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Recommendations of good non-animated "family" films for two parents and a 3-year-old?



 
 
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  #11  
Old June 8th 04, 12:58 PM
Louise
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Default Recommendations of good non-animated "family" films for two parents and a 3-year-old?

On Mon, 7 Jun 2004 22:12:13 EDT, "Beth Gallagher" wrote:

I cannot imagine fast-forwarding through any part of Wizard of Oz, by the
way. Isn't having nightmares about the witch an essential part of growing
up?! (only half tongue-in-cheek). My general feeling is that if a kid can't
handle essential parts of a movie, such as the Dorothy-kidnapped scene in
Wizard of Oz, he should wait and see the movie when he's ready.
Fast-forwarding through parts of a great movie like Wizard of Oz is like
reading the "Illustrated Classics" version of Jungle Book. What's the rush?
If you can just hold off for another year or two, he'll be able to see the
unadulterated thing the first time around, and that experience cannot be
beat.


I still hide my eyes and/or plug my ears in parts of movies, and I
flip through overly gross or violent parts of books. By your
reasoning, I shouldn't see/read them at all because I can't tolerate
the violent or suspenseful parts. I think it's good to give kids
lots of tools for dealing with entertainment that turns out to be too
intense for them, and reminding them that they can fast-forward video
is one of those tools.

On the other hand, as a parent or a non-parental supervisor, I don't
think I would choose to show a movie to kids that I wanted to prevent
them from seeing parts of. It seems unnecessarily intrusive or
something, for me to choose or approve the movie, yet insist on
holding the remote and skipping bits. Our kids complained and sneered
when rainy-day entertainment at their sports camp once included a
drama video about their sport, with the counsellors fast-forwarding or
distracting them during the sex scene. They thought that the
counsellors should have edited the video ahead of time or not shown it
for younger kids and for teens should just have let the kids make the
choice to talk during that part or go to the bathroom or whatever.
They didn't really appreciate the accountability of camp counsellors
to a mixed group of parents, but otherwise I could kinda see their
point..

Louise

  #12  
Old June 8th 04, 07:29 PM
Robyn Kozierok
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Default CTTS 3-year-old "family" films

In article ,
Taed Nelson wrote:
We've watched most of the recent "classics", such as those by Pixar and
Disney. Many of the older Disney ones are too violent (such as _Fox and the
Hound_) or scary. We also really like some of the anime such as _Kiki's
Delivery Service_.


My 3yo calls this movie "Kinky". As in, "I want to watch the Kinky movie."
:-O

Robyn (mommy to Ryan 9/93 and Matthew 6/96 and Evan 3/01)
--
"Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to
work hard at work worth doing." -- Theodore Roosevelt

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  #13  
Old June 8th 04, 08:13 PM
Penny Gaines
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Default Recommendations of good non-animated "family" films for two parents and a 3-year-old?

FibbersCloset wrote in :

I think (but haven't looked it up) that the original movies (from the
60's?) was Incredible Journey, and the 1990's remake was Homeward Bound.*
And*I second the recommendation.**I*have*yet*to*watch*the*end*of*Ho meward
Bound without blubbering.


I remember watching the original movie in the early seventies, probably bout
'72 or '73.

--
Penny Gaines
UK mum to three

  #14  
Old June 8th 04, 10:24 PM
Beth Gallagher
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Default Recommendations of good non-animated "family" films for two parents and a 3-year-old?


"Louise" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 7 Jun 2004 22:12:13 EDT, "Beth Gallagher" wrote:

I cannot imagine fast-forwarding through any part of Wizard of Oz, by the
way. Isn't having nightmares about the witch an essential part of growing
up?! (only half tongue-in-cheek). My general feeling is that if a kid

can't
handle essential parts of a movie, such as the Dorothy-kidnapped scene in
Wizard of Oz, he should wait and see the movie when he's ready.
Fast-forwarding through parts of a great movie like Wizard of Oz is like
reading the "Illustrated Classics" version of Jungle Book. What's the

rush?
If you can just hold off for another year or two, he'll be able to see

the
unadulterated thing the first time around, and that experience cannot be
beat.


I still hide my eyes and/or plug my ears in parts of movies, and I
flip through overly gross or violent parts of books. By your
reasoning, I shouldn't see/read them at all because I can't tolerate
the violent or suspenseful parts.


Is the violence or suspense "an essential part" (as I said above) of the
book or movie? If so, then, yeh, by my reasoning, you might as well not even
do that book/movie.

I think it's good to give kids
lots of tools for dealing with entertainment that turns out to be too
intense for them, and reminding them that they can fast-forward video
is one of those tools.


I have told my DD, who get very upset very easily, "don't look!" at parts of
movies that I knew would contain a nasty image. I'd also have been willing
to FF through those parts if others hadn;t been watching who wanted to see
those parts. But I generally didn't consider them essential parts of the
movie in question. They were, say, one gruesome image or one especially
realistic violent moment in an otherwise acceptable movie. Now, since this
easily upset DD is the younger sibling of an older child who is really
chomping at the bit to move on to movies at "the next level," I have on
occasion let her be present while he and my DH and I watched slightly
inappropriate movies that required us to cover her eyes during essential or
large parts of the movie (Pirates of the Caribbean comes to mind). But I
think that's a dumb thing to do! ; ) And I wouldn;'t do it for an oldest
child, because it's just not necessary. They can wait.

On the other hand, as a parent or a non-parental supervisor, I don't
think I would choose to show a movie to kids that I wanted to prevent
them from seeing parts of. It seems unnecessarily intrusive or
something, for me to choose or approve the movie, yet insist on
holding the remote and skipping bits. Our kids complained and sneered
when rainy-day entertainment at their sports camp once included a
drama video about their sport, with the counsellors fast-forwarding or
distracting them during the sex scene. They thought that the
counsellors should have edited the video ahead of time or not shown it
for younger kids and for teens should just have let the kids make the
choice to talk during that part or go to the bathroom or whatever.
They didn't really appreciate the accountability of camp counsellors
to a mixed group of parents, but otherwise I could kinda see their
point..


yes. And generally I find that if you do need to edit out more than a few
seconds of a movie, it really isn't the right movie for the audience. Beth


  #15  
Old June 9th 04, 02:59 AM
Rosalie B.
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Default Recommendations of good non-animated "family" films for two parents and a 3-year-old?

"Beth Gallagher" wrote:

"Louise" wrote in message
.. .
On Mon, 7 Jun 2004 22:12:13 EDT, "Beth Gallagher" wrote:

I cannot imagine fast-forwarding through any part of Wizard of Oz, by the
way. Isn't having nightmares about the witch an essential part of growing
up?! (only half tongue-in-cheek). My general feeling is that if a kid can't


I had nightmares for about a week after I read "Gone With the WInd"
when I was about 15 years old. There are a whole bunch of things
(including some that my grandchildren watch quite happily and
unscared) which I can't stand to watch.

handle essential parts of a movie, such as the Dorothy-kidnapped scene in
Wizard of Oz, he should wait and see the movie when he's ready.
Fast-forwarding through parts of a great movie like Wizard of Oz is like
reading the "Illustrated Classics" version of Jungle Book. What's the rush?
If you can just hold off for another year or two, he'll be able to see the
unadulterated thing the first time around, and that experience cannot be
beat.


That's not necessarily so. Some of us just don't like that kind of
stuff. Actually I liked it less and less as I got older. My mom took
me to see Bambi and Fantasea when I was little and they gave me
nightmares.

I still hide my eyes and/or plug my ears in parts of movies, and I
flip through overly gross or violent parts of books. By your
reasoning, I shouldn't see/read them at all because I can't tolerate
the violent or suspenseful parts.


Is the violence or suspense "an essential part" (as I said above) of the
book or movie? If so, then, yeh, by my reasoning, you might as well not even
do that book/movie.

Why? I loved all the Oz books - I could/can read them over and over.
The movie wasn't really anything like the book - for some reason the
book is not scarey for me. I like the movie, but sometimes I skip or
leave the room for some parts even though I know by now how it comes
out.

I think it's good to give kids
lots of tools for dealing with entertainment that turns out to be too
intense for them, and reminding them that they can fast-forward video
is one of those tools.


I have told my DD, who get very upset very easily, "don't look!" at parts of
movies that I knew would contain a nasty image. I'd also have been willing
to FF through those parts if others hadn;t been watching who wanted to see
those parts. But I generally didn't consider them essential parts of the
movie in question. They were, say, one gruesome image or one especially
realistic violent moment in an otherwise acceptable movie. Now, since this
easily upset DD is the younger sibling of an older child who is really
chomping at the bit to move on to movies at "the next level," I have on
occasion let her be present while he and my DH and I watched slightly
inappropriate movies that required us to cover her eyes during essential or
large parts of the movie (Pirates of the Caribbean comes to mind). But I
think that's a dumb thing to do! ; ) And I wouldn;'t do it for an oldest
child, because it's just not necessary. They can wait.

Suppose they have to wait forever?

On the other hand, as a parent or a non-parental supervisor, I don't
think I would choose to show a movie to kids that I wanted to prevent
them from seeing parts of. It seems unnecessarily intrusive or
something, for me to choose or approve the movie, yet insist on
holding the remote and skipping bits. Our kids complained and sneered
when rainy-day entertainment at their sports camp once included a
drama video about their sport, with the counsellors fast-forwarding or
distracting them during the sex scene. They thought that the
counsellors should have edited the video ahead of time or not shown it
for younger kids and for teens should just have let the kids make the
choice to talk during that part or go to the bathroom or whatever.
They didn't really appreciate the accountability of camp counsellors
to a mixed group of parents, but otherwise I could kinda see their
point..


yes. And generally I find that if you do need to edit out more than a few
seconds of a movie, it really isn't the right movie for the audience. Beth

Suppose that the parent doesn't like it and the child does?

grandma Rosalie

  #16  
Old June 9th 04, 11:45 AM
jjmoreta
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Posts: n/a
Default Recommendations of good non-animated "family" films for two parents and a 3-year-old?


"Taed Nelson" wrote in message
...
I'd like to get some recommendations of true family films, something that
would interest both parents and our 3-year-old.

We've watched most of the recent "classics", such as those by Pixar and
Disney. Many of the older Disney ones are too violent (such as _Fox and

the
Hound_) or scary. We also really like some of the anime such as _Kiki's
Delivery Service_.

However, I want to watch something other than animated films, and that's
where I'm having trouble... I've looked through the library and video

store
twice and have come up with very few titles that would interest all of us.

The big issue is that we want to avoid any violence, guns, swords, and the
like, but I don't think that there are any other hot-button issues. Other
adult themes such as nudity and paying taxes aren't an issue for us, but I
doubt there are any "family" films with that. I also don't want to watch
any bad movies!

The story also has to be simple enough on some level for a 3-year-old to
follow and understand.

A great film (though there are some parts we have to fast-forward through)
for us was _E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial_. My son understood most of the
movie, and even cried at both the beginning (where the space ship leaves
without ET) and where ET dies. (He can be surprisingly sensitive.) (It

was
also the re-release with the guns edited out, so it worked well for out
sensibilities.) _The Wizard of Oz_ also worked out well, again with just

a
little bit that needed to be skipped over. (That developed a big interest
in tornadoes, though, so we're read a number of books from the library

about
them.) He also sat through _Whale Rider_, and also cried when the whales
were stuck on the beach. _Babe_ is another good example (however, _Gordy_
is so bad that we stopped it about 15 minutes into it).

I'm also considering taking him to the 1956 version of _Around the World

in
80 Days_ next week at The Stanford Theatre -- from what I've read, I think
it should be fine for him, particularly since it has planes, balloons,
trains, and so on, which he's really into these days. Has anyone seen

this
and care to comment on it's level of violence (hitting, guns, swords,

etc.)?

Any other movie recommendations along these lines?

(Thanks in advance.)


We're planning on raising our son on anime (we're big fans). If you liked
Kiki's Delivery Service, how about My Neighbor Totoro? (its being
rereleased this summer so you can find the old version cheap - I think I saw
the DVD for $6 at Best Buy) Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, and Castle in
the Sky are also by Miyazaki, but a bit too violent for your standards right
now. We're currently collecting anime for our son, especially Robotech.

If you're worried about certain depictions in movies, there's a Christian
ministry (CAP) that analyzes movies for all sorts of things and reviews them
in excruciating detail (each review lists specific examples of violence,
sex, etc). That might be a good guide for you concerning more current
movies - http://www.capalert.com/capmarstartpage.htm.

I agree, finding good family movies is hard. I've tried thinking of some
that I liked when I was younger (but not at the age of 3). I'll leave it up
to you to decide how violent they are (I'm not as concerned) - Labyrinth,
Dark Crystal, any of the Muppet movies, Willow, Flight of the Navigator,
Anne of Green Gables, Black Beauty, and . How about old classics, like
Shirley Temple movies (I still love A Little Princess).

Honestly, I'd avoid Around the World in 80 Days if you're worried about
violence - it features Jackie Chan (as the servant character Passepartout)
so there's going to be a high level of martial arts (hitting), I'm guessing.
There was a decent amount of guns in the earlier versions I've seen. At
least I'd wait until more reviews came out to be sure. This review has a
number of spoilers about ATW80D if you want to know whats in it-
http://www.hkentreview.com/2003/columns/around.html. Hmm...there's a boxing
match scene, does that disqualify it from consideration?

- Joanne


  #17  
Old June 9th 04, 11:46 AM
FibbersCloset
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Default Recommendations of good non-animated "family" films for two parents and a 3-year-old?

I finally looked it up. "The Incredible Journey" (a Disney Movie) was
released in 1963. "Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey" was released in
1993.

Dena

"Penny Gaines" wrote in message
...
FibbersCloset wrote in :

I think (but haven't looked it up) that the original movies (from the
60's?) was Incredible Journey, and the 1990's remake was Homeward Bound.
And I second the recommendation. I have yet to watch the end of Homeward
Bound without blubbering.


I remember watching the original movie in the early seventies, probably

bout
'72 or '73.

--
Penny Gaines
UK mum to three


  #18  
Old June 9th 04, 06:41 PM
LFortier
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Posts: n/a
Default CTTS 3-year-old "family" films

Robyn Kozierok wrote:
In article ,
Taed Nelson wrote:

We've watched most of the recent "classics", such as those by Pixar and
Disney. Many of the older Disney ones are too violent (such as _Fox and the
Hound_) or scary. We also really like some of the anime such as _Kiki's
Delivery Service_.



My 3yo calls this movie "Kinky". As in, "I want to watch the Kinky movie."
:-O

Robyn (mommy to Ryan 9/93 and Matthew 6/96 and Evan 3/01)




What kind of looks do you get when he refers to the kinky
movie outside the home? :-)

Lesley

  #19  
Old June 9th 04, 08:58 PM
Lee
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Posts: n/a
Default Recommendations of good non-animated "family" films for two parents and a 3-year-old?

jjmoreta said:

If you're worried about certain depictions in movies, there's a Christian
ministry (CAP) that analyzes movies for all sorts of things and reviews them
in excruciating detail (each review lists specific examples of violence,
sex, etc). That might be a good guide for you concerning more current
movies - http://www.capalert.com/capmarstartpage.htm.


I've never found their reviews to be of much help, perhaps
because their point of view is very different from mine.

Harry Potter is an obvious example. They go on about the
movie being 38% more "Offensive to God" than the previous
two episodes, but don't tell me about how some of the
violence in the book is handled visually. I can tell from
the commercials that the slap in the face has become a
punch in the nose. Is there an explosion with multiple
Muggle deaths? Do they reveal a nightmarish dementor face?
How bad are the injuries from falling off of broomsticks
and attacks by hippogriffs, dogs, cats, rats and trees?
And when he loses his ability to shoot web while in
mid-swing, does he fall and...oh, wait, wrong book.

  #20  
Old June 9th 04, 09:27 PM
Beth Gallagher
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Posts: n/a
Default Recommendations of good non-animated "family" films for two parents and a 3-year-old?


"Rosalie B." wrote in message
...
"Beth Gallagher" wrote:

"Louise" wrote in message
.. .
On Mon, 7 Jun 2004 22:12:13 EDT, "Beth Gallagher" wrote:

I cannot imagine fast-forwarding through any part of Wizard of Oz, by

the
way. Isn't having nightmares about the witch an essential part of

growing
up?! (only half tongue-in-cheek). My general feeling is that if a kid

can't

I had nightmares for about a week after I read "Gone With the WInd"
when I was about 15 years old. There are a whole bunch of things
(including some that my grandchildren watch quite happily and
unscared) which I can't stand to watch.

handle essential parts of a movie, such as the Dorothy-kidnapped scene

in
Wizard of Oz, he should wait and see the movie when he's ready.
Fast-forwarding through parts of a great movie like Wizard of Oz is

like
reading the "Illustrated Classics" version of Jungle Book. What's the

rush?
If you can just hold off for another year or two, he'll be able to see

the
unadulterated thing the first time around, and that experience cannot

be
beat.


That's not necessarily so. Some of us just don't like that kind of
stuff.


So don't watch it! Most children will come to an age when they can handle
all of a movie like the Wizard of Oz or the real version of most children's
classics. Why water their experience down by editing it on first read or
viewing?

To some extent I see this as a matter of parental patience and self-control.
There are all kinds of great books and movies I can't wait to share with my
kids, but I simply need to wait until they're really ready.

I still hide my eyes and/or plug my ears in parts of movies, and I
flip through overly gross or violent parts of books. By your
reasoning, I shouldn't see/read them at all because I can't tolerate
the violent or suspenseful parts.


Is the violence or suspense "an essential part" (as I said above) of the
book or movie? If so, then, yeh, by my reasoning, you might as well not

even
do that book/movie.

Why? I loved all the Oz books - I could/can read them over and over.


What does this have to do with my point? The books worked for you; great. If
the movie does, great; if not, don't watch it. Plus, I'm talking about how
we as parents manage our kids' exposures to works of art and entertainment.
If an adult wants to water something down for him/herself, that's their
choice.

I have on
occasion let her be present while he and my DH and I watched slightly
inappropriate movies that required us to cover her eyes during essential

or
large parts of the movie (Pirates of the Caribbean comes to mind). But I
think that's a dumb thing to do! ; ) And I wouldn;'t do it for an oldest
child, because it's just not necessary. They can wait.

Suppose they have to wait forever?


Then it's clearly not a good viewing choice for them. I, e.g., will never
see the movie Seven. I've heard about it and know it would be "bad for me."

yes. And generally I find that if you do need to edit out more than a few
seconds of a movie, it really isn't the right movie for the audience.

Beth

Suppose that the parent doesn't like it and the child does?


Perhaps get the other parent to watch it, if one can tolerate it? Or let the
child watch it alone? Besides, I have very different feelings about these
things when it comes to adults than children. How scared or traumatized can
an adult really be by something a child can stand to watch? I know there are
some scenes that upset me that don't upset my kids as much, like the scene
in Pinocchio where the one boy is turned into a donkey and starts crying for
his mom. I *hate* that scene, whereas my kids are only mildly affected by
it. But I'm a big girl now; I can sit through it!!

Anyway, I'm not suggesting making any of this law; it's just my personal
philosophy on kids' entertainment experiences. Beth


 




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