Disney is awesome isn’t it? Just fabulous. I grew up on all the films; Lion King (sob like a baby), Aladdin (love the Genie) and Little Mermaid (I was Aerial as I had red hair!). We have been to Walt Disney World Florida twice and I can’t wait to take the gremlin when she is older.
So it is no surprise the gremlin is already a big Disney fan (and Pixar of course). Most people I see talk about their littlies loving CBeebies. I could count on both my hands the amount of time CBeebies has been on. We just don’t watch it. It’s usually something from Netflix and that is often a Disney film.
Disney did pose a bit of a dilemma for us and the gremlin though. We pondered; are some of the older films too scary? I didn’t bat an eyelid as a child but the gremlin? I haven’t see Frozen all the way through but I’m not aware of it putting the fear of God in children. Similarly to a lot of the Pixar films; they are pretty tame (correct me if I’m wrong). As with most things nowadays, the chance of something being “too frightening”, upsetting a very young audience and a possible post-viewing social media war is just waaaay too much to risk!
Too scary?So we did umm and ah for a bit. What films you may ask? Aladdin. The end bit when Jafar becomes a snake; pretty intense. Beauty and the Beast; the Beast is a nut! The Little Mermaid; Ursula rising from the dark waters, cackling like a loon is slightly unnerving. Would it bother the gremlin? The short answer is no. She wasn’t fussed at all. My Mum sat with her and explained The Little Mermaid but reported back she was fine and she barely even asked anything about The Beast having one of his strops. Are these little ones a bit more hard core than we think? Do we mollycoddle them a little too much?
The older OLD Disney films are a completely different kettle of fish. I have yet to subject the gremlin to one of my firm faves; Dumbo. You all know the Pink Elephants scene? As a child I was both fascinated and freaked out by that whole charade. The visions of a drunken elephant and mouse? Just plain weird and trippy.
However, not that long ago I actually suggested watching Pinocchio. For me it had been years and I couldn’t remember a lot of it. We were both entranced at the beginning watching all the amazing toys the old carpenter had made. A couple of the clocks created I thought were a bit risque for this day and age. A gun being fired at a bird and a Mother slapping her child on the bum. Well I was slapped on the bum but lets say times have changed! The gremlin didn’t say anything and I kept quiet. I had however, forgotten the child catcher and the horrible moment tonnes of terrified boys turn into donkeys, calling desperately for their mothers. I also forgot the boys smoking and drinking. Having to explain to a 2 year old that Pinocchio was sick and green because smoking was filthy was a fun one! This film was made in 1940 however and it’s hard to step back! Times have changed completely and of course behaviours and what is acceptable has changed. I finished the film feeling a tad uncomfy but the gremlin was never bothered and has since watched it again with someone sat with her to explain.
I wonder if I worry too me or my worries are justified. After all the gremlin is only 2 but her love for these films is so great! I think as long as she is sat with us and if she shows any signs of fear we switch off, all is fine. It gives me a good excuse to re-live all my childhood memories again!
We love Disney here.. …Alfie not fussed or scared by them either, we’ve just introduced him to finding nemo which he loves. Can thoroughly recommend the good dinosaur too!!
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Aww I love Nemo 🙂 x
I love Disney films too and it’s great being able to relive them with our children 🙂 #twinklytuesday
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One of the best bits x
I’m a huge Disney fan and I give them more leeway than I probably should… Pinocchio was on TV recently so I watched it with Marianna but she’s only one, so she didn’t really pay any attention. I think it’s hard to know in advance what kids will be afraid of though – I had nightmares about Casper the Friendly Ghost for months, but I never batted an eyelid at the old hammer horror films my mum let me watch! 🙂 #thetruthabout
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Yeh me too! I think Pinocchio is just an odd one. I used to love Caspar! 🙂 x
We usually don’t keep our kids from Disney movies – the scary scenes allow for us to discuss being scared, fiction, reality and how to deal with fear. Even at very young ages, we’re talking just barely three, Disney movies helped to get through to my kids about being scared. Good luck deciding which things to say yes to and no to…. the joys of parenthood right?
#TwinklyTuesday
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Very true and my thoughts too! Thanks for the comment x
I don’t think you need to worry to be honest. Grace was watching Dr Who at aged 3 and she wasn’t scared at all – now she is 9 though, it is a whole different matter! I really think Disney is pretty tame compared to most things these days! 🙂 #TheTruthAbout
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I reckon I have been listening way to much to my worrying Mum!! These littlies are less wussy than we think. Thanks lots x
Aww were huge fans of Disney in this house too 🙂
My little boy loves anything with dinosaurs or cars
And my little girl is disney princess mad. #twinklytuesday
http://www.theparentingtrials.com
X
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It’s fab isn’t it? x
It’s an interesting one and like you I love sharing my fave Disney films with Monkey but some of them are a bit scary and our little Monkey is quite a sensitive soul. Pinocchio did not stay on long as he definitely found it scary and there are bits in a few films that he doesn’t like and we have to fast forward. The scene where simbas dad died in the lion king, and even the kids going mental with toys in toy story 3. He loves dumbo though with a bit of mummy trying to make a joke about the pink elephant bit! Monsters university gave him nightmares for a bit too. He was fine with films around 2 but got more scared the last year or so. Sorry will stop rambling now hon! Xx fab post xx
We love Disney in this household and at 3yrs old I can sit through all the classics like Snow White, Cinderella, Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast. Which is a great result for my mummy and Sunday film snuggles. I’m actually having a Princess Party this weekend! Don’t worry….when Gremlin hits my age she’ll be proper interested xx #TwinklyTuesday X
We love Disney too. I was talking the other day to a friend about how dark the old Disney films are. The boys have watched some old films but they haven’t questioned it. #twinklytuesday xx
I live all things Disney and it’s great to watch the films with the kids and share the magic. Pink elephants in Fumbl are freaky but it didn’t phase them. Bambi I can’t watch as it makes me cry, mins you so do parts in most Disney films. It goes over the kids heads but gets the adults. That’s why Disney works across all ages. #twinklytuesday
Over christmas I watched the Disney version of A Christmas Carol. I accept that its not the tamest of stories, it has ghosts after all, but there is no way I woukd want a child watching that version. They added bits just to make it scarier (such as the ghost of christmas present dying, flesh melting off him till he was just a skeleton, definately not in the book). I was rather shocked as Disney is obviously supose to be for kids, but maybe they were workin on the premis that its animated so it doesnt matter. #Bestandworst
We love Disney too but I haven’t really introduced the tots to many just yet. We love Finding Memo (no scary bits in there) and we’re quite keen on Frozen and Tangled. As you say though, the older ones are a bit of a challenge. We tried The Little Mermaid last week (a relatively new one I thought, and then shrugged off my realisation that it’s probably nearly 30 years old already?? How old am I now??) But she really wasn’t keen on Ursula and her “poor unfortunate souls”. Hmm. Tricky.
I think that every childhood should have a good sprinkling of Disney though. It’s just magical x
Thank you for hosting #bestandworst
I think I was super protective when my girls were little – I held a lot of Disney back for the same reasons. In honesty I wonder if it actually perpetuated fear as they were sheltered from mild-scariness so it was a big shock when they were eventually exposed to it. It made it a big deal. Having said that we do need to be careful, I know so many friends who were never the same after watching Chitty Chitty Bang Bang as a kid!!xx
Disney is just awesome, isn’t it? We’ve usually got a Disney film on the go here – Frozen is the big favourite, but she also loves Tangled, Big Hero Six and others. She’s only almost two so we haven’t tried her with the older ones yet – Pinocchio freaks me out and Little Mermaid scares me (I’m terrified of octopus and tentacles) so she’ll watch those when I’m out of the house haha!) and it is a minefield trying to figure out when to start exposing them to this kind of “mild horror” element of them! #bestandworst
I never realised Pinocchio was so dark! I’m not sure now whether I’ve seen the film in it’s entirety of not, but I’ll be sure to keep the scary bits in mind if I ever decide to watch it with my kid(s). Children take exception to the strangest and most innocuous things, you could do everything to protect them from scary stuff and they might still get upset about something you hadn’t even thought of. Especially when it comes to Disney, they’re likely too enamoured with the characters to pick up on many of the things parents are concerned about.
We love Disney in this house, but I totally agree the older Classics are a bit much these days! Dumbo and Bambi are far too sad, and don’t even get me started on Fox and the Hound when she leaves him in the woods (I cry like a baby haha)! I think we’ll stick with the more modern ones for now lol xx
We love Disney and like you spend most of our time on Netflix watching them. I think any film can have a darker side to it. My youngest for example really does not like the witch in snow white, yet will happily watch maleficent with no issues. We just talk a lot about the films an what is happening and this seems to resolve any issues
I think I have a love hate thing with Disney because about half of them I love and half of them I can’t stand but not because of the scary parts. To be Honest I wouldn’t even have thought any thing of the scarier bits bit obviously if my child did get upset then I would turn it off.
#best and worst. Thanks for hosting 🙂
I’m not a Disney fan at all, but toddler loves them. I don’t worry about the content in most of them, and she is no generally bothered by anything. She actually loves the evil characters. She’s not keen on the troll in Enchanted but still loves the film. She picked up Edward Scissorhands the other day and insisted she wanted to see it. I told her she could try but had to say if she was scared, and I told her he was very nice but looked a bit different and some people thought he was scary. She liked it – wasn’t scared at all. He cuts hair – she thought he was great! (OH was trying to show her Iron Man the other week, which I did think was too far – after about 5min he conceded that I was probably right. & also that it probably was not rated PG as he’d been claiming – he agreed that I had a point about the likelihood of machine guns being approved as PG! It got turned off.) #bestandworst
I recently watched Snow White, which I haven’t seen since I was a kid, and it was probably the scariest thing I’ve ever seen!
#thetruthabout
we just watched Dumbo a few days ago and I did get a chuckle over how some of these films haven’t aged well. My biggest problem with Disney films is that it seems like there are too many parents dying in these films. That is the only thing that ever bothers my little. Hope the Gremlin is feeling better
We’re completely obsessed with anything Peter Pan – all the films, cartoon or otherwise. Which, naturally, leads to endless sword fighting….sigh
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I do think the certificates they put on some of these things are a bit much – we regularly watch PG films with BB, who is four, and it’s fine! #bestandworst
I love Disney, especially the stuff from my childhood. I can’t wait until my daughter is old enough to appreciate The Lion King and Aladdin. #bestandworst
I think a lot of the people who complain about things being too scary etc for children are just looking for a reason to complain. Children take things at face value – they expect the bad guy to be bad, and even at that age I think they know deep down the good guy will win in the end. Thanks for hosting #bestandworst
Debbie
We are scared by strange bits on the films. Saying that we are scared of our own shadow when the mood takes. We have to fast forward past the sharks in Little Mermaid. He doesn’t like the dogs in Up. He took a dislike to the snake in Jungle book…….I think it is down to each child personally,
I always shy away from the older Disney classics too, sometimes because of the scary elements and sometimes because I just kind of think both the pace of story-telling and the visual style that the kids are used to and expect will be missing and they will get bored within five minutes! When I took them to see The Good Dinosaur recently (Disney/Pixar) I was really annoyed with myself that I hadn’t found out in advance that it was not a U but a PG certificate and EJ was just so scared all the way through bless him (he’s three & a half). My six year old said he was scared about a scene in the movie ‘Up’ (I wasn’t there so I’m not sure what bit) and he got scared during part of the Minions movie too so I guess I’m just raising a bunch of wusses! 🙂 Thanks for linking Sarah X #thetruthabout
Wow, Pinocchio sounds exactly like an episode of Eastenders when you think about it…
“Now, remember, Pinocchio: be a good boy. And always let your conscience be your guide…Now get outta my pub”…haha
I love Disney and for Henry’s first birthday we are having a Lion King themed party at our local old cinema. Someone commented on my Facebook invite that the Lion King was the most depressing Disney film of all. I did feel bad of all 2 minutes when I realised its an incredible movie. Sod it.
Renee @peonieandme #bestandworst x
We are totally with you on this one! Our two girls have been through phases with most, or should that be all, the disney films. The one that caused most problems was Monsters Inc…aargh the monster under the bed problem!
#bestandworst
We love a bit of Disney in our house too! Must have gone through the phase of most or should that be every film! Only one that caused a problem was monsters inc!!
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I LOVE Dumbo and so do the kids – it was my favourite when I was a kid. Apparently I used to watch it every day! It is really sad, but not scary I don’t think – and the children don’t tend to find the same things sad as we do…
x Alice
#bestandworst
Ooooh I hadn’t thought of any of your points! I just thought we’d watch Disney as they’re Disney, and forgotten all the possibly scary/freaky bits. I’ll see in a year or so how H is dealing with things! #bestandworst
I’m not to worried about the scary parts for our tot. I’d love to make it through either a Disney or a Pixar without sobbing my heart out because someone’s mum or dad just bit the dust. Apparently my first cinema experience was crying over Bambi’s mum so I have had a long history of Disney related heart ache.
#bestandworst
There’s no question Disney reigns supreme with kids films but be careful with the whole scary film thing. We recently watcehd a film featuring dinosaurs with our toddler. She laughed and giggled all the way through it. For the next two weeks she wouldn’t sleep on her own and had nightmares! Proceed with caution! #truthabout
Song of the South took a bit of explaining to the Tubblet due to the slavery. OTH, it’s good opportunity to for a discussion and easier to have off the back of a film.
Wow, I don’t remember any of that stuff from Pinochio at all!!!!!! That’s actually quite funny! I’m quite relaxed about things like that, which are now considered old fashioned. I pretty much watched anything when I was little! Although it isn’t a problem we’ve had to face yet because my 2 are Nick Junior fanatics! We’ve got the Pixar boxset, but the only film they’ll watch from it is Monsters University! I’m sure I’ll find out their reactions to the more scary things soon enough!
#bestandworst
We are huge Disney fans in our house, I did not let me son watch some of the older movies til he was about 4 though. I remember being creeped out by Snow White and Pinocchio so I waited on ones like that. They never seemed to bother him though, he loves Aladdin, Robin Hood, and Sword in the Stone. I really feel it just depends on the kid and how they react to movies. Thanks for sharing and hosting. #bestandworst
I had forgotten about those scenes in Pinnocchio! Pretty scary. I think I could get away with it for Thea (who’s a similar age to the Gremlin) but Ava would ask way to many questions! I used to have to fast forward the bits with the beast in Beauty and the Beast but they are OK with them now. But I am not going to make the mistake of showing them Brave again, they were petrified!! Thanks for hosting #bestandworst lovely xx
Our eldest is a big Disney/Pixar fan – Cars is a very firm favourite but he has started to branch out recently – Toy Story (I had similar ‘too scary’ worries about Sid mutilating his toys but it was totally over our boy’s head) and Ratatouille (there’s a part where an old woman’s ceiling falls in and she is swarmed by rats – I recoiled in horror and R just sat munching on a biscuit!). I think we read far too much into it as adults! I’m desperate to take him to Disneyland but we’re waiting until he’s old enough to understand it! Thanks for hosting #bestandworst
With Caspian only coming up to 1 next week his attention span is not quite geared for a full length film, though I can’t wait to introduce him to Disney (we play the songs) when he’s a little older. I haven’t seen Frozen, but I was hoping to quietly pass it by, though I doubt that will happen…especially as someone told me number 2 is coming out in 2017! Yikes…let it go… let it go… and all that 🙂 #bestandworst
I wonder this too. My son loves Disney films…Peter Pan is a big fave and while it”’s not that scary, it is quite violent! Sitting and explaining seems like a good idea and remembering what some of your other commenters have said that the really litle ones probably don’t have a context for a lot that we may think is scary. That may come later as they get older. Thanks for hosting and thank you for linking to my post this week too #bestandworst
We all love Disney can’t wait to go one day thanks for hosting bestandworst
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Can’t wait to go back! x
I was worried when I sat down with Zach and put beauty and the beast on but like gremlin, turns out he wasn’t bothered! I think it might be too early to introduce him to jurassic park though! Thanks for linking up with #TwinklyTuesday
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I think we all worry a bit too much eh? haha I’m going to wait a bit too for Jurassic Park! Thanks for hosting x