Back to: Advics about Play

See also: Kids' Movies, Kids' Videos

My experience is that taking a 3-year-old to the movies is fine, but that most "childrens" movies are too scary and/or violent for the very young.

A movie like "Babe" is fine. Classics like "Sleeping Beauty", "Muppets Treasure Island" and "Bambi" are way too scary, unless the child has already been acclimated by watching similar movies at home.

If you go to a matinee (early afternoon) showing of a childrens movie, then the audience generally won't mind if your child remarks on the happenings on the screen, within reason. Of course, you'll want to explain to her in advance that she can't wander around, and that she should try not to speak loudly.

For any movie that adults take seriously, you'll be expected to take your child out of the theater if she talks loudly a lot, or if she cries for any length of time.

I have taken my almost-3 years son to PFA (Pacific Film Archive) for movies and it is always a real treat. None of the films are standard commercial variety; in fact, the closest we've seen to commercial cinema was England's public TV series of Beatrix Potter stories that included both animation and live action. They were very sweet. Mostly the programs include 3-4 very short (like 20 minutes or less) animation or dramatic narrative. I don't know what the summer schedule is, but you can call PFA at 642-1412 to find out.

Basically, I am not interested in Disney/commercial cinema at all, and we haven't taken Simon to see ANY films in a theater since he was teeny tiny and we sat (he slept) through several films in a Sayatjit Ray festival! We have rented 3 videos (Around the World in 80 Days, Babe, and the original Thief of Baghdad) with success. By success, I mean that Simon is thoughtfully engaged but not overwhelmed or scared, and the parents are not cringing. Buster Keaton and Chaplin shorts are readily available at most video stores, and there are other really beautiful "nature" films (like National Geo series at Berkeley Public Library) to name a few. Since we don't have a TV at all, seeing a video at a friend's house is a big treat, going out to the movies is an event of galactic proportions.

I want to reiterate the last advice on movies for 3-year olds -- take them to the Pacific Film Archives! My daughter goes there with her day care once a month and the movies are very appropriate for her age (now 4).

I got sucked into the Disney commercialism once and thought that it might be fun to take her to see the Little Mermaid (at 3.5 yrs). We went and it was not a good thing. First, the sound in the theatre was too loud and it scared her. And then, as with almost EVERY Disney or commercial movie there is a scary character (the Sea Witch in this case), and that scared her so much that she had to view the entire movie on my lap. At the end of the movie she said that she had not enjoyed the movie. I also have a small collection of Disney videos (from Grandma!), and I find something objectionable in each one. Either there are no girl characters, or the girl characters are not strong, brave, etc. and they need to be rescued, or the girl/woman in the film is only interested in love or romance, or there are negative or poor ethnic/cultural stereotypes, or there is an element of violence and antagonism.

So, am I being too critical?? Are these movies really that bad? And, I am thinking of taking her to go see the new Madeline movie (she is crazy about Madeline, which I approve of since Madeline is "bravest of all!!") This movie comes out next week, if anyone sees it, can you tell me if it is appropriate for a 4.5 yr old??

When my daughter was almost, we saw two movies that she really liked that we borrowed from the San Francisco Public Library's holdings. The first was Jean Cocteau's Beauty and the Beast. Although it was in French, in black and white, and with subtitles that she couldn't read, the visual imagery was surreal and stunning, and she talked about it afterwards for days, about the "Beast's dream." The other was the Sydney Opera Company's rendition of "Where the Wild Things Are." We borrowed both more than once, and they were a treat for us both. In addition, whenever I needed to get her to do anything, clean up after herself, finish her meal, all I had to do was threaten, in a very bad operatice voice, "WILD THING . . . I'LL EAT YOU UP." She always quickly complied, giggling. I recommend them both as refreshing alternatives to commerical movies.