Wednesday, December 30, 2015
The Top 10 Posts of 2015 on Adoption at the Movies
It’s been a very good year in cinema, with powerful,
psychologically-worthwhile films for kids – like Inside Out – and with surprisingly
positive stories like Creed. 2016 looks to be a good year for kids’ film, too –
Kung Fu Panda 3 comes out in January and will likely explore the reunification
of the Panda Warrior, Po, with his birth family. Adoption at the Movies is
excited to bring those reviews to you!
To close out 2015, here’s a list of the top ten most viewed
posts of the year on Adoption at the Movies. Thank you for being a loyal reader
– and please remember to subscribe to our free email list – make sure you get
every movie review, delivered straight to your inbox!
The Top 10 Posts of 2015
10. Home – The bumbling alien Oh is on the run from two
angry groups of aliens, and is captured by Tip. Tip has been separated from her
mother because of the alien activity, and tries to use Oh to find her mother.
9. Hotel Transylvania 2 – Dracula’s daughter has given birth
to the son of a non-vampire, causing her family to question whether her son is
truly a vampire. Her son is accepted by some members of the community, but some
in her own family despise her son for not being “one of them.” This movie
captures the strength of parental love in the face of an extended family member
not accepting a child for being genetically different from the family.
8. Remember My Story: ReMoved Part 2 – This crowdfunded
short film is the sequel to ReMoved,
and follows the story of Zoe, a young girl
who was taken into foster care. As this film unfolds, we see how Zoe makes it
through her childhood – and even more powerfully, we see how, as an adult, she
uses her childhood experiences to help others going through similar traumas.
7. The Peanuts Movie – Charlie Brown and his friends are
back. In this film, Charlie Brown tries to work up the confidence to finally
talk to the Little Red Haired Girl, but gives up opportunity after opportunity
to impress her in order to do the right thing. This film feels like it fits in
the familiar Peanuts world of comic strips and animated specials, but it
elevates Charlie Brown from a sympathetic everyman hero to one of the best
cinematic role models for kids ever.
6. Paddington – A cuddly bear travels from Peru to America
in search of a family. His best idea is to search for a researcher who had
spent time with him when he was a cub. Along the way, Paddington is taken in by
a family that meets him at chance. Together, they work to figure out what it
means to become – and stay – a family. One character expresses, “It doesn’t
matter that he comes from the other side of the world. We love him, so he’s
family. And that means we stick together.” This film could be especially encouraging
to children who have been adopted across national borders.
5. Black or White – In this story of kinship adoption, the
grandparents of a biracial child must navigate their complicated feelings
towards each other and their potentially conflicting desires to have custody of
their granddaughter.
4. The Good Dinosaur – In this recent Disney/Pixar film,
Arlo the Dinosaur has witnessed the death of his father, and is separated from
his mother. He encounters dangers, and ultimately is faced with a young boy who
he blames for his father’s death. Soon, though, he realizes that both he and
the boy, who he names Spot, are alone in the world – one without a family, and
the other separated by unknown distance. Together, they journey towards Arlo’s
home and towards family.
3. Pan – Pan drew many readers who were concerned about the
film’s negative adoption messages and scenes of kidnapping. If there was one disaster
of a film this year for adoptive families, it very well might have been this
one. So we turn from one of the worst films of the year to one of the best…
2. Inside Out – We are brought into the mind of
eleven-year-old Riley, whose life has been jostled by her parents’ decision to
move from Minnesota to San Francisco. Inside her mind, we see how Joy, Sadness,
Fear, Disgust and Anger interact with each other, and we learn along with Riley
that each emotion – even Sadness – serves a very important purpose. Inside Out is
one of the best films of the year.
1. The 2015 Adoption at the Movies Awards – Our annual
awards post honored Big Hero 6 as the best kids’ movie and best overall movie
of the year, and The Boxtrolls as the best cinematic adoptive family of the
year. The short film ReMoved and the Polish film Ida were also honored. Check
out last year’s awards – and get ready for the 2016 Adoption at the Movies
Award, coming up on Tuesday February 23, 2016!
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