My first thought is that I HATED TWOO, Durial1221, sorry! ;)

And I also never liked kid-favorite "The Lion King" half for hacing Simba act an asshole though the first half of the film and then duller than dirt in the second and then half for it basically being a WEIRD hack job of parts of "Hamlet," and the Henriad (that'd be Henrys IV 1 and 2, V, and Richard III if you're keeping score at home, folks.)



Five films I loved as a kid and would recommend kids see today:

-"Toy Story" MOST NOSTALGIC OVIE FOR ME EVER! I still haven't seen 3 yet, but I WILL see it...won't cry, I've yet to cry at any film ever, but still...wow...hard to believe ol' Woody and Buzz are going to be on the shelf for good!

-"Star Wars" Yeah, I haven't actually watched this in years, not since the prequels put me off (with the exception of III, which was alright) and all these animated Star Wars films just ruined it for me, plus Trek's more my thing...but this really got my imagination going as a kid--I STILL remember that in kindergarten we had to write a story with Curious George in it, and mine was "Curious George in the X-Wing Fighter." :Got me intersted in myths, from there the Greek and Arthurian legends, from there Shakespeare and Nietzsche--and the rest is history! :D

-"Angels in the Outfield (Either Version)" Either the 1950s black-and-white version or the 1990s Disney version (with the real California Angels baseball team in there, which were owned by Disney, to match teh title and plug Disney's product at the same time) as both are just fun, feel-good baseball stories, and GREAT for kids going through a divorce, as the main character is...

-"The Hunchback of Notre Dame" (1996) The ONLY Dinsey animated film I'll ever recommend...IT. IS. GOLD. It's about three-quarters true to the book, takes liberties--like a HAPPY ending with Quasi and Esmerelda ALIVE--but a lot of the tone is so true, and with religious taboos, sex, sin, and all the stuff kids are usually sheltered from, great to see a WONDERFUL version--that I still watch to this day--and just a flat-out great film and good first-exposure to some form of victor Hugo and his work with great animation and acting and SONGS (if you've never heard it, YouTube "Hellfire" from the movie and tell me THAT isn't an epic song to have in a KID'S FILM!)

-"Hamlet" (1996) OK, call this one cheating a bit if you must, but I DID see it when I was younger, and it remains to this day THE "Hamlet" for me. Olivier? So-so. Gibson? VIOLENT DICK! (And he's not a great Hamlet, his CHARACTER'S too violent and overdone...I wonder why...) Ethan Hawk? WORST. HAMLET. EVER. (Including Gibson!) David Tennant's version? ...OK, that IS another good version--nat as good as this one, this one's LEGENDARY, but good nonetheless--but that's past the point wehre I was a kid, obviously, as it just came out. It's LONG at a foull FOUR HOURS, so call it a pick for older kids...but if you want to expose kids to Shakespeare the RIGHT way...don't expose them to this play until they're AT LEAST teens, and even then I'd say give them comedies first. But that aside, for a first forray into Shakespeare's tragedies, this is THE best version of THE best tragedy...and a film I, of course, still LOVE today!!! :D

I'll hold back tears as you butcher my childhood favourite ;)

Also, The Transformers Movie and TMNT movies are very nostalgic for me. My favourite kids movie, nostalgia aside, is probably Toy Story 3. It definitely does a great job of respecting the first two and it has some very mature themes

The Princess Bride was well done.

The Great Mouse Detective, The Rescuers, The Rescuers Down Under are my favorites from my early childhood.

Toy Story and the Lion King are also fantastic.

Wall-E is my favorite kids movie since I've been an adult, followed by Ratatouille

well done is a bit of an under-statement. TPB remains one of my favorite movies to this day! it has risen even higher in my estimation since I actually used it on my first college exam. the essay was on plato, so naturally i had to throw in vezzini's critique. i got nearly 100%, bur the essay wasn't all that, so i'm assuming it was the quote that put me over the top :)
some others off the cuff:
lion king: sorry obi, gotta go against you here. for one thing, exotic animals tend to appeal to children a lot, so this definitely works to LK's advantage. For another, Elton John and Tim Rice rock. finally, it does have some excellent, if simple, morals about responsibility.
i will go with obi on star wars, though. classics for all ages.
"a christmas story" must be mentioned. possibly the very greatest christmas movie ever, and it really captures the essence of xmas for a kid
"the sandlot." "you're killing me, smalls!" what more can be said??

TPB isn't a kids movie. But nostalgia aside, "Finding Nemo" still wins. "Toy Story 3" overcalibrates I think; I think it's more for the adults who watched Toy Story when they were kids than for kids today.

I can't pick a single favorite, just isn't in my nature. But one of my favorites that doesn't get enough recognition is The Iron Giant. Directed by Brad Bird who also did The Incredibles and is from my home town. The Iron Giant is a very good kids film, and enjoyable for adults as well. Warning, it might make you cry at the end.

Personally, I didn't care much for Toy Story 3. Better than Toy Story 2, but neither compares at all to the first one. But that is pretty normal for sequels of successful movies.

Animated movies:
Aladdin, The Lion King and The Beauty and The Beast. Also worth mentioning: Toy Story (only the first one), Up!, Finding Nemo, Snow White, Bambi and The Incredibles.

Human movies:
The Mighty Ducks, Little Giants, Angels in the Outfield, Major League and Honey! I Shrunk the Kids. Also worth mentioning: Look Who's Talking Now, Baby's Day Out, Ace Ventura and Home Alone.

@obi - While I agree Kenneth Branagh's rendition is the best Hamlet. Period. Nothing comes close. It is not a kids film. As you said, you saw it as a teen, not a kid.

My favorite kids film is Willy Wonka. Gene Wilder is fantastic, funny, sarcastic, and defined the role. Behind that is the original Escape to Witch Mountain. Other greats are Matilda, Monsters, Inc., Toy Story (the whole series is good), and The Incredibles. The other Pixars are good, but those three stand out. Non-Pixar, of course, is Shrek but I also like the Ice Age series.

Doh! I forgot Wall-E. It and The Incredibles are my two favorite CGI films. Period.

Old school animation would have to be Alice in Wonderland (not the new Johnny Depp, but the Disney animated) and The Sword in the Stone (Arthurian legend made kid friendly).

Treasure Island, 20000 Leagues Under the Sea, The Adventures of Robin Hood (Errol Flynn version), Fantasia, The King and I, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Swiss Family Robinson, Sound of Music

Wow Robin Hood for sure, how could I forget that one!

Mary Poppins

Most of my favorites have been mentioned already. I would have to add The Jungle Book though. I watched it quite a bit when I was a kid.

Also, +1 Alderian for giving The Iron Giant some love. Great movie! In fact, it was on a couple of days ago and I was able to watch about half of it and remember how awesome it is.

Another vote for the original "Star Wars." Y'know, the one with itty-bitty ship models and lots of makeup. Also, "Clue" has held up wonderfully (not necessarily aimed at kids, but I saw it as a young adolescent and is based on a boardgame). Slow for the first ten minutes and then manic, funny and wonderful. That is the only movie I ever sneaked into (after feeling cheated by the awful "Enemy Mine"), and I feel no regrets. Crime does pay.

The Dark Crystal definitely made an impression on me.

The Princess Bride although I look upon it as a movie with universal appeal rather than a kid's movie.

Labyrinth

OK, Dark Crystal and Labyrinth... AWESOME! I should havementioned them. Bowie and Jennifer Connelly were great in Labyrinth and Dark Crystal is simply brilliant. Another overlooked gem would be Watership Down. Although the themes are very adult overall, it is a family friendly flick as long as the family isn't too young.

@Ges - how dare you put down a great drama like Enemy Mine. Dennis Quaid and Louis Gossett Jr. did a good job with it. Although the original novella by Barry Longyear is superior to the movie. I will admit that.

Some great mentions so far - I'll second The Princess Bride and the wonderful Ratatouille. An oldie to throw into the mix - Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Just got it on DVD for my kids and they love it!

@Draugnar: I have to admit that at this point I barely remember "Enemy Mine," beyond a sense that the alien looked pretty good but that the movie was dull as ditchwater. However, my younger self was mad enough after watching "After-School Special in Space" that he committed a highly atypical criminal act. I might look up the novella.

<in order from for younger kid to teen>
Robin Hood (Disney cartoon).
The Jungle Book (Disney cartoon).
Robin Hood (Disney cartoon).
The Jungle Book (Disney cartoon).
The Titfield Thunderbolt (1953).
War of the Worlds (1953).
20000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954).
Reach for the Sky (1956).
The Dam Busters (1955).
Star Trek (I, II).
Star Wars (IV, I).
Lord of the Rings (I, II, III).

The Dark Crystal was pretty amazing, but my favourites have to be Bedknobs and Broomsticks (suits of armour killing Nazis... Genious!), Watership Down, Return of the Jedi, and that Japanese animation with the flying city castle thing :D.

There is one that somehow everyone forgot about. Maybe because it came out when stuff like Shrek had just appeared.
It's Treasure Planet.

Goonies is frequently mentioned by pre-teens

Define 'kid' I suppose... Leaving aside movies based on books (Jungle Book, Princess Bride, one of my all time faves, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, anything with Pooh, The Rescuers, The Black Stallion, How to Train Your Dragon and Watership Down) and anything that's geared primarily for Teens and above (IMO Lord of the Rings, Star Trek, Star Wars (Though you could argue the prequels...) I've got Finding Nemo, The Muppet Movie, E.T. (Yes, E.T.), and a really tough choice for #5.. Up... Monsters Inc, and Iron Giant are all in there... but I'm going Big.

Beetlejuice is also good for older "kids". And I remember Big as well. Tom Hanks was great. But I never viewed it as a family film as it has plenty of innuendo like when the female lead (I forget the actress) is ready to sleep with him and Hanks' character say "What, a sleepopver? OK, but I'm on top" and proceeds to jump on the top bunk of his bunk bed.

I had forgotten about Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Maybe because it gave me nightmares when I was a kid. But I love that Roald Dahl wrote the screenplay based on Ian Flemings childrens book and that Ian Fleming used Roald Dahl, in part, as inspiration for James Bond as Dahl was a contemporary and friend of Fleming's during WWII and later in the real MI6.