaur is both a film and a "making of-" rolled into one. It starts out with live actors, a group of friends out for a ride. They get a flat tire, walk into the nearby museum and, checking out the bones of a dinosaur, one of them (Winsor McKay, our animator, playing himself) is inspired to produce the animation.

There are some title cards explaining how he did the drawings and filmed them, then the friends sit down in front of a projector to watch the film. Action switches to sweet Gertie who, as a character, is quite appealing.

Watching Gertie gives great perspective. The methods of animation that kids are so familiar with had to start somewhere. This reaches back to the earliest days of animated film when people were just working out how to do it. Definitely worth seeing.

Iconic shot: