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.

When "Flight of the Navigator" zipped into theaters on August 1, 1986, it entered a crowded marketplace where its primary kid-friendly competition was, um, James Gunn's "favorite" movie: "Howard the Duck." The notorious bomb outperformed Kleiser's movie, which received generally positive reviews. It wound up finishing its theatrical run with a gross of $18.6 million at the box office against a $9 million budget. But thanks to home media and The Disney Channel, "Flight of the Navigator" began to find the young viewers who'd make it an '80s nostalgic favorite years later.

Randal Kleiser's film revolves around Joey's connection with a Trimaxion Drone Ship from the planet Phaelon. David calls the crashed ship's robotic commander "Max" and, against the wishes of the scientists who wish to study the both of them, decides to help his new extraterrestrial fan get back home. (In an inventive twist, the route to Phaelon from Earth has been downloaded to David's brain.)

One particularly unsettling idea in "Flight of the Navigator" is David returning to his family to find that his bratty brother is now older than he is. For anyone who's ever had an annoying little sibling, that's a nightmare scenario. The other major appeal of the film is its cast, which includes Paul Reubens as the voice of Max. Also along for the ride are Sarah Jessica Parker, Veronica Cartwright, and Howard Hesseman. Additionally, visual effects nerds might get a kick out of seeing the use of nascent morphing technology prior to its full-blown utilization in the film "Willow" (which dates the movie in a charming way).

You can currently stream "Flight of the Navigator" on Disney+. I recommend watching it as the front-end of a double feature with "The Black Hole."