Reply With QuoteThe old animated Disney Robin Hood was a favorite of mine as a kid.
Some of you folks really know your movies so I am going to ask for your help. My wife and I would like to watch movies with our 4 year old twins, but it doesn't work very well. They get scared at most everything, even the movies targeted to kids.
We tried Shrek, and got 20 seconds into the trailer for Ice Age before we had to make a hasty theater exit. Tried 101 Dalmations, but Cruella's first scene drove them over the top. My daughter clung to my neck through out all of Toy Story, but my son had to leave the room. Made it to the threatening Cheetah in Longest Journey... you get the picture.
About to give up, we tried Mary Poppins this weekend and were incredibly successful! I had never seen it before so and was pleasently surprised too. It was a fun move, for once. My guess is because the dramatic tension is mostly cerebral, good music, and Dick Van Dyke. I would like to find other movies like this. I thought of these possiblities: Babe, Pink Panther, The Great Race, Sound of Music...
Other suggestions?
The old animated Disney Robin Hood was a favorite of mine as a kid.
Thanks! I haven't seen it, but will look into it. I have to say that all the Disney cartoons are suspect in my book. I know I enjoyed some of them when I was a kid, but my kids get too scared. Well, we were able to watch Jungle Book, now that I think of it. But none of the newer ones seem to work out very well.Originally Posted by Wholly Schmidt
Well, there are always the Herby movies.
I loved the animated Disney version of Robin Hood too. I liked a lot of their animated features from that era. They use to have really great music. 101 Dalmations had that great Cruella Deville jazz number. Aristocats has Everybody Wants to be a Cat.
I'm trying to think of some more non-scary ones. Fox and the Hound weren't scary were they? I remember the Rescuers was creepy. Maybe Sword in the Stone. Oh, Disney put out a DVD called American Legends, I think. It had their version of Johnny Appleseed and Paul Bunyan and John Henry. These are all really great.
Tim,
I can't really speak to what kids would like, but I can help out with "kids movies" that you and your wife would also enjoy.
You might want to avoid Babe, which is a great movie, but toys with the implication that some of the animals might be slaughtered. There are also wild dogs that supposedly rip sheep apart. And by all means avoid the sequel to Babe, which is waaaay too dark to be a kids' movie.
The Emperor's New Groove is an excellent movie in its own right, but it's colorful and active enough for kids, while having enough sly humor for adults. It's got a frenetic Tex Avery sensibility, but it doesn't dumb everything down.
The first Toy Story had the scary stuff with the evil deformed dolls, but I don't think there's anything like that in the second Toy Story, which is a superlative movie and, IMO, one of the all-time great movie scripts. Fantastic work. Pixar at the top of their game and very kid friendly. The dramatic tension comes from keeping Woody and Buzz from being taken away from each other and there's nothing as tangibly scary as Toy Story's mean kid next door and his monster dolls.
-Tom
EDIT: for a boneheaded double negative
I second the old animated Robin Hood-terrific movie,one of my favorites when I was a kid.
I have an oddball choice.'Microcosmos'-it's the kind of insect documentary you *wish* you got to see when you were a kid.Stunning photography,and a charmng presentation.4 years old is probably a little young,but keep it in mind in maybe a year or two.Great movie for kids or adults.
Mike
I have a three year old who would watch anything....if we let her. Lately, she got busted watchng Ronin which she snuck into my study and fished out. Not to state the obvious, but I took the rap for that one. :roll:
But I'd suggest getting these on VHS or DVD
- Toy Story 1&2
- Mulan (hilarious....but its got swords in it)
- The Emperor's New Clothes
- Peter Pan Return To Neverland (dunno about their reaction to Cpn' Hook though). btw, there are two Peter Pan movies by Disney
- All three of Disney's Aladdin movies
- Antz
- A Bug's Life
- Oliver & Company
"My Neighbor Totoro"
Hello Kitty?
Girly toons obviously, don't ask me to name any... cabbage patch kids?
Remember, you can also get a tape of four half hour episodes of Barney the Dinosaur and your kids won't know the difference between that and a movie.
Looney Toons collections? Like "How Bugs Bunny Won the West"? I dunno man, if Bugs Bunny scares your kids, it's time to put a therapist's kids and grandkids through college ;)
Here's one, if you can stomach it - The Sound of Music. My Fair Lady? Fiddler on the Roof definitely... Pete the Dragon?
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
--Dave
Revolutionary Girl Utena: The Movie
(must.. keep.. from.. laughing..)
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
I crack myself up :)
Based on what Tim said in the first post, Aladdin, Antz, Bug's Life, and Oliver & Company all have scenes that sound too intense. Actually Antz and Bug's Life run together in my mind, one of them might have been ok but I'm not sure.
Good suggestion from Dave for Winnie the Pooh.
Make them sit through "The Deer Hunter" while wearing those "eye opening gadgets" from A Clockwork Orange. That'll put everything in perspective, and soon they'll be saying "Daddy! Can we see the part where Bambi's mommy dies again?"
Seriously, though, I'd second the recommendation of avoiding Babe. Even moreso, though, do not let the children anywhere near Babe 2: A Pig in the City. It's a brillaintly funny film in places, but it's DARK. Like, "how many times can we endanger the animals" dark. The first scene in the movie has Babe nearly killing his farmer master. When my wife and I saw it back when we were DINKs, we were really regretting going to the late show, because we missed seeing all the kiddy reactions to the film. (Sorry... a little kinderschadenfreude there....)
I always did wonder if Disney was some kind of sadist... I mean, c'mon, what kind of sick f**k creates a movie like "Old Yeller" for little kids?
"Lady & the Tramp" is also a good kids' movie with no scary parts (that I can remember, anyway--it's been a good long while).
Try Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory... hah! Just kidding. That movie scares even me. And I sat all the way through Toy Story without flinching.
Kiki's Delivery Service.
Totero (If you can find it)
The Borrower's is a pretty cool movie. It could have been really creepy,
but it isn't. It's probably too intense. Same with Iron Giant.
Old Musicals work well.
Needless to say, of all the Disney animated features, The Black Cauldron is way off the list of candidates. ;)
Strangely, my three-year-old was not freaked out by Labyrinth. Go figure. (Disclaimer: That was my wife's idea; I wouldn't have been brave enough to suggest the movie myself, considering that this is the same woman who gave me the Evil Eye for letting my boy watch old Captain Scarlet episodes with me once. :?)
[size=7]"THIS IS THE VOICE OF THE MYSTERONS... WE KNOW THAT YOU CAN HEAR US, EARTHMEN..."[/size]
Hmmm... Veggietales maybe? That is if you can stomach it yourself that is....
Time Life.com is selling old episodes of The Muppet Show (a couple are in stores too) and my daughter (2.5) loves them. She doesn't seem to get scared by much though (but avoid the Alice Cooper one). The upside is The Muppet Show is a ripping good time for adults, and features "where are they now?" guest stars. Hard to beat Danny Kaye, Liberace, John Denver, etc., (where are they? Um... dead) for family entertainment. It's a welcome respite for parents sick of that foul red skunk Elmo too. Plus it's a bonus that she says "Muffa show! Muffa show!" in her glorious 2-year-old speak.
So far as Disney goes, well, Winnie the Pooh is great stuff. Mary Poppins was a good choice, but other than those Disney draws heavily on fairy tales and those aren't for the timid. To Disney's credit they always kept the bad guys and scary bits. Parts (PARTS) of Fantasia are good for your kids (but parts will likely send them into a coma).
Here's a weird suggestion... Gilbert & Sullivan musicals. My daughter loves Pirates of Penzance, but she's all about the musicals lately. We got her Into the Woods and Cats recently (got me and my wife those, more accurately, and they went over well) but we think we'll wait a tic or two before trying her on Sweeny Todd.
Question... why are they afraid of Toy Story? I mean, up until the evil mutant toys that scare even me, part?
Thanks for all the help, guys. Some really good suggestions here.
I am going to pass on Babe. I remembered those dogs, but coudn't recall whether they were too menacing. But now that you mention slaughter, I realize that's probalby no good. Same for Charlotte's Web.
I know I can just tape regular programming they like, but that's not what I'm after. I suppose part of this is me wanting to expose them to more than what they see on PBS, but in a sane manner. Plus I want to watch with them and not be bored to tears. They really went for Mary Poppins.
I am not completely sure why they like some movies, but can't manage others. With Toy Story, I think my son excused himself before the evil toys came on the scene. Maybe it was buzz and the cowboy falling from the second story window, or maybe it was the suggestion that they were going to be lost. They both seem to enjoy "slapstick violence" but if it seems too real, they get a little overwrought.
Veggietales is a good call, but it seems a lot like the PBS stuff they see already. I am considering the new feature film for our next try at the movie theater. We've done the Blues Clues and Pooh movies. They like them but I am getting burned out. Now is Muppet Show very different from Sesame Street?
I like the idea of Musicals! Also have to look into Emperor's New Groove, Disney's animated Robin Hood, Toy Story 2. Herby movies is a good call, too.
The Muppet Show is entertainmant focused (guest performances, etc)where as Sesame Street is educationally focused.
Pigs in Spaaace!
:D
-DavidCPA
Aside from The Muppet Show, the first Muppet Movie was also great and I think the bad guys were relatively unthreatening.
And there are a few decent Mary Poppins type films. Bedknobs & Broomsticks (definitely not as good), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang off the top of my head. When we used NetFlix, we went through the whole bunch of them. Around that time we also went through the first movies I was worried about scaring them - all the old Ray Harryhausen ones. My youngest was almost 5 when we watched those, and liked them a lot. I was proud that my older son later recognized the name of the restaurant in Monsters Inc!
My kids (both boys) also loved several The Three Stooges DVDs. It was pretty funny - when I started the first and it was black & white, my youngest son told me he hated "the gray ones" and wanted me to fix it. I talked him into waiting and in a few minutes I had to pause the DVD so they could stop laughing long enough to inhale.
But it sounds like you should wait a year or two before trying anything in a theater. Part of that is just being somewhere different. I think loading up on popcorn & candy may have helped my kids feel at home there.
I can see why you'd think that, but I think you should still try this one. It's realistically harsh and stark, but the scenes that depict "life on the farm" are brief and the context makes it feel almost gentle. What I like best about it is, unlike Bambi, it makes no real value judgement against the humans. Instead it presents the typical fate of pigs on a farm as an obstacle to be surmounted by friends. My 2 year old loves it, but I'm aware that she really has no idea what's going on but I think kids need these "life sometimes sucks" message movies.
Parental descretion advised, of course.
They like slapstick? "Muffa show!"
Sheesh, did you guys read Tim's first post? His kids get scared easily and he's looking for stuff that won't bother them. And you're offering realistically harsh?It's realistically harsh and stark
Bugs Life has scary stuff with the Kevin Spacey cricket (not to mention his death, in which he's eaten alive by these fucking gigantic birds! Oh, uhh, spoiler...).
Iron Giant has a loveable giant robot freaking out and threatening to kill a kid.
Bub's Gilbert & Sullivan recommendation is interesting, but you should be warned that it might make your children gay.
Gordon and dfs's suggestion of Totorro is great! I guess I don't even think of that as a kid's movie. There are subtle implications that the main characters' mother will die in a hospital, but I'm pretty sure those would be lost on little children, who will love the Totorros (the little ones are my favorite!) and the cat bus.
-Tom
EDIT: What the hell is this stuff...--> .%0¶ ...and how did it get in my post?
And stark... and brief... and ultimately, probably, good for them. It's nowhere near the Bambi scale of human vs. animal tragedy. But I saved the real selling point on Charlotte's Web for now: it features Paul Lynde as Templeton the rat. Maybe read the book to them first? Then the movie won't be so harsh and scary! (This is probably a good idea even if your kids don't get scared easily.)
Well, the idea of showing it to my child was originally recommended to me by your mom, Tom, so... Oh!
Cat Bus? I'm going to have to try this Tortorro now....
PS: It occurs to me that Paul Lynde as Templeton the rat might make your children gay. And Wilbur is played by Henry Gibson, who played a gay man in Magnolia!
I was going to write the gay thing, then I remembered that I had heard Gilbert & Sullivan are actually a bit homophobic, so it felt a bit weird the whole thing.
Also, I love most musicals I've seen, and I'm pretty sure I'm straight (though apparently queer as fuck).
Iron Giant has such a great ending.. Highly recommended.
Mom jokes, huh? You might want to take this one and rework it a bit. It's not really an insult to me if my mother is trying to make your children gay.
But, as William F. Buckley used to say to his outmatched guests, I think I understand the point you were trying to make.
Yeah, but he was supercool country star Haven Hamilton in Nashville, so it evens out.And Wilbur is played by Henry Gibson, who played a gay man in Magnolia!
-Tom
So far, I note that nobody has mentioned that huge, Purple, sappy, dying-to-get-his-ass-kicked, monstrosity.
No, I'm not naming names :D :D :D
I wouldn't call any of Harry Knowles' movies kid-friendly. Monkeybone maybe, but it would depend on the kid.
But not recommended for small children or Tim's easily frightened little ones! Oy!Iron Giant has such a great ending.. Highly recommended.
--Dave
Honestly as I think about Robin Hood and what you've said of your kids so far, even that may be a bit too intense at times. Robin Hood's getting stuff shot at him all the time, and the end has him running around in a burning castle, jumping out a high window into a moat, and briefly presumed to have not made it as arrows are shot into the water where he lands and his hat floats to the surface with an arrow stuck through it. Probably a bit too serious for your kids. It was such a good movie though :)
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