Pete's Dragon...Seriously?

[randomkid]

OK. I've read complaints about a lot of movies on this board, so knew to check certain movies out before letting DD watch them if I hadn't seen them already. I've never seen Pete's Dragon, but thought how bad could it be? My Mom bought it for her, I'm sure thinking the same thing. I have never seen so much drinking, smoking and drunken behavior in a Disney movie! It was ridiculous! At least I was watching with DD so I could explain some of it away. I was also able to distract her quite a bit from it.

So, how do I get rid of this movie without upsetting DD or my Mom? Not sure if Mom knows yet how bad it is, but she tends to not be as concerned about these things because she figures DD doesn't understand them anyway. Nonetheless, I don't want her watching it. I hated that movie and really don't want DD to watch it again.

Oh yeah, my Mom also bought her The Cat in the Hat - the live version with Michael Meyers - um..not so much, Mom!

[deannanb]

bring home a few new movies from the library -
let her pick from those - and hide Pete's Dragon
(I forgot how much stuff was in that movie - I did like it when I was growing up - but must not have paid that much attention to it)

[gatorsmom]

OK. I've read complaints about a lot of movies on this board, so knew to check certain movies out before letting DD watch them if I hadn't seen them already. I've never seen Pete's Dragon, but thought how bad could it be? My Mom bought it for her, I'm sure thinking the same thing. I have never seen so much drinking, smoking and drunken behavior in a Disney movie! It was ridiculous! At least I was watching with DD so I could explain some of it away. I was also able to distract her quite a bit from it.

So, how do I get rid of this movie without upsetting DD or my Mom? Not sure if Mom knows yet how bad it is, but she tends to not be as concerned about these things because she figures DD doesn't understand them anyway. Nonetheless, I don't want her watching it. I hated that movie and really don't want DD to watch it again.

Oh yeah, my Mom also bought her The Cat in the Hat - the live version with Michael Meyers - um..not so much, Mom!

LOL. I remember seeing Pete's Dragon in the theater with my mom back in the 70's. And DH bought the DVD a few years ago. My boys love it, but mainly because of the big, goofy dragon. I agree, I am surprised by the drunken sailors, but maybe you could use it as a way of showing how drinking can make people irresponsible? Or if they are too young to understand that, you could show how even adults do stupid things? The boys never really caught on to the drinking- they just thought those Nora's dad (name?) and his friends were acting silly.

If you really can't stand it, could you just say it got misplaced and can't find it but you'll look later? That happens alot in our house......

[AnnieW625]

That's late 1970s Disney for you! I loved that movie when I was around 6 or 7 years old. Save it for a few years. Parts of it were scary like when Pete first shows up but really I found it harmless. It was the boy version of Annie. A boy is escaping a bad situation and finds some people who are willing to make his life better and in the end make their lives better too.

[randomkid]

I forgot to mention the child abuse - the "mean" adults pulling Pete by his hair, 3-4 adults holding him down and putting him in a bag. Not to mention the reason they have him is because they bought him for $50 to work on the farm. They talk about chaining him down when they catch him. DD totally got those parts. UGH! I may not be as particular about movies as other parents might be, but this one really ticked me off. Is it rated PG? I have to go look!

[gatorsmom]

I forgot to mention the child abuse - the "mean" adults pulling Pete by his hair, 3-4 adults holding him down and putting him in a bag. Not to mention the reason they have him is because they bought him for $50 to work on the farm. They talk about chaining him down when they catch him. DD totally got those parts. UGH! I may not be as particular about movies as other parents might be, but this one really ticked me off. Is it rated PG? I have to go look!

Oh, yeah, there is an entire song about the mean things they are going to do to him once they catch him. My boys never caught on. THey just kept asking when the dragon was coming on again. But that was a couple of years ago so maybe they'd catch that stuff now.

Maybe I"m not as restrictive about that particular movie because I saw it at about the same age with my mom and have some nice memories about the movie (my mom loved the "Candle on the Water" song and I can still hear her singing it around the house). And you could emphasize the positive. It's wonderful that Nora and Lampey adopted Pete as their little boy and do their best to protect him from harm.

[bubbaray]

You could let my DD#2 hold it for 30 seconds -- that is a sure-fire way of destroying any DVD! Seriously, I'd scratch it and then let her play it. It won't play, problem solved.

My kids actually like the Cat in the Hat -- both the old and the new.

[AnnieW625]

Disney movies haven't always been so PC and honestly I kind of miss that about them.

It was rated G, but in 1977 a lot more movies got the rating of G back then even with rauckus stuff in it. As an example Top Gun in 1986 was rated PG, these days it would most likely be PG-13. My mom never quite understood that because Back to the Future was rated PG and had nothing in comparision to the bad language with Top Gun had (one of my fave movies of all time).

Bookmark this link for future reference:
http://www.mpaa.org/FilmRatings.asp

[rlu]

We just watched it last week. DH had never seen it, but it was one of my fav from childhood (I've a thing for dragons apparently, I was fascinated with the dragon in Sleeping Beauty as well.) I was slightly chagrined when I realized how much "non-PC" stuff was in it, but most of it DS didn't notice or comment on. He declared the people at the beginning to be bad guys and we went with that. DS loved the movie and wants to watch again. He was more interested in the concept of a lighthouse than the bar scenes.

eta: This was the first non-animated movie DS would watch all the way through. We didn't get through Mary Poppins. Normally he declares them "adult movies", just as he declares Hannah Montana and Jonas to be "adult shows".

eta again: actually Air Bud was the first non-animated movie DS watched, but he was so disturbed by the man trying to steal the boy's dog he talked about it for days and asked to throw the movie away.

[MamaMolly]

Oh, yeah, there is an entire song about the mean things they are going to do to him once they catch him. .

...we gotta bill of sale right here that says he belongs to us!...
I loved this movie as a kid of the 70s. I had the album and we sang it and sang it and sang it. But ITA with you, I wouldn't want DD to see it until she's much older. Heck, the Octagon episode of Sesame Street where they parody Raiders of the Lost Ark scares the crap out of her, and on the Dora DVD she is watching right now there is an episode with a witch who locks the prince in a tower and she won't watch it because it is too scary. I don't blame her, I don't like it either ;)

To the OP, I'd just be honest with your mom and tell her thanks and you are saving it until DS gets a little older.

[roobee]

DD watches Dumbo and that has a long part in the middle with a bunch of drinking - very un-PC

[maylips]

I think I'm going to have to be a dissenter here....

Sure, it's not PC and sure, the behavior of the bad guys isn't good, but really, does a kid *get* all of that? Look at all the previous posts on this topic - how many of us loved the movie as a kid and never got that they were drunk, that he was abused, that he was sold...none of that, and we are fine.

I mean, I don't think it's appropriate for my 2 1/2 year old, but that's mainly because of the scary parts in it, not the storyline. I would definitely buy it in a few years.

I dunno, I just think when we make a big deal about things, THAT'S what makes our kids more interested in it. I remember very specifically in 6th grade our teacher freaking out because some guy in our class was singing "Private Dancer" by Tina Turner. She forbid it from being sung in her room. NONE of us had any idea what that song was about, nor did we care...until the teacher made a big deal about it. Then we were so curious, and it became an even more popular song just because it was considered bad by adults.

Really, what I remember about Pete's Dragon is the great songs, the way the dragon was a cartoon and everyone else was real and how cool that was, and how the kid got away from the bad situation he was in. The way to that end is definitely not PC, but do you think it entices kids to want to go drink?