Movies for Kids on the Big Screen

Little feet scamper back and forth, up and down aisles, roughly approximating the rhythm in an on-screen dance number. A group of small girls gleefully clap and sing along. A small spattering of giggles progress quickly, contagiously, into full-blown raucous cheer.

In any other movie theater, on any other day, these distractions might inspire viewers to fetch a manager and demand a refund. But for the two Monday afternoons each month that Big Movies for Little Kids takes over , these occurrences are signs of success.

"We wanted to get children out of their living rooms and introduce them to classic films that they wouldn't normally see," says organizer Allison Prete, who with five other board members chooses the film selections.

One very qualified and discerning focus group helps: the members' own children.

And while standard kiddie fare such as Muppet movies, "Annie," and "Pinnochio" are indeed on the bill, organizers tend to avoid the obvious. Monday's screening, for example, featured the 1944 musical "Meet Me in St. Louis," starring Judy Garland.

The reason: Prete gives her audience more credit than most.

"Kids have a surprisingly long attention span. They do like story," she says.

Even foreign films – "Krtek" from the Czech Republic was recently screened – go over well with the 2-8 year-old crowd.

Theater ambience is key. Lights are kept on for the movie's entirety, sound is turned a few notches lower than normally-blaring levels, and viewers are not restricted to their seats.

"We encourage children to get up and walk around, dance in the aisles ... It's really great to see, and the laughter is just infectious," says Prete.

The setting is carefully planned for parents and kids: strollers are strategically parked near the front so that parents who need to leave midway through the screening can do so conveniently.

Carroll Gardens resident Alison Lowenstein has been bringing her two children since the film series began five years ago.

It's "extremely kid-friendly," says Lowenstein. "The theater really is a homey atmosphere."

Lowenstein's kids like it too.

"It's like a different world," says Lowenstein's daughter Lucy Isaacs, 7. She cites "Annie" as her favorite Big Movies for Little Kids screening.

"It has nice songs, and I like the story."

Lucy's 4 year-old brother, Max Isaacs, appreciates the screenings for more logistical reasons.

"I like it because I get to eat popcorn" he says. "And I get to sit up so close."

Prete and a few other parents came up with the idea for the cinema club in January 2005.

"We were walking by the theater and thought, 'Wouldn't it be great if there were films my kids could see here?'"

Cobble Hill Cinemas' management told Prete that if the group could sell 25 seats for each of the first few shows, then the screening program could become a reoccurring series. Thanks to a lot of word-of-mouth marketing throughout the neighborhood, they had no trouble doing so, and Big Movies for Little Kids was officially born.  

Prete's fond memories of her own childhood relationship with film are part of the reason she takes such pride in the project.

"When I was a kid, I had a family friend who took me and my sister to see Laurel and Hardy and Tom and Jerry films at an old vaudeville theatre," she remembers. "Now, for my daughter and her friends, it's just a regular thing for them to do. It will be interesting to see what she remembers when she gets older."