DVDs for kids in car

January 5, 2012 12:56 PM

What's a good video series for my kids to watch on long car drives?

My kids are not yet teenagers. On long car trips I give them a portable DVD player and videos to watch. The favorite was Avatar, The Last Airbender cartoon series. They liked it so much they looked forward to long car trips and would even watch it on short trips. We've gone through all three seasons. They just finished the Tintin cartoon series.

Anyone have similar (or different) recommendations?

posted by eye of newt to media & arts (13 answers total)

Planet Earth.
posted by amro at 12:58 PM on January 5, 2012 [1 favorite]

When We Left Earth

And as much as I hate to admit this, I've been watching The Dukes of Hazard with my nine year old and he pretty much thinks it's the greatest thing ever made. Better than Star Wars, even.
posted by bondcliff at 1:03 PM on January 5, 2012

Mythbusters. They have various "best of" collections for each season. Lots of good content, and my kids have yet to get tired of rewatching them.

Same goes for the various Looney Toons collections. One of my greatest joys as a dad was introducing my son to Looney Toons on a long plane flight. He was laughing so loud that people were literally craning their necks from several rows away to see what he was laughing at. Good stuff, and endlessly rewatchable.
posted by mosk at 1:09 PM on January 5, 2012

My boyfriend's 10-year old loves Modern Family.
posted by Dragonness at 1:37 PM on January 5, 2012

My 8.5-year-old just burned through the entire series of Gilligan's Island.

Or, Mythbusters. And Futurama, but that may be too snarky for you.
posted by BlahLaLa at 1:41 PM on January 5, 2012

Wakfu and Ōban Star-Racers are pretty good for cartoons. I think they can be had in English (or maybe your children could pick up some French).

Also good: How Art Made The World, with the incredibly enjoyable Nigel Spivey as host. Genuinely interesting stuff.
posted by Sternmeyer at 1:43 PM on January 5, 2012

Liberty's Kids
Mythbustes
Oban Star Racers
Hikaru No Go
Hayao Miyazaki, esp. Castle in the Sky, Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle
Esteban and the Mysterious Cities of Gold
posted by LittleMy at 1:46 PM on January 5, 2012

If they haven't watched it yet, the entire Paul Dini/Bruce Timm DC Animated universe- Batman the Animated Series, Superman the Animated Series, Justice League Unlimited, and Batman Beyond. Yes, it's not very recent but it's fantastic stuff, especially B:TAS.
posted by Tamanna at 1:50 PM on January 5, 2012 [1 favorite]

Cosmos
posted by troll at 2:51 PM on January 5, 2012

Planet Earth and Hayao Miyazaki are excellent suggestions. Miyazaki's films are just so beautiful and intricate, you can watch them over and over again and notice something new each time.
posted by Ostara at 3:23 PM on January 5, 2012 [1 favorite]

Lots of good suggestions. They've seen several of the Miyazaki's and they are excellent. I have a trip coming up this weekend, so in my rush I'm limited to what I could find today in the stores. I'm bringing Planet Earth, Mythbusters, and Gilligan's Island (I never would have thought of that one!)

I'll check on the other ideas for later trips. Thanks everyone!
posted by eye of newt at 9:25 PM on January 5, 2012

Asked and answered, but I'll second the recommendation for Batman: the Animated Series. I used to watch it after school as a kid, and it's really excellent. A bit dark, but I think the same can be said for Avatar, as well. In a lighter vein, I would also recommend Animaniacs, which I know you can buy on DVD these days, and Tiny Toons, which I would think you could find, as well. There's also the original Muppet Show (and the accompanying movies).
posted by FaustianSlip at 8:51 AM on January 7, 2012

I also found a Miyazaki movie they hadn't seen (Nausicaa). They ended up watching this, then many episodes of Mythbusters (including an Australian Ninja who can catch arrows with his hand). On later trips they watched a couple of the Planet Earth videos. They've been steering clear of Gilligan's Island for some reason.

The one's I haven't marked as best answers: it's just that I haven't found the videos yet. They all sound good--thanks again!
posted by eye of newt at 11:24 PM on February 7, 2012