If you grew up during the golden age of home video, do you remember the good old days when you’d pop in a movie on your VCR? Sure, you’d have to “be kind and rewind” when you were done and worry about the film strip getting all tangled, but it was still all in good fun. The VCR may have reached its end, but people are feeling a little nostalgic thinking about random movies they watched all the time as a kid on VHS, and I can relate to this so much.
The DVD may have made its way into homes and replaced VHS tapes, but it doesn’t mean we’ve forgotten our favorite pastime. A lot of people on Reddit have been looking back at their childhood moments of watching VHS tapes on repeat as a kid and threw back to a lot of family-friendly classics. @SylancerPrime recalled a Walt Disney Animated Studios Feature with your favorite literature outlaw character in the form of a red fox:
The Disney animated version of “Robin Hood”.
…Ooh da la lee, ooh da la lee, golly what a day.
Leave it to Disney to bring more awareness to kids of the English folklore character by using anthropomorphic animals to bring plenty of action and excitement. This inspired a lot of Reddit users to reflect on their memories related to Robin Hood, like how he was one user’s “first crush.” Hey, we were young! @jharrisimages mentioned another animated classic that can easily appeal to fantasy fans and those of J.R.R. Tolkien:
For me it was the Rankin and Bass animated Hobbit film. None of my friends knew or cared about hobbits until Fellowship came out when we were 15. Felt so good to be vindicated after years of being a nerd to see everybody suddenly start giving a shit about DC, Marvel, Star Wars and LotR.
The live-action Lord of the Rings movies will always be an entertaining franchise that’ll never die. However, it must make a LOTR fan really proud to say they got to see the original animated 1977 television special before the Peter Jackson movies. And as @jharrisimages said, it’s impossible to be called a nerd at this point with franchises like Marvel, Star Wars, DC, and Lord of the Rings continuing to make box office success. @originalbrowncoat’s pick was Peter Pan, but not the Disney animated film you may be thinking of:
Mary Martin as Peter Pan
Before seeing the Darling Children take flight with Peter Pan in an animated spectacular, Mary Martin portrayed the role on Broadway from 1954-1960. Kids were able to watch the stage musical on their VCRs when it was released on home video in 1990, and then on DVD nine years later. The musical even inspired NBC to do a live musical special in 2014. Reddit users thought about their favorite memories of watching the VHS special including one comment who recalled crying and clapping for Tinkerbell “ferociously” and even seeing the Peter Pan peanut butter commercial. Now that’s magical. @Robby-Pants brought back two cherished animated favorites:
All Dogs Go to Heaven and An American Tail: Fievel Goes West.
There’s nothing like getting together with the family in the living room to watch these childhood classics. With both movies introducing to children strong themes like loss, family and friendship, they’ll learn lessons they can take with them through adulthood and be inspired by underdog characters like Fievel Mousekewitz and Charlie B. Barkin to achieve their goals. @Vox_Mortem mentioned some VHS classics I can get behind:
Labyrinth, The Princess Bride, and Spaceballs. And then in junior high Men in Tights entered the picture.
There’s something about these four movies that are true standouts. Labyrinth introduced me to David Bowie and would freak me out over the dark plot of rescuing a baby from the Goblin King. The Princess Bride, Spaceballs and Robin Hood: Men in Tights can make anyone laugh no matter how old they get.
My personal favorite VHS movies from my childhood would be Roald Dahl movie adaptations like Matilda for introducing me to my love of reading, and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, where I’d make a list of all of the candy from the movie and tuck it into the VHS box. I also can’t forget the 1994 family film The Little Rascals seeing Alfalfa croon Darla and Buckwheat singing a song about pickles. A true hidden gem that introduced me to Frances McDormand was Madeline. I’d watch on repeat hearing the school girls say, “Good night, good night, Miss Clavel.”
With so many Reddit fans reminiscing on the good old days of VHS, it brings me back to when I would pop open my many VHS tapes to watch with my family. While we have the best streaming services at our disposal now to see our favorite childhood throwbacks, we still have home videos to thank for bringing beloved movies to our TVs to watch on repeat.