An Animated Life

I have always been a movie buff. Whether the big screen, buttery-popcorn-in-lap experience of the theater or an evening in pj's on the couch with a stack of rentals -- or now streaming Netflix -- "going to the movies" is a favorite pastime. Since becoming a mom, however, my cinematic fare has weighed heavily toward kids and family films. Tonight, we watched Pixar's Up on Encore, and it ended just in time for us to catch Ratatouille on the Disney channel. Neither of these are on my list of favorites, but they're good for entertaining the boy at home on another freezing night.

What are some of the kids movies I do love? Here are 10 of my favorites in no particular order.

1. Finding Nemo From Marlin and Nemo to Bruce and Crush, these characters make for an all-time favorite animated movie. To this day I think Dory is one of the best characters ever, whether you like Ellen Degeneres or not. And below the surface of this contemporary kids classic are messages about faith and family that should resonate with everyone. My mother has even given a sermon that discusses "speaking whale."

2. Lion King This one I bought well before Declan was ever born. I. Love. It. Nothing more to be said . . . except Hakuna Matata!

3. Kung Fu Panda Jack Black as a fat, funny, clumsy panda who loves martial arts. What's not to love?

4. Pete's Dragon I know, totally corny. Mickey Rooney, Helen Reddy, Red Buttons, Shelly Winters, some little red-haired, freckled kid and a cartoon dragon named Elliot. I can sing every song in this movie, and owned the soundtrack album (yes, an actual vinyl LP) when I was little.

5. Toy Story Buzz, Woody and the gang never get old for me. I will admit, however, that I am behind the times because I have only seen the first two movies. Declan saw Toy Story 3 without me and I have yet to catch up. Santa did put it under the tree so I plan to do that soon.

6. Robin Hood I'm pretty sure my first crush was on the animated fox in this cartoon version of the Sherwood Forest tale.

7. Monsters, Inc. A truly clever story idea and animation so good that I still love watching Sully's blue fur ruffle in the wind.

8. Cars Ka-chow! Another fun story with great voice talent. Who doesn't love 'Mater? The late, great Paul Newman as Doc Hudson was casting at its best.

9. Babe A wonderful, inspirational movie that wasn't too corny and was just cute enough. If I'm ever flipping through the channels and it's on, I'll watch it every time.

10. The Wizard of Oz A true classic. No other way to describe it.

In the honorable mention category: The Incredibles, Wall-E, The Emperor's New Groove, Surf's Up and the recent How to Train Your Dragon, because not only is Toothless the Dragon adorable, I could listen to the brogues of Gerard Butler and Craig Ferguson all day.

So those are some of the kids movies that make me smile. I'm sure there are others that I've forgotten to mention. There aren't many of the old Disney "classics" on here, but I find they aren't the ones we tend to watch over and over like many of the newer movies. I can say, however, that I am thankful that the offerings for kids seem to keep getting better and better. Now that you've seen my list, what are some of your favorites?