Best Family Movies of 1948

Porky and Sylvester spend the night in an old dark house, whose horrors only Sylvester sees. His repeated attempts to save Porky from the ghoulish doings of the killer mice infesting the place only make the skeptical Porky all the more convinced of Sylvester's cowardice.

Norwegian immigrant Marta Hanson keeps a firm but loving hand on her household of four children, a devoted husband and a highly-educated lodger who reads great literature to the family every evening. Through financial crises, illnesses and the small triumphs of everyday life, Marta maintains her optimism and sense of humor, traits she passes on to her aspiring-author daughter, Katrin.

Butch convinces Tom and Jerry that there's no reason to fight and they should all sign a peace treaty. Tom and Butch even rescue their pals from a fellow cat and dog. But then a steak falls off a truck and the boys can't decide how to divvy it up, ultimately losing it completely, and the truce is off.

Bugs is the test rabbit shot to the moon. There, he meets Commander X-2, who is intent on destroying the Earth with his Aludium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator.

In the grand tradition of Disney's great musical classics, Melody Time features seven timeless stories, each enhanced with high-spirited music and unforgettable characters. You'll be sure to tap your toes and clap your hands in this witty feast for the eyes and ears.

Tacey and Harry King are a suburban couple with three sons and a serious need of a babysitter. Tacey puts an ad in the paper for a live-in babysitter, and the ad is answered by Lynn Belvedere. But when she arrives, she turns out to be a man. And not just any man, but a most eccentric, outrageously forthright genius with seemingly a million careers and experiences behind him.

Little Henery the Chicken Hawk wants to prove he's big enough to hunt chickens, but he doesn't know what a chicken is. He labels Foghorn Leghorn a loud-mouthed shnook and dismisses him, prompting Foggy to indignantly try to prove he's a chicken and therefore fit to be Henery's prey.

In Scotland, Bugs Bunny rescues a woman from a monster. The "woman" is a kilted Scotsman, and the "monster" is his bagpipe. The Scotsman then challenges Bugs to a game of golf.

Mickey accidentally takes a seal home, after it sneaks into his picnic basket. When Mickey takes a bath, the seal is discovered and Mickey returns him to the park. Later, however, Mickey and Pluto discover that the bathroom is filled with seals!

The tale of Jeremiah Kincaid and his quest to raise his 'champion' lamb, Danny. Jeremiah's dream of showing Danny at the Pike County Fair must overcome the obstinate objections of his loving, yet strict, grandmother Granny. Jeremiah's confidant, Uncle Hiram, is the boy's steady ally.

Peter, an orphaned boy, is adopted by Gramp Frye after his parents are killed in Europe while doing war relief work. The boy feels safe with his new caretaker, but when he is taunted for being an orphan, he gets demoralized. The next day Peter wakes up with green hair. Embarrassed and further ridiculed, Peter seeks solace in a nearby forest. To his surprise, he finds other orphans in the woods, who encourage him to spread news of the injustices of war.

Heckling the Champ gets Bugs into the world championship fight as the challenger.

Sylvester sings opera and popular tunes while standing on a back alley fence; Elmer, who wants to sleep, tries to thwart him.

The lovesick B.O. Skunk is having no luck finding a mate, when Cupid gives him a book called "Advice for the Love-Worn" to help him out.

It's duck season, so Daffy plays hunter Elmer and a hungry fox off against each other.

Faithful dog Rusty helps his master's father win a mayoral race.

Donald gets off the bus and heads home hoping to get a good night's sleep. At first, his plans for rest are disturbed by an open window shade which lets light from a flashing sign in. After that problem is dealt with, Donald is kept awake by a persistently dripping faucet. Donald tries to ignore it but after a while, it becomes aggravating to put it mildly. Donald makes several attempts to stop the dripping and finally at least is able to keep it under control via a Rube Goldberg contraption. At this point, Donald receives a call from his water company telling him he hasn't paid his water bill so they're cutting off his water!

Donald is preparing a little picnic when he sees some ants passing by. He decides to tease one, ultimately by piling lots of food onto it. The ant eventually stumbles, but realizes Donald is sitting on a veritable gold mine. He rallies his fellow ants, and while Donald is napping, they cart him to a cliff and drop him into the river. When he returns to the raid in progress, he finds himself powerless to stop it. He dynamites the ant hill, but that only separates the ledge he's standing on, and he finds himself in the river again as the ants finish off a cupcake.

A much-abused cat really hates living with people, so decides to go to the moon for some peace and quiet.

William McClure is the villlage doctor in a remote Scottish glen. Tricked into buying Lassie, a collie afraid of water, he sets about teaching her to swim. At the same time he has the bigger problem that he is getting older and must ensure the glen will have a new local doctor ready.

On a cold winter's day, a stray dog is looking for shelter, then finds and sneaks into a cabin with an open fireplace and a cozy bed. But he has a stinky rival for occupancy of the cabin - a skunk.

Storyline Roger Henderson, the young son of a wealthy British gentleman, lives in one of those grand British country estates surrounded by huge gardens. When a Rembrandt painting is stolen from the vault in the basement of the mansion, Roger and John Wilson (young son of the butler) discover a secret tunnel leading from the vault to another building on the estate. They then set out on a dangerous mission to bring the smugglers to justice.

Narrator John Nesbitt laments the disappearance of the rural one-room schoolhouse in America. He reminisces about his own days as a student in such a school and how his teacher, Miss Turlock, influenced so many students. Many of them reunite at the school on Miss Turlock's last day, when the school was closed in 1940.

The feathered residents of Chirpendale are terrorized by an evil black crow by the name of "The Black Menace". But to the citizen's rescue comes a brave young taxi puller named Bill! In other words, every single role in this film is played by birds. Actual birds.

The romance of a rancher's niece and a rival rancher's son parallels that of a stallion and a mare.

A hungry indian tries to cook bugs, yet Bugs outwits him yet again. Banned for offensive depiction of Native Americans.

Barney Bear hunts a snowshoe rabbit, whose white fur makes him impossible to see in the snow and whose wiliness makes him impossible to catch.

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a timeless family holiday classic.

A short segment of the feature film Melody Time, re-released as a separate entity five years afterwards.

Narrator John Nesbitt reminisces about his hometown and childhood in this Passing Parade series short.

Mickey, in the Australian bush, throws a boomerang that gets caught in Pluto’s mouth. Mickey then discovers an egg of an emu. Unfortunately, the parent chases him, but Pluto and the boomerang zoom into his path, leaving the emu all tangled.

A group of people find themselves trapped in a creepy mansion, complete with secret passageways, a mad doctor and a murderous gorilla.

David and Monty are two friends of Susan and Betty Potter whose father runs a fleet of lorries. One by one, his lorries are involved in accidents and sabotage is suspected. The children are determined to find the culprits.

Danny Mitchell and his canine pal Rusty befriend blind girl Penny Moffatt. Feeling cheated by life, Penny resists all efforts to cope with her handicap. But with Rusty's help, the girl gains a new lease on life and agrees to adopt a seeing-eye dog.

An anthropomorphic jumping bean from Mexico causes Barney Bear no end of trouble.

A trio of young boys become involved in a criminal plot.

Animal puppets seek out Santa to find out why he doesn't deliver presents to them.

The twenty-minute Santa's Workshop was turned into a two-minute trailer, with which Suomi-Filmi Oy also presented its Christmas greetings.

This segment is a retelling of the story of John Chapman, who spent most of his life roaming Mid-Western America (mainly Ohio and Indiana) in the pioneer days, and planting apple trees, thus earning his famous nickname. Dennis Day narrates (as an "old settler who knew Johnny well") and provides the voices of both Johnny and his guardian angel. This segment was released independently on December 25, 1955 as Johnny Appleseed. The piece has a running time of "17 minutes [making it] the film's second-longest piece". Before being adapted as a segment in Melody Time, the story of Johnny Appleseed was "first immortalized around campfires", then later turned into "storybook form".