This means my son is now as old as my daughter was when we saw Toy Story 3. This was his first movie experience where he sat and watched the movie. I spent much of Toy Story 3 feeding him Cheerios, and eventually nursing him, to keep him non disruptive. He has seen many movies in the last two years, but not in the cinema. He seemed to enjoy Wreck It Ralph.
My daughter, on the other hand, was either scared or sad throughout the movie, or possibly both. Wreck It Ralph is about video games. For those of us who grew up in the 80s, it is quite a nostalgic film. There are a lot of inside jokes. One reviewer for the Globe and Mail said if you know who QBert is, you will be in the right demographic to appreciate this movie. Plenty of fun for the parents who have decided to take their children out to the movies.
There is a video game represented in the movie which is essentially a Halo knock off. I do not let my husband, an avid gamer, play his violent, first person shooter games in front of our children. My kids also tend to watch fairly benign television shows. Their favourite is Stella and Sam (Stella et Sacha, en français). I let them watch mini TFO. We have kids movies for them to watch, but they usually gravitate to Dora, Caillou, and a french cartoon called Sam Sam. Most of what they watch has no violence in it. Sometimes, they might watch some of Dad's He-Man, or Thundercats, or Amazing Spiderman, and see some occasional cartoon fighting. The swarming Cybugs in Hero's Duty were a bit much for my daughter.
I think my son didn't mind it because there was a lot of "Fi-uing". You know, the sound a gun makes, probably in Star Wars, FI-U! FI-U! Plus, I have an inkling he's seen Daddy play some shooting video games. My daughter is very sensitive. She was overwhelmed emotionally during Kung Fu Panda 2 when the mother had to abandon Po. I think she was also sad during Wreck It Ralph when she realized Vanellope might have to stay behind in the game. She was sobbing in my lap, and I had to tell her it would work out. But, she said the insects scared her too. She was not a huge fan of the film.
Many of the films nowadays labelled as kids movies have a lot of violence, and sex humour geared towards an older audience. I know parents do not want to go see The Care Bear movie, or Barbie Charm School, but what happened to the good old family film? The Muppets made some great movies, and often had humour parents could appreciate without it necessarily being vulgar. I still love watching The Wizard of Oz, and Mary Poppins.
As has happened with cartoons on TV, many of the animated films are designed for an older audience. Rango was not really a kids movie, despite being animated. Cars 2 had a plot as complicated as any Mission Impossible movie. My daughter came out of that one with the statement, sometimes the number one car won the race, sometimes Lightning McQueen did. The mystery held no interest for her.
So, what are some recent, wonderful family movies everyone would be entertained watching? Where are the movies like The Princess Bride, and E.T.? It seems as though these types of movies are being made less often. There was a time, 10 or 15 years ago, and earlier, when it was not difficult to find quality family entertainment. I am not a prude, but I want to keep my kids young as long as possible. I do not want them jaded before their time.
My parents took us to see movies like Amadeus and Out of Africa when we were younger. They were mature films, but they dealt with subjects in a way that was not frightening, or overwhelming for younger viewers. Now, movies are all flash, and bang. Lots of violence. Pretty to look at, but lacking substance. It is a sad statement if I think today's kids movies are too "old" for my children, and I would have no problem showing them a movie like Amadeus.
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