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For many of us, it was Walt Disney's “Old Yeller”: When the beloved title character (SPOILER ALERT) leaves this mortal coil, it left us shaken to the core. For others, it was the animated classics: From “Bambi” through “Dumbo” and beyond, Disney seemed to have a penchant for inserting tragedy into otherwise family-friendly fare -- a tradition that continued in 2003's "Finding Nemo."
Though billed as wholesome children’s entertainment, many kids’ movies are rife with needless, inappropriate and/or just plain disturbing content. Watching “101 Dalmatians” with my 6-year-old fairly recently, I had the unenviable task of delicately explaining exactly what the insidious Cruella DeVil wanted to do with those cute little puppies. Thanks a lot, Walt.
Recently, parenting website Babble.com rounded up its own list of the 26 Most Disturbing Kids Movies Ever, pulling together titles both infamous and surprising (“The Care Bears Movie”? Really?) Many of the selections are predictable (if you’ve never found anything a bit creepy about certain scenes in “Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory” or “The Wizard of Oz,” you just haven’t been paying attention), but show any of them to your kids and you’re bound to field a few awkward questions (“Why did Bambi’s mother have to die, Mommy?”) and dry some tears.
Parents have to decide what is and isn’t appropriate for their kids to watch. They also have to provide context and put entertainment in its proper perspective – but that isn’t always as easy as it sounds.
Have your children been exposed to content you’d have shielded them from if you could? Have you ever had a hair-raising experience watching a movie with your kids? Let us know in the comment section below.
For further reading:
The 10 kids movies that are inappropriate for kids
When parents bring underaged children to inappropriate movies
And for the flip side of the coin,…
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I don't have kids, but the 1982 animated film "The Last Unicorn" scared the life out of me (the Red Bull? The wine-swilling skeleton? The BOOB TREE?). The 1985 film "The Hugga Bunch" was pretty freaky too. Freaky but awesome. So make your kids watch them. I turned out OK!
I don't have children either, but I remember what movies scared or upset me when I was young. Fantasia, Bambi, Old Yeller, Ghostbusters, E.T. (believe it or not) and the one that upset me the most? Dumbo. :)
According to my mom, when I was little "Jumanji" and "The Jungle Book" terrified me.
To this day, the sight of Gene Wilder still gives me the fear.
Absolutely. Pinnochio - a little boy/puppet stolen from home and his daddy, swallowed by a whale... scared the heck out of me, but my husband liked it, so we took the kids to see it. Disaster.
Bambi, for the obvious reasons. Old Yeller (when the kids were older and picked movies on their own) for the obvious reasons. The Wizard of Oz (Surrender Dorothy, the attack of the flying monkees... 'nuf said). Snow White (Poisoned apple & wicked step-mom trying to kill a kid... hello!). Finding Nemo (grandkids) for obvious reasons, always skipped over Momma fish dying (they thought they got divorced). Bridge to Terabithia (a loved friend dies).
My mom found fault with practically every Disney movie when I was a child, I did not see many of the older "classic" animated ones until I was in college (Bambi, Lady and the Tramp, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Dumbo, Pinocchio). Even the movies that I was the right age for (Jungle Book, Aristocats) were off limits for some reason. The only "ok" movies were 101 Dalmatians, Mary Poppins and Thomasina.
My own kid was four, wet his pants while on my lap during the "dip" scene from "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?". My teen daughters have only seen the first and third "Indiana Jones" movie, not the second one.
I grew up on Disney movies and they did not disturb me. The Wizard of Oz WAS scary in parts but I liked it. I did not have nightmares. We need to quit trying to "read" too much into the movies and watch them for entertainment. There are plenty of other movies that are full of foul language and toilet humor that did not make your list and to me, THOSE are more inappropriate for children.. Besides, it is up to the parents to be parents.. be responsible.. TALK to your kid about the movies, they provide teachable moments... And for the record, I also loved Indiana Jones, Narina and Harry Potter and they were scary in places too but again, it is all about talking to our children....(the vampire movies are even scarier and MORE disturbing too)
I cried and cried when Old Yeller died and the Wizard of Oz terrified me (the wicked witch and the monkeys anyway). I know this sounds ridiculous but for some reason I thought that if I flushed the toilet in the spare bathroom of my grandmother's house the witch would come out and get me. My mom thinks it's because the circular movement of the water reminded me subconsciously of the tornado but it was only that bathroom for some reason. I would stand as far away from the handle as I could so I could flush and then run like hell. My son was very upset when Bambi's mom got shot and when Mufasa died in The Lion King.