Monster Trucks

This Friday, Paramount Pictures is releasing what will arguably be the finest family film of the year (to date): Monster Trucks, which has had a famously messy production up to its release in the doldrums of the first month of the year. (Shocking that a movie thought up by a 4-year old wouldn’t have smooth sailing!) Leaving its behind-the-scenes rockiness aside, Monster Trucks ostensibly has the ingredients to be a kids’ movie: it’s a mix of computer animation and live action; it’s directed by Chris Wedge of the Ice Age franchise; and it’s about big trucks. But all accounts suggest that the oddity of the concept’s genesis is borne out by the finished film, making for a truly odd film intended for the whole family. In (dubious) honor of Monster Trucks, thus, here’s our list of 10 of the truly weird, oddball children’s movies.

In what might conservatively be described as a mildly discouraging sign, the Wall Street Journal reports that Paramount Pictures “took the unusual step Wednesday of announcing a $115 million impairment charge ‘related to the expected performance of an unreleased film.’” And that film appears to be Monster Trucks, which has an also mildly discouraging release date of early January, in which a teenager (26-year-old Lucas Till) discovers a monster who then hangs out inside his truck. Hence, monster truck.

Lucas Till can currently be seen in theaters around the world in X-Men: Apocalypse, where he plays Havok, the older brother of mutant leader Cyclops. Till first played Havok in X-Men: First Class, which was set 20 years before Apocalypse...