40 Years Ago, Disney Released This Dark Kids Movie Filled With Time Travel And Aliens

This is going to sound like nonsense, but once upon a time, Disney was in the habit of making original live-action movies for families. It was wild. Oftentimes, viewers had no idea where a story was headed because there wasn't a pre-existing Disney film with the same plot. And while theme park tie-ins and merchandising were always on the company's mind, the primary focus was on making a movie that would satisfy viewers, who expected a certain degree of quality from the studio.

These movies were rarely classics, but they were well-crafted yarns that worked for kids and parents alike. And they could be intense, if not downright scary! "Escape to Witch Mountain," "The Watcher in the Woods" and the ultra-dark "The Black Hole" gave me nightmares as a child. Disney didn't mess around.

But when the studio decided to branch out with the adult-catering Touchstone Pictures, its live-action family films gradually lost their edge. One of the last official Walt Disney Pictures releases to unnerve children was Randal Kleiser's "Flight of the Navigator." Technically, Disney was only the distributor on the science-fiction adventure, but it felt spiritually connected to those aforementioned films. Released in the summer of 1986, the movie starred Joey Cramer as David Freeman, an awkward 12-year-old kid who, thanks to his bratty 8-year-old brother Jeff, plummets into a ravine and finds himself entangled in an extraterrestrial mystery that literally knocks him eight years into the future. The notion of disappearing from your family for eight years, then turning up as your completely un-aged self, is pretty mind-blowing for youngsters.

Though "Flight of the Navigator" wasn't a hit, it has acquired a passionate cult following thanks in large part to the nostalgia for the eeriness of its premise. It should still work quite well today.