"The Peanut Butter Solution" And 23 Other Children's Movies That Feel Made Up, But Aren't

"Everyone who worked on that film was probably on drugs. Good movie though."

If you grew up before the dawn of streaming, you probably had a prized selection of movies (on VHS, obviously) that you watched on rotation.

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Sometimes they were blockbusters, and sometimes (mostly) they were whatever caught your mum's eye from the bargain bucket in the clearance aisle.

So, we asked people to share some of the weirdest movies they had on repeat when they were kids – here’s what they said!

1. The Pagemaster

20th Century Fox / Turner Pictures

"Little Macaulay Caulken goes to a library and finds these three books and is sucked into an animation world. I want to say one of the books was Whoopi Goldberg? Everyone says there was a dragon too, but I don’t remember there being one…"

—chasingzzzs

(Author's note: There is, in fact, a dragon in The Pagemaster; Macaulay's character gets swallowed by him; chaos ensues.)

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2. Return to Oz

Buena Vista Distribution

"I mean where to start? Electroshock therapy? The Wheelers? Princess Momby with her interchangeable heads, the sneery stone face snitching to the Gnome king, but by far the worst thing I have ever seen is that pumpkin head monstrosity, flailing around and asking Dorothy if it can call her mom? I'd have to turn that into a pie quick as a flash!"

—ladybrabra

"It begins with Dorothy getting ELECTRIC SHOCK THERAPY because no one believes she visited Oz, and ends with a goblin wizard lifting his robes to reveal he’s been wearing a dainty pair of ladies' glittery red heels. There’s so much madness in between I think I’ve blocked most of it out."

—sarahnhazel

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3. The Peanut Butter Solution

New World Pictures

"It's about a little boy who created a spell out of peanut butter. The spell grows hair and it grew all over his body, and then he gets kidnapped by people who used the hair to make paint brushes??!! So weird, and I’m still not sure if this was a real movie or a weird false memory."

—kaisharif

"Omg, NO ONE IN MY LIFE EXCEPT FOR MY MOTHER REMEMBERS THIS FILM!!!! I have asked SO MANY people in my 41 years and you are the FIRST ONE I’ve come across! I literally came here to mention this film!!"

—jenniferlynnv

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4. James and the Giant Peach

Buena Vista Pictures Distribution

"Between the killer ghost rhino and the giant metal shark, James and his insect friends travelling across the world inside a peach is the most straightforward thing about the film. I also remember being overly fixated on the logistics of how his aunts managed to drive to New York from England…"

–hanifahrahman

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5. Thumbelina

Warner Bros.

"She gets kidnapped by frogs, made to sing with a beetle voiced by Gilbert Godfried, and nearly married a mole."

—georgiabadiali

"She seems to be human, yet she’s pressured into nearly marrying multiple animals."

—eclipsecat

"Holy hell, my sister LOVED Thumbelina... What a fever dream. The VCR stopped working and I made fun of her for making the VCR break itself due to having to play that tape so much (I was seven, she was five). Definitely got grounded for that."

—notsosane1991

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6. Fantasia

Buena Vista Pictures Distribution

"I watched it when I was about five years old. I remember genuinely feeling ill I was so confused and bedazzled by it. I refused to watch it again, and haven't since!"

—juniperbloom

"I mean, we all felt like we were on something when we watched it, right?"

—eljyon2

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7. Help! I'm a Fish

Nordisk Film /Kinowelt

"What the hell was that film about? The ending scarred me for life! 'I'm a little yellow fish in the deep blue sea, won't somebody help me' is such a bop though."

—kateelizabethi

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8. All Dogs Go to Heaven

Rank Film Distributors

"All dogs go to heaven, except for when they actually wind up in hell or have oddly sexual fraternisations with giant alligators..."

—notsosane1991

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9. The Last Unicorn

Jensen Farley Pictures

"So SO creepy for no damn reason. I don’t even know where to start."

—cruellatweets

"It's less a fever dream and more of a terrifying nightmare. 😭 I honestly can't believe that's a kid's film; it was so dark and haunting."

—ravenbard

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10. Pinocchio

RKO Radio Pictures

"The whole entirety of the Pleasure Island scenes...  And let’s not forget the boys turning into donkeys thing."

—jessmeister

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11. The Cat from Outer Space

Buena Vista Distribution

"My brother and I used to watch it, and it was about a cat who… came from outer space! A scientist was trying to help mend his spaceship for him. The cat had a collar that lit up and allowed him to talk to the guy, and I've got a vague recollection that he helped the scientist get a date?!"

—LeopardHat

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12. Drop Dead Fred

New Line Cinema

 "Loved that movie, but also what the actual hell was that movie?"

—nicolew4dad774d7

13. The Brave Little Toaster

Hyperion Pictures

"I loved it as a kid even though it perturbed my mom."

—notsosane1991

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14. Madeline: Lost in Paris

Walt Disney Home Video

"The lady was holding orphanages hostage and forcing them to make lace out of HUMAN HAIR, including some of their own."

—notsosane1991

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15. Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland

Toho-Towa / Hemdale Film Corporation

"Everyone who worked on that film was probably on drugs. Good movie though."

—eisool

"I don’t think I know a single person that has seen that movie. I used to watch it all the time and loved it! I swear this movie is the definition of a fever dream!"

—chelseay40712bc12

"There was a little boy on a flying bed, and some kind of terrifying shadow chasing him... I literally thought it was a nightmare that I had, and it would recur a few times during my life. It wasn't until the Netflix remake with Jason Momoa came out last year that I realised it was a real movie and not just an awful scary dream. My brother and I talked about it for hours and how absolutely terrifying it was for us as children! I absolutely refuse to watch the remake, if only to stop a flood of other unwanted childhood memories!"

—trishabobisha

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16. Ferngully

20th Century Fox

"That movie opened my little eyes to saving the rainforests!"

—candacea4271c944b

"I don't know why but I found the monster/demon really really hot as a kid lol."

—silverwing33

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17. Unico in the Island of Magic

Televisa / Discotek Media

"Leaving aside the frankly terrifying plot (the villain casts spells on all the humans to turn them into 'living puppets' that he then used to make literal buildings out of), the characters make me shudder now and I'm almost 40."

—maetelle

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18. The NeverEnding Story

Warner Bros.

"I remember it being so strange and I didn't really know what was going on. It felt like I shouldn't be watching it."

—juniperbloom

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19. The Worst Witch

ITV

"It was an equally weird but addictive film and I remember watching it over and over again as a child.

I watched it again recently and while the special effects have aged poorly, the way one of my very favourite childhood books was adapted in this film was still very entertaining, but every bit as weird too!"

—karenv4e3b28d18

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20. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

United Artists

"When I was young, I watched an old movie that had a song like 'She's Truly Scrumptious' while a lady pretending to be a doll just twirled like a ballerina on a pedestal in order to distract a cruel ruler and help poor kids escape from an underground cave. I don't even remember the name of the movie..." 

—reemaa4c1841152

21. An American Tail: Fievel Goes West

Universal Pictures

"As a kid, I just remember lots of action and mice running from cat gangs. As an adult, I see the struggles of an immigrant family who are being taken advantage of by the rich."

—candacea4271c944b

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22. The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland

Columbia Pictures Industries / Sony Pictures Entertainment

"I'm still haunted by Mandy Patinkin's eyebrows."

—hm3476

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23. Alice In Wonderland

NBC

"The Cheshire Cat *shudders*."

—ac33

"What, you mean it's not totally normal to have a tree with large breasts and a one-eyed peg-legged pirate cat??? I showed that film to my friend Toby, and they were like 'the HELL did we just watch.'"

—maetelle

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24. My brother the Pig

Brimstone Entertainment / Ardustry Home Entertainment

"I can’t find it anywhere but I know I didn’t dream it."

—j-r-d

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Do you remember watching any of these movies? Let us know in the comments!

Some submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.