Best Family Movies of 1961

C.R. MacNamara will do anything to get a promotion within the Coca-Cola company, including looking after boss W.P. Hazeltine's rebellious teenage daughter, Scarlett. When Scarlett visits Berlin, where C.R. is stationed, she reveals that she is married to a communist named Otto Piffl -- and C.R. recognizes that Otto's anti-establishment stance will clash with his boss's own political views, possibly jeopardizing his promotion.

Two identical twin sisters, separated at birth by their parents' divorce, are reunited years later at a summer camp, where they scheme to bring their parents back together. The girls, one of whom has been living with their mother and the other with their father, switch places after camp and go to work on their plan, the first objective being to scare off a gold-digger pursuing their father.

During the US Civil War, Union POWs escape in a balloon and end up stranded on a South Pacific island, inhabited by giant plants and animals. They must use their ingenuity to survive the dangers, and to devise a way to return home. Sequel to '20,000 Leagues Under the Sea' .

Bumbling professor Ned Brainard accidentally invents flying rubber, or "Flubber", an incredible material that gains energy every time it strikes a hard surface. It allows for the invention of shoes that can allow jumps of amazing heights and enables a modified Model-T to fly. Unfortunately, no one is interested in the material except for Alonzo Hawk, a corrupt businessman who wants to steal the material for himself.

In Scotland 1865, An old shepherd and his little Skye terrier go to Edinburgh. But when the shepherd dies of pneumonia, the dog remains faithful to his master, refuses to be adopted by anyone, and takes to sleeping on his master's grave in the Greyfriars kirkyard, despite a caretaker with a "no dogs" rule. And when Bobby is taken up for being unlicensed, it's up to the children of Edinburgh and the Lord Provost to decide what's to be done.

Paramutual Pictures wants to know where all the money is going so they hire Morty to be their spy. Morty works for Mr. Sneak and gets a job in the mail room so that he can have access to the lot. But all that Morty ever finds is that he can cause havoc no matter what he does.

All roads lead to magical, merry Toyland as Mary Contrary and Tom Piper prepare for their wedding! But villainous Barnaby wants Mary for himself, so he kidnaps Tom, setting off a series of comic chases, searches, and double-crosses! The "March Of The Wooden Soldiers" helps put Barnaby in his place, and ensures a "happily ever after" for Tom and Mary!

Seven-year-olds Michael and Rachel are best friends who do everything together and who have vowed to remain friends "forever and ever and can't be parted for never and never". Unfortunately, the society that Michael and Rachel live in is one of religious intolerance. The fact that Michael is Irish Catholic and Rachel is Jewish is a point of conflict for just about everyone in the community.

Wile E. Coyote tries to catch the Road Runner using a sling shot, a grenade in a toy airplane whose propeller detaches and leaves the plane behind.

Bugs battles Wile E. Coyote. A ten trillion volt electric magnet draws everything imaginable.

Once upon a time, in the kingdom of Fortunia, a noble king and his lovely young queen lack but one blessing to make their joy complete. The queen gives birth to a daughter named Snow White, but dies soon after. The king mourns her, but in time, he remarries because of the pleading of his people. His new queen is a beautiful, but evil woman who soon becomes jealous of Snow White's beauty.

Sylvester Cat discovers that his son, Junior, has a new best friend - a bird named Spike. Aghast, Sylvester decides to teach his son the facts of feline life and goes with him on a bird hunt, which, as usual, isn't Sylvester's forte. He is hit with a badminton racket after he mistakenly shoots a badminton birdie and then is blown up when he sends a model plane after Spike and is himself shot at by the out-of-control plane and forced to take refuge in an explosives store shed, with the plane slipping in behind him and firing at the TNT.

Foghorn Leghorn courts Miss Prissy when a foundling is left on her doorstep. It is Henery the Chicken Hawk.

A family film about Nikki, a half-wolf, half-dog raised in the Yukon during the gold rush era. After being separated from her master, Nikki must fend for herself amidst bears, the harsh Yukon weather, and a trapper who wants her skin.

A gentle love story about a Japanese businessman and widower, and a Brooklyn widow. But before a happy ending can ensue, they must learn again the lessons of tolerance, kindness and forgiveness.

Speedy Gonzales helps provide cheese for the mayor's reelection campaign (and two hungry friends) by swiping it from the store guarded by Sylvester.

A mouse in a yellow hat helps himself to what he thinks is a huge lump of cheese in a bakery but, after chewing a hole straight through it.

A pudgy but tough-guy cat recruits Sylvester as his stooge to catch a mouse for his dinner, under the pretense of training Sylvester to be a champion mouser. Sylvester enters a warehouse and runs into the baby kangaroo, Hippety Hopper, and thinks, as usual, that Hippety is a giant mouse that must be fought.

In 1911, a widow with two children leaves New York City for territorial Arizona and becomes a ranch hand and later gets herself elected sheriff. A gambler and a rancher become rivals for her affections.

Sylvester Cat and a scrawny bulldog escape from a truck headed for the city animal pound and make like convicts on the lam.

This cartoon opens with a narrator introducing the ancient Greek Acropolis, describing its wealth and beautiful architecture. Tom is depicted as one of these inhabitants, an alley cat who lives in the shadows of Athens searching for food.

Every year the Chincoteague fire department rounds up the wild ponies of Assateague Island and holds an auction to thin out the herd. The young children set out to raise enough money in hopes that the Phantom will be caught in this years round up. They soon realize they will get more than they bargained for when the Phantom has a surprise for everyone: a foal named Misty.

Tom becomes fearless when he feels like going into the eerie castle.

In the ghost town of Spooksville, Arizona, Woody Woodpecker tangles with an outlaw who disguises himself as a ghost to scare Woody away.

The Boy Who Caught a Crook is a 1961 childrens film about a young boy who tracks down a gangster.

World War II GIs adopt an Italian war orphan.

A little girl imagines that the nursery rhyme characters in her book have come to life, and sees the story of "The Littlest Snowman" as well.

Wildlife adventure in an African game reserve.

After six months at sea, Popeye and Brutus see that Olive has become overweight after eating too much out of feeling lonely. Popeye wants to help her get thinner while Brutus says she is fine like that. The sailor's attempts to make her exercise are thwarted by his rival each time, ending with both Olive and Popeye trapped in the exercise machines the latter had bought. But eating spinach turns the tables and allows Popeye to trim down his beloved's pounds by using his forearms as a reducing machine. Brutus then decides to follow their example.

When a child nearly drowns his friends decide to start a local lifesaving and surf rescue club.

Three children track their lost piano with one note missing through London.

Created for Walt Disney Presents television series then expanded by popular demand into a full feature, Flash, the Teenage Otter follows one of Disney’s most beloved animal stars as he strikes out from his home at a Wisconsin wildlife sanctuary to see the wider world with all of its wonders and perils.

English schoolboy and his Dutch pen friend chase a diamond smuggling gang in Holland.