BRATTLEBORO — Latchis Arts brings back its popular Movies for Kids series on Sunday mornings, starting this month and continuing January through March.
Kids - and their big people and everyone who is a kid-at-heart - are invited to showings of movies at the Latchis Theatre, 50 Main St., on Sundays at 11 a.m. Admission to the movies is by donation.
Movies for Kids will have a monthly theme and offer both contemporary and older films that fit that theme. The theme for November is Horses. The series, which started with Dreamer on Nov. 5, continues on Nov. 12 with The Derby Stallion, followed by National Velvet on Nov. 19 and Spirit on Nov. 26.
Last year, Movies for Kids drew more than 1,200 moviegoers of all ages. The program was initiated by Latchis Arts Board Member Jonathan Schwartz as a way to introduce young people and folks of all ages to great, entertaining films, with admission by donation so that price wouldn't be a barrier.
The series quickly proved popular, with many families returning week after week. The November series theme of Horses was suggested by a family that came often to last year's films.
The Nov. 12 movie, The Derby Stallion (2005, PG) stars young High School Musical heartthrob Zac Efron as a boy who develops a sense of purpose and some new friends through an unlikely alliance with an aging musician who is trying to turn his horse into a winner.
On Nov. 19, the series turns to a great classic, National Velvet, the 1944 heartwarmer that launched the career of then 11-year-old Elizabeth Taylor, starring alongside Mickey Rooney.
Dejected following a serious accident, a trainer (Rooney) plans to steal from the family that has taken him in, but his resolve is weakened by the kindness of young Velvet (Taylor). They form a common bond in their love of horses, and together strive to turn a horse believed to be untrainable into a champion.
November's films conclude with Spirit, (2002, G) an animated film starring Matt Damon as the voice of Spirit, a wild Mustang stallion living in the Old West who is captured by horse traders and sold to a cavalry outfit, where a cruel colonel tries to tame him.