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Thu 17 Feb, 2005 02:26 pm
My daughter likes Disney movies. I'm equivocal -- I don't want to outlaw them, I'm not crazy about 'em. To be more specific, she saw "Cinderella" and love love loved it, and sees "Princesses" paraphernalia everywhere (got a "Princesses" tea set for her birthday from a friend, etc.) and wants to see movies with the other princesses -- Beauty and the Beast, Sleeping Beauty (I think -- blonde hair, pink dress), the Little Mermaid, Snow White, and Aladdin.
She loved "Cinderella" but (because?) she was very emotionally involved, jumped to her feet and scowled when the stepmother ripped the dress off of Cinderella, etc. Looked at me uncomprehendingly and stomped her foot in a "that's not right!!!" kind of way.
Disney moves were outlawed for me when I was a kid, I saw Cinderella for the first time watching it with her (liked it more than I expected), and otherwise I've just seen "Beauty and the Beast" (watched at the recommendation of a friend as an adult, before kid was born, didn't like it much.) I didn't have any parental filters then, remember not liking it much but don't remember relative scariness.
So many of them have dead parents, VERY evil villains and such, I'm not sure what I think about them. Would love some feedback.
For example, I suggested "Snow White" (which I've never seen) and E.G. said that the evil stepmother gave him nightmares for years.
I mean I think there's something to be said for that -- not protecting kids from the dark side too much -- but I also have the complete works of Grimm and we read that often. Just not sure if I want something so in her face, medium-wise.
Recommendations/ suggestions?
For those who don't know, she's four.
Hmm.
My favorite is Lion King , though , I would not recommend it for kids. ( Murder, assassination plots, dead parents blamed on the kid.. etc)
Least scary ones, wow.. this actually makes me think!
simply because they are all scary it seems. If not scary , it seems they all carry the common theme of a dead parent. Humph...
Aladdin wasnt scary, Finding Nemo ( i dont know if it was disney ) was fun, Gullivers Travels has a princess in it.
I will go through my disney collection and see what I find. My mother reciently gave me all of the movies she collected for me and my brother when we were young.. it included almost 90% of the disney movies on tape!
Oh, thanks for reminding me... we saw the beginning of finding Nemo and she was like nuh-uh, this is WAY too scary. (Horrible thing eating Nemo's mom!!!)
Wow, 90%! That's got to be a ton.
Didn't we have some kind of discussion, way back, about how many kid stories/fairy tales are scary? <mulling>
I'm an animation junkie, studied it in college even, I'm die-hard. Mo likes them all and isn't scared by any of them.
Probably his all time favorite (I don't know if its Disney) is "Homeward Bound". It's not a cartoon but....
Other favorites are "101 Dalmations" (we have dalmations), and both "Toy Story" movies.
"The Emperor's New Groove" has a villianess but I think she goof up too much to be really scary. Her "evil henceman" is just downright hilarious.
If she gets scared very easily you might try some non-Disney stuff like "Wallace and Grommit" or one of my favoirte cartoons, "Creature Comforts.
Mo also loves "The Princess Bride" but it has some scary parts - his favorite part is the fight with the big rats.
Now if anyone ever makes a Winnie movie.....
She's gonna asolutely love "the Princess Bride" when she's ready, not sure if she is now. In some ways it's more benign than the parent-killing Disney stuff though.
We started to watch "Chicken Run" (same guy as Wallace and Gromit, love him) but was weirder and darker and scarier than I expected -- she was alternately bored and freaked out. Didn't watch for long.
Cinderella was a total hit, seemed to find the right balance, would love to know which other movie is most comparable. The Little Mermaid, maybe?
(And I'm pretty sure we did, ehBeth, not sure if it was here or Abuzz.)
Princess bride.
OHH! I LOVE that movie.
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Ok here goes my Disney movie list...
( forgive possible misspellings, I am on my living room floor with laptop balanced on one knee.
Fantasia
Bambi
princess mononoke ( ex-celent..for adults)
Wind and the wilkows. ( recommend)
Rescuers ( good one too )
Aristrocats ( princess like mian character)
Petes dragon ( not animated )
Oliver and Company ( good one too )
Lilo and Stitch ( will have you calling every one cousin)
Beauty and the Beast( very good )
Jungle book ( no princess in it but fun! )
A few Winney movies( 7 + )
Bedknobs and broomsticks ( mom says it made me a witch.. HA! )
Bugs life ( not recommended) Ants.. also not recommended
Hunchback of notre dame ( good, still.. no princess)
James and the Giant peach ( kinda wierd )
Lady and the Tramp ( good one!)
Peter Pan ( another good one )
101 dalmations
Sword and the stone
____________________________
that is the only box i have unpacked. So list is kinda short.. but .. that may help ya!
Little Mermaid has the really scary sea witch.
Don't know how scared she would be.
Here are some oldies.....
The Three Caballeros
Dumbo
Alice in Wonderland
Jungle Book
Sword in the Stone
The Resucers
Robin Hood
Lady and the Tramp
And some newer...
The Hunchback of Norte Dame
Hercules
The first film that I thought of was Fantasia . I love that movie, and it is a great way to introduce a young child to classical music. The only thing, is that I am wondering if the section of "Night on Bald Mountain" may be a bit frightening to a little one.
The first film that I ever saw was "Bambi", when it first came out. I loved it.
shewolfnm wrote:Princess bride.
OHH! I LOVE that movie.
_____________
Ok here goes my Disney movie list...
( forgive possible misspellings, I am on my living room floor with laptop balanced on one knee.
Fantasia
Bambi
princess mononoke ( ex-celent..for adults)
Wind and the wilkows. ( recommend)
Rescuers ( good one too )
Aristrocats ( princess like mian character)
Petes dragon ( not animated )
Oliver and Company ( good one too )
Lilo and Stitch ( will have you calling every one cousin)
Beauty and the Beast( very good )
Jungle book ( no princess in it but fun! )
A few Winney movies( 7 + )
Bedknobs and broomsticks ( mom says it made me a witch.. HA! )
Bugs life ( not recommended) Ants.. also not recommended
Hunchback of notre dame ( good, still.. no princess)
James and the Giant peach ( kinda wierd )
Lady and the Tramp ( good one!)
Peter Pan ( another good one )
101 dalmations
Sword and the stone
____________________________
that is the only box i have unpacked. So list is kinda short.. but .. that may help ya!
Damn you woman...while I was typing you were posting!
Pete's Dragon is not animated but it was one of my favorites as a kid!!!
Oh and All Dogs Go to Heaven is a good movie but it isn't disney.
Thanks for all the suggestions! Appreciated!
What would you say is the closest equivalent to Cinderella? (As scary or less.) (The stepmother IS pretty scary in a passive-aggressive, non-violent way...)
I think Sleeping Beauty is similar to Cinderella – not villain free, but at least the villain is only in the movie during close to the beginning and near the end. The bonus – no moms or dads die or are dead.
Personally one movie I like is Mullan – there is a villain and he can be pretty scary, but what I like about it is that the woman is the strong one is this movie. She protects the men rather than being the being saved.
How about Pocahontas? Another movie where the woman is strong. There are some fight scenes between the Indians and Brits, but overall the villain is just mean, not so scary.
Pocahontas was awesome.
Good suggestion
My nieces loved Little Mermaid at ages 2 and 4. Ursula, the sea witch, is a little scary, but not overwhelming. I remember the 2 year old (she's 13 now) saying "Bad Usla! Bad!" whenever she was on the screen.
"Three Cabelleros" has to be my favorite vintage Disney movie and the first time live action was combined with animation in a feature length film. There's nothing particularly scary in it but it has been criticized for being racially insensitive. I just could never get that.
Shrek...
Im watching it now.. ( well BEAN is.. ) she loves to sit in her swing, have some blueberry rice waffles and watch a cartoon,
shrek is hillarious! for adults and kids.
there is one semi scary scene. Where they are all running out of the castle, the dragon ( who ends up being a friend) is chasing them and it is dark.. but it lasts all of about 1 minute. Noone gets hurt and like I said, the dragon is a friend in the end.
Not Disney, but I agree that "Shrek" is one of the
most popular movies that deserves its place in film history. Disney was instrumental in getting "Princess Monoke" and "Spirited Away" into American theaters and for more precocious children, they are wonderful films.
Princess mononoke was a great movie. I watch that one often. But agreed.. not for children of 2-6 yrs old. A littel too heavy and dark for that age group.
I forgot, shrek isnt disney..
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