What We Watched on Disney+ In July

Our summer days have been glorious. We’ve taken in time at our local beach, gone to the city pool, visited our National Park and travelled to see family. Even though the days get filled with fun summer adventures there is still down time to watch Disney +. The kids have enjoyed some tried and true favourites and they finally watched one of the newer Star Wars films.

Friday Afternoon Movie

We were more flexible with this this month than in previous months. Friday Afternoon Movies once marked the beginning of the weekend for us when we were all stuck in our homes, with very little freedom. It’s a tradition that we created over the pandemic that we want to keep going forward. Normally I pick the Friday afternoon movie, choosing from live action films from the past or Disney Channel musicals. But this month we decided to revisit some of our favourites. We each got to pick one of our favourites, write it down and then we’d pick that Friday’s movie from a hat. The choices were: Escape to Witch Mountain, Teen Beach Movie, Newsies and Million Dollar Duck. These are the three we actually fit in:

Escape to Witch Mountain

We watched this film in April, I can remember it vividly because it was the day our province opened up bubbles and we were finally able to see family members face to face. Escape to Witch Mountain was released in 1975. I was not familiar with the movie but it popped up as a suggestion to watch once we finished Apple Dumpling Gang. When I saw that it was rated G and realized the main characters were a brother and sister I thought it would be a good fit for our clan. I was right. The movie is about two children who work together to return to their family after years apart. They have magical powers but what makes the movie spectacular is the relationship these children share. I would strongly recommend this as a watch for kids elementary school aged. Our kids give it a thumbs up.

Newsies

We watched Newsies back before Covid began. This was a special snow day feature. I had never seen this movie before, I’d watched the filmed stage version but never the original. Friends of mine used to rave about what a stellar movie it was, so my expectations were set high. We love this movie for the dancing, the storyline and the music. The film is based on a true story of children’s rights, beginning with young boys who sold papers in New York City. The movie stars Christian Bale and the score is written by Alan Menken. Be prepared for your kids to be doing leaps and jumps around the house once they’ve finished this movie.

Million Dollar Duck

We watched this movie back in May. It came up as a suggestion after we’d watched Herbie The Love Bug. This movie was released in 1971 and features the main actor from the Herbie franchise. The movie is about a scientist who causes a Duck to begin laying golden eggs. How to turn these golden eggs into money without being found out is a bit problematic. The scientist’s son also gets very attached to the duck. There were a couple parts of the movie the kids couldn’t quite fellow. It involved the government trying to figure where these eggs were coming from. But there was a big car chase at the end that had the kids laughing so hard they were crying. I would strongly recommend it for families to watch together. This movie is rated G. This was the kids favourite movie from the month.

Saturday Movie Night

With some of the travelling we did to visit family, there were a couple movie nights that we didn’t quite get in. We’ve come up with a new rotation for Saturday Movie Night, one week Lincoln gets to choose, the next week Jeff gets to choose and the next week MacKenzie gets to choose. This has allowed for each person to get their say. And it gives them the freedom to choose a movie they want to watch without having someone else harp on their choice. Check out which titles we watched this month.

Cinderella III

MacKenzie has always been a Cinderella fan. When we first got Disney + and she saw there were four Cinderella films (including the live action version) she couldn’t wait to watch them all. This movie was a straight to DVD release in 2007 and is rated G. Lady Tremaine has acquired a magic wand that allows her to turn back time to make Prince Charming choose one of her own daughters instead of Cinderella. It’s not a film that would capture everyones attention but it fit the bill for our littles.

Hamilton

My husband and I watched Hamilton the night it came on Disney +. The kids have grown up with the music, but we didn’t know how appropriate it would be for them. We were pleasantly surprised that the majority of the content is in the words. Not all of the tale is presented to the audience but left for you to understand by listening to the lyrics. Once they got the clear, the kids couldn’t wait to finally watch this show they’ve been listening to for years. They had a lot of questions, even though they were familiar with the stories, wanting clarity on who different characters were and what was happening in the story. But they loved a lot fo the dancing and the costumes. There’s talk that they’ll choose to watch again next month.

The Last Jedi

The kids watched The Force Awakens in June, which made The Last Jedi the first choice for Saturday Night Movie Night in July. This movie is action filled, with a lot of fight scenes. They found the storyline with Kylo Ren and Luke hard to follow and understand. But we walked them through it. The movie is 2 hours and 32 minutes. So we had to take an intermission. The movie is PG-13, but our kids have grown up with the Star Wars movies and are familiar with the characters and the story. We will not let them watch The Rise of Skywalker until they are much older.

TV Shows

Lincoln decided to venture into some new shows this month. Watching a couple episodes of Star Wars Rebels. Nothing has trumped their continuous love of The Lion Guard and Clone Wars.

Sofia The First

Sofia the First has always been one of my favourites to watch with MacKenzie. Sofia the First is a new princess, becoming crowned after her mother marries the king. She’s learning to become a princess and how to meld the two parts of her life together. The shows have music in each episode. There are 4 seasons and the show is rated Y.

Clone Wars

We are big Star Wars fans at this house. The kids have grown up with the stories, having plenty of books that introduced them to the characters at an early age. The Clone Wars is a TV show that tells tales of the adventures of the Jedi during the time between Episode II and Episode III. With lots of battle scenes this show can be a little dark for younger viewers but our kids love it. And typically watch with a pretend lightsaber or blaster to get the bad guys.

Miles of Tomorrowland

I have been after Lincoln to try this show for months, and he finally opted to try it out. He’s now watched a couple episodes. It’s great for kids who are interested in space, rockets and aliens. Each episode has two parts to it. Making the story filled with action. The show is rated Y.

Star Wars Rebels

This Star Wars show is about the era of the latest movies. One of the biggest differences between Star Wars Rebels and Clone Wars is the rating. Star Wars Rebels is rated Y, whereas Clone Wars is rated PG. This means that Star Wars Rebels has less action.

The Lion Guard

This show is rated Y, making it an easy choice for the whole family. The show involves Simba’s son Kion and his friends keeping the Pride Lands safe from harm. The cast is filled with different animals and genders, making a neutral choice. There’s often an appearance by old favourites, Rafiki, Timon and Pumba. Our kids are currently nearing the end of the 2nd season. This show has at least one song during each episode. There are bad guys, including hyenas and crocodiles.

Elena of Avalor

The kids reminded me today that they have watched Elena of Avalor a few times. It’s a go to if they neither of them wants to watch the others favourite. It’s an exciting show filled with mythical creatures and adventures.

Jake and the Neverland Pirates

Jake and the Neverland Pirates is a show that doesn’t come to mind for the kids too often. It normally gets chosen when they can’t settle on one they both want to watch. They likes that there’s two stories in each episode, so they feel like they get to watch two shows in one. They also loves the hilarity of Captain Hook and Smee.

Looking for more ideas of what can be found on Disney +? Check out these previous posts:

What We Watched on Disney + in March

What We Watched on Disney + in May

What We Watched on Disney + in June