My son has seen some of the Veggie Tales movies and done okay with them. I'd like to move on to some other things. He is almost 6 and has outgrown Noggin, which is all we've really watched on TV up to now. He likes animated shows, but also enjoys "Fetch with Ruff Ruffman" on PBS. He has outgrown Winnie the Pooh, which makes me a bit sad! He did watch "Toy Story," but he was initially very afraid of the bully next door who tortures the toys! He didn't want to watch that part for a long time, and I would fast forward a huge chunk of the movie, just so he could see the end. I think he just really *believes* the story that the toys are real, so the bully is terrifying. A lot of the Disney movies (the Incredibles, for example) I think would be too dark for him. But he is becoming interested in more complex stories. And I just think that some of the dreck aimed at kids is garbage. A friend recommended "The Iron Giant" but it is PG so I am going to watch it first to see what it's about. Any suggestions would be welcome. Thanks!
Thanks so much, mamas, for replying to my query. I had forgotten about a few movies we had tried and abandoned (like Ratatouille, when the protagonist rat gets separated from his family and is all alone is a storm sewer, and my son freaked out), but we might try again now that he is older. I will try Discovery Kids channel. I have let him watch the Discovery Channel a few times, but the commercials were awful (horror films, etc.), so maybe the "kids" channel is better. But frankly, some of the commercials aimed at kids are the most pernicious. We love Phineas and Ferb, but get the DVD, b/c the Disney Channel advertising is horrible, and the cross-promotion is RELENTLESS. My son told me he thought the Jonas Bros looked "cool" and I wanted to throw my TV out the window! Blech. We did see WALL-E last night on DVD, and it was great! Truly wonderful; we both really liked it. My son really seemed to get a lot of it, and he asked me some interesting questions about the movie when it was over. A few parts had ominous music, and he said, "Do you think anything bad is going to happen to WALL-E?" and I said no, but that I might feel better if he would hold my hand. So he sat next to me and "protected" me from any potential bad happenings (and any negative events were pretty quickly remedied by WALL-E's determination and resourcefulness). I also watched "The Iron Giant" myself and I loved it, but am ruling it out for now (and for at least another year). There's a paranoid government agent (who actually chloroforms the child) and a clueless military, and I don't think that's reasonable for 5 year-olds. The action is intense (but so is the love), and I think it would just be too much. It would also help to have an understanding of the cold war to really get the movie, but I guess that's for the grown-ups! Thanks for your other recommendations. I'll take a look at them :)
Cars is a GREAT movie, and there isn't ant scarey parts. Both my kids 6 and 3 love it! My 3 year old also really likes Wall-e.
I have a boy who is the same way. I have moving from "Feature Films For Families" movies. You can call 1-800-FAMILY-TV or go online to www.familyfilms.com. They are all G movies and I don't have to worry about content but them have more to them than the little kid stuff. My kids love them. I hope this works.
Have you tried 3-2-1-penguins? They are really good and always have a "moral of the story" at the end. I have 2 kids that are 5 and 10 and they love them. The movies are also very funny which makes it easy for me to watch as well!
My 4 1/2 year old girl is the same way! We started with Pooh and VeggieTales, too. She specifically doesn't like "bad guys." For some reason, though, she loves Dumbo, which I would think would be very upsetting. Same with Bambi, although I've only let her see it once. She loves "Nemo", but she's been watching that since she was little and I was up front about the mommy fish getting eaten. We also just watched Madagascar 1 and 2 and she LOVED those--there are some jokes that adults will get, but they went right over her head. She likes older Disney, too, like Lady and the Tramp and Robinhood. Oh--you also might try "Cars". Or what about Bad News Bears or some of those happy Disney sports movies?
I hope that helps--I wouldn't force him, though. I've decided it's crazy to stress kids out over a movie!
My kids Loved "the Goonies" at 5 my daughter watched it so much - she knew all the dialog and still everyday we watched. this is a live action film from the 80's.
Other favorites were cartoons:
Disney's "lady & Tramp" "101 Dalmations"
"American Tail", these are the older Disney movies... Still classics = My grandkids love them!
My daughter is almost 5 and she gets a little nervous about the bad in some movies - Nemo scared her because of the Shark - "Brucey". She loves all of the animal movies - 101 Dalmations - 1 & 2, (animated versions as well as film version), Lady & The Tramp 1 & 2, Milo & Otis, Homeward Bound 1 & 2, Jungle Book, The Aristocats, Because of Winn Dixie, Charlotte's Web, Space Buddies, Snow Buddies, Air Bud, The Happy Elf, Mr.Magorium's Wonder Emporium. Some of these have limited shelf life as Disney will pull them soon if they haven't already - but others are in the bargain bins at Walmart and often are less than $10. We have an enormous collection of DVDs as we travel alot for my husband's business and the DVD player in the car is the best thing ever invented! She also loves the Indian in the Cupboard and Return to Neverland but they do have bad guys vs good guys. I've explained to her that these are stories that someone made up in their imagination and made into a movie - and no.....Catain Hook is not going to come and take you away in the night - he is a figment of someone's creative imagination to make a good story! Good Luck!
Disney Channel has some great cartoons that don't involve "scary" stuff. Phineas & Ferb is my daughter's favorite, but we watch a lot of the shows on there. Higglytown Heros is a good one too. As far as movies go: Finding Nemo, Mary Poppins, Over the Hedge, Goofy Movie, Curious George, Tinkerbell (maybe too girly), and Shrek (this is iffy). Honestly, if you browse the Childrens section of DVD's at Walmart, you will find a lot of stuff that doesn't have villains in it. Good Luck on your search!
PS I can't remember much about the movie as it's been a long time, but you may want to look into James and the Giant Peach.
My nephew was also scared of Toy Story, but he wasn't scared of Toy Story 2. Maybe try that one?
What about Meet the Robinson's? It has such a good message, Keep moving forward:)
My son watches Yo gabba gabba and toot and puddle, they are on Noggin. They actually have good meanings. He also loves the movies Spirit, Madagascar one and two and Open Season.
Try Lady and the Tramp or Lady and the Tramp II nothing really scarry and they have dogs in them. You can also try Spirit which has Horses in it. Or even Cars
Hi S. - I see a lot of moms have already given great suggestions. And I agree: you really can't go wrong with Disney movies, especially the classics. I know what you mean about being "scary" movies. At 4 yrs old, my oldest son didn't want to watch Monster's Inc. His favorites were Nemo and The Lion King (and then Lion King 2 and 1 1/2) played repeatedly all day. He also enjoyed Beauty and the Beast, Pinocchio, the Little Mermaid, and Fantasia. Since he was 5 yrs old, we allowed him to watch the Discovery Kids channel, which he LOVES still (from 9a-12n, it's geared towards pre-schoolers and from 5a-9a and in the afternoon, it's for grade-schoolers). By the time he was 6 1/2, he had little interest in PBS Sprout, but still watches Noggin with his 4-yr old brother. Because I don't like commercials, we prefer videos/movies over TV - but now that he's getting older, we realize it's harder to "control" that preference.
The Muppet Movie (the original one-released in 1979-I bought it on Amazon) is so cute! I don't recall anything scary, it has a cute plot and lots of great songs! The soundtrack DVD is a classic. Also check out www.familytv.com - they have great family friendly films for all ages. Good luck! Kristen
PS I wouldn't recommend Bambi - his mother is killed by hunters at the very beginning of the movie - I still remember crying the whole movie when I saw it (I was 7 and very "sensitive") - it was traumatizing. I would not recommend that or Lion King ... death is a part of life, but for a very sensitive child, it might be better when he's older. My mom still recalls how devestated I was after Bambi, and so do I.
Cars is great like everyone says. I do want to warn that my son was a little scared of the big tractor "Frank" when it chases them during tractor tipping. This was when he was younger and first saw it. It is a very small part of the movie that can easily be skipped if needed. Curious George all the way!!!!! The PBS shows are great: martha speaks, word world. But stay away from Aurthor, it has gotten really lousy! Lots of fighting and words I would prefer my son not say. Nemo has two scary parts, don't know why it would be recommended. Lady and the tramp is perfect I think. I do also agree, you might want to ease him into some of the "not perfect" situations, it has to happen some time. My soon to be 4 year old is the opposite. Scooby doo is his favorite because of all the monsters!
Curious George was a nice, gentle movie. Toy Story 2 is not as scary as TS1. Ice Age 1&2, Ratatouille, Cars, & Aristocats are fairly safe. You can start with those & also check out Lady & the Tramp, Bambi, & other classics. Madagascar was fun. The Muppet Show seasons 1-3 are available on DVD, as well as a lot of Mickey shows, Peanuts, etc. Those are all pretty safe to start with (although Peanuts has a lot of namecalling: "stupid", etc.). Be careful of PG - we bought Stuart Little 1-3 & they have LANGUAGE - SOOOO not necessary, but we don't watch those DVDs because of it. And while Night at the Museum was PG for "scary situations", they did an excellent job turning something potentially really scary into something fun & funny (my kids saw that at age 5).
Perhaps Finding Nemo would be nice. Shark Tale is nice although the sharks might be a bit scary. Dora the Explorer has a few movies as well as the Backyardigans. I have a movie called Sparky's Magical Piano which gears towards music education but it super cute and fun for all ages. I'm not sure where you can find it, though. Old classics like Aristocats, Heavenly Dogs or Dog Heaven (something like that), Lady and the Tramp.
Good luck and let us know what you find.
My daughter LOVES "Bee Movie" and nemo and cars and aristocats.... they are great also cuz they can be enjoyed by a girl or a boy! And as far as I recall nothing really scary.
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Cars would be a good movie for him to watch. There are a lot of good movies out there that don't have violence in them. As far as TV goes a lot of kids never out grow Clifford The Big Red Dog. You can't protect him forever. If you keep all scary things from him now he will grow up to be afraid of everything. There are plenty of childrens videos that you can share with him. Watch them with him and explain why things are happening, that they are not real and it's just s story. You might be surprised how he deals with it knowing it's just pretend. Honestly, I think he needs to see some scary things. You don't want him to be a grown man and afraid to walk out his own door. To many people over protect their children. I agree children at that age do not need to watch news or grown up movies. But as far as the cartoons and childrens videos. Most all of them have valuable lessons in them.
Have you tried "Cars"? It is a Disney Pixar movie and my 3 year old absolutely loves this movie.
If you haven't seen it already- Curious George the movie is fantastic...no scary parts and such a feel good movie...and of course they have the PBS shows on DVD too which are educational and fun.
