Family Matinees

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Hayao Miyazaki’s second feature is based on his 1982 manga of the same name, which he continued writing into the early 1990s. Miyazaki’s only cinematic foray into pure science fiction, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind is set a thousand years after the Seven Days of Fire have devastated civilization, leaving behind a toxic, overgrown jungle. Princess Nausicaä and the people of the valley try to bring balance back into the world by restoring the bond between humanity and Earth. Inspiration for Nausicaä came from the catastrophic mercury pollution of Minamata Bay, which devastated the Minamata community in the mid-20th century.

A group of fairies try to save an endangered Australian rainforest in this animated fantasy directed by Bill Kroyer. The rare Hollywood family film to openly address environmental threats, FernGully highlights the importance of conserving natural resources. The film benefits from an impressive voice cast that includes Tim Curry as the film’s villain, performing the song “Toxic Love,” and Robin Williams as the manic Batty Koda, in his first time voicing an animated character for a feature film. Since its release, the film has inspired generations of young filmgoers to tackle environmental issues.

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Each year, at the end of the Antarctic summer, emperor penguins embark on a grueling journey in impossible temperatures to reach their breeding grounds for a traditional mating ritual. The biggest challenge comes after their eggs hatch, as the penguins take turns protecting their chicks while searching for nourishment, demonstrating their determination and resilience in caring for their young. March of the Penguins was four years in the making, with director Luc Jacquet and his crew spending a little over a year filming in Antarctica. Remarkably shot, underwater cameras were used to capture never-before-seen footage of penguins below the ocean’s surface.

A lonely waste-collecting robot on an abandoned Earth in the year 2805 CE unexpectedly falls in love with another robot and manages to save the human race in this hilarious and touching computer-animated feature from writer-director Andrew Stanton. Wall-E illustrates the effects of consumerism, highlighting the devastating impact of pollution and waste on the planet. One of the most unusual and ambitious films in the Pixar filmography, it won an Animated Feature Film Oscar and earned nominations for its original screenplay, sound mixing, sound editing, score, and the original song “Down To Earth” by Thomas Newman and Peter Gabriel.

The trio of unlikely friends from Ice Age—Manny the mammoth (voiced by Ray Romano), Sid the sloth (John Leguizamo), and Diego the saber-toothed tiger (Denis Leary)—have seemingly found a safe harbor, only to find it menaced by climate change in this lively sequel that captures the mixture of wit, slapstick, and sentiment of the original film. Joining the Ice Age gang this time are Seann William Scott and Josh Peck as a pair of energetic opossums and Queen Latifah as their “sister,” a mammoth who thinks she’s an opossum.

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