Is Peter Pan scary?

[blisstwins]

My 4 yos freak out when I try to read past page 3. I have plans to see the play soon and am wondering if that is a bad idea? Advice? I don't think I read the story as a child.

[kijip]

Peter Pan is can be down right horrifying to a very young child. A boy cuts off a man's hand and spends a lot of time narrowly escaping violent payback. Depending on the version, it can be pretty darn violent.

[KBecks]

I think it is scary. I'm 38 :)

[bubbaray]

I'd actually forgotten the story line and got the DVD for DD#1. Um, yeah, not so much. It is "sleeping" until the girls are much older. Waaaay too much violence for us. JMHO.

[s7714]

Book-wise I think it totally depends on the version you're reading. I have fair number of children's versions because it is one of my favorites. A couple of the older 70s Disney ones are very very tame, but others not so much. Those that are a little more detailed are being saved for when my DDs are older.

My 3 year old adores the tamer Peter Pan books and they're one of her favorite bedtime stories. We watch movie versions a lot as well (not just the animated Disney one) and my DDs have never been overly scared of any of them. I think a lot of it just depends on what your kids are used to and his/her personal tolerance levels for such things. My DDs will sit and watch a Japanese Anime movie with a pretty intense villain without even flinching, but then will turn around and cringe in legitimate fear at the bad fairy in Disney's Sleeping Beauty. So I always just play it by ear. If your DCs don't like the Peter Pan book or movie, I wouldn't bother taking them to see it live. Maybe when they get a little older.

[egoldber]

I started reading the original Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie, the version I had growing up, to Sarah when she was 4 and I stopped after about 2 pages, because it was dull and sexist. We hadn't even gotten to the scary part yet... ;)

The Disney version is VERY tame compared to the original.

[deenass]

We took DS to see a local "kids production" of the play (it was a musical) - he wasn't bothered by it (and he WAS scared by the movie at the time).

I think it being "live" makes a HUGE difference.

Understand, we walked out of Alice in Wonderland (the musical) b/c DS didn't like the Queen of Hearts, and the movie Cars scared the crap out of my son, so we are pretty sensitive over here.

[Babywhite]

I rented it for DD (age 4) the other week b/c I previously purchased a lot of Tinkerbell/Fairy stuff that I plan to give her for Christmas.

She hated it...I ended up having to hold her in order to get her to watch the end. (I knew that if she didn't see the entire thing...it would only make things worse. )

I hope the upcoming "Disney Fairy" movie is more kid friendly! :)

[blisstwins]

Ugh. I was actually hoping that we would have the kids b-day party at the theater that will be doing the play. It is a great space and a great price. I am going to talk to the place on Tuesday and ask about appropriateness. We recently saw Jack and the Beanstalk there and my children were a little frightened, though the happy ending calmed them too. They did Pippi Longstocking there too and there was a fire, robbers, and a few fights but they were done in a manner that did not scare my children. I just can't get over how off my recollection of this story was. All I remembered was Tinkerbell and flying and given the popularity I really thought this would be appropriate for my almost 4 yos.