Thanksgiving is just a few days away, which means it’s time to sit down with your brothers, sisters, children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews and enjoy some good, wholesome family entertainment. With that in mind, we present the latest installment in ComingSoon.net’s new regular feature IF YOU LIKE THIS… and this edition focuses on Family films. Check out our selections in the gallery below!
RELATED: IF YOU LIKE THIS… Halloween Edition
So what is IF YOU LIKE THIS… anyway? It gives us a chance to provide movie lovers sick of the same old perennial favorites by comparing popular or classic films with movies you may not have seen or even heard of. It’s a chance to do a deep dive into obscure cinema and maybe discover a new favorite based on your love of an old one! Think of it as a wine pairing but with movies, and a break from the usual.
In this Family edition we take popular kid flicks like Toy Story and Hotel Transylvania and pair them up with some delightful recommendations that, in many cases, have genuinely cool connections with these fan favs.
Which pairing from our IF YOU LIKE THIS… Family Edition will you check out? Let us know in the comments below!
IF YOU LIKE THIS... Family Movie Edition
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IF YOU LIKE… The Grinch (2018)
Illumination's new animated version of Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas is taking in big bucks at the box office but...
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YOU'LL LOVE… The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T. (1953)
...for an extra Seuss fix we recommend this live-action film written by and designed by the beloved children's author, which is one of the more bizarre and delightful films of that era.
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IF YOU LIKE… Hotel Transylvania (2012-2018)
The Adam Sandler monster mash trilogy has proven to be a box office powerhouse...
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YOU'LL LOVE… Mad Monster Party? (1967)
...and a huge influence on it was this stop-motion animated musical co-written by Mad Magazine creator Harvey Kurtzman.
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IF YOU LIKE… Toy Story (1995-2019)
Pixar co-founder John Lasseter may have kicked off the company with the Toy Story franchise...
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YOU'LL LOVE… The Brave Little Toaster (1987)
...but a decade earlier he tried to convince Disney to make The Brave Little Toaster as the first CGI feature film. He was immediately fired from Disney, and the film was eventually made as a charming low budget 2D film.
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IF YOU LIKE… A Christmas Story (1983)
Author Jean Shepherd's timeless holiday classic about Ralphie Parker and his family eventually got a theatrical sequel with 1994's My Summer Story...
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YOU'LL LOVE… Ollie Hopnoodle's Haven of Bliss (1988)
...but the original follow-up was a co-production between PBS and The Disney Channel that followed Ralph and his family on a road trip to a Michigan lakeside camp ground. Stand By Me's Jerry O'Connell starred, and Shepherd once again provided narration.
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IF YOU LIKE… The Peanuts Movie (2015)
Charles Schultz's timeless comic strip got the big CGI movie treatment a few years ago...
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YOU'LL LOVE… Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (and Don't Come Back!!) (1980)
... but our favorite in the series was the last 2D feature film released theatrically, which finds Chuck, Snoopy and Linus as foreign exchange students in France.
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IF YOU LIKE… Spirited Away (2001)
If you're a fan of Hayao Miyazaki's Oscar-winning anime masterpiece, then you will definitely appreciate...
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YOU'LL LOVE… The Great Yokai War (2005)
...The Great Yokai War, which features some zany far-out visuals from none other than Japanese gore master Takashi Miike (Audition, Ichi the Killer), making a children's movie for some reason!
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IF YOU LIKE… Hocus Pocus (1993)
This Bette Midler film has become a perennial Halloween favorite for its campy antics...
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YOU'LL LOVE… The Witches (1990)
...but we are also big fans of this adaptation of the Roald Dahl book about a young boy turned into a mouse by a coven of witches in a hotel.
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IF YOU LIKE… Uncle Buck (1989)
John Hughes' penultimate film as director found John Candy as an eccentric uncle having to take care of his nieces and nephews...
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YOU'LL LOVE… Mon Oncle (1958)
... and was very much inspired by this highly-visual Oscar-winning classic from French comedian Jacques Tati, which finds the star/director navigating the modern world with the help of his 9-year-old nephew.
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IF YOU LIKE… My Little Pony: The Movie (2017)
All our Brony readers surely loved the recent big screen take on the Mane 6...
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YOU'LL LOVE… The Last Unicorn (1982)
...and they might also love this animated fantasy about a unicorn (Mia Farrow) who discovers she is the last of her species and transforms into a human.
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IF YOU LIKE… The Goonies (1985)
In the same summer this Steven Spielberg-produced adventure about a group of spunky kids looking for buried pirate treasure...
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YOU'LL LOVE… Explorers (1985)
...overshadowed Joe Dante's fun flick about a group of spunky kids who build their own spaceship.
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IF YOU LIKE… Marley & Me (2008)
Fans of this hit film about a family that learns important lessons from a dog...
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YOU'LL LOVE… The Dog Who Stopped The War (1984)
...might also enjoy this family import from Quebec about a group of kids engaged in a mini-war over a snow fort in which a dog plays a pivotal part.
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IF YOU LIKE… The Iron Giant (1999)
Brad Bird's animated classic about a sentient alien robot who befriends a boy took a cue or two from...
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YOU'LL LOVE… The Invisible Boy (1957)
...this older film about a boy gifted with super intelligence who constructs a robot pal, played by Forbidden Planet's Robbie the Robot!
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IF YOU LIKE… Pirates of the Caribbean (2003-2017)
Disney made a mint off of the Johnny Depp-led Pirates franchise based on the theme park ride...
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YOU'LL LOVE… Blackbeard’s Ghost (1968)
...but decades earlier also channeled that same spirit in this lovable romp about a modern man (Dean Jones ) who gets assistance from the ghost of the famous pirate Blackbeard (Peter Ustinov).
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IF YOU LIKE… The Land Before Time (1988)
This animated dinosaur story captured the hearts of children and spawned a whopping THIRTEEN sequels...
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YOU'LL LOVE… Journey to the Beginning of Time (1955)
...but fans of it might also enjoy this little-seen Czechoslovakian family film about four teenage friends who take a rowboat along a "river of time" in which they see and interact with real live (stop-motion animated) dinosaurs.
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IF YOU LIKE… Wallace & Gromit (1989- 2008)
Nick Park's famous stop motion man and dog duo have had several beloved shorts and an Oscar-winning feature film...
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YOU'LL LOVE… Mr. Rossi’s Vacation (1976)
...but may have been inspired by the series of films featuring the eponymous Mr. Rossi and his talking dog Harold. This is one of three features made by animator Bruno Bozzetto with the characters.
