Revisiting Childhood FavoritesLists that dissect and analyze (and possibly ruin) some of the movies and TV you watched over and over and over and over when you were a kid.
Underrated Kids Shows That Should Be Rebooted
Strange Facts to Know About The Wizard of Oz
We Need To Talk About Kevin McAllister
Well, That Was Inappropriate
Disturbing Scenes Wisely Cut from Kids Movies
The Mighty Ducks Movies Are All Terrible
WTF Was Up with Anastasia
Secretly Tragic Family Classics
Can You Still Enjoy The Goonies?
Those Fictional Kids Would Be Totally F*cked
Narnia Is Pretty Disturbing
Winnie the Pooh Is All About Mental Illness
'90s Favorite Films That Were So Messed Up
Giving Thanks for Space Jam
'Good' Parents Who Should Lose Custody
The Lion King Is So, So Brutal
On-Set Stories from Willy Wonka
Too Scary Even for Grown-Ups
'Beethoven' Was a Dark Dog Movie
Movies That Taught Awful Lessons
All Your Faves, Totally Ruined
The Neverending Story Is Bleak AF
Movies & Shows with Terrible Life Lessons
Surprisingly Gruesome Deaths
The Land Before Tearjearking Trauma
These Kids Should Be Grounded
Spy Kids Is Truly Unsettling
Non-Scary Films That Terrified You Anyway
Pee-Wee's Big Traumatizing Adventure
Matilda Was Dark as Night
Sure, Their Kids Were Having an Adventure...
The Darkness of The Dark Crystal
Mortality in Kids Shows & Movies
An American Tail Was Super Depressing
The Parent Trap Is Messed Up
Kids Movies Only Adults Like
Extreme Villain Deaths in Kids' Movies
Creepiest Eps of Beloved Kids Cartoons
Cartoons with Heartbreaking Origin Stories
Movies That Just Don't Hold Up
Bleak Truths About Classic Cartoons
Entertainment
Movies You Loved As A Child That Just Don't Hold Up
Updated April 16, 2021 242.3k votes 28.1k voters 1.0m views
List Rules
Vote up the movies you used to love.. but yeah, now that you think about it, are really just awful.
Movies are an integral part of childhood. We can all remember the first movie we saw in the theater, the first one we tried to watch when our parents weren't looking, and the ones that moved us or even shaped who we are today. For millennials, most of their movie memories from their impressionable years were made during the '90s - but those films don't always hold up well today.
A funny thing happens: we grow up, and suddenly not all the movies we adored when we were kids hold up decades later to our adult minds, imaginations, and high standards. You might have thought Independence Day rocked back in the day, but would you go for it now? When is the last time one of your friends suggested a Blair Witch Project evening? You see what we're getting at.
A lot of the movies on the following pages still have their defenders, so don't be a hater... vote it down instead of up. The ones hovering near the top are the movies you feel just don't hold up for whatever reason. Is one of your childhood favorites on the list?Â
Madonna was still high atop her pop throne in 1991 when the behind the scenes documentary Madonna: Truth or Dare came out. We watched because, well, Madonna was a megastar and the movie purported to give some insight into what she was really like.
We've long since grown tired of Madge's desperate plays for attention in the decades since, so when we see her making fun of Kevin Costner after he gives her a compliment or watch her acting like a spoiled child backstage, it just comes across as obnoxious. This isn't anyone with whom you want to spend time.
Actors: Madonna, Donna De Lory, Niki Harris, Luis Camacho, Oliver Crumes Jr.
You loved the cartoon Inspector Gadget, so Disney smelled dollar signs and crafted this live-action version starring Matthew Broderick as the bumbling titular security guard. You might have given this a pass back in the day because you were still high on the fumes from the popular cartoon, but let's be honest: this live-action update is charmless and most of the gags fall flat. They don't get any better over a decade later.
Actors: Matthew Broderick, Rupert Everett, Joely Fisher, Michelle Trachtenberg, Andy Dick
Some of you out there can still name a Spice Girls song. A few of you can probably even sing one! Spiceworld was made for you and for fans of the bubbly British pop tarts. The problem with movies starring pop stars is that pop stars rarely endure for years, so when they reach the end of their short shelf life, their films end up in the bargain bin.
Actors: The Spice Girls, Richard E. Grant, Alan Cumming, George Wendt, Claire Rushbrook
Jodie Foster has always been very choosy with her roles, so when one of her movies came out, people paid attention to the woman who played Clarice Starling in Silence of the Lambs.
In Nell, Foster plays some kind of oddball mountain hermit who says profound things like "chicka, chicka, chickabee" and other nonsense. It might have seemed avant-garde and brave at the time, but now it just elicits giggles.
Actors: Jodie Foster, Liam Neeson, Natasha Richardson, Nick Searcy, Robin Mullins
