The Qualities of the Best Father Figures in Flicks, Fiction and Faith

The Qualities of the Best Father Figures in Flicks, Fiction and Faith Written by the Down The Hobbit Hole Blog Collaborative

There are people fortunate in life to have amazing father figures. Others only have what’s portrayed in literature and on film. What does it take to be a great dad? Here are some examples of great father figures and the qualities that endeared them to us.

The Best Father Figures In Childhood Literature

There are lots of wonderful father figures in Children’s literature. From Hop on Pop to the more modern Dad that runs all over to find his daughters lost Knuffle Bunny- we’re thankful for the positive portrayals of dads we can find in picture books. These dads in particular…

1) The best dads take time to play: Gnelly Gnu and Daddy Too is a book by Anna Dewdney. This one’s a part of the Llama Llama series. (We love the new Netflix show too!) The author highlights different family types and this dad makes time for playing with his little one and her friends.

2) The best dads Remind us how much we are loved: The dad in Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney and Anita Jeram. This book coined the beloved phrase “I love you the moon and back” after his little one says how far away the moon is. Also check out Just In Case You Ever Wonder, a picture book by Max Lucado where the dad reminds his kids that they never have to wonder if he will love them.

3) The best dads are dependable: Our favorite dependable father figures are Papa Bear in the Berenstain Bears (We Love Our Dad) and Horton who takes up for the little guy regardless of the implications for himself. (Horton Hears a Who) (Hatches an Egg)  They’re always going to be there for you.

Great Father Figures In Fictional Literature

Throughout the history of literature there are some really awful father figures (we’re looking at you King Lear and Jack Torrance) and some really amazing ones! We think the greatest dads in literature…

1) The best dads help us develop grit to get through difficult things. Like single dad Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird who helps us all navigate being grateful and standing up for others in a world of pain. Or Hans Huberman from The Book Thief whose gentle patience, moral strength and humor helps more than one person make it through the war. (Another example of this is the dad in Life is Beautiful– who helps his son survive a concentration camp by making it into a game)

2) The best dads celebrate our intelligence and efforts. Based off of Louisa May Alcott’s own encouraging father and mother, Mr. and Mrs. March encourage their girls to learn, write and work hard in Little Women – regardless of what society tells you girls should be doing. (Life Lessons from Little Women + Review of the 2019 movie here!) In Pride and Prejudice Mr. Bennet has a lot of drama under his roof with five unmarried daughters but he encourages each of them differently and doesn’t rush them into marriage for the sake of marriage.

3) The best dads are a harbor of safety. Like Jean Valjean in Les Misérables who is known for being generous throughout his hard life. He first goes to prison for stealing to feed his sisters children. Then he rescues and adopts Cosette, going to great lengths to keep her safe. From him we learn that love and doing what’s best don’t always line up with the letter of the law. Or Harry Potter’s father figures. From Dumbledore, Sirius, Hagrid to Arthur Weasley- all of them love Harry and want him to succeed. But Arthur is our favorite dad in the series because of his dependable and deep love for all of his children (no matter how crazy they got) and their friends. The kids can always depend on the Weasley parents.

Great Father Figures In Movies

Just like in literature and plays- we see the worst of the worst and the best of the best in the movies. From the loving determination of Mr. Incredible, the tenacity of Bryan in Taken, to the love of Tom Baker in Cheaper by the Dozen (Check out that biography here!). These father figures…

1) Great dads push past their fears for their kids. We’ll keep it animated here. There are a lot of great cartoon movie dads but Merlin in Finding Nemo and Fa Zhou in Mulan both have to push through huge fears for themselves and their children. In the end, because of their loving guidance and bravery their children blossom and achieve things they would not have been able to without the love they had for their dads and vice versa. The same is true of Mr. Brown (Ok- technically not animated) as he adopts Paddington into his family and learns how to be a brave dad.

2) Great dads go to great lengths for their children. Time to move on to the comedies. In Father of the Bride George goes through a lot of, hilarious, trouble to make sure everything is perfect for his daughter’s wedding even though it’s hard for him to see her getting married. In Mrs. Doubtfire Daniel realizes how his addiction to work has been damaging to his family and will quite literally go to any length to make sure he stays a part of their lives.

3) Great dads understand that their lives are made richer because of their children. In Daddy Day Care, Charlie and Phil both realize that investing in their kids is far more important than investing in their careers. It’s one of my favorite movies- hilarious and heartwarming! Like Gru in Despicable Me or Daddy Warbucks in Annie learning that the lives they thought they wanted were not complete without the children they were going to adopt. Or in the timeless classic It’s a Wonderful Life, when George Bailey realizes that his life is worth so much more than what he accomplishes. More than that, loving his family is the most important part of his life.

*Extra here because this is such a pivotal character trait of great movie dads*

4) Great dads engage their children’s imaginations (and ours!). In Christopher Robin, Christopher learns that sometimes it’s best to do nothing and run with your imagination. His daughter helps him see that she needs to play with him more than anything else. Or Mr. Potts in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, whose story telling, love and imagination win over the beautiful Miss Truly. It also keeps his children safely engaged in the story world that he crafts for them so that they aren’t too concerned about the current uncertainty in their lives. And Even in Imagine That who realizes that there is a lot of value in listening to his daughter’s imaginative ideas.

Great Father Figures In Television

Oh TV dads… From the sitcoms where we saw Frank Lambert keeping his big, beautiful, blended family together in Step by Step to Carl Winslow being a model for the obnoxious Urkel. To the more modern patriarch Richard Gilmore who would do anything for his Gilmore Girls. TV dads are the comic warmth of media dads. The best TV father figures…

1) The best dads give tough love when it is needed. Phillip Banks in Fresh Prince is the father figure Will needs to succeed. And speaking of tough love- Henry Spencer in Psych does his best to teach Shawn skills that will help him as an adult and still tries to love and guide him when he uses those skills in a way that drives his dad nuts.

2) The best dads are our moral compasses. Let’s talk about the classics here. You can’t find better dads on TV than these. The small town wholesomeness of Andy Taylor in the Andy Griffith Show. The lessons taught by Charles Ingalls in Little House on The Prairie. Or the patient guidance of Sully in Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman. These dads are the stuff of legends. And for good reason! 

3) The best dads put their kids first. I think the best example of this is Danny Tanner in Full House. He lets his little OCD world be messed up so that Joey and Jesse can come parent his children too. Another one of our favorite sitcom dads is Jim from The Office. He tells the documentary crew multiple times that his girls are the most important, valuable thing about his life.

Great Father Figures In Faith

While God is often given the name Father, it’s hard for some people to see God like that because of their experience with their own. But we are given the ultimate example of love through God’s relationship with His Son in the Bible. And while there are more modern characters in the greater faith history, like Charlemagne who educated and loved all of his children- albeit in a humanly flawed way. For the purpose of this post we’ll stick with the Bible Characters. You’ve got Noah, Isaac, David, Jacob and Moses but these lesser discussed Bible father figures…

1) The best dads push us to be bold. Like Esther’s Uncle Mordecai who probably would not have chosen for his niece to become queen. However, he stayed as near to her as he could and advised her to be brave and bold even though it meant she might die. Here’s my favorite movie adaption of Esther- One Night With the King

2) The best dads had faith in what God could do through their children. David’s dad Jesse tends to get some flack for hiding David in the back, but that’s not really how the story plays out. He presents his son in order of their age. He doesn’t hide David away; he just says that he was the youngest and smallest. And unless I’m missing something- he did not scoff when the prophet told him that he would one day be king. He also bravely sent his son to the current king Saul. Jesse could not make his son a king, or protect him, but God could.

3) The best dads show us how to be brave: We don’t see a whole lot of Jesus’s earthly father. But we know that Joseph was brave in taking a pregnant Mary as his wife. And we know that he treated Jesus as he would his biological son by teaching him the craft of carpentry. It sure seems to me like Mary and Joseph had to have been the most brave parents in history- it couldn’t have been easy trying to raise the Son of God.

I’m so grateful for father figures everywhere who parent lovingly and intentionally. It’s so worth it to invest in your kids. Great dads are truly invaluable.

Check out some of our other reviews with great dads:

• An Adoptive Families Review of the movie Instant Family
• Dumbo
• Marry Poppins
• The Nutcracker and the Four Realms

Who are your favorite dads in films and flicks?

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