These Are The Adult Versions Of Your Favorite Childhood Movies

As a kid, we went along with the Goonies gang as they searched for the hidden treasure. We rooted for Princess Buttercup to get her prince. We were at the edge of our seats as The Sandlot kids tried to get the Babe Ruth baseball out of Mr. Mertle’s backyard. These movies give audiences a sense of nostalgia when they think about them. However, sometimes watching these movies as an adult doesn’t give them the same source of happiness that they had when they were a kid.

As an adult, we search for those same movies that we loved as a kid without having the cringe moments of kids movies. These films make audiences remember what it was like to go to the movies with their families, but with adult humor and storylines that they can relate to. Jumanji was thrilling and a tad scary as a kid; still, what would be the adult version of the film? Which movies give flashbacks to our childhoods that we can enjoy as adults? These are the adult versions of your favorite childhood movies.

6 The Karate Kid & Fists of Fury

     Columbia Pictures  

The Karate Kid follows Daniel LaRusso, who moves from New Jersey to California with his mom. He quickly gains enemies in the local kids, who are all involved with Cobra Kai Dojo. Daniel befriends the maintenance man in his building, Mr. Miyagi, who prepares him to go up against his biggest bullies in the Valley’s Karate Tournament. If this was one of your favorite movie as a child, then Fists of Fury will be your favorite as an adult. Complex calls Fists of Fury one of the top Kung Fu movies. Chen Zen returns home to find his master has passed and a Japanese kung fu school taunts the skills of his dojo. He decides to take down the entire student body and their masters. The Karate Kid is more light-hearted as it follows a young boy trying to make it in a new place, while Fists of Fury is full of heart-pounding, adrenaline action sequences.

5 Wall-E & Interstellar

     Paramount Pictures  

Wall-E is the last robot left on Earth. He picks up garbage every single day, and during the 700 years he’s been there, WALL-E develops a personality and even becomes lonely. Well, until he meets EVE, with whom he becomes immediately enamored. He then embarks on an adventure across the galaxy. This animated film makes the end of the world seem sweet as the two robots slowly fall in love with one another. Interstellar, on the other hand, does not make light of the end of the world. A global crop blight and second Dust Bowl are slowly making Earth uninhabitable. Professor Brand, a NASA physicist, is working on relocating the entire human population to a new habitable planet. Wall-E follows two robots at the end of the world who slowly fall in love; Interstellar takes on a more serious tone as it shows what humankind will do to save the human race.

4 The Chronicles of Narnia & The Lord of the Rings

     Walt Disney Company  

In The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, the Pevensies children quickly become part of a war against the White Witch, who has inflicted the land of Narnia with eternal winter. The kids stumble through a wardrobe and join Aslan’s army. BuddyTV describes how the kids learn valuable lessons of courage, faith, and sacrifice through the friends they make along the way. Aslan and the White Witch represent good and evil, making it simple for viewers of all cages. The Lord of the Rings is the journey of a young hobbit and the fellowship as they embark on a quest to destroy the One Ring. The destruction of this ring would ensure the death of Dark Lord Sauron. Chronicles of Narnia shows a quest taken on by four children who defeat evil with faith and courage. Lord of the Rings is the adult version as a group called the fellowship take on the Dark Lord of the region.

3 The Goonies & Ocean’s Eleven

     Warner Bros. Pictures  

A band of adventurous kids take on the power of a property development company that plan on destroying their home for a country club. The Goonies follows the group of kids as they find a treasure map in their attic of a pirate ship. The map leads the kids to an underground cavern to search for the treasure, and along the way, they come up against plenty of dangerous obstacles. If getting a hold of a lost treasure was your favorite movie as a kid, then Ocean’s Eleven is definitely one of your movie go-tos as an adult. Danny Ocean and a group of his closest friends decide to orchestrate one of their most sophisticated casino heists. However, this thief has three rules: don’t hurt anybody, don’t steal from anyone who doesn’t deserve it, and play the game like you’ve got nothing to lose. The Goonies follows a band of kids who wanted to find the hidden pirate treasure in this kid-friendly film, while Ocean’s Eleven has a group of thieves taking from a corrupt casino owner in this adult crime comedy.

2 The Lion King & Hamlet

     Walt Disney Pictures  

Simba is the heir to his father Mufasa’s throne in The Lion King. His uncle Scar plots to take over his brother’s throne by luring Mufasa and Simba into a stampede of wildebeests. Simba escapes by the help of his father Mufasa, who is killed. He consequently leaves Pride Rock and returns years later as an adult to take back his rightful place on the throne with the help of his friends Timon and Pumbaa. Oprah Daily says that this animated film was always meant to mirror the famous Shakespeare play Hamlet. The classic play-turned-film (on many occasions) portrays more adult themes. Prince Hamlet is traumatized that the present king murdered his father with the help of his mother. He decides to take revenge on those in his father’s court, which ultimately ends tragically.

1 Pocahontas & Avatar

     20th Century Fox  

Pocahontas is a (historically incorrect) tale of the romance between a young Native American woman and Captain John Smith, who journeyed to the New World with other colonizers to begin fresh lives. Pocahontas’s father does not approve of their relationship, and Captain Smith’s fellow Englishmen hope to rob the Native Americans of their gold. Avatar is the modern storytelling that mirrors the tale of Pocahontas. Humans start to colonize the planet Pandora that has a very valuable mineral unobtanium. Continuing to mine this material threatens the existence of the Na’vi people. Pocahontas shows the love story between Pocahontas and Smith while their two worlds are at odds with each other. Avatar shows the corruption and greed the humans have against the Na’vi people as they try to destroy them.