Children's films with good female leads

My dd really liked Labyrinth when she was little. We watched it 70 million times. That and Cats...

I have a nearly 4yo and a nearly 2yo and stuff like Labyrinth would be way beyond them. We're definitely at the Peppa Pig stage round here

I think DH tried them with finding nemo a month or two ago but they lost interest after a bit.

does anyone remember a program called marmalade atkins from the 70s/80s?

That was pretty cool IIRC. Do they still have stuff like that on childrens telly?

Off the top of my head:
Anastasia
Annie
Casper (Kat)
Peter Pan (Wendy) - Not the Disney version, the live action one
The Last Airbender (Katara) - Series > Film
Quest for Camelot (Kayley)

I'm sure there's more, but I'd have to go reference my DVD collection at home!

Yes, again I agree with Fennel . Mine wouldn't have watched Matilda or Labyrinth at 2/3

All these good suggestions aren't right for a 2-3 year old though. It's all mush for that age group.

I love the girl in that, LiveLong, the way she ties her hair up when she's inventing :o

How about Lemony Snickett's Series of Unfortunate Events?

Peppa Pig is good for little ones.

I also think Miss Rabbit is a good role model, she runs the firestation, sells christmas trees, drives the school bus....in fact she does pretty much every job

bookmarking. good thread.

How to Train Your Dragon? disclaimer- I haven't seen it, but I understand the main protagonist is a girl.

The Borrowers
Muppets? Miss Piggy is fantastic...

Jungle Book? My dd saw it at 4, and assumed Mowgli was a girl

I find that Matilda is an excellent movie, I haven't read the book yet.

I really don't see the Witches as women-hating at all.

I totally agree with Fennel that the less tv/films are watched the less you adhere to stereotypes (I'd also argue that that is also true for boys)

I know others have said it, but I absolutely adore My Neighbour Totoro. It's one of my favourite films.
I was thinking about it recently, and all of the studio ghibli films I've seen have female leads.

I long for a female Dr Who...

Hermione is quite good in the 7th Harry Potter film, she is becoming more central I think, the one who actually knows what to do. But that's a bit old for pre-schoolers.

I also allow my 6 and 4 year olds to watch Dr. Who. I appreciate the main character is male, but there are also plenty of strong female characters as well as older characters.

It also opens up sci-fi to girls (who are ususally pretty much ignored in this genre)

Coraline - both DD and DS were transfixed

Can't think of much for a 2/3 year old - maybe Bolt? male dog, female owner - but for older children, the three Spy Kids films are good for strong female characters. Also Harriet the Spy. DD also loves Matilda.

It's also worth remembering that despite all the awful witches in The Witches, one of the main characters is a woman - the grandmother - who is a fantastic character and role model (well, apart from the cigars perhaps) and definitely not portrayed in a negative light.

I think Roald Dahl wrote some very creepy stories (he was a horror writer, after all) but the main thing seems to be that he depicts the helplessness of children against bullying adults, and his characters find ways to fight back against these adults.

Matilda is definitely not an anti-woman story. Obviously Matilda is the heroine and she is great - obsessed with reading and friends with the female librarian who helps her in her quest for fresh books. Then there is Miss Honey who is the teacher who understands Matilda and takes her in. Miss Trunchbull is the villain but she is balanced out by Matilda's dad who (to my mind) was at least as bad if not worse than her. Plus Matilda's mum tries to get Matilda to think about being quiet and pretty and letting boys win, an idea which is completely rejected in the book/film.

I'm not a Roald Dahl fan either. I am not keen on some of his portrayals of women, though it might be just anti-adult rather than anti-women, I do sometimes feel uncomfortable with it.

I am rather in agreement with that research that came out a couple of weeks ago, which was discussed on the feminist boards here, that the less tv/film etc a girl watches, the less she adheres to traditional feminine stereotypes. I didn't always stick to this when mine were tiny and I wanted a bit of peace, but if they are watching less, there is less worry about the role models.

Some great suggestions here!

For older children, Pan's Labyrinth.

So amusing for me to see Roald Dahl films mentioned here. My mum didn't like me reading him as a kid because she felt he was woman-hating. I think she mainly got that from The Witches, and I've never been able to decide if he's actually just adult-hating and she was taking it all a bit personally.

Definite YES to Matilda - I was trying to remember that, she was the one I wanted to be as a kid.