Best Family Movies of 1947

Tom enters from stage left in white tie and tails, sits at the piano, gets his focus as the orchestra in the pit beneath him warms up, and begins to play Liszt's "Hungarian Rhapsody". Unbeknownst to Tom and the audience, Jerry is asleep across several of the high-note keys inside the instrument, so Tom's playing eventually wakes him. Jerry is pummeled by hammers, bounced by wires, and squeezed by Tom as the cat tries to play the concerto while dispensing with Jerry. Jerry's defensive antics add to the brio of the program and answer Tom with Jerry's own skillful musical attack. By the concerto's end, the duet leaves only one animal standing for the audience's applause.

A mysterious thief has stolen the prosperous Happy Valley's most prized possession: the musical Singing Harp. Can Mickey, Donald, and Goofy find the answer in the irritable Willie the Giant's magnificent castle up in the blue sky?

Jiminy Cricket hosts two Disney animated shorts: “Bongo,” about a circus bear escaping to the wild, and “Mickey and the Beanstalk,” a take on the famous fairy tale.

This time Bugs' race with Cecil Turtle features a rocket-powered tortoise shell.

Donald needs a log for his fire. Unfortunately, the one he picks is occupied by a couple of chipmunks and their stash of acorns. When he cuts it down, Chip and Dale fall out, but their acorns stay behind, so they work at putting out Donald's fire and retrieving their stash. Donald, of course, takes this as calmly and cheerfully as you would expect.

Thomas the cat finds Tweetie in the snow, warming himself by a cigar butt. Thomas's mistress rescues the little yellow bird before her cat can devour him, but Thomas doesn't give up.

A straitlaced turn-of-the-century father presides over a family of boys and the mother who really rules the roost.

Chester Wooley and Duke Egan are travelling salesmen who make a stopover in Wagon Gap, Montana while enroute to California. During the stopover, a notorious criminal is murdered, and the two are charged with the crime.

Snowbound in a remote cabin, two starving men begin visualizing each other as food. When salesman Daffy Duck calls at their door, it doesn't take long before the men set their minds on having Daffy as their dinner.

Mice Hubie and Bertie wander into an automated house of tomorrow.

In this Puppetoon animated short film (an Academy Award Best Short Subject, Cartoons nominee), Tubby the Tuba is disappointed that his sound limits what he's permitted to do in an orchestra of self-playing instruments that, unlike him, get to play pretty melodies. A chance meeting with a bullfrog changes everything.

Family drama about a young farm girl, suddenly orphaned, who must give up her beloved dog when she's sent to live with her aunt in Boston.

Seven children from around the world follow Santa home on Christmas Eve and decide to surprise him with some help around the house while he sleeps.

Two polite twin gophers raid a vegetable patch guarded by a rather smug dog, whose various unsuccessful schemes to nullify the crafty and modest gophers involve a female gopher disguise, a hand grenade, and a carrot stuffed with TNT.

Donald Duck would never believe it, but he suffers from sleepwalking. In this blessed innocent state he makes a nightly call at Daisy's, as if it were the time of their romantic appointment; knowing one should not wake or contradict a sleepwalker, she plays along, but finds it increasingly difficult to follow Donald and prevent him coming to harm when he ignorantly strolls the most dangerous places, such as the lion's cage in the zoo, including impossible ones, such as up a wall and even upside down. When she finally gets Donald safely in bed, he wakes up and thinks, seeing her sneak out, she's the sleepwalker.

An orphan helps a doctor fight an epidemic in a small western town, in one of Allan Dwan’s closely observed studies in Americana.

Striving to be like all the high-class dogs in their fine coats, a little hairless pooch borrows a black and white fur coat of her owner, not realizing it makes her appear to be a skunk. Once she has it on, she finds everyone fleeing from her - everyone, that is, except for the amorous Pepé Le Pew.

The snow covered mountains; but not to worry, rescue dog Pluto is on duty. Actually, given that he barely keeps himself safe, maybe you should worry. A playful seal keeps stealing his cask of grog.

Figaro is hungry for a small, yellow canary named Frankie but must pass a barrier; Minnie Mouse.

The 1890s; a picnic in the park. A man is pitching woo to his girl, while behind them a steady stream of ants is methodically devouring and carting off their food. Some other interludes include four ants eating Russian rye bread, then breaking for a Russian dance; a torch singer that sends everyone scurrying for some kind of ear plugs; a chef ant that coordinates the creation of three sandwiches that the humans eat.

A flea befriends a horsefly, who has hooves like those of a horse, and rides the horsefly into the hair of a dog. The flea chops down strands of the dog's hair to use as "logs" with which to build a cabin, unaware that the dog's coat is the sacred territory of a tribe of Indian fleas, who declare war on the interlopers. The Indians capture and are about to burn the flea and the horsefly when the dog jolts in pain from the fire. The flea and the horsefly free themselves and flee the Indians through the hairs on the dog's carcass.

In Australia, five children pursue horse thieves through the mountains.

Also released as Montana Mike, Heaven Only Knows is an offbeat western with fantasy overtones. Hard-bitten gambling boss Brian Donlevy rules his frontier community with brawn and bullets. To his dismay, Donlevy discovers that he has a guardian angel (Robert Cummings), who shows up in the guise of an Eastern tenderfoot. The angel has been sent from Above to save Donlevy's soul, and to that end encourages the one-time villain to squire a minister's daughter (Jorja Curtwright) rather than his usual dance-hall girls. Donlevy is also given tips on winning against his enemies without resorting to gunplay. The gambler finally redeems himself with Heaven by rescuing the angel from a lynch mob (how can you lynch an angel?) Heaven Only Knows deserves an "E" for Effort for bringing a fresh twist to the venerable western genre.

HE'S BACK!...in the most human heart-warming picture in years!

Popeye and Olive are on a safari, he with a gun and she with a camera. She wanders off to stalk a chimp, and happens across Bluto as a Tarzan-like character. She's smitten, as is he, so he shows off a bit. Popeye finally catches on, and they start the usual round of fighting and one-upmanship. Bluto summons a wide array of animals, and while Popeye's occupied, hauls Olive high into a treehouse. With some help from the chimp, Popeye has his spinach and turns most of the animals into fur coats (on a rack the chimp pushes through the melee), then rescues Olive by hauling on the tree's roots until she's at ground level.

The fourth film in Columbia's "Rusty" series is a lecture against spreading gossip. A young army veteran comes to town, and Danny and his friends learn that he had spent time in a military stockade for an infraction of a regulation. Danny's friends spread the story all over town. The seriousness of the minor infraction grows with each telling. As a sidebar, Rusty finds a mate and becomes a father.

This short film focuses on four songs, "The Band Played On", "Daisy Bell" (a.k.a. "A Bicycle Built for Two"), "Come Josephine in My Flying Machine", and "The Man on the Flying Trapeze", that have become American standards.

This latter-day parable focuses on two brothers. Peter Rogers is an ambitious, hard-driving attorney. Bob Rogers is a thoughtful, contemplative doctor who decides to forsake his practice to do missionary work in war-torn China. When Peter's young son is tragically killed in an accident, he visits his brother and learns first-hand the importance of compassion and charity. In a world rocked by strife and pain, love can overcome and triumph.

Lulu's father, wishing to relive his days as a boyscout and to help Lulu get into the girlscouts, takes his daughter on a camping trip.What follows is hysterical.

At the Canadian National Exhibition, a young boy gets separated from his parents and meets some celebrities.

A holiday favourite for generations... George Bailey has spent his entire life giving to the people of Bedford Falls. All that prevents rich skinflint Mr. Potter from taking over the entire town is George's modest building and loan company. But on Christmas Eve the business's $8,000 is lost and George's troubles begin.

An odd Christmas short featuring idyllic scenes of Christmas and Santa wearing a creepy mask.

The unusual talents of Johnny Price, a minor league baseball pitcher and trick artist, are showcased in this Pete Smith Specialty. Among other talents, Mr. Price can throw two (and, in certain situations three) baseballs simultaneously to different people. The catchers can be side by side, with one high and one low, or standing on the pitcher's mound and second base while Price throws the ball from the catcher's position. He can even perform these feats while suspended upside-down.

The deep unbreakable bond between a wild stallion and the boy he rescues is chronicled in this children's adventure.

An overview on how bookkeeping is an important skill, particularly when it comes to running a business, a farm, or your personal finances.

A present for Santa Claus

Describes the making of a puppet in detail from the carving of the head to the fitting of the strings. Close-ups show how the movements of the various limbs are achieved and finally the film portrays a brief episode in the story of Hansel and Gretel.