9 Underrated Kid's Movies You Didn't Realise Were Awesome

5. The Pagemaster (1994)

A young boy named Richard Tyler is scared of everything, much to his parents' frustration. When he takes shelter one night from a storm in the local library, he slips and hits his head. When he awakens, he and everything around him transforms into illustrations, and he finds himself on a magical adventure accompanied by three books. Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 18% Why It's Actually Awesome: This movie is a book lover's dream. The whole plot centres on the magic of books and imagination. A young Macaulay Culkin is perfect in his role as a neurotic kid who stumbles into the library by chance. Add to that Christopher Lloyd as the librarian, and Whoopi Goldberg, Patrick Stewart, and Frank Welker (Fred from Scooby Doo) as the books that accompany Macaulay Culkin's character, and you've got a pretty great cast. The concept of the movie was incredibly innovative, with books and their stories literally coming to life through the transition between live action to animation. Throughout his adventures, Richard is exposed to famous literary characters like Dr. Jekyll and Captain Ahab. Any movie that teaches kids literature through the guise of something else is brilliant, especially when it lauds the use of imagination and the excitement that can be found within books. As exciting as any fast-paced novel, the movie takes the viewer on a journey through a variety of different worlds, while employing humour, adventure, and fantasy. It also deals with facing down your fears and doing things you never knew you could. The Pagemaster celebrates literature and encourages you to go anywhere your mind takes you.