Too much of everything

Simply Perfect

I wanted to but couldn't!

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

"Summer Magic" is really strictly a younger kid's movie or a nostalgia for 1963 movie and I didn't think too much of it. The songs were silly, the snooty cousin was way way too cloyingly annoying, the supporting characters were just too stereo-typically Disney.It was fine seeing young Hayley Mills and Eddie Hodges and James Stacy and Peter Brown but the story , not so much.Then there's the odious Michael J. Pollard to consider. Why this guy is in so many pictures is a puzzlement!

I wanted to watch this movie because I had read that Walt Disney had said it reminded him of his childhood. One of my favorite parts of the the Disney World Resort is Main Street U.S.A., and I also read that this movie had some connection to what they tried to create in the park. The story is about a widower who moves from Boston to a small rural town with her three children. They fix up a big yellow house and adapt to country life. My family enjoys Little House on the Prarie and Pollyana, and we thought this would be along those lines. As we watched Summer Magic, we became increasingly mystified. Rather than progressing through a linear narrative, this movie piles on things that make no sense into a larger and larger pile, like a misshapen heap of gunney sacks. Most of the songs were terrible and poorly placed. None of them added to the story. There were moments when it felt like the movie might work, and some sequences were enjoyable as separate vignettes, but we ended up turning it off before it was finished. I watched the rest of it myself later and didn't care about any of it. I would have liked a better story and characters I could care about.

I was searching for decent movies for my 3yr. old granddaughter,when I came upon this,and I am so glad that I did. I remembered it and it was such a delight seeing it again when I watched with her. She loved it,and especially the Burl Ives part singing"Ugly Bug Ball". Who wouldn't love that? The whole movie,is fun,entertaining and totally "non-objectionable",which would take a miracle to say that about a film made today! I would not let small children watch and learn the monstrous behavior of the hateful,smart-mouth brats that are in today's films! I thank God so much that old classics like this are available on VHS/DVD so I do not have "settle" for the worthless, valueless, garbage that makes up most of the majority of today's films. Turner Classic Movies makes up the majority of my own film-watching,and I am delighted to see via Forums how many young folks feel the same way,about the offerings of TV/films today. Anyone looking for a delightful film that the whole family can sit down and watch together without having to worry about embarrassing/offensive scenes or language,here is a perfect choice. Wonderful family values lessons as well. How easy is it to find those in a film made today?

Summer Magic by Walt Disney is an awesome find. This is my all-time favorite Haley Mills movie. She is a tad more grown up since her Parent Trap & Pollyanna days, but still as sweet and innocent as ever! The all-start cast fits together perfectly. Burl Ives as Mr. Poppham was a perfect pick! I can honestly say, they don't make movies like this anymore. I have always enjoyed the classical Disney musicals, but this one is so much fun. The song "Pink of Perfection" gets in my head and I just want to sit down at a piano and sing away. Take my advice: if you want a clean, family movie, go out and rent it today...better yet, BUY IT! It will be worth your time and your money.