Best Family Movies of 1972

The Once-ler, a ruined industrialist, tells the tale of his rise to wealth and subsequent fall, as he disregarded the warnings of a wise old forest creature called the Lorax about the environmental destruction caused by his greed.

The film focuses on the representatives of the Thirteen original colonies who participated in the Second Continental Congress. 1776 depicts the three months of deliberation (and, oftentimes, acrimonious debate) that led up to the signing of one of the most important documents in the History of the United States, the Declaration of Independence.

With the school election looming, Linus is talked into running for school president. With Lucy and Charlie Brown as his campaign manager and Snoopy and Woodstock assisting, he stands a decent chance of victory. Soon however, he makes unrealistic promises and learns the hard way that preaching about the Great Pumpkin can not be considered a sound campaign strategy.

Mysterious old solicitor Mr. Blunden visits Mrs. Allen and her young children in their squalid, tiny Camden Town flat and makes her an offer she cannot refuse. The family become the housekeepers to a derelict country mansion in the charge of the solicitors. One day the children meet the spirits of two other children who died in the mansion nearly a hundred years prior. The children prepare a magic potion that allows them to travel backwards in time to the era of the ghost children. Will the children be able to help their new friends and what will happen to them if they do?

After being hunted to near-extinction, the last male Eskimo curlew searches for a mate while making the annual migration from the arctic tundra to the nesting grounds in Argentina.

Dexter Riley is a science student at Medfield College who inadvertently invents a liquid capable of rendering objects and people invisible. Before Dexter and his friends, Debbie and Richard Schuyler, can even enjoy their spectacular discovery, corrupt businessman A.J. Arno plots to get his greedy hands on it. Slapstick hijinks ensue as Dexter and his pals try to thwart the evil Arno before he can use the invisibility spray to rob a bank.

When John Baxter inherits a ski resort in the Rocky Mountains, he quits his job in New York and moves the family west to run it. Only to find that the place is a wreck. But together they decide to try to fix it up and run it. But Martin Ridgeway, who wants the property, does everything he can to ensure it will fail.

The story about the first love.

A talking squirrel must save the holiday by rescuing a young Pilgrim boy and a young Native American boy that has gone missing in the woods on Thanksgiving day.

A young girl named Addie, living in Nebraska in 1946 wants nothing more for the holidays than a Christmas tree, but her widowed father, is bitter and refuses due to events from the family's past.

John Thornton, is a fearless man who's after more than gold; he wants to do what's right. Thornton works for the U.S. mail and is the only person daring and smart enough to figure out how to travel the deadly 600 miles from Skagway to Dawson, Alaska in the icy winter. His incredibly dog Buck is by his side and part of how he survives.

An all-star cast highlights this vibrant musical adaptation of Lewis Carroll's immortal tale. One day, plucky young Alice follows a white rabbit down a hole and discovers a world of bizarre characters.

Young Jim Hawkins finds himself serving with pirate captain Long John Silver in search of a buccaneer's treasure, in this short adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic tale.

Four mistreated farm animals seek refuge as a band of traveling musicians in this musical tale narrated by Kermit the Frog.

The name Michael O'Hara has become synonymous with law enforcement. There have been three generations of Michael O'Haras and all have been exemplary policemen. When Michael O'Hara III's child was born he was told that they would not be able to have any more children, and there has always been a Michael O'Hara, so he named his child Michael O'Hara IV despite the fact that she is a girl. Now Mike has a tendency to get involved with police matters and not always with good results, which annoys her father. And despite being told repeatedly to stay out of it, she continues her amateurish detective activities.

This is the story of the foundation sire of the Morgan Horse Breed.

The only survivor of a ship's crew, Robinson finds himself alone with his dog, his cat and his parrot on an almost deserted island...

When Elsa's three mischievious cubs begin wreaking havok on the nearby villages, Joy and her husband are forced to move them hundreds of miles to a game preserve.

Chandar is a black leopard who lives near the beach of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) together with his mother and his sister.

The special is set in a town almost like in Disney's Lady and the Tramp, and it was Christmas Eve. In one house, a little boy named Timmy was read a Christmas story and tucked into bed. The resident mouse Gumdrop , while admiring the house all decorated for Christmas, noticed Timmy's letter to Santa on the floor. The letter must of have fallen off the table and never got mailed. So he and the family dog Gobber set outside to deliver the letter to Santa and save Christmas for Timmy.

This short children's film by Co Hodeman tells the story of 2 children and their encounter with an angry dragon, all represented by colourful building blocks.

This heart-rending family-oriented drama chronicles the adventure of two Dutch children who temporarily lose their father and mother during the great flood of 1953. Fortunately, they and their animals are taken in by a salty old boatman who helps them reunite with their father.

An airport redcap works hard to get his family out of the ghetto, only to discover that his son has sickle-cell anemia.

Two young children, who, rather than part with an old pet lion who was once a circus performer, go on a perilous mountain trek to stay with a recluse friend.

An animated sequel to the story of "Oliver Twist". Oliver is adopted by Mr. Brownlow. When Mr. Brownlow dies, his will cannot be found so his nephew Sniperly tries to just take the money. Oliver has to stop him. Meanwhile, Artful Dodger now helps children escape from workhouses.

In this nature adventure, a courageous cougar must struggle to survive after a cruel human hunter kills her mate.

Nothing warms the heart like the story of a boy and his dog. Lonnie (Johnny Whitaker) and Text (George Spell) are two friends determined, against all odds, to turn a misfit hound into a hero. Tennessee farmer and dog trainer Harve McNeil (Earl Holliman) tells his son Lonnie that his dog, Moreover, is a good-for-nothing "biscuit eater."

John and his class go on a school trip to the Tower of London. While he is there he loses his pet mouse and vows to return and find her later. Back in school, he is not very attentive and falls asleep during a lesson about electricity so his teacher sends him home. On the 'tube' there is a sudden flash, and John, the train and all of the passengers turn yellow. With the help of Nick (short for 'Electronic') John learns about electricity, invades the Tower of London and saves his pet mouse ... or was it a dream. This is the Powell & Pressburger touch applied to children's films.

An alien spaceship lands on earth, and its inhabitant decides to help a trio of children prevent their village being destroyed to make way for a new motorway.

Private detective Ture Sventon is visited by his friend Mr. Omar of the Arabic desert. Sventon decides to travel with Mr. Omar on his flying carpet to Paris. However, Sventon almost exclusively lives on cream puffs, and to transport these across the continent, he needs a portable fridge. He pays a visit to Stockholms foremost fridge inventor and are introduced to a new fridge which shrinks and deshrinks the food. The inventor is afraid his new invention will be stolen, and thus Sventon brings it to Paris where it gets stolen.

A short on the meaning of patriotism and how you can get involved.

This short employs animation and live action to teach young children about their digestive system.

Based on a 1971 wordless picture book by Pat Hutchins. "The little wooden couple are happy in their building-block house -- until it catches fire. The solution? They transform the house into a fire engine! But then there's so much water that they have to build a boat..." -- Amazon.com

A filmed version of Sid and Marty Krofft's 1968 live puppet show, set at a medieval fair. The special was a pilot for a weekly series.

After a St. Bernard named George is given to a relative by it's owner he causes mischief in the neighboring town and for the newly named owner, After enough terror while trying to get a girl, The newly found owner gives George to a monastery in the cold snowy mountain wasteland until it's original owner comes back to get him. However, during the night George escapes and finds himself trapped among the frozen wasteland. And the only way for the newly found owner to get the girl and save George is to realize the importance of having and saving George is.

This is one of the 'Animagical' titles from the children's film archive of Rankin/Bass. The story line is reminiscent of an earlier 1966 R/B Animagic film, 'The Daydreamer', both of which chronicles the fairy tales of Danish author, Hans Christian Andersen.

Two English kids meet their friend Anoop Singh and his baby elephant Ranee. The nasty circus owner wants the elephant for his circus and the children decide that they must prevent this.

An all-animal retelling of the classic Robin Hood.

Four children on a remote sheep station in New Zealand hear of the escape of two convicts, and realise that the crooks are responsible for burgling their house.

Santa Claus finds his sleigh stuck in the sand on a Florida beach only days before Christmas Eve.

This animated feature casts the Red Baron as a hero, in a world of heroic anthropomorphic dogs and villainous anthropomorphic cats.

A guardian angel agrees to help Willie Mays win the National League Pennant if Mays agrees to take care of Veronica, a lonely, mischievous orphan girl. Veronica makes Mays' life difficult, but when relatives show up to claim her after hearing that she's inherited money, Mays' heart softens.

A story about difficult and dangerous adventures of a group of seven-graders during their summer camp.

Blinker, so named because he blinks whenever he has a bright idea for a new invention, is the son of an eccentric Professor who is developing a top secret Pulsar Crystal X. Blinker's inventions help him to be a successful goalkeeper and to keep an eye on The Masons gang - and some real crooks.

Guerillas time-jump back from the 22nd century to assassinate Sir Reginald Styles - a diplomat working for World Peace, The Doctor discovers they are from a future where the Daleks have invaded the Earth (Following wars precipitated by Styles's destruction at the peace conference). With the Daleks desperate to maintain their version of history, The Doctor and Jo find themselves in a totalitarian future, where they must discover who really happened and prevent it.

The planet Peladon has applied to join the Galactic Federation, and The Doctor is mistaken for the chairman of the committee sent to assess its application, while Jo is taken for an Earth princess, with the mythical curse of Aggedor apparently striking chancellor Torbis dead, The Doctor must discover who is desperate to stop Peladon joining, but soon he is sentenced to death and his only Allies seem to be Jo and the Ice Warrior Delegates.

The Master joins forces with The Sea Devils to take over the world, unless The Doctor and The Royal Navy can stop them.