What if neither spaceships and aliens nor dark fairy tales are your cup of tea? You want more light-hearted fare, and don't have an aversion towards musical numbers in the middle of films. With that in mind, may I suggest:

Having been exposed to this film at an early age, I may not have comprehended all of the mesmerizing imagery (and I still don't) in this Beatles animated fantasy, but it didn't really matter. A Beatles fan I soon became. Not only were they cute as cartoons, they told me that as long as we all have music in us, we will be safe from the Blue Meanies.

Premise: The peaceful town of Pepperland is attacked by a gang of music hating monsters called the Blue Meanies. The Meanies turn all the citizens to stone, all except for one survivor who gets away -- Old Fred, Captain of the Yellow Submarine. Fred escapes to England in the flying submarine and enlists the help of the John, Paul, George and Ringo. Together, they travel through the Sea of Green, the Sea of Holes, and the Sea of Time, among other locations to save Pepperland and its people.

An Alternative To: The equally trippy, but far less coherent Fantasia.

Why Kids Will Love It: Sometimes its important that kids get ideas thrown at them, even when they're too young to really understand what's going on. This is one of those movies. Children with any proclivities towards art or music will particularly be charmed by Yellow Submarine. And of course, the great message of the film stresses how important and positive music is in our lives.

Why Adults Will Love It: If you grew up in the 60's, find me a better movie that captured the essence of that era. The entire movie was written and inspired by Beatles lyrics, not the other way around which is usually the norm. As a result, the style of this movie is almost like visiting to an art gallery. Each song has a different feel and artistic style.

Did You Know That: The Beatles did not supply their own voices for this movie?

Ideal Format For Purchase: Newly re-released on DVD and packed full of extras including: the isolated soundtrack, audio commentary tracks, a behind the scenes featurette, and interviews with the crew and vocal talents.

Published in 1964, Roald Dahl's immensely popular book, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was adapted into a musical film. What amazes me is how insane and mischievously sadistic both book and film really are, yet they somehow got away with it!

Premise: Five golden tickets have been hidden under the wrappers of five Wonka candy bars scattered among the millions dispersed in the world. The children who find them will be admitted to a tour through a top-secret chocolate factory conducted by its eccentric, reclusive owner, Willy Wonka. It turns out to be a survival course for the five winners as they discover the hazards of this bizarre candy world.

An Alternative To: Pinocchio

Why Kids Will Love It: If they are not scarred for life by Gene Wilder's deranged portrayal of Wonka or the boat ride through Hell, the fantastic elements of Willy Wonka correlate to a very simple fairy tale. Factory rooms full of candy and chocolate rivers surrounded by edible buttercups are akin to palaces and enchanted castles. The four children (minus Charlie) are easy to follow since they are one-dimensional spoiled greedy brats, rewarded and punished according to the strict moral outlook found in the traditional world of a cautionary folktale. The Oompa Loompas songs are so catchy that kids will be singing the cautionary rhymes about their own mindlessly TV-addicted generation without realizing it.

Why Adults Will Love It: It's educational for both. It teaches children about honesty and greed (in life, you must always give back the everlasting gobstopper!), but also warns against their parents spoiling them. And if you don't get any sick pleasure from seeing whiny kids tossed down a garbage shute or being lifted towards the whirling blades of an exhaust fan, the scenes of the adult world will surely keep you amused. They are expanded through scenes of the shameless, hyped press covering the search for the five golden tickets.

Did You Know That: In the book, the Oompa Loompas are not cute, dwarf-like creatures with green faces and red hair? They are a less PC variation of pygmies from Africa who Wonka rescued from "a starvation diet of caterpillars and certain death from large jungle beasts"!

Ideal Format For Purchase: Wonka is available on both video and DVD.

The most popular children's movie ever made cannot be excluded. But even this mainstay musical staple is no less trippy or frightening than Yellow Submarine or Willy Wonka, which I'm sure it probably influenced in the first place. References to this movie are so common, you don't notice them anymore. Take the Artist Formerly Known as Prince, for example. Has anyone told him how much he looks like one of the flying monkeys when he rides his motorcycle in Purple Rain?

Premise: When her neighbor tries to have her dog put to sleep, Dorothy takes her dog Toto and run away. A tornado appears and carries her to the land of Oz. Wishing to return, she begins to travel to the city of Oz where a great wizard lives. On her way she meets a Scarecrow who needs a brain, a Tin Man who wants a heart, and a cowardly lion who wants courage. They must reach the Wizard before the Wicked Witch of the West catches up with them.

An Alternative To: I'm sorry, but there just ain't no stinkin' alternative to The Wizard of Oz!

Why Kids Will Love It: Lions, and tigers and bears, oh my -- in luminous Technicolour! And we can't forget those flying monkeys and Ray Bolger dance numbers.

Why Adults Will Love It: If they purchase the newest DVD, this film contains an excellent behind-the-scenes documentary which adds to the experience. I would warn against watching this part with kids who are still young enough to believe that movies are real -- in this case, it might actually ruin the magic. Watching Wizard of Oz can be a nostalgic, continuing tradition in households. Name me another Wicked Witch that has been able to scare the living hell out of children for six long decades! Now that media mogul Ted Turner owns and controls the rights to this movie, I'm unsure as to whether they still do the annual TV broadcast of it.

Did You Know That: The scene in which Dorothy smacks the Lion for picking on Toto had to be re-shot multiple times because Judy Garland kept cracking up at Bert Lahr's pathetic sobbing? In the end, director Victor Fleming ended up slapping the 16 year old Garland across the face to straighten her out.

Ideal Format For Purchase: An amazing DVD gift set edition has been released. Special features include: a reproduction of the original script, a Behind-the- scenes documentary, out takes, including the rarely seen "Jitterbug" dance, interviews, sketches and storyboards, make-up tests and about a zillion other things.