I was blessed with a dad who loved movies and bought many of them, in VHS and then in DVD. Just like many of us have a "soundtrack" to our lives of the most meaningful, memorable songs at important times, many of us have a "movie reel" to our lives of the most impactful movies we watched over and over again. It's like our childhood comfort food when life feels uncertain or out of control and adulting is too overwhelming - we can go back to consuming something familiar and enjoyable when life was simpler and we had fewer responsibilities.
Some context: I moved to the U.S. from China in 1995 at age 7 and graduated high school in 2006, so most of these movies are from within that time period. It took me a couple years to become fluent in English so I enjoyed many of the early movies without really understanding the plot or dialogue. I grew up in the period before internet streaming services so I mostly had access to the videos we owned, except for the occasional store-rented movie and stacks of classic old Hollywood movies I borrowed from the library during high school. Some of these are sequels and I didn't see the original I found them online years later. There are a ton of movies I love that I discovered after high school but 1994-1995 are arguably the best years for movies; they don't make them like they used to!
Here's the list in chronological order with some commentary:
The Parent Trap (1961) - Great CGI for the time turning Hayley Mills into twins!
The Sound of Music (1965) - My mom watched this many times to learn all the songs and I idolized Julie Andrews.
The Jungle Book (1967) - Americanized exoticism of India with jazz music.
Annie (1982) - Great music and start contrast in settings. Carol Burnett was charismatic and despicable.
Oliver and Company (1988) - Those animals led exciting lives in the big city!
Coming to America (1988) - The comedic genius of Eddie Murphy could be appreciated even with my limited English comprehension.
The Little Mermaid (1989) - I wanted so bad to be a mermaid and sing as beautifully as Ariel!
Beauty & the Beast (1991) - The talking objects were super fun for me as a kid, and all the songs of course.
Aladdin (1992) - What kid didn't want to ride on a flying carpet? Jasmine's voluminous hair and tiny waist are envy-worthy and totally unrealistic.
Home Alone 2 (1992) - This may have been the beginning of my love affair with New York City.
Macaulay Culkin is brilliant - favorite child actor hands down.
Sister Act (1992) - My introduction to glorious gospel music.
Cool Runnings (1993) - Loved their Jamaican accents and the physical comedy.
Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) - A perfect movie with great family values underneath the drag. Also a great soundtrack. Absolutely love Robin Williams. RIP.
Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) - Fascinating animation I'd never seen before and hauntingly beautiful music.
Baby's Day Out (1994) - The mishaps this baby survives is just amazing. Slapstick humor galore.
The Pagemaster (1994) - Pure fantasy during Macaulay Culkin's golden period.
The Santa Clause (1994) - A magical yet skeptical portrayal of Christmas traditions. I really liked Eric Lloyd and I love Tim Allen.
Little Giants (1994) - I didn't have any interest in or understanding of football but all the kid characters had such interesting personalities.
The Little Rascals (1994) - Adorable precocious kids and lots of slapstick humor!
3 Ninjas Strike Back (1994) - Full of funny scenes and quotes I would re-enact with my little brother. I need to watch movies 1 and 3 in this series!
Lion King (1994) - Didn't love the story line but the animation and music are just beautiful.
Richie Rich (1994) - Vicariously living the high life through him.
The Mask (1994) - The visual special effects were just astounding and Jim Carrey is such a good ham.
The Swan Princess (1994) - Intriguing storyline outside the Disney empire.
Forrest Gump (1994) - Tom Hanks is such an amazing actor and the soundtrack is so moving.
Clueless (1995) - Dreaming I'd be as cool of a teenager as Cher. Paul Rudd is dreamy.
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (1995) - Great martial arts with good friends beating intergalactic evil is pure entertainment.
Balto (1995) - Where I learned about diphtheria and felt sure I never want to live in Alaska.
A Little Princess (1995) - A British/Indian version of Annie. Sad but with a happy ending and comeuppance for the mean headmistress.
Father of the Bride II (1995) - Another movie with great acting and comedy that I didn't need to understand English to enjoy. Watched the first one and it's great too!
Toy Story (1995) - Just delightful, and so creative. Made me wish I had such cool toys.
Pocahontas (1995) - The first ethnic Disney princess I could kind of relate to, so graceful and brave.
Jumanji (1995) - Slightly terrifying and super entertaining.
Man of the House (1995) - Great slapstick with the teenager coming out on top and making adults seem like buffoons.
The Indian in the Cupboard (1995) - Magical to imagine (I never read the book) happening.
Casper (1995) - Made ghosts less scary, and I was a big fan of Christina Ricci and Devon Sawa. Fabulous soundtrack.
Now and Then (1995) - Fun carefree teenagers with a fiercely loyal friendship and crazy adventures. Also, I totally wanted their treehouse.
A Goofy Movie (1995) - A cross-country roadtrip where they should've died several times, and Big Foot! Fabulous songs.
Waterworld (1995) - What a crazy existence in a post-apocalyptic world without dry land!
Matilda (1996) - She was so cool and so misunderstood. Grateful my parents weren't that mean and clueless.
Dunston Checks In (1996) - Fun kid adventures in a fancy hotel where the chimp wins!
The Nutty Professor (1996) - Eddie Murphy can really work a fat suit.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) - A dark tragedy but I wanted to be as beautiful as Esmeralda.
James and the Giant Peach (1996) - Loved the clay-mation and fantastical adventures, and that his evil aunts got their comeuppance! Never read the book.
Jingle All the Way (1996) - Arnold's accent is amusing in such a modern American context and the ridiculous lengths a father will go to satisfy his kid's commercial desires.
101 Dalmatians (1996) - Hugh Grant and Glenn Close are delightful to watch. I hadn't seen the old cartoon version.
Twister (1996) - Tornados seemed like a crazy distant phenomenon from where I grew up in Seattle!
Space Jam (1996) - What even is the plot?! A super silly movie but at least it gave us "I Believe I Can Fly".
Jungle 2 Jungle (1997) - It's always fun to see people adjusting to culture shock in contrasting environments, and I love Tim Allen.
Liar Liar (1997) - Realizing now this was super inappropriate for kids but I didn't understand all the sex references back then, and Jim Carrey is just so fun to watch!
Hercules (1997) - I watched trailers of this in other movies for months before it came out right after I moved from Guam to Seattle. Absolutely loved all the music and I wanted to be Meg.
Home Alone 3 (1997) - Totally underrated and just as entertaining as the first 2 in the series.
Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves (1997) - Crazy to imagine if we had this technology! I'm a Rick Moranis fan.
Titanic (1997) - I'd barely learned about the Titanic in school, and my mom and I eagerly awaited its release. Getting the 2 VHS set was a special treat!
George of the Jungle (1997) - Brendan Fraser is fun to watch and wow what a treehouse!
The Borrowers (1997) - What if there really are tiny little people taking our stuff around the house?!
Flubber (1997) - Didn't care for the green gloop but I love Robin Williams!
Anastasia (1997) - A really different look from Disney and I kept trying to separate the real history from the cartoon liberties.
Men in Black (1997) - Will Smith is so cool and the aliens were gross but I couldn't look away!
Small Soldiers (1998) - The dark live action version of Toy Story.
The Parent Trap (1998) - Hated Lindsay Lohan's British accent and the song "L-O-V-E" but I loved the story enough to enjoy this remake.
Mulan (1998) - Finally, an Asian - Chinese! - Disney princess! I asked my mom if Mulan was really that beautiful and she said no one knows, she's kind of a myth.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1998) - Jim Carrey acting under all that makeup and costuming is impressive, plus just the magic of seeing everyone and everything in Whoville.
A Bug's Life (1998) - Really cool animation, kinda gave me sympathy for bugs which I normally hate.
Prince of Egypt (1998) - Bringing the Bible story to life before I ever joined the LDS Church and read it.
Tarzan (1999) - Another jungle movie with jazz music...hmm I now see the racist undertones.
Iron Giant (1999) - Totally underappreciated genius in this cartoon story.
Stuart Little (1999) - Adorable, and everyone/everything is perfectly groomed in this NYC picture book.
Emperor's New Groove (2000) - Endlessly amusing and hilarious with the best characters. So many great quotes.
Road to El Dorado (2000) - A fun dangerous adventure with a couple of carefree buddies. Also great songs.
Miss Congeniality (2000) - I absolutely love Sandra Bullock. Girl power!
Legally Blonde (2001) - This made the Ivy Leagues seem attainable to every girl and showed that a true man will respect and encourage women's intellectual and professional growth!
The Princess Diaries (2001) - I love Julie Andrews. Anne Hathaway took time to grow on me but she did.
Spy Kids (2001) - This was basically the live action version of The Incredibles. They had cool spy toys.
Spiderman (2002) - A relatable superhero in the glamour and grittiness of NYC.
A Walk to Remember (2002) - Didn't read this book but I definitely cried when Shane West went to his estranged dad for help with Mandy Moore's illness.
Finding Nemo (2003) - I watched this in theaters twice in one week! Fascinating animation and delightful characters. I became a big fan of Ellen DeGeneres.
The Incredibles (2004) - Such a cool family, and great commentary on the importance of finding a career path where your strengths are valued and rewarded!
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