You never forget your best friend growing up. He never said no to playing outside. He was always there to ecstatically greet you every day after school. And he never turned his nose up to the mystery meat you sneakily slung under the dinner table (RIP, Rocky).
Canines are more than animals – they’re companions and forever friends, not to mention therapists, protectors, and entertainers. Of course, the list of doggie duties ranges, but one thing we can all agree on: Sharing your childhood with a dog is special. It’s a sensation that’s relatable, and one that translates fetchingly onto the big screen.
Come June 26, Max (PG, 2015), a movie about a kid who loses his marine brother to an explosion in Afghanistan but gains a new family member in his brother’s military dog named Max, hits theaters. A drama led by teenage breakout star Josh Wiggins, the film doesn’t shy away from some pretty heartbreaking material – two seconds into the trailer, and you’ll get the picture – but its themes of loyalty and love far outweigh a pile of tear-soaked tissues.
Speaking of tissues, go ahead and keep them at the ready. Below is a list of family friendly movies that celebrate the bond between kids and their furry BFFs. Some will make you laugh, most will make you cry, but all of them will remind you – and teach your kids – that there’s nothing like the love of a dog. Enjoy.
My Dog Skip (2000, PG)
A young Frankie Muniz plays gawky 8-year-old Willie; and a sociable Jack Russell has the title character. Set in a small Mississippi town under the influence of Uncle Sam in 1942, the film follows the boy from “Willie who?” to the Who’s Who of Yazoo – thanks, of course, to his smooth operator of a buddy, Skip.
Homeward Bound (1993, G)
About a trio of furry chatterboxes traveling cross-country to get home to their humans, The Incredible Journey checks off just about every adventure-tale essential: foraging rivers, traversing mountains, getting smacked in the muzzle by a porcupine. But it’s the unbreakable bond between a Golden Retriever and his boy that should get this one on your to-do list.
Old Yeller (1957, Approved)
There’s no way around it. Disney’s Old Yeller, based on the same-name novel that frequents fifth-grade reading curriculum, is a tragedy. Young Travis gets attached to a meat-stealing yellow dog, and it’s a relationship that ends with a lesson harder than the post-Civil War times in which the story is set.
Benji (1974, G)
Doggie heroes come in all shapes and sizes. Rin Tin Tin, K-9’s Jerry Lee, and Hooch bring it home for the large set. But leave it to a little, mangy-looking stray mutt who’s more emotive than Scooby-Doo to complete the biggest mission of all: save his two best kid friends who have been kidnapped.
Frankenweenie (2012, PG)
Death is a part of life. But Victor is making his own rules in Tim Burton’s gift to genre fans. When his beloved dog Sparky gets hit by a car, Victor puts on his Dr. Frankenstein lab coat for an experiment designed to bring Sparky back to life. And it works. Cue creepy mad scientist “It’s alive” phrase.
Lassie Come Home (1943, Approved)
You can’t have a four-legged-friend roundup without the mother of all pup stars: Lassie. You know her as the whip-smart Collie who saves the day with nary a hair out of place. But she got her start as the Carracloughs’ dog, a canine on a dangerous journey to reunite with her boy master, in the novel-turned-feature film Lassie Come Home.
DeAnna Janes is the former Entertainment Editor of DailyCandy and lives in New York City with her husband and two cats -- who still watch Frozen on a loop (yes, the cats). She has been published on a variety of entertainment sites. When she's not screening a film or writing about one, she's running to a film's soundtrack.
