Children's Feet in Cinema, 1931 - present (revised October 30, 2003)
KF Admirer
(revised October 30, 2003)
Barefoot children appear in many films, and some of the movies show
the bottoms of boys' or girls' feet in close-up for long, lingering
times. Here are some films with scenes where girls or boys appear
barefoot and usually show the bottoms of their feet. They are listed
from the earliest movies to movies of today. The age of the child
noted for each film is the actual age they were when the movie was
shot, not when it was finally released to theaters. (For example,
"Misunderstood" was filmed in 1982, when Henry Thomas was 10 years old
and Huckleberry Fox was 7 years old, but it was not released until
1984 when they were 12 and 9, respectively.) In some cases, the age
of the child is estimated if research fails to find a verifiable
biography but if other material, such as interviews, helps to
establish the age as closely as possible.
"Children's Feet in Cinema" was first published in 1996 on several
newsgroups and listed boyfeet and girlfeet together in a mixed, single
column. It was later adapted for use by The Young Foot Lovers
Adoration Society (TYFLAS), a now-defunct website which edited the
list to show only girlfeet. This new list is presented here in a
revised format of its original, in which boyfeet are once again listed
with girlfeet. Unlike the original posting, however, the list has
been separated for convenience into a boyfeet grouping and a girlfeet
grouping. In films where boys and girls appear barefoot in the same
film, the same film is listed in each category. An entirely new
addition is "Animated Girlfeet," in which feature-length cartoons show
well-drawn little girls' feet, and it follows the "Boyfeet" section.
(Thus far no animated features showing boys' feet have been discovered
by the author.)
Suggestions and additions to this list are welcome.
GIRLFEET:
* "Curly Top" 1935. Shirley Temple, 7 years old, lies on her stomach
on the beach with her feet in the air. Earlier she also appears
barefoot while dancing as a hula girl in lei and grass skirt.
* "The Blue Bird" 1940. Shirley Temple, 11 years old, does not
appear barefoot at any time in this film; however, when she and her
brother visit a heavenly place where children wait to be born on
Earth, they encounter dozens of boys and girls ranging in age from
about 4 to 10 years old, all of whom are barefoot.
* "Kathleen" 1941. Shirley Temple, 13 years old, hurts her big toe
and her maid puts a bandage on it. The film also features a close-up
of the sole of her foot.
* "Meet Me in St. Louis" 1944. Margaret O'Brien, 7 years old, lies
on her stomach on a bed with her feet in the air as she talks with her
older sisters.
* "National Velvet" 1944. Elizabeth Taylor, 12 years old, lies on
her back with her feet out in front of her on her bed, and then lies
on her stomach on her mother's bed with her feet in the air.
* "Sister Kenny" 1946. Doreen McCann, about 6 years old, lies on a
gurney barefoot as she is given a medical exam for polio.
* "So Dear to my Heart" 1949. Luana Patten, 10 years old, and Bobby
Driscoll, 11 years old, walk about barefoot numerous times in this
film set in a rural area.
* "Pollyanna" 1960. Hayley Mills, 13 years old, is lifted out of bed
in her nightgown and carried to the upper staircase, where she sees a
crowd gathered below in her honor. The camera provides a medium shot
of her bare feet as she is picked up and then carried across the
balcony.
* "Papa's Delicate Condition" 1962. Linda Bruhl, 8 years old, is
carried up the stairs to her bedroom with her feet toward the camera.
* "To Kill a Mockingbird" 1962. Mary Badham, 9 years old, walks home
barefoot from school while wearing a costume and showing the bottoms
of her feet as she walks.
* "The Sound of Music" 1965. Angela Cartwright, 12 years old, Debbie
Turner, 8 years old, and Kym Karath, 6 years old, appear barefoot with
two on-screen older sisters, also barefoot, during the famous "My
Favorite Things" song montage. For the purposes of this list, one
older sister played by Charmian Carr, 22 years old, cannot be
considered a child, and the other older sister Heather Menzies, 15
years old, may be considered a child only by some moviegoers.
* "A High Wind in Jamaica" 1965. Deborah Baxter, about 10 years old,
climbs a rope ladder aboard ship and shows the bottoms of her feet as
she ascends. Lots of other children, boys and girls both, slide on a
wet ship deck with their feet out in front of them.
* "Pippi Longstocking" 1969. Inger Nilsson, 10 years old, appears
barefoot in one scene when she soaks her feet in a large bucket of
water, pours the rest on the floor, puts on foot scrubbers and
proceeds to skate around the house cleaning the floor.
* "Alice in the Cities" 1970. Yella Rottländer, about 9 years old,
wears a swimsuit and lounges on a blanket on her stomach with her bare
soles in the air and moves them back and forth.
* "The Beguiled" 1971. Pamelyn Ferdin, 12 years old, displays her
bare feet from beginning to end, finally showing the bottom of one of
her feet as she kneels to grieve over a slain pet. Her entire sole is
viewable in letterbox format, but only partially otherwise.
* "Napoleon and Samantha" 1972. Jodie Foster, 9 years old, is shown
at a distance barefoot as she dangles her feet from a pier into the
water.
* "The Exorcist" 1973. Linda Blair, 13 years old, comes downstairs
in her nightgown and wets the carpet in her "possessed" state, and a
brief shot of her bare feet in medium close-up is shown. Later her
feet are visible in various bedroom scenes, particularly as her body
is levitating during the exorcism.
* "Malachi's Cove" 1973. Veronica Quilligan, about 12 years old,
lives with her grandfather by the sea and earns her living by
collecting seaweed, and she runs about barefoot during the whole
movie.
* "Here Comes Pippi Longstocking" 1973. Inger Nilsson, 13 years old,
appears barefoot in a foot and feather scene in a film also known as
"Pippi Goes on Board."
* "The Car" 1977. Kim Richards, 12 years old, and her real-life
sister Kyle Richards, about 9 years old, lie on their backs top of the
covers in their bedroom as their on-screen father comes to check on
them, and both girls show their soles of their feet toward the camera.
* "Candleshoe" 1977. Jodie Foster, 14 years old, lies barefoot on a
bed showing her soles, then sits cross-legged, showing her toes.
* "The Goodbye Girl" 1977. Quinn Cummings, 9 years old, shows her
feet from a distance as she walks about the house.
* "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" 1977. Adrienne Campbell, 6
years old, and her brothers are awakened by their father, and she is
barefoot and dangles her foot clearly over the side of the bed.
* "Pretty Baby" 1978. Brooke Shields, 12 years old, shows the
bottoms of her feet when she slides down a banister, gets her legs
painted, and gets picked up for a spanking.
* "Piranha" 1978. Numerous children (identities and ages not
available here) splash about in a lagoon and show their feet.
* "The Blue Lagoon" 1980. Elva Josephson, 10 years old, sits on the
beach with her feet out in front of her and later swims in the ocean,
and Glenn Kohan, 10 years old, shows his feet as he swims in the
ocean.
* "Poltergeist" 1982. Heather O'Rourke, 6 years old, has a number of
barefoot scenes as she walks about in her pajamas in her bedroom and
in front of the television, often showing her soles behind her as she
sits on her folded legs.
* "Annie" 1982. Aileen Quinn, 10 years old, stars in this famous
story of little girl orphans in New York City. She and her numerous
"sister" orphans, including Toni Ann Gisondi, 6 years old, who plays
the youngest orphan Molly, display their feet many times during the
opening bedroom scene as they sing the first number.
* "Anna to the Infinite Power" 1983. Martha Byrne, 11 years old,
shows the bottoms of her feet as she climbs into hiding places away
from her captors.
* "Supergirl - DVD Director's Cut" 1984. In the original release
this scene was removed (and so names and ages are not available here),
but in the DVD edition it is restored and features numerous little
girls ranging from 5 to 10 years old who appear barefoot throughout
the scene. It takes place just after the opening credits when
Supergirl is walking through the city in which you see the barefoot
extras.
* "Cat's Eye" 1985. Drew Barrymore, 10 years old, lies in bed asleep
with her foot out from under the covers as a tiny gremlin crawls up
the side of her bed. The camera shows an extreme close-up of the
bottom of her foot.
* "Surviving: A Family in Crisis" 1985. Heather O'Rourke, 8 years
old, appears in this TV-movie while lying on her bed talking to her
brother and dangling her feet behind her. A few minutes later she is
sitting up, legs crossed, and playing with her toes.
* "The Coca-Cola Kid" 1985. Rebecca Smart, 8 years old, shows her
feet in close-up as she washes them while taking a shower. She also
appears barefoot in other scenes throughout the movie.
* "My Life as a Dog" 1985. Johanna Udéhn, about 10 years old,
extends her bare feet to the outside grass as she lies inside a large
section of water pipeline while talking with her young boyfriend. Her
feet clearly show while the rest of her is hidden from view inside the
pipeline as the young boy reads from a newspaper on the grass.
* "Parent Trap II" 1986. Carrie Kei Heim, 12 years old, lies on her
stomach on her bed with her feet in the air keeping time to music from
the radio. The opening shot is a tight close-up of her feet as they
rhythmically move, then the camera dollies back to reveal Carrie's
entire self.
* "'Round Midnight" 1986. Gabrielle Haker, 11 years old, dances on
the beach and shows the bottoms of her feet as she twirls.
* "Poltergeist II: The Other Side" 1986. Heather O'Rourke, 10 years
old, offers a very brief glimpse of her feet in this sequel. It
occurs when she stands up and walks towards the toy telephone near the
beginning of the film.
* "The Shiralee" 1988. Rebecca Smart, 11 years old, stars in this
nostalgic Australian film as the newly discovered daughter of a
wandering swagman and appears barefoot through most of the film.
Although this film was originally a mini-series, it is sometimes
broadcast as a single feature.
* "Critters 2" 1988. Lindsay Parker, 7 years old, is shown sleeping
on top of her bed as the camera slowly pans over her bare soles up to
her face. In another scene, there is also an extreme close-up of her
sole as it dangles off the bed.
* "The Good Mother" 1988. Asia Vieira, 6 years old, displays a few
brief glimpses of her feet as she plays about the residence she shares
with her single mother.
* "Zelly and Me" 1988. Alexandra Johnes, about 10 years old, has a
lingering close-up shot of her bare foot as she dangles it while
sitting on the edge of her bed.
* "Three Fugitives" 1989. Sarah Rowland Doroff, 7 years old, shows
the bottoms of her feet as she is being carried up the stairs to the
bedroom and later when being lifted from a tub after her bath.
* "Troop Beverly Hills" 1989. Jenny Lewis, 11 years old, Kellie
Martin, 13 years old, Ami Foster, 13 years old, and many other
pre-teen and barely-teen actresses are seen barefoot as they sit
around in their pajamas telling ghost stories in a hotel. Later, some
members of the troop show their soles during a pedicure at a salon
when they have cotton between their toes.
* "Field of Dreams" 1989. Gaby Hoffman, 6 years old, is shown
barefoot when she is carried to bed in her pajamas as she sleeps in
the arms of her father.
* "Uncle Buck" 1989. Gaby Hoffmann, 7 years old, appears barefoot in
this movie several times, but especially clearly when she refuses to
sleep in her own bed and ends up sleeping with her Uncle Buck on top
of the covers.
* "Arachnophobia" 1990. Marlene Katz, 10 years old, sits on her
knees in her pajamas with the camera behind her as a small spider
approaches her bare feet, shown bottoms-up as she is sitting.
* "Three Men and a Little Lady" 1990. Robin Weisman, about 7 years
old, shows her feet while being tickled by her on-screen adopted dad
Tom Selleck.
* "My Girl" 1991. Anna Chlumsky, 10 years old, gets into bed and
shows the bottoms of her feet as she pulls the covers over her after
getting her hair brushed by Jamie Lee Curtis.
* "Return to the Blue Lagoon" 1991. Courtney Phillips, about 10
years old, who most often is listed in film credits as Courtney
Barilla, appears barefoot during a very brief appearance.
* "Switched at Birth" 1991. Ariana Richards, 11 years old, shows her
feet in this TV-movie of a child who discovers she belongs
biologically to another family.
* "Curly Sue" 1991. Alisan Porter, 9 years old, is sitting in a
rubber ring in the bathtub when she lifts her legs out of the water
and shows her bare feet.
* "The Prince of Tides" 1991. Brandlyn Whitaker, about 5 years old,
lives by the ocean with her family and frequently displays her bare
feet while in her swimsuit or nightgown. At one point she crawls onto
her father's lap and shows the bottoms of her feet to the camera in
medium close-up. Her two sisters are played by Lindsay Wray, 14 years
old, and Maggie Collier, about 12 years old, who are also barefoot in
some scenes, but Brandlyn's feet provide the best views.
* "Honey, I Blew up the Kid" 1992. Various little girls (names and
ages not available here) show their feet while watching a magic show.
* "Betrayal of the Dove" 1992. Heather Lind, about 7 years old,
appears barefoot in a couple of scenes.
* "Sidekicks" 1992. Jonathan Brandis, 16 years old, is unlikely to
be considered a child in this karate film in which he appears
barefoot. However, many boys and girls 12 and under who compete in
the karate tournament toward the end of the film show their feet, and
often their soles.
* "The Secret Garden" 1993. Kate Maberly, 10 years old, shows the
bottoms of her feet as she rests on her knees looking out a window
with the camera behind her, and Heydon Prowse, 10 years old, lies on
his back on a cot with his feet out in front of him.
* "They" 1993. Brandlyn Whitaker, about 7 years old, in this
TV-movie also known as "They Watch," shows her feet side-on when she
sits on her dad's lap. In another scene she falls asleep on the stairs
and displays her soles as her dad takes her to bed.
* "Miracle on 34th Street" 1994. Mara Wilson, 7 years old, shows the
bottoms of her feet as she gets out of bed, walks over to a trunk and
kneels down, with the camera at an angle behind her.
* "No Dessert Dad, Til You Mow the Lawn" 1994. Allison Mack, 11 years
old, is singing in the bathtub with her foot resting against the tap.
The scene includes a close-up of her toes, which are painted purple.
* "Nell" 1994. Heather and Marianne Bomba, 7-year-old twins, jump
off a bank in the woods with the camera below them and show the
bottoms of their feet as they descend.
* "Deep Red" 1994. Lindsey Haun, 9 years old, shows the sole of her
foot in order to prove a point she is making to a grown-up. Later she
is strapped to a bed as the camera pans along, capturing both of her
soles this time.
* "Corrina, Corrina" 1994. Tina Majorino, 9 years old, has numerous
barefoot scenes in the film, including those in which she floats on a
rubber raft in a backyard pool and sits on a step with her
grandmother. Perhaps the best scene of all, however, is when she is
jumping on her bed with her legs straight out in front of her,
trampoline-style, her soles toward the camera as she descends in
slow-motion to the bed.
* "Burnt by the Sun" 1994. Nadia Mikhalkov, 6 years old, shows the
bottom of her right foot in close-up as her father lifts her ankle as
they float downstream in a rowboat.
* "Children of the Dark" 1994. Lindsey Haun, 9 years old, and
Annalise Ashdown, about 6 years old, appear barefoot in this TV-movie
in a scene where they are lying on sunbeds at night, their soles
clearly visible.
* "The Flintstones" 1994. Elaine and Melanie Silver, about 4 years
old, twins who alternate in the role of Pebbles, are barefoot
throughout the film and show their feet in a variety of scenes and
angles.
* "Monkey Trouble" 1994. Thora Birch is barefoot while looking for
her clothes early in the morning.
* "It Takes Two" 1995. Mary-Kate Olsen, 9 years old, slips off the
shoe and sock of her left foot and shows the bottom of it, in extreme
close-up, to her butler to display a pinpoint scar on her heel.
* "Angela" 1995. Miranda Stuart Rhyne, about 10 years old, and
Charlotte Eve Blythe, about 6 years old, star in this film about the
world of childhood and have numerous scenes which display their feet.
* "Freaky Friday" 1995. Gaby Hoffman, 13 years old, shows the soles
of her feet in medium close-up several times when she ascends the
ladder of a diving board in her swimsuit and in medium distance shots
when she walks about the swimming pool area.
* "The Secret of Roan Inish" 1995. Jeni Courtney, about 10 years
old, goes barefoot a number of times for the first hour of the film,
which takes place near the Irish seashore.
* "Four Rooms" 1995. Lana McKissack, 10 years old, and Danny
Verduzco, about 8 years old, remove their shoes and socks in a hotel
room, and their feet are shown in medium distance in most of the
scene. However, at one point Lana lies on a hotel bed and extends the
bottom of her foot toward her on-screen younger brother, where her
sole appears in close-up.
* "Magic In The Water" 1995. Sarah Wayne, about 10 years old,
displays her sandy bare feet in close-up. She also appears in open
sandals while sitting cross-legged on a pier, and later is shown
barefoot on the same pier with a medium distance shot of her soles.
* "City of Lost Children" 1995. Judith Vittet, 9 years old, receives
a foot massage from Ron Perlman as they pause to rest on a city
street. The bottom of her foot is shown medium close-up in this
French-language film.
* "The Little Princess" 1995. Liesel Matthews, 10 years old, is seen
barefoot as she sits atop a rock at the beginning of the movie.
* "Waterworld" 1995. Tina Majorino, 10 years old, appears barefoot
in many scenes, but the moments when she can be seen with bare feet
are quick and require freeze-frame to be observed effectively.
* "Race Against Time: The Search for Sarah" 1996. Caitlin Wachs, 6
years old, lies on her bed in this TV-movie while reading a book with
her aunt. Caitlin then pushes her socks off using her feet and
eventually puts her soles in full view of the camera.
* "Pinocchio's Revenge" 1996. Brittany Alyse Smith, about 10 years
old, has a scene in which we see a three-second look at her right
foot.
* "Manny and Lo" 1996. Scarlett Johansson, 11 years old, lies on the
couch with her older sister and shows her soles in medium close-up.
In another part of the movie, she walks around barefoot right after
taking a shower.
* "Fly Away Home" 1996. Anna Paquin, 13 years old, briefly shows her
feet when she shares a shower with some feathered friends.
* "La Mońos" 1996. Claudia Molina, about 10 years old, dances a
flemenco barefoot atop a barrel to entertain the men of the village in
this Spanish-language film. Her feet are shown close-up as she
dances. Afterward her father places her shoes back on and handles her
feet as he does in medium close-up.
* "Striptease" 1996. Rumer Willis, 7 years old, is seen barefoot on
more than one occasion. In one scene the soles of her feet are shown
as she sits down to watch television, her legs out in front of her.
* "Ghosts of Mississippi" 1996. Alexa Vega, 7 years old, has
numerous barefoot scenes while wearing her nightgown both inside and
outside the house. Views of her soles can be seen in medium close-up
as she is carried around the house in the arms of her father.
* "Harriet the Spy" 1996. Michelle Trachtenberg, 10 years old, and
her friends, Gregory Smith, 12 years old, and Vanessa Lee Chester, 11
years old, draw a design on their soles as an indication of their
solidarity. The feet of all three children are in medium close-up.
Michelle also has a scene in the bathtub where she brings her foot out
of the tub, her sole in full view of the camera in medium close-up.
Additionally, she has a scene in a girls' restroom where she removes
one shoe and sock, and places her foot in a wash fountain.
* "Matilda" 1996. Mara Wilson, 8 years old, dances barefoot with her
teacher, Miss Honey, near the end of the film, then sits cross-legged
on a chair to reveal the bottom of her right foot.
* "Ponette" 1996. Victoire Thivisol, 4 years old, walks around
barefoot in her pajamas in this French film about a motherless little
girl at a boarding school. In one scene she lifts her legs out of bed
and shows the bottom of her foot, but it is a brief shot requiring
freeze-frame.
* "A Simple Wish" 1997. Mara Wilson, 9 years old, displays her feet
in an early scene where she sits on her father's lap and is lifted up
to be taken to bed.
* "The Education of Little Tree" 1997. Joseph Ashton, 10 years old,
stars in this film about Native American prejudice in the early 20th
century and appears barefoot briefly when he removes his shoes while
climbing a trail with his grandfather. Mika Boorem, 9 years old, also
appears in the film as his friend and is barefoot in all of her
scenes, and when she puts on a moccasin the camera shows her right
foot in close-up.
* "Jurassic Park 2 - The Lost World" 1997. Camilla Belle, 10 years
old, explores an island beach while barefoot. When she comes upon a
tiny dinosaur near the edge of the jungle, she kneels to examine the
creature and shows the bottoms of her feet in medium close-up.
* "FairyTale: A True Story" 1997. Florence Hoath, about 13 years
old, and Elizabeth Earl, 10 years old, are barefoot while playing in a
river, and show their feet numerous times while indoors walking about
and climbing stairs.
* "Little Girls in Pretty Boxes" 1997. Courtney Pelden, 15 years
old, and all of her friends show their feet throughout the entire
movie. In one scene Courtney arrives home from gymnastics school and
rips her shoes and socks off. She then uses her bare feet to
antagonize her mother who is on the telephone. This film is listed
here for those who may regard a 15-year-old as a child, although many
do not.
* "Madeline" 1998. Hatty Jones, 9 years old, in the title role, and
her various schoolmates appear barefoot several times in the movie as
they walk and run about in their nightgowns. In a couple of instances
Hatty shows the soles of her feet as she lies on her stomach and
reaches over the edge of a bed, and in a later scene when she stoops
to pet her dog.
* "Billboard Dad" 1998. Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, 12 years old,
display their bare feet throughout this straight-to-video film.
* "Paulie" 1998. Hallie Kate Eisenberg, 5 years old, exhibits her
toes in extreme close-up several times while wearing sandals early in
the film. Minutes later, in a bedroom scene, she gives a brief
glimpse of her bare feet when she throws the covers back from the bed
and swings her legs to the floor.
* "The Parent Trap" 1998. Lindsay Lohan, 11 years old, has several
close-up barefoot scenes as she jumps out of her summer camp bed and
as she walks on a pier to dive into a lake. Later, in a scene at the
California home, her left sole is briefly seen when she tucks her legs
underneath herself.
* "A Map of the World" 1999. Kayla Perlmutter, about 5 years old,
shows her feet in numerous scenes throughout the movie. At one point,
after taking a bath, her soles can be clearly seen as she lies on her
bed with some friends.
* "Run the Wild Fields" 2000. Alexa Vega, 10 years old, shows her
bare feet, including a close-up of her toes, while she is getting
sized for a new dress by her mother.
* "Where the Heart is" 2000. Mackenzie Fitzgerald, 4 years old, can
be seen barefoot in this movie when she is sleeping with her friends,
who are also barefoot, on the couch downstairs.
* "My Dog Skip" 2000. Caitlin Wachs, 10 years old, walks barefoot
through the woods with her boyfriend.
* "The Others" 2001. Alakina Mann, 11 years old, is briefly shown
dancing barefoot in a sunlit room towards the end of the movie.
* "Don't Say a Word" 2001. Skye McCole Bartusiak, 8 years old, after
being kidnapped and losing her sock in the struggle, is barefoot
throughout the entire movie. In one scene she is sitting on a bed and
her foot is dangling from the edge, and the camera slowly pans from
the bottom of the bed to the top, showing her toes. Her soles can
also be seen as she gets up and tries to communicate with her mother.
* "The Ring" 2002. Daveigh Chase, 11 years old, climbs barefoot out
of a well and walks into a house to terrorize its inhabitants in this
horror film. During a part of this scene the camera shows her feet,
soiled and bruised and made up to appear as if she is a member of the
"undead," in close-up as she walks.
* "Panic Room" 2002. Kristen Stewart, 11 years old, plays Jodie
Foster's diabetic daughter and displays her feet in many scenes. At
one point, when she goes into a coma, her soles are shown in extreme
close-up as she clinches her toes and then relaxes them.
* "We Were Soldiers" 2002. Sloane Momsen, 4 years old, is in pajamas
and barefoot as she prays with her family at bedside. While she
kneels, the camera lingers on her bare feet in medium close-up, where
her soles are in three-quarter angle to the camera.
* "Uptown Girls" 2003. Dakota Fanning, 8 years old, shows the
bottoms of her feet when she is tossed to the floor by her nanny and
lands on her posterior. She also displays her feet in several other
scenes when she walks about barefoot in her room and down the hallway.
BOYFEET:
* "The Champ" 1931. Jackie Cooper, 8 years old, lies on his back on
his bed with his feet out in front of him as he gets undressed to go
to sleep.
* "The Blue Bird" 1940. Shirley Temple, 11 years old, does not
appear barefoot at any time in this film; however, when she and her
brother visit a heavenly place where children wait to be born on
Earth, they encounter dozens of boys and girls ranging in age from
about 4 to 10 years old, all of whom are barefoot.
* "How Green Was My Valley" 1941. Roddy McDowall, 12 years old, lies
on his stomach on a table in his house with his feet in the air.
* "The Yearling" 1946. Claude Jarman, Jr., 11 years old, shows his
bare feet throughout the film set in rural Florida, USA, of the late
19th century. Views of his feet range from medium to medium close-up.
* "Oliver Twist" 1948. John Howard Davies, 9 years old, scrubs
floors on his hands and knees barefooted with the camera behind him.
* "So Dear to my Heart" 1949. Luana Patten, 10 years old, and Bobby
Driscoll, 11 years old, walk about barefoot numerous times in this
film set in a rural area.
* "The Clown" 1953. Tim Considine, 11 years old, shows his bare feet
as he lies on his bed while talking with his father. His soles are
visible in medium distance.
* "A High Wind in Jamaica" 1965. Deborah Baxter, about 10 years old,
climbs a rope ladder aboard ship and shows the bottoms of her feet as
she ascends. Lots of other children, boys and girls both, slide on a
wet ship deck with their feet out in front of them.
* "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial" 1982. Henry Thomas, 10 years old,
lies on a gurney barefoot as doctors examine him and his friend E.T.
in a special lab.
* "The Buddy System" 1984. Wil Wheaton, 11 years old, shows the
bottoms of his feet as he plays frisbee on the beach.
* "Misunderstood" 1984. Henry Thomas, 10 years old, and Huckleberry
Fox, 7 years old, show their feet in medium to medium close-up range
as they play about on their bunkbeds in their bedroom in their
pajamas.
* "Witness" 1985. Lukas Haas, 8 years old, gives a brief glimpse of
his bare feet when he sits beside his mother to observe the barn
raising activity in this film of Amish life. Other boys and girls
also appear barefoot during the event.
* "D.A.R.Y.L." 1985. Barrett Oliver, 11 years old, is barefoot on a
gurney as he is rolled into an examination machine. The camera is
overhead and in a comparatively long distance from Barrett, but his
bare feet are clearly evident.
* "Stand by Me" 1986. Wil Wheaton, 13 years old, walks barefoot from
a campfire to see his friend River Phoenix and shows the bottoms of
his feet as he walks.
* "Where the River Runs Black" 1986. Alessandro Rabelo, about 10
years old, is a long-haired "wild child" in the Amazonian jungle who
shows his feet constantly during the first two-thirds of the film, and
frequently displays his soles as he dives in the river.
* "Vice Versa" 1988. Fred Savage, 11 years old, displays a bare foot
in close-up while recovering from a sprain. The foot is in the
foreground of the shot and shows his sole in slightly soft focus.
* "Dutch" 1991. Ethan Randall (later known as Ethan Embry), 12 years
old, shows his feet, including the bottoms of his feet, as he
practices karate on a pad in the gymnasium of his boarding school.
His soles are shown in medium distance.
* "The Power of One" 1992. Guy Witcher, 7 years old, gets picked up
in the boarding school bathroom and shows the bottoms of his feet as
he's carried off.
* "Sidekicks" 1992. Jonathan Brandis, 16 years old, is unlikely to
be considered a child in this karate film in which he appears
barefoot. However, many boys and girls 12 and under who compete in
the karate tournament toward the end of the film show their feet, and
often their soles.
* "Four Rooms" 1995. Lana McKissack, 10 years old, and Danny
Verduzco, about 8 years old, remove their shoes and socks in a hotel
room, and their feet are shown in medium distance in most of the
scene. However, at one point Lana lies on a hotel bed and extends the
bottom of her foot toward her on-screen younger brother, where her
sole appears in close-up.
* "Harriet the Spy" 1996. Michelle Trachtenberg, 10 years old, and
her friends, Gregory Smith, 12 years old, and Vanessa Lee Chester, 11
years old, draw a design on their soles as an indication of their
solidarity. The feet of all three children are in medium close-up.
Michelle also has a scene in the bathtub where she brings her foot out
of the tub, her sole in full view of the camera in medium close-up.
Additionally, she has a scene in a girls' restroom where she removes
one shoe and sock, and places her foot in a wash fountain.
* "The Education of Little Tree" 1997. Joseph Ashton, 10 years old,
stars in this film about Native American prejudice in the early 20th
century and appears barefoot briefly when he removes his shoes while
climbing a trail with his grandfather. Mika Boorem, 9 years old, also
appears in the film as his friend and is barefoot in all of her
scenes, and when she puts on a moccasin the camera shows her right
foot in close-up.
* "Stepmom" 1998. Liam Aiken, 8 years old, is in his pajamas and
barefoot as he stands on his bed and lip-synchs "Ain't No Mountain
High Enough" with his family. He is also picked up and held for
further barefoot scenes.
* "The Miracle of the Cards" 2001. Thomas Sangster, 11 years old,
who portrays a child with a life-threatening illness, is rolled on a
gurney into a hospital MRI machine. The bottoms of his bare feet are
in medium close-up as he is moved.
* "Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles" 2001. Serge Cockburn, 10 years
old, shows his feet in soft focus as he appears in a background shot
while wearing his pajamas.
ANIMATED GIRLFEET:
* "The Rescuers" 1977. Michelle Stacy, about 7 years old, voices the
character Penny in this film of mice rescuing a kidnapped little girl.
Penny appears barefoot, with her soles briefly showing, as she climbs
about her bed and while getting dressed.
* "The B.F.G." 1989. Amanda Root, an adult, voices the character
Sophie, about 10 years old, in a film about a Big Friendly Giant (the
acronym of the title). In one scene, Sophie splashes about in an
indoor swimming pool and shows her feet often, once raising her foot
out of the water to reveal her sole.
* "All Dogs Go to Heaven" 1989. Judith Barsi, 9 years old, voices
the character Anne-Marie, about 6 years old, a little girl who runs
away and befriends a pack of talking dogs. In one scene she climbs
into the back seat of a car to go to sleep, and her soles are shown in
medium close-up to the camera as she lies down.
* "The Little Mermaid" 1989. Jodi Benson, an adult, voices the
character Ariel, about 16 years old, in this film about a mermaid who
wishes to have legs and explore humankind on dry land. Although the
character is a teenager and perhaps not considered by some moviegoers
as a child, she shows and wiggles a foot, revealing her sole in
close-up, when she is first transformed on the beach into a human.
She then appears barefoot in following scenes as she adapts to land.
* "The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea" 2000. Tara Strong,
later known as Tara Charendoff, 17 years old, voices the character
Melody, about 12 years old, daughter of Ariel, in this
straight-to-video movie about a human child with two legs who wishes
to explore the sea as her mother did when Ariel was a mermaid. Melody
is barefoot in many scenes before she is transformed into a mermaid
herself.
* "Lilo and Stitch" 2002. Daveigh Chase, 11 years old, voices the
character Lilo, about 6 years old, in this tale of a little Hawaiian
girl who befriends a dog-like alien. Lilo appears barefoot throughout
the film, with frequent views of the bottoms of her feet.