Merced will offer free, family films through July 22

Merced kicks off its first ever movies in the park series on Friday, May 20.

The free movies are open to anyone and the films are rated appropriate for all audiences, according to Mike Conway, who oversees the city’s Parks and Recreation Department. The first one, “The Good Dinosaur,” is set for dusk in Applegate Park, 1045 W. 25th St.

“The weather’s beautiful and our parks are nice and pretty right now,” Conway said.

The movies play in different parks through the end of July. Conway said the city was looking for ways to provide free activities for families while highlighting city parks.

Before the films start, the city’s mobile recreation program will provide equipment for games and sports, Conway said. That program is also set to start making the rounds throughout the year.

May 20: ‘The Good Dinosaur’

Pixar’s tale is set on an Earth that was never struck by the asteroid that killed off the dinosaurs. Instead, dinosaurs that include Arlo the Apatosaurus and a young boy named Spot are buddies as they traverse the mysterious landscape, according to IMDb, an online movie database.

June 3: ‘Minions’

The film featuring scores of little, yellow people who never utter a single word of understandable dialogue was quite successful for Universal Pictures. Kevin, Stuart and Bob work together to try to save all the minions from annihilation, according to IMDb.

It plays at dusk at Rudolph Merrino Park at the corner of Pacific and El Redondo avenues.

June 24: ‘Goosebumps’

The movie adaptation of the popular children’s books, which also spawned a television series, plays at dusk at McNamara Park, 1040 Canal St.

Jack Black plays R.L. Stine, the author of children’s spooky stories. His characters leave the books and enter the real world in the film, according to IMDb.

July 8: ‘Hotel Transylvania 2’

Dracula, Frankenstein’s monster, the Wolfman, the Mummy and many more classic monsters are featured in this film, which is set for dusk at at Rahilly Park, 3400 Parsons Ave.

Sony Pictures’ movie is about a hotel for monsters that decides to start accepting human guests, according to IMDb.

July 22: ‘Star Wars’

The film series culminates with the space opera that spawned an endless number of sequels and spinoffs. It takes off at dusk at Youth Sports Complex at the corner of Wardrobe and West avenues.

Luke, Han, Leia, Chewbacca and the droids fight an evil empire set on ruling everything. This one could please families and nerds alike.

This story was originally published May 19, 2016 at 4:37 PM with the headline "Merced will offer free, family films through July 22."