Family Films

A 1975 American Western film directed by Earl Bellamy. When the eldest daughter of a pioneer family is kidnapped by a mysterious Native American warrior, her teenage brother Sam Sutter (Stewart Petersen) sets out to rescue her. Along the way, he encounters a wise but alcoholic trapper named Russian (Richard Boone) who agrees to help him track down the unknown tribe. Their perilous journey into the remote Red Rock region of Utah brings them face to face with Chief Cut Tongue (Henry Wilcoxon), whose solution to the situation is treacherous — Sam must sacrifice his own life by passing the test of "Crooked Sky" and shield his sister from an executioner's arrow. The film is marked Public Domain on Archive.org.

Western · Adventure · Family

Olive Oyl writes a screenplay in which Popeye plays Aladdin, who uses a magic lamp and his spinach-fueled strength to win the princess from a wicked vizier. The third and last of the Fleischer Studios' two-reel Popeye color specials. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Animation · Family · Fantasy

The pilot for Walt Disney's Alice Comedies, made at his Laugh-O-Gram studio in Kansas City. A live-action girl, played by Virginia Davis, falls asleep in a cartoonist's studio and dreams herself into an animated Wonderland full of lions, dancing cats, and marching soldiers. The short mixes live-action footage of Davis with hand-drawn backgrounds and characters, a technique Disney would build an entire series around after moving to Hollywood. The film is in the public domain in the United States as a pre-1930 work.

Animation · Silent · Short · Family

A Hunky and Spunky cartoon from Famous Studios, the successor to Fleischer Studios. The mischievous young donkey Spunky gets into trouble when he won't stop kicking, and his mother Hunky must teach him a lesson. The Hunky and Spunky series was one of several cartoon properties Famous Studios continued after the Fleischers lost control of their studio. The film is in the public domain.

Animation · Family

Felix the Cat seeks shelter in a castle whose boisterous king boasts endlessly of his courage, until the ghosts of those he wronged rise to teach him humility. A Van Beuren Technicolor Felix cartoon directed by Burt Gillett. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Animation · Comedy · Family

A boy and his dog romp through a Technicolor musical fantasy extolling the joys of pet ownership, originally produced as a sponsored short for Ipana Toothpaste. Walter Lantz directed this Castle Films home-movie perennial. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Animation · Comedy · Family

Popeye is overjoyed about marrying Olive tomorrow, but she dreams of their future twin sons running wild and gives him a frosty reception the next morning. A Famous Studios Popeye cartoon directed by Izzy Sparber. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Animation · Comedy · Family

Colonel Bleep, the extraterrestrial envoy from the planet Futura, arrives on a remote Earth island to establish his headquarters alongside his friends Squeak the puppet boy and Scratch the caveman. An episode of the first color cartoon series made for television. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Animation · Sci-Fi · Family

Herman the mouse outwits a hungry cat and a dim-witted dog by pitting them against each other in a battle over the cheese he covets. A Famous Studios Noveltoon, the first solo cartoon for the Herman and Katnip series. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Animation · Comedy · Family

On Christmas morning an orphanage full of glum children finds their cheap toys breaking one by one, until a kindly inventor wanders in and conjures wonderful new playthings from his bag of tricks. A Fleischer Color Classics holiday short. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Animation · Comedy · Family

A silent Laugh-O-Gram retelling of the fairy tale, in which Cinderella is tormented by her stepsisters, transformed by a fairy godmother, and whisked to the royal ball, with her animal friends lending comic help. One of Walt Disney’s earliest Kansas City cartoons. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Animation · Comedy · Family

Colonel Bleep, an envoy from the planet Futura, receives his first assignment on Earth and sets up his island headquarters with the help of Squeak the puppet boy and Scratch the caveman. The debut episode of the first color cartoon series made for television. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Animation · Sci-Fi · Family

Colonel Bleep, Squeak, and Scratch dive to the ocean-covered planet Aqualand, where the villainous Dr. Destructo and his giant octopus Octo have stolen the priceless pearls of the Frog Men. A Colonel Bleep episode directed by Jack Schleh. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Animation · Sci-Fi · Family

Colonel Bleep and his companions find their holiday turned perilous when danger threatens their island base, testing the futuristic envoy's futomic powers. A Colonel Bleep episode directed by Jack Schleh. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Animation · Sci-Fi · Family

The sequel to Father of the Bride. Stanley Banks has finally accepted his daughter's marriage, only to learn she is expecting a baby, throwing him into a fresh panic about becoming a grandfather. Spencer Tracy, Elizabeth Taylor, and Joan Bennett reprise their roles. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Comedy · Family

A parade of fairy-tale characters gets the Looney Tunes treatment, from a lazy Grasshopper who refuses to fiddle to a Cinderella whose glass slipper shatters. A Friz Freleng-directed Merrie Melodies short. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Animation · Comedy · Family

Gabby Goes Fishing is a 1941 animated short from Fleischer Studios, distributed by Paramount Pictures. The seventh of nine cartoons starring Gabby, the blustering town crier introduced in the Fleischers' feature Gulliver's Travels (1939), it sends the know-it-all to a fishing hole where he sets out to teach a young boy how to land the really big ones — and ends up on the hook himself. Pinto Colvig, the original voice of Goofy, supplies Gabby's voice. The film is in the public domain through non-renewal.

Animation · Comedy · Family

Little Audrey tries to avoid a spanking from her teacher by hiding in a magical storybook world, where she encounters storybook characters and comic mischief. A Bill Tytla-directed Noveltoons short featuring Little Audrey. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Animation · Comedy · Family

Fleischer Studios' second animated feature, an adaptation of Jonathan Swift's tale of a shipwrecked sailor who washes ashore in Lilliput, a kingdom of tiny people at war with their neighbors. Made to compete with Disney's Snow White, it was only the second American animated feature ever released. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Animation · Adventure · Family

An educational Walt Disney short produced for the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs, contrasting two families to teach children in the Americas the importance of personal hygiene and sanitation. The film entered the public domain as a U.S. government work.

Animation · Educational · Family

A beleaguered dog named Hector endures a chaotic household in this Noveltoons short, as his attempts to find peace are constantly thwarted by his rambunctious family. A Bill Tytla-directed Famous Studios cartoon. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Animation · Comedy · Family

Abbott and Costello's musical comedy version of the classic fairy tale, directed by Jean Yarbrough. Costello plays Jack, a hapless boy who trades the family cow for magic beans, while Abbott plays Mr. Dinkelpuss, the shady butcher who swindles him. When the beans grow into a giant beanstalk, Jack and Dinkelpuss climb to the cloud kingdom, where they encounter a fearsome giant and a treasure beyond their dreams. The film was originally released in a two-color Cinecolor process and features songs by the Mellomen. It was the first Abbott and Costello film to be independently produced rather than made under their Universal contract. The film is in the public domain.

Comedy · Family · Fantasy · Musical

The man-cub Mowgli, raised by wolves in the Indian jungle, is drawn back toward the human village even as he battles the tiger Shere Khan and the cunning serpent Kaa. Sabu stars in Zoltan Korda's lavish Technicolor adaptation of Kipling's stories, filmed in India with real wildlife. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Adventure · Family · Fantasy

Knight of Death is a 1957 Colonel Bleep cartoon from Soundac Studios, directed by Jack Schleh. From their earth headquarters on Zero Zero Island, Colonel Bleep, Squeak the puppet boy, and Scratch the caveman battle intergalactic villains — in this episode facing the Black Knight. Colonel Bleep was the first color cartoon series produced for television. The film is in the public domain through non-renewal.

Animation · Sci-Fi · Family

A straitlaced 1880s New York stockbroker runs his household with the same rigid discipline he applies to business, while his warm-hearted wife quietly gets her way. William Powell and Irene Dunne star in this Technicolor adaptation of the long-running play. A young Elizabeth Taylor appears as the houseguest. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Comedy · Family

Mary Pickford stars in a dual role as both the young Cedric Errol and his devoted mother "Dearest" in this adaptation of Frances Hodgson Burnett's beloved 1886 novel. Cedric, a poor American boy living in Brooklyn, discovers he is the heir to an English earldom and is sent to live with his estranged, irascible grandfather in England, where his innocence and kindness gradually melt the old man's heart. Directed by Alfred E. Green with uncredited assistance from Jack Pickford, the film was one of Pickford's most successful productions and showcased her remarkable ability to play both a child and an adult in the same picture. As a work published before 1930, it is in the public domain in the United States.

Drama · Family · Silent

Confined to the corner with a dunce cap after flubbing a history quiz, Lulu dozes off and dreams of chasing Tubby through the pages of the history book — dodging Indians, meeting pirates, and taking a dip in the Fountain of Youth. One of the best-regarded of Famous Studios' Little Lulu cartoons for Paramount, directed by Bill Tytla with Cecil Roy voicing Lulu and Arnold Stang as Tubby. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Animation · Comedy · Family

Man Hunt on the Moon is a 1957 Colonel Bleep cartoon from Soundac Studios, directed by Jack Schleh. From their earth headquarters on Zero Zero Island, Colonel Bleep, Squeak the puppet boy, and Scratch the caveman pursue villains across the solar system. Colonel Bleep was the first color cartoon series produced for television. The film is in the public domain through non-renewal.

Animation · Sci-Fi · Family

Nightmare is a 1957 Colonel Bleep cartoon from Soundac Studios, directed by Jack Schleh. From their earth headquarters on Zero Zero Island, Colonel Bleep, Squeak the puppet boy, and Scratch the caveman face a terrifying dream adventure. Colonel Bleep was the first color cartoon series produced for television. The film is in the public domain through non-renewal.

Animation · Sci-Fi · Family

Jackie Cooper plays Bill Peck, the mischief-making boy of George W. Peck's stories, whose pranks and misadventures keep landing him in trouble just as his father (Thomas Meighan) is running for mayor. When Bill's well-meaning meddling threatens to torpedo the campaign, he has to set things right the hard way. Directed by Edward F. Cline — a veteran of the Keaton shorts — for Sol Lesser Productions. The film is in the public domain.

Comedy · Family

The first film adaptation of J.M. Barrie's play, made with Barrie's blessing and his personal choice of Betty Bronson for the title role. Herbert Brenon's production preserves the stage business, including an animal impersonator as the Darling family's dog Nana and the crocodile, and the famous moment when the audience is asked to clap if they believe in fairies. Ernest Torrence's Captain Hook set the template for every screen Hook to follow, and the film's success helped convince a young Walt Disney that Peter Pan was worth adapting himself. Long thought lost, a copy was recovered by film historian James Card in the 1950s. The film entered the public domain in the United States in 2020.

Fantasy · Adventure · Family · Silent

Popeye and Olive Oyl, traveling through the desert, are captured by the bandit Abu Hassan and his forty thieves, and Popeye must break loose and clean out the thieves' cave. The second of the Fleischer Studios' two-reel Popeye color specials. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Animation · Comedy · Family

Popeye, Olive Oyl, and Wimpy land on an island ruled by the boastful Sindbad and his menagerie of giant beasts, and Popeye must square off against Sindbad and his two-headed giant. The first of the Fleischer Studios' two-reel Popeye color specials, made in Stereoptical 3D. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Animation · Comedy · Family

A 1970 animated Christmas film directed by Barry Mahon and Tony Benedict. When a park ranger tells two bear cubs, Nikomi and Chinook, about Christmas and Santa Claus, they become determined to stay awake instead of hibernating so they can meet Santa. Their mother, Nana, cynically tells them there is no Santa, but the cubs' faith persists. The ranger is eventually persuaded to impersonate Santa to fulfill their wish. The theatrical release includes live-action bookend sequences directed by Barry Mahon, often edited out in television broadcasts. The film aired in syndication regularly during the holiday season for decades and is marked Public Domain on Archive.org.

Animation · Family · Fantasy

René Cardona's wildly strange Mexican Christmas fantasy. Santa lives not at the North Pole but in a castle in the sky, where he watches Earth's children through a spyglass eye and fights off the demon Pitch, sent by Lucifer to turn the kids of the world bad — starting with a poor girl who just wants a doll. The English dub distributed by K. Gordon Murray became a staple of American holiday television and a Mystery Science Theater 3000 favorite. The film is in the public domain in the United States.

Fantasy · Family · Comedy

Martian parents, worried that their children are sad and listless, decide the solution is to kidnap Santa Claus from Earth and bring him to Mars. Two Earth children get caught up in the scheme. A legendary low-budget holiday curio, infamous for its wobbly sets and a young Pia Zadora as one of the Martian kids. The missing copyright notice placed it immediately in the public domain.

Sci-Fi · Family · Comedy

Four animal musicians—a donkey, dog, cat, and rooster—set out for Bremen to become town musicians, but end up outwitting a band of robbers in a lonely house. A Walt Disney-directed Laugh-O-Gram short based on the Brothers Grimm fairy tale. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Animation · Comedy · Family

Felix the Cat rescues a goose that lays golden eggs from a greedy farmer who wants to exploit her, in this Van Beuren Rainbow Parade cartoon. A Burt Gillett-directed short featuring Felix in his brief 1930s color revival. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Animation · Comedy · Family

Jimmy Durante leads a down-on-their-luck vaudeville family whose Christmas turns around when Rupert, a trained squirrel, starts retrieving cash their miserly landlord has hidden inside a wall. Produced by George Pal — later famous for The War of the Worlds — with Rupert brought to life through Pal's signature stop-motion Puppetoon animation. Directed by Irving Pichel, the film blends holiday comedy with a gentle satire on sudden wealth. It is in the public domain through non-renewal of copyright, and later reissued in colorized form as A Christmas Wish.

Family · Comedy

Shirley Temple stars as Sara Crewe, a wealthy girl left at a strict boarding school when her father goes off to war. Reported dead, he is presumed lost and Sara is reduced to a servant, but she clings to her imagination and kindness. One of Temple's best-remembered features, lavishly produced in Technicolor. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Family · Drama

Little Audrey dreams of a fantastic adventure through a surreal dreamscape, only to find her dream turning into a comic nightmare before she wakes up. A Bill Tytla-directed Noveltoons short featuring Little Audrey. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Animation · Comedy · Family

The first episode of the 1958 Felix the Cat television series, created by Joe Oriolo. Felix strolls through the countryside carrying his Magic Bag of Tricks, a shape-shifting satchel that can become anything he needs—an escalator, a canoe, a picnic table. The Professor, watching from his laboratory, becomes obsessed with stealing the bag and uses a shrink ray to reduce Felix to miniature size. But the bag has a mind of its own, and Felix's ingenuity proves more than a match for the Professor's gadgets. The episode introduced the Magic Bag concept that would define the series across its 260 episodes, with Jack Mercer providing Felix's voice. The series is in the public domain.

Animation · Family · Comedy

An educational animated cartoon directed by Denis Gilpin, written by P.D. Eastman, and produced by Ed Cullen for the Equitable Life Assurance Society. The film uses an owl and a human character named Fred Jones to teach lessons about financial responsibility and planning, in the sponsored-film tradition of the 1950s when insurance companies and corporations produced educational content for schools and community groups. P.D. Eastman, later famous for children's books like Are You My Mother?, brought his character design sensibility to the animation. The film is in the public domain.

Animation · Short · Family

A faithful collie named Shep treks across the wilderness to find the man who framed her master for murder in a gold-mining camp. The last of MGM's Lassie feature films, sometimes retitled Lassie's Adventures in the Gold Rush. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Family · Adventure · Western

Mickey Mouse takes Minnie on a picnic, but their outing is disrupted by a mischievous Pluto making his first animated appearance. A Burt Gillett-directed Mickey Mouse short. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Animation · Comedy · Family

Paddy the Leprechaun emerges from his fairy shoe shop to mend shoes for the townsfolk at night, until he is discovered by a little girl who befriends him. A Bill Tytla-directed Noveltoons short. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Animation · Comedy · Family

A Noveltoons short from Famous Studios, directed by Seymour Kneitel. Lightning is said to be the fastest horse around and a sure bet for the Ups and Downs steeplechase, but when race time comes, the horse decides to take a nap instead. The jockey tries everything to wake him, and the real fun begins as he devises a plan to enter the race with a sleeping horse. Released June 9, 1950, the cartoon was produced by Famous Studios for Paramount Pictures. The film is in the public domain.

Animation · Short · Comedy · Family

An episode of Calvin and the Colonel, the 1961-1962 ABC animated sitcom created and voiced by Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll of Amos 'n' Andy fame. Colonel Montgomery J. Klaxon, a shrewd fox, and Calvin T. Burnside, a dimwitted bear, propagate an insurance scam: after the Colonel breaks his nephew's car, they try to buy auto insurance and cash in on the damage after the fact. The plot would have been right at home in Amos 'n' Andy, transplanted into a cartoon animal format to sidestep the controversy that had ended the live-action show. Aired February 3, 1962. The episode is in the public domain.

Animation · Comedy · Family

A Noveltoons short from Famous Studios, directed by Isadore Sparber. Spunky the donkey tries to enlist in the WAGS, an elite corps of Army dogs, but is rejected after a series of physical tests deem him unfit for service. When a flea attack cripples the dog unit, Spunky proves his worth by saving the day. Released October 27, 1944, the cartoon is a wartime morale piece wrapped in barnyard comedy, produced by Famous Studios for Paramount Pictures. The film is in the public domain.

Animation · Short · Comedy · Family