We went with Polar Express and showed it around Christmas time. Going along with the movie line, we invited families to come dressed in pajamas. We had volunteers in chef's hats serve hot cocoa during the part of the movie when chef's onteh train serve hot cocoa. The movie includes Santa presenting a bell. We gave each person a bell attached to a Christmas ribbon. We had to purchase our own movie license because we were told the school's license does not cover the PTO. Our school allows G-rated movies only during the school day unless parent's give written permission for their child to watch a PG movie. Given that our Family Movie Night was a PTO event not during school hours and the name and rating of the movie was publicized beforehand, the rating wasn't an issue with the school district
There are several online distributors that will sell you an edited movie. Most of the time, they will take out scary parts and cuss words.
Our elementary school held a spanish cartoon called Here comes the Cat first for the little ones and then we put on Akeelah and the Bee.
I found it easiest to have the parents vote for thier favorites at a PTA meeting. That way I could have a scape goat for the decision. Several families of boys voted against the girly and sweet movies.
Also I found that although the classics don't have any cuss words, they usually have someone drunk and rarely have anyone of color in the movie. This was a difficult decision.
The last thing that we had to consider is how long the movies are . . . that took out many of the classics like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, one of our favorites.
Have fun. We raffled off the edited movie and gave the Spanish cartoon to the school.
We sent home ballots, so families could vote between 4 different G movies. I guess the parents voted, because we showed "Escape To Witch Mountain" and had a great turnout. Most of the kids had never seen it before and loved it. We charged no admission and served free popcorn and water bottles, but sold candy and fruit snacks and broke even. It was a great night!
Check with your school district about the movie licensing issue.... our school did not have to purchase a license because the district purchases an annual license which covers all schools within the district.
Enjoy your event!
We did Herbie Fully Loaded last year and are showing Cars this year.
We do not allow a child in unless they have a parent with them. We also open a classroom with high school child care helpers to babysit the babies and make the evening more enjoyable for everyone.
We showed Cars, and it was a great turn out. We purchased posters and put them around the school.
Is it going to be a "Family Movie Night" or just the students? We handed out 2 flyers the 1st one said "Family Movie Night" and the 2nd one (the one that went home the day of the movie night) did not say "Family" and a lot of students were just dropped off by there parents. Then we had to deal with that as it happened just very surprising.
Oh yes you can check out blockbuster.com for G rated movies. Herbie Fully Loaded is also G rated and a good unisex movie.
Good Luck!!
many people here have spoken about " classics" as being good choices.. many kids have never seen movies like Chitty chitty bang bang, the first Charlie and the Chocolate Factory ( gene wilder one) Mary Poppins or The Swiss Family Robinson.... the great thing about these movies is that you could actually do a theme evening around any of them.. esp swiss family robinson or charlie and the chocolate factory!
