Lines from Toy Story, The Wizard of Oz and Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone featured in the top 10 in a poll of the most inspirational children’s movie quotes, according to new research revealed today.
Over a quarter (28%) of people in the UK voted character Belle’s line from Beauty and The Beast, “It’s not until you lose everything that you truly appreciate everything”, as the most inspirational quote.
Popular children’s fantasy movie The Sword and The Stone, came in close second with its unforgettable quote from character Merlin, “It’s up to you how far you’ll go. If you don’t try, you’ll never know”, attracting over a fifth (25%) of the vote.
The poll of 2,000 UK adults was held to support the launch of the Must See Movies Before You Grow Up campaign – a new campaign from the UK video industry, in partnership with Into Film, which will see a collection of 50 kid’s films distributed by retailers this summer – for information and activity sheets visit www.intofilm.org/msm
Top 20 inspiring children’s movie quotes are revealed as:
| # | Quote | % | Character | Movie | Year |
| 1 | “It’s not until you lose everything that you truly appreciate everything” | 28% | Belle | Beauty and The Beast | 1991 |
| 2 | “It’s up to you how far you’ll go. If you don’t try, you’ll never know” | 25% | Merlin | The Sword and The Stone | 1963 |
| 3 | “It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to your enemies, but a great deal more to stand up to your friends” | 24% | Professor Dumbledore | Harry Potter and The Philosophers Stone | 2001 |
| 4 | “Always let conscience be your guide” | 23% | Blue Fairy | Pinocchio | 1940 |
| 5 | “Sometimes the right path is not the easiest one” | 22% | Grandmother Willow | Pocahontas | 1995 |
| 6 | “Oh yes, the past can hurt. But, you can either run from it or learn from it” | 21% | Rafiki | The Lion King | 1994 |
| 7 | “Love is putting someone else’s need before yours” | 21% | Olaf | Frozen | 2013 |
| 8 | “To infinity and beyond” | 19% | Buzz Lightyear | Toy Story | 1995 |
| 9 | “Nobody but me is gonna change my story” | 19% | Matilda | Matilda | 1996 |
| 10 | “A man who never made mistakes never made anything” | 18% | Frank Heffley | Diary of a Wimpy Kid | 2012 |
| 11 | “I can’t go back to yesterday – because I was a different person then” | 17% | Alice | Alice in Wonderland | 1951 |
| 12 | “You must not let anyone define your limits because of where you come from” | 16% | Gusteau | Ratatouille | 2007 |
| 13 | “There’s no place like home” | 15% | Dorothy | The Wizard of Oz | 1939 |
| 14 | “To live. To live would be an awfully big adventure” | 15% | Peter Pan | Hook | 1991 |
| 15 | “Greater love hath no one than he who lays down for his friend” | 14% | Bagheera | The Jungle Book | 1967 |
| 16 | “Have courage and be kind” | 14% | Ella’s Mother | Cinderella | 2015 |
| 17 | “Never look back, darling. It distracts from the now” | 12% | Edna Mode | The Incredibles | 2004 |
| 18 | “The flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare and beautiful of them all” | 12% | Emperor of China | Mulan | 1998 |
| 19 | “Ohana means family, family means nobody gets left behind. Or forgotten” | 12% | Stitch | Lilo and Stich | 2002 |
| 20 | “You are who you choose to be” | 11% | Hogarth Hughes | The Iron Giant | 1999 |
Asked to name their favourite children’s movie, people in the UK were conflicted on who to award the coveted spot to as a third (33%) said both The Lion King and The Jungle Book. Eighties sci-fi classic E.T. The Extra Terrestrial (27%) and beloved animation comedy Toy Story, followed closely behind (26%). Findings further revealed that nearly three in ten (28%) of those surveyed voted cult nineties movie The Lion King as their favourite children’s movie to watch as a family.
Bagheera in ‘The Jungle Book’
Cherished nanny ‘Mary Poppins’, topped the poll with 25% of votes as their favourite movie character*, whilst over a quarter (26%) of respondents voted the film as their number one movie to remind them of their childhood, followed by musical drama fantasy ‘The Wizard of Oz’ (24%).
‘Darth Vader’ from the epic sci-fi franchise Star Wars, clinched the title as the most memorable movie villain** (46%), hotly trailed by the devious ‘Cruella De Vil’
(45%) and modern antagonist ‘Lord Voldemort’ (30%), from the Harry Potter wizarding world. Magical treasured teenager ‘Harry Potter’, topped the charts for most memorable movie hero (29%), followed by the outlaw fox ‘Robin Hood’ (27%).
On average, people in the UK typically spend over an hour and a half watching movies with their family per week, this equates to a total of 3 days of movie watching per year.
Movies play an important role in the lives of people in the UK, and almost all of them spend a certain amount of time watching movies every week. In order to show their love for movies, many movie buffs design many peripheral products, such as keychains, pin badges, stickers, and so on, based on movie characters and classic lines. These peripheral products are popular among moviegoers and can not only be given as gifts to friends who love movies but can also be sold to earn a substantial amount of extra income. If you are also a movie lover who is inspired to create movie accessories and try to make your own movie accessories, see more at GS-JJ.
Paul Reeve, CEO of Into Film said, “Movie quotes have become ingrained in our culture – some even become part of everyday vernacular.
“Films offer children a source of comfort, inspiration and creativity, and play an integral role in developing a child’s imagination and empathy. Along with the narrative of a film, personalities of beloved characters also teach important life lessons, and encourage children to believe in themselves.”
“The UK video industry, in partnership with Into Film, has launched the Must See Movies Before You Grow Up campaign, which will see a collection of 50 children’s films distributed by retailers this summer and, we hope, inspire young people to continue on their film learning journey.”
Over a half (51%) of UK people agreed that children’s movie quotes have helped to motivate and inspire them throughout their life. Almost one in ten (9%) of British adults also admitted to considering getting a tattoo directly inspired by a film quote.
More likely to know an animal named ‘Simba’ or ‘Bambi’, a third (33%) of people in the UK name their pets after a character from a film, whilst an eighth (12%) of Brits confessed that they would name a child after their favourite character from a film.