The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Children’s movies to stream now
‘Marcel the Shell With Shoes On’
If you’re one of the millions of humans who were charmed by Marcel when he made his debut on YouTube 12 years ago, it’s time to introduce your kids to this tiny talking seashell who wears pink shoes, has a pet ball of lint named Alan and is now lonesome and living in an Airbnb with his Italian seashell grandmother, Nana Connie (voiced by Isabella Rossellini).
The Oscar-nominated film features Jenny Slate, who co-writes and voices Marcel, and Dean Fleischer Camp, who co-writes, directs and stars on screen with the stop-motion shells. In the film, Marcel and Nana Connie have been left alone in the Airbnb after a human couple splits up and leaves the house. When we meet the pair, their entire family and community of shells has mysteriously disappeared along with the humans. Nana has “lost a small piece of a very large puzzle,” as Marcel puts it. Camp moves into the house after a breakup and befriends Marcel at a time when they’re both feeling a little lost.
The movie is about grief, loneliness and the importance of connection, so it might prove to be a bit cerebral and sorrowful for some children, but it’s definitely worth a try. Rent or buy on multiple platforms.
‘Jim Henson’s Turkey Hollow’
Based on a forgotten treatment written by Jim Henson and Jerry Juhl in 1968, “Turkey Hollow” was directed by Kirk R. Thatcher. It originally aired on Lifetime in 2015, and Disney+ is bringing it back this month.
The story is about a newly divorced father ( Jay Harrington) who takes his children, Tim and Annie, to spend Thanksgiving at his Aunt Cly’s farm. Cly is played by Mary Steenburgen, who can elevate material with one syllable of her Southern drawl. Tim and Annie are frustrated by the lack of internet access on the remote farm so they head into the woods, where they discover hints that a giant monster called the Howling Hoodoo isn’t just local legend. Will “Turkey Hollow” go down in history as one of Henson’s most brilliant creations? That’s a hard no. But it should entertain older toddlers who don’t mind a few mild monster scares or young children who may recognize some of the Muppet-ness of the creatures. Stream it on Disney+.
‘Extinct’
If the history of the natural world had unfolded a little bit differently, Charles Darwin would have discovered some fluffy, talking, doughnut-shaped creatures called Flummels waddling around the Galápagos Islands. That’s the premise of this 2021 animated musical tale. It’s a film about extinction, time travel, courage and acceptance.
The main characters are Ed (voiced by Adam Devine) and Op (Rachel Bloom), Flummel siblings with very different approaches to life. Op is daring and tends to get into trouble; Ed is cautious and scared of pretty much everything. As the 150th Flummel Flower Festival approaches, Op and Ed are cast out to a remote rock for causing trouble and forbidden from participating in the festival. When they try to redeem themselves by finding the island’s most beautiful flower, they instead discover a vibrant bloom that causes them to time travel to modern-day Shanghai, where they meet a little white dog named Clarance (Ken Jeong).
The plot is loopy, but it’s tough to resist the charms of the voice cast, which includes Zazie Beetz, Catherine O’Hara, Reggie Watts, Terry Gross and Henry Winkler. Stream it on Netflix.
‘Hotel Transylvania: Transformania’
“Hotel Transylvania: Transformania,” the fourth installment in the series, opens with a party to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the hotel and the retirement of Drac (voiced by Brian Hull). There’s raucous singing and DayGlo monsters, but Drac is radiating bad vibes — he is not handling retirement gracefully.
The plot kicks off when Drac decides not to leave the hotel to his daughter, Mavis (Selena Gomez), because it would also mean leaving it to his skater dude son-in-law, Johnny (Andy Samberg). Johnny convinces Van Helsing to use his monster ray to turn him into a dragon-like creature, in hopes that his new green, spiked physique will endear him to his father-inlaw. Things go awry when the ray turns Drac into a bald, potbellied human. It’s a clever twist, revealing that for some, a dad bod and age spots are more terrifying than fangs and blood lust. Stream it on Amazon Prime Video.
‘Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile’
Academy Award winner Javier Bardem playing a singing, dancing showman, with an animated crocodile as his partner? That was enough to get my attention. If you’re looking for a silly, upbeat musical about a singing crocodile with stage fright (voiced by Shawn Mendes), stick around.
The live-action movie is based on the beloved book series by Bernard Waber. It tells the story of a boy named Josh who moves to New York with his parents (Scoot McNairy and Constance Wu) and discovers a large crocodile, the computer-generated Lyle, in the attic of his new home. Josh is a nervous child, and anyone who has moved to a new school or a new city will likely relate to his worries and anxieties. Lyle helps Josh face his fears, and in turn he gets a buddy who defends him whenever humans say that crocodiles are dangerous.
Fans of the book series will probably be enchanted, as will children who love a good musical number that they can jump off the couch and dance to. Stream it on Netflix.