If anyone wants to see this again, my local Goodwill has it on DVD.
Posted by jcwitty@reddit | GenX | View on Reddit | 64 comments
I passed. Spoiler alert: the balloon gets wrecked.
Rare_Magazine_5362@reddit
I’ve seen this 99 times.
nirreskeya@reddit
I think I already have a copy. Criterion Collection, right? The balloon gets wrecked is the ending of some of my favorite films.
wellpaidscientist@reddit
Why the fuck did we have to watch this. And why was there also a book version of this piece of shit
jcwitty@reddit (OP)
It’s weird that it’s such a shared experience we all have. I attended elementary school in Connecticut. I feel like I could mention this movie to someone in our age group from any state and they would know what I’m talking about.
Kiwi_lad_bot@reddit
Must be a U.S thing. Ive never heard of it.
jcwitty@reddit (OP)
It’s French. From 1956. For some reason it was shown to us in elementary school in the U.S.
tandem_kayak@reddit
Portland, Oregon - every year in elementary school we had an end of year movie day, and it was this, Ol' Yeller, and sometimes Support Your Local Sheriff with James Garner.
xczechr@reddit
California, watched it also.
wellpaidscientist@reddit
Mindless group think, hahahaha. I assume the purpose was an attempt to foster emotional depth in children, and prepare them for sadness and disappointment Let them know that it was normal and life goes on. But who knows. Maybe it was a manifestation of the divorce generation, preparing children to lose things that they loved.
TransportationNo8300@reddit
Michigan here
vin4thewin@reddit
My childhood was spent on the west coast and South America and I know what you’re talking about. People our age across the world may know.
ZappaLlamaGamma@reddit
I have this on my plex server. It’s a classic.
Flipmstr2@reddit
No thanks, I hate having my heart break
Zcontrarian@reddit
We used to watch this every year in school. Found it on DVD in my late 20s. I watch it every year now. It stays the same and helps me see how I’ve changed.
Uncle_Piesteak@reddit
I think I remember seeing a parody of this where the red balloon is shown following someone home and then murders them. But haven’t been able to track it down. Am I imagining the whole thing?
obscurisms@reddit
That's a sketch from Mr. Show. You've got to follow your balloon!
Uncle_Piesteak@reddit
Thank you kind stranger!!!
mncoakncmn@reddit
I swear I saw this no less than a million times in school.
KLLR_ROBOT@reddit
It’s on YouTube if you want that walk down memory lane
anx1etyhangover@reddit
Balon! Balon!
Whipstich-Pepperpot@reddit
I feel like I am the only person that can't stand that kid (and/or that movie). Been hating him since 1973.
Clown is also unwatchable, damn dog.
SGFCardenales@reddit
Definitely hated it. Any time we had a rainy day, our elementary school played this and we all had to sit in the gymnasium and watch it. I hated the kid and I hated his balloon. Though I did like Paddle to the Sea which was even more boring as the little carved canoe made its way to the ocean
jcwitty@reddit (OP)
Paddle to the Sea was great!
Whipstich-Pepperpot@reddit
I love Paddle to the Sea. It's part of my soul.
Remarkable-Daikon-42@reddit
Paddle to the sea just unlocked.
jcwitty@reddit (OP)
You are definitely not the only one.
Whipstich-Pepperpot@reddit
TY! I was feeling like I should turn in my GenX card at the front desk on my way out.
N46L3@reddit
Oh my God I loved that in second grade!!!
sinisterdesign@reddit
Love that Clarendon 😍
Smoothvirus@reddit
That one and the short film with the witch that made magic pancakes are burned into my brain.
BeDeRex@reddit
Gonna need a name on that witchy pancake shit.
DidelphisGinny@reddit
Stupidest movie I ever watched
DayHova7tre@reddit
TransportationNo8300@reddit
Boooooo
BushwickSpill@reddit
🎶You’ve got to follow your ballooooon🎶
sauerkraut916@reddit
it was boring all 5 times I was forced to watch it in school
chinstrap@reddit
Adults seemed to think it was critical that we see this film.
MovingTarget-@reddit
Along with reading Catcher in the Rye, which upon a third re-read still makes absolutely no sense.
ohnodamo@reddit
Did you prefer school work or something?
markov-271828@reddit
I’ve got 99 Red Balloons but that ain’t one of them ;-)
MaximumJones@reddit
DeaddyRuxpin@reddit
Looks like it is available free on Plex. https://l.plex.tv/6fjRDjrw
rslashpalm@reddit
I actually just watched this on HBO. I hadn't seen it since I was a kid.
Reasonable-HB678@reddit
After some episodes of Fresh Prince, and the movie Adventures in Babysitting, The Red Balloon was what I watched in the first month of HBO Max's existence.
Signal_Cake5735@reddit
I adore this film.
jshatt@reddit
This movie pops into my head all the time!
EggCzar@reddit
Did they have 99 of them?
Cytwytever@reddit
"and because it's digital and played by a laser, it will never wear out!"
Stop selling me different media, okay?
astral-dwarf@reddit
Is that like a miniature LaserDisc?
ArthurBea@reddit
They replaced vinyl with lasers??? When?? We really are in the future!
Mr_SunnyBones@reddit
As a European I have to ask .. what happened to the other 98?
ohnodamo@reddit
You win, Nena.
disturbednadir@reddit
Only if there's 98 more that go with it.
TheSilentC@reddit
Came here for this comment
sauerkraut916@reddit
The only Red Balloons 🎈 I support: those 99 floating in the summer sky.
Big_Criticism_8335@reddit
We should be called the "Balloon Generation" 🎈
Outrageous_Plum5348@reddit
Pure magic.🎈❤️
whipprsnappr@reddit
When I was in fifth grade (if I remember correctly), this was shown at the end of the year in class. A staple of the era, I, as well as most of my peers, had seen it before, so the movie did not hold my attention. Bored, I rooted through my stuffed and cluttered desk, and lo and behold I found a mini plastic water pistol I had brought to school months earlier (which I though I had lost) in the back recesses of my desk. Then I got an idea. Then end of the movie was upon us, and I thought it would be funny to fake cry. I put the squirt gun into the corner of my eye and pulled the trigger. Water ran from my face, down my cheek, and onto my shirt. The perfect path for tears, but I needed to sell it better than that. So I rubbed my eyes for a bit, to get them good and red, then with the gun palmed ever so discreetly, waited for my moment. The film ended and I squirted my fake tears. Then I sniffed and cowered a bit like I was trying to hide my shame. The lights came on and the drapes were opened and I was seen by a classmate. “Are you crying, u/whipprsnappr?” The class soon caught on and began to either laugh or have concern. I had sold it perfectly, and it was time for the big reveal. “I’m not crying! I was faking it. Look, here is my tear source. I fooled all of you!”
However, no one believed me. My eyes were red and puffy, my face streaked with tears, and my shirt home to evidence of a prolonged crying jag. And the more I protested, the more they didn’t believe me. The whole incident still haunts me to this day. Lmao, what an idiot I was.
jcwitty@reddit (OP)
Damn. Sorry to bring it up. If it helps, I believe you. 🔫
International-Mix425@reddit
I love that movie. I remember it from 3rd grade.
LadyNorbert@reddit
I remember they showed it once when I was in elementary school. We were all so bored that they never subjected us to it again.
LaLionneEcossaise@reddit
I have it on DVD!
dlrich12@reddit
For whatever reason, this film crossed my mind the other day.
Plastic-Sentence9429@reddit
No thanks.