Now I have written about Halloween movies, summer movies, Christmas movies, and everything in between. But I have neglected one season, one time of year. Spring movies, you may ask, isn't that a bit of a stretch? Yes, it is. I'm making it up but you know what? As much as I'm a cold weather gal, I love springtime. Rain, flowers, pastels, Easter, all the beautiful changes in nature. And there are some films out there that really capture the calm and pretty feeling of spring.
So here's what constitutes a springtime movie for me. A movie set during the spring, of course, but also films that deal with nature, particularly gardens or flowers. And colors are important! If the "palette" of the film so to speak includes those baby blues, light yellows, and dusty pinks we all associate with spring then it's perfect for the season. So here are just a few movies, in no particular order, that you can watch for springtime if you're really in the mood to soak up the drizzly days and golden afternoons!
The Secret Garden (1993)
Okay, I lied about the whole no order thing. I'm saving the best one for first. The most perfect movie to watch during springtime is without a doubt The Secret Garden. This is one of my personal favorite movies and books. It's no surprise that a movie about a garden should be on this list. And this is one heck of a garden! The garden is found by Mary Lennox when she moves from India to England to live with her mysterious uncle after her parents die. It's a garden that's been locked away and forgotten until Mary and her friends decide to bring it back to life. It's more than a movie about planting flowers and pulling weeds; it's about appreciating life and finding beauty in even the most dire of situations. A great quote from the film explains it really well and it is one I try to live by: "If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden." The Secret Garden has great acting and beautiful music and costume design. What makes this movie great for springtime is that it makes you want to live outside. I don't think anybody can watch this movie and not want to start their own garden. The Secret Garden has flowers, trees, rain, and every cute wild animal you can think of from deer to red foxes. If you haven't seen The Secret Garden yet do it as soon as possible! There's no better time to watch it than during spring (or any time really!) It's just that good.
Spirited Away (2001)
Now this might seem like a weird one but hear me out. First of all a Miyazaki movie has to be on this list because nature is often a theme in his movies, sometimes being a main part of the plot. So why didn't I pick My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Monoke, or Castle in the Sky? Spirited Away arguably has the least to do with nature than Miyazaki's other movies and it's not necessarily set during spring. This movie is on this list almost strictly for how it looks and how that makes you feel. It's all about colors, man. So for the few who don't know Spirited Away is about a young girl named Chihiro who suddenly finds herself in a spirit world where there are witches, talking frogs, and dragons and she must save her parents from Yubaba, the owner of a bathhouse for spirits. The animation and color choice express the magic in the movie visually. A few scenes really stick out to me because of how simple and yet beautiful they are. The part shown above where Chihoro and Haku run through the flowers is so short and yet such a memorable scene in the movie. The train ride is also one of my favorites, where we see the train travel through light blue water against a faded pink sky. It's hard to describe colors well through writing but the palette of this film, even though its content may not, exemplifies springtime. That's why I chose my favorite Miyazaki film over the others to put on this list although, let's be honest, everyone should watch all Miyazaki movies throughout the year forever and for always.
Big Fish (2003)
This is another film that just feels like spring. In Big Fish, Tim Burton's visual style really shines even though it isn't at all like his other movies. The film goes forward and back through time as a son tries to figure out if all the tall tales his dying father told him over the years are true or not. Whenever they go back in time to the young Edward Bloom there's a haziness in the cinematography that reminds you of a film from the seventies. This coupled with the stark scenes of Spectre, the greenest and cutest small town ever, the giant field of daffodils Edward used to woo his future wife and the dusky lights of the circus at night just gives the whole movie a very spring feel. Big Fish makes you daydream about being a kid in the country, enjoying the happy, carefree days on the cusp of summer.
Alice in Wonderland (1951)
Disney's first (and best) version of Alice in Wonderland has some of the most wonderful springtime imagery in any movie. In the beginning of the movie Alice is making flower crowns for her kitten and laying in a field of daisies under a big blue sky. Later she sings the song "All in the Golden Afternoon" with a group of flowers that includes roses, irises, tulips, blue bonnets, chrysanthemums, and sunflowers, just to name a few. (And yes they mention the month of June in the song but that's just a minor detail). I don't know why but spring means magic to me and Alice's journey through pink houses and brightly colored woods, having delicious-looking cookies and wacky tea parties all come together to make a movie that's perfect for springtime.
Bambi (1942)
Bambi explores all the seasons as we watch the little deer grow up but spring is most important in the movie. It is during spring that Bambi is born and revered by the other animals as the next Great Prince of the Forest. The adorable young deer learns through his mother and friends Thumper and Flower about the world around him, how it can be very beautiful but also terribly cruel. Bambi's character development is represented visually through the changing seasons. During his first spring he is curious and innocent and then during the winter he has to mature very suddenly when his mother is killed by a hunter in one of the most traumatic scenes in any kid's movie (in fact "Man" is the number 20 villain of AFI's list of Heroes and Villains). The next spring we find Bambi grown up, brave and strong and starting a family of his own. Bambi teaches the circle of life for animals out in the wild long before The Lion King did and the changing of the seasons plays a huge part in this. Plus this movie features one of the cutest spring songs in Disney, "Little April Showers."
Charlotte's Web (1973)
Yeah, we're still talking about animated movies. I will talk about animation forever. The 1973 Hanna-Barbera adaptation received positive reviews from many critics (except E.B. White himself) but I think it's an underrated animated musical today. Charlotte's Web is about Wilbur, a piglet who befriends a clever and friendly spider named Charlotte. Charlotte helps Wilbur impress his farmer and eventually the entire town so that he isn't turned into supper. Like Bambi, Charlotte's Web showcases springtime for animals, except this time it's on a farm. Spring plays an important role in the very beginning of the film and the very end. Wilbur is born in the spring and because he's "a spring pig" he must be given away when he reaches a certain age. It's sad to leave his home farm but of course he meets Charlotte and other animal friends on the Zuckerman farm. At the end of the movie we see a grown Wilbur take care of three of Charlotte's 514 children during another eventful spring. Bright animation and happy music also add to this springtime movie, including a beautiful song about the changing seasons called "Mother Earth and Father Time" sung by Debbie Reynolds, the voice of Charlotte.
Fairy Tale: A True Story (1997)
Like I said before, spring means magic to me and Fairy Tale: A True Story does a wonderful job of bringing magic into the real world. This movie tells the true (?) story of the Cottingley fairies. The Cottingley fairies were discovered by two young cousins in Cottingley, England. They took photographs with the fairies in 1917. The photographs gained the attention of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes, who wrote an article about fairies a few years later. They also sparked the imagination of the public: were the photographs real or fake? Fairy Tale focuses on the two cousins, Elsie and Frances, who both believe in fairies and determine to keep believing, no matter what anyone says. Spring is a celebration of nature and it is present in the setting of the beautiful English woods where the girls encounter the fairies. The incredible fairy house the girls build is also one of my favorite aspects of the movie. Fairy Tale is a really underrated movie in my opinion but it's charming, similar to films like The Indian in the Cupboard and Hook, and its enchanted elements and nature scenes make it a perfect movie for springtime.
James and the Giant Peach (1996)
James and the Giant Peach is another movie that feels like spring to me simply based on the colors. Henry Selick masterfully directs this half live-action, half stop-motion animated movie based on one of my favorite books by Roald Dahl. James is an orphan who lives with two abusive aunts when a giant, magical peach grows in their yard. After taking a bite of the peach, James turns into an animated character and befriends insects living in the peach. When the peach detaches from the tree the new friends are off on a grand adventure. Firstly, peach flavored and/or scented things are very springy; don't tell me I'm wrong. Secondly, the stop-motion sequences, whether the peach is sailing through the ocean or flying through the sky, are portrayed with very bright or pastel colors. From the clearly pastel goth aunts and the sequence where the peach floats in front of a very peachy-colored sunset, James and the Giant Peach is a superbly animated movie with a palette that screams spring.
Legend (1985)
Legend is an eighties treasure that is often forgotten or overlooked. But I refuse to forget it. Directed by Ridley Scott, starring a young Tom Cruise and Mia Sara as well as Tim Curry dressed as a demon creature, and with music by Tangerine Dream, this movie itself is a legend. Legend has all the elements of a fantasy story: a princess, a hero, magical creatures, a battle between good and evil. It also has all the elements of a springtime movie: beautiful scenes of nature, a plot that focuses on the dichotomy of lightness and dark (when the world falls into evil everything turns to winter; at the end of the movie the world has turned to spring), and glitter. So much glitter. On everything. This movie is in competition with another L-named eighties fantasy movie, Labyrinth, for most glitter in a film. But, hey, princesses need that highlight for that dewy, all-natural glow. The look of this movie as well as the music could be enough to make Legend a great watch for the season but spring also plays a pivotal role in this film, as the heroes work to change their world of a seemingly endless winter into a green and sunny spring.
Thumbelina (1994)
Thumbelina is one of the many Don Bluth classics I grew up watching. And with songs by Barry Manilow, you know it's a gem. Thumbelina is a girl no bigger than your thumb, who lives with a kindly adoptive human mother and farm animals, but still feels like she doesn't fit in. She befriends a hunky fairy lad named Cornelius (who has one of the dumbest haircuts for an animated prince in film history) and starts to fall in love. But soon after she is kidnapped and spends the winter trying to find her way home through a series of misadventures. Like Legend, springtime signals the happily ever after of Thumbelina. As the world defrosts and flowers begin to bloom, Thumbelina is rescued and realizes she does belong with Cornelius and the rest of the fairies. And did I mention that Thumbelina was born in a flower? That's the most magical springtime thing ever.
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
The last movie on this list is one that I'm sure everyone has seen. The Wizard of Oz is based on the novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. It's got performances, writing, music, and visuals that are embedded into American pop culture. It's one of the most popular and beloved movies of all time and it also fits all of my "categories" for a perfect springtime movie: bright color palette full of pinks and yellows, magic, and lots of nature imagery including enchanted woods and dangerous but lovely flowers. The poppy scene alone is such a beautiful and springy part. And Glenda the Good Witch is so happy and bright and pink she could be Mother Nature herself, helping the flowers bloom and waking up the animals for spring. For a movie that just simply feels like springtime, The Wizard of Oz is a classic that fits the bill.
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