Best holiday family films of 2009

Astro Boy (Oct 23)
Remember that legendary anime TV series about a flying android with the Bob’s Big Boy ’do? (Sing it with us: “Soaring high in the sky / He may be small but only in size!”) Japan’s No. 1 robot-tot returns to thrill a new gaggle of nerdlings, as he jet-packs through a colorful Metro City to fight military bad guys and evil machines. Older kids will dig hearing Nicolas Cage and Freddie Highmore voice the father and son; even with all the hullabaloo, however, younger children may find themselves astronomically bored. PG.
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This Is It (Oct 27)
Today’s youngsters will never get the chance to see Michael Jackson moonwalk across a live stage, but this doc on the Gloved One’s attempt to make a comeback via 50 concerts in London will give them a glimpse into why the reclusive musician was so revered. Though it’s composed primarily of rehearsal footage and folks gushing over the King of Pop’s greatness, the fact that this and future generations of fans can witness Jackson doing one last time what he did best—dance, sing and concoct the sort of highly choreographed spectacle that’ll cause your arm hairs to stand on end—makes the film a fitting tribute. This really is it. PG.
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A Christmas Carol (Nov 6)
Jim Carrey plays Scrooge—and all three of the ghosts who come to teach literature’s most cantankerous holiday-hater the meaning of cheer —in the latest adaptation of the perennial Christmas tale. Director Robert Zemeckis does for this Dickens classic what he did for The Polar Express in 2004: turns everything into a motion-capture animated film that looks digitally embalmed. Still, we’re betting not even such creepy toon treatment can dent this fail-safe favorite or keep tweens from getting Carreyed away. PG.

Fantastic Mr. Fox (Nov 13)
We always figured that Roald Dahl’s 1970 kid-lit staple about a wily fox would make a good flick. What’s surprising is that twee Indiewood godhead Wes Anderson would end up being the gent to finally bring it to the big screen. But Anderson’s idiosyncratic, college-rock sensibility and Dahl’s young-adult-friendly satire complement each other beautifully. And whoever figured out that stop-motion animation is the best way to filter this director’s detail-obsessed visuals without sacrificing storytelling deserves a lifetime of Farmer Bean’s delicious apple cider. Getting A-list stars George Clooney, Meryl Streep and Bill Murray to voice the characters didn’t hurt, either. PG.
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Planet 51 (Nov 20)
Here’s one with a twist: An astronaut (voiced by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson) lands on a planet populated by little green people…who immediately freak out and treat him like a strange, scary extraterrestrial. Thankfully, a young alien helps our hero phone his ride home. The cleverly skewed take on E.T. may be enough to distinguish this sci-fi parody from the rest of the season’s animated pack, and children will no doubt get a kick out of their suburban Martian counterparts. We’re crossing our fingers that the pop-cultural joke-per-minute ratio doesn’t exceed the titular number. PG.
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The Twilight Saga: New Moon (Nov 20)
Brooding bloodsuckers! Hunky werewolves! Screaming preadolescents! Stephenie Meyer’s megapopular soap-opera-with-fangs continues, as star-crossed lovers Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart keep doing the should-we, shouldn’t-we tango and the newly muscular Taylor Lautner throws a monkey wrench into the works every full moon or so. Too scary for kiddies and too overwrought for most parents, this latest chapter of torrid vampire romance über alles is certain to keep mature tweens oohing and ahhing throughout the Thanksgiving weekend. Fangs a lot, guys. PG-13.
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The Princess and the Frog (Nov 25)
It’s about freakin’ time that Disney introduced an African-American princess (better late than never, we guess). This update on the fairy tale incorporates New Orleans jazz, voodoo-practicing villains, Oprah Winfrey as a loving matriarch and a slight twist: When the heroine gives a smooth-talking amphibian a smooch, she turns into a frog as well. Be prepared for a whole new wave of princess love (and princess-related merchandise)that’s sure to greet Disney’s welcome return to standard 2-D cell animation. No bells and whistles here, folks; just good old-fashioned musical numbers, farting insects and a mess of tiara-filled temper tantrums. G. Click here for info on Disney’s The Princess and the Frog: The Ultimate Disney Experience, a special screening of the film that also includes games and special appearances by all nine Disney princesses.
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Avatar (Dec 18)
Blue-skinned extraterrestrials with pointy ears; lush computer-generated landscapes, spaceships and dinosaurs; and angry, angry robots…we’re not exactly sure what James Cameron’s years-in-the-making sci-fi epic is actually about, but man, does it look amazing! Of course, any child under eight will take one look at that yowling fanged creature from the trailer and head straight to Nightmare City. But the Titanic director has pulled out all the stops to ensure this is the most visually yowza! ) film of the year, complete with cutting-edge IMAX 3-D technology designed for maximum in-your-face-ness. This movie may do for today’s tweens what Star Wars) did for the feather-coiffed youngsters of the ’70s: blow their collective minds to smithereens. Not yet rated, but we’re predicting PG-13.

Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel (Dec 25)
Because who can get enough of those sweater-clad CGI rodents with the helium-shrill voices? Okay, we know the tykes have been clamoring for more ’munks ever since that 2007 movie taught kids the art of singing along to sped-up ditties. This, um, “squeakuel” ups the ante by giving Alvin, Simon and Theodore a trio of female counterparts (voiced by Amy Poehler, Anna Faris and Christina Applegate). Jason Lee and David Cross provide the requisite human element. Your children will squeal with delight. You will insert the earplugs posthaste. Not yet rated, but probably PG.

Sherlock Holmes (Dec 25)
Arthur Conan Doyle’s legendary man of deductive logic is back, and this time he’s…a gung-ho action hero. Really? It’s safe to say that:

(1) Director Guy Ritchie and Robert Downey Jr.’s reimagining of the pipe-smoking detective is a far cry from your father’s Sherlock;

(2) For tweens looking for a whiz-bang blockbuster fix, the film may be a gateway drug to reading Doyle’s books; and

(3) The mix of fisticuffs, supernatural shenanigans and a beefed-up Downey appearing in the buff will be way too intense and inappropriate for the younger set.

Still, will your older kids have a blast? That, my friends, is elementary. Not yet rated, but you can bet on PG-13.

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