Sensitive kids - how old before movie theater?

[twowhat?]

I've been reading such great things about Wreck-It Ralph that it crossed my mind to take the girls to go see it.

But - they are very sensitive. Beauty and the Beast - too scary (I admit the wolves and the Beast at the beginning are a bit scary). They are on their 3rd viewing of Tangled and are finally really enjoying it (the first time we had to stop in the middle - too scary). They LOVE Mary Poppins (not scary at all) and they were OK with Cinderella, though they were afraid of Lucifer (the cat). They were OK with Sleeping Beauty though I think it bored them a bit. Those are the Disney movies we've seen so far (in our quest to familizarize them with everything Disney before our DL trip next year:)). DD2 especially asks LOTS of questions throughout movies - she truly wants to understand them. DD1 seems less anxious about how the plot will play out.

So...avoid the movie theater for now? How old were your sensitive kids before you were able to take them to the movies? I'm itching to do so because so many of my friends keep saying how they took their 3 or 4 yo to see Brave or whatever and how much fun it was. I would love to be able to take the girls to a movie but I'm afraid they can't handle it.

[fivi2]

Yours sound like mine (except Cinderella was too scary and we haven't tried sleeping beauty or BATB) . we have tried movie theatres maybe two or three times. It never goes well and they are almost 7. So I would wait. There is a nature imax (short documentary) I may try in the spring but feature films I wont try again until they ask to go. And wreck it Ralph seems like it will trigger anxiety Imo.

Eta : my girls adore Disney despite only having seen mickey mouse clubhouse and the tinkerbell movies.

[Clarity]

Here's the Common Sense Media parent reviews: http://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/wreck-it-ralph

Several say it was scary and violent. Based on this, I won't be taking my 4 & 6yo.

[mikeys_mom]

My DS is 8 and still can't handle movies in the theatre. He much prefers to sit in the comforts of his own house, be able to walk out, ask questions, stop in the middle, watch a scene twice, etc...

I have given up trying to get him to enjoy the theatre. It seems to be fun for most kids but that doesn't mean he needs to enjoy it. We find plenty of other activities that are more enjoyable for him. Once I accepted that movies aren't his thing, it made me much more relaxed about it. It helps that my kids aren't really into or exposed to much pop-culture stuff so it's not like he knows about a movie out there that he thinks he is missing out on.

[lizzywednesday]

In your case, I'd go see Ralph myself first to see how it held up against the films they've already watched at home.

It seems like a fairly cute movie, but it does have a PG rating.

If you've never brought your kids to a movie before, I don't know that a PG-rated one is the best, KWIM?

I'd also suggest Finding Nemo, although it does have a few tense/scary spots (the barracuda attack at the beginning; Bruce's "feeding frenzy" in the submarine; the dentist's niece, Darla) ...

[BabyBearsMom]

I'd also suggest Finding Nemo, although it does have a few tense/scary spots (the barracuda attack at the beginning; Bruce's "feeding frenzy" in the submarine; the dentist's niece, Darla) ...

I would be hesitant on finding Nemo. DD1 (who is much younger than your DDs, but a little on the sensitive side) was absolutely devestated when she watched Finding Nemo even though she begged to watch it. When the mother fish died at the beginning she started asking me "Where's his momma go?" and would not stop. I didn't really know how to answer so I just said "she isn't there right now"...this was definitely the wrong answer. She ended up in tears saying "he needs his momma! Where did she go?" and we shut it off.

[mikeys_mom]

I'd also suggest Finding Nemo, although it does have a few tense/scary spots (the barracuda attack at the beginning; Bruce's "feeding frenzy" in the submarine; the dentist's niece, Darla) ...

DS thinks Finding Nemo is one of the scariest movies ever. I thought I'd be able to just fast forward through the first scene and it would be fine but the idea that Nemo is lost in the huge ocean was quite terrifying for him. It's been a few years since he attempted to watch it and still says he will never ever watch that movie. The few minutes he watched left quite a negative impression on him.

[lizzywednesday]

DS thinks Finding Nemo is one of the scariest movies ever. I thought I'd be able to just fast forward through the first scene and it would be fine but the idea that Nemo is lost in the huge ocean was quite terrifying for him. It's been a few years since he attempted to watch it and still says he will never ever watch that movie. The few minutes he watched left quite a negative impression on him.

Like I said, it's tense and scary in places, probably especially bad for a sensitive kid.

[egoldber]

My DS is 8 and still can't handle movies in the theatre. He much prefers to sit in the comforts of his own house, be able to walk out, ask questions, stop in the middle, watch a scene twice, etc...

LOL! I'm in my 40s and I feel that way. :) I much prefer to watch movies at home vs. in the theater.

[fivi2]

I don't think we've been able to do a single pixar (nemo is pixar, right?) Seriously my girls found parts of Mary Poppins scary (there was a thread about it a while back) . We just don't do many movies. They don't want to see them so we don't. I will try when they ask but for now there is no reason to push it. Imo.

[twowhat?]

Thanks all! Definitely putting movie theaters on the backburner:)

Mine do enjoy watching movies at home - they want to - and they especially love the singing in the Disney movies (they have a lot of Mary Poppins memorized, and will recite it, british accent and all, it is so funny!). I just have to help them through the scary parts.

[lizzywednesday]

I don't think we've been able to do a single pixar (nemo is pixar, right?) ...

Yup, Nemo is Pixar.

They all have dark and twisted elements to them, I'll be the first to admit.

My DH calls them "emotionally manipulative" ... and I can't say I disagree, though I do absolutely love Pixar movies!

The shorts have fewer tense and/or scary themes. DD loves the shorts. (And Cars ... we must have watched that about a million times when she was sick this summer.)

[newg]

There will be a cute movie coming out in the spring or next summer called PLANES, made by the makers of Cars....that might be a good one, as I don't remember any scary parts in the Cars movies (1or 2).

We tried Brave as our first movie theatre movie. I got a book version ahead of time and watched as many previews/trailers as I could with her....so she had an idea of what was going to happen. She still got scared with the nasty bear scenes (they weren't shown heavily in the book or trailers :(), so DH just took "potty breaks" with her when she got scared (I'd text when they were over)
We sat on an aisle, which made it easy to jump out quickly during a part she found scary...and I brought one of my pashmina (sp?) scarves with me, which she loved using as a blanket and sometimes would hold over her eyes if she thought something scary was coming....

Overall I think it was an okay movie to take her to. She's excited about being able to watch it at home, so it couldn't have been that horrible for her.
I do think I'd stick with G to start with though.

[mikeys_mom]

Thanks all! Definitely putting movie theaters on the backburner:)

Mine do enjoy watching movies at home - they want to - and they especially love the singing in the Disney movies (they have a lot of Mary Poppins memorized, and will recite it, british accent and all, it is so funny!). I just have to help them through the scary parts.

Have you tried the new Muppets movie? My kids love the songs in that one. Also, bonus that there aren't any scary scenes. Maybe one minor fist-fight but even DS was able to handle that.

[lizzywednesday]

There will be a cute movie coming out in the spring or next summer called PLANES, made by the makers of Cars....that might be a good one, as I don't remember any scary parts in the Cars movies (1or 2).

....

I was under the impression that Planes was intended as a direct-to-video release, actually:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planes_%28film%29

[fivi2]

I don't think we ever made it past the big car wreck at the beginning of cars.

Mine cried and made us turn off the new Muppet movie near the beginning. Shrug.

I understand they are unusual but some kids really just can't deal with dramatic tension. Even tame movies can trigger anxiety in some kids.

(And ps. Thanks teacher for sending home a book about Pompeii. That was a fun talk last night) :)

[twowhat?]

(And ps. Thanks teacher for sending home a book about Pompeii. That was a fun talk last night) :)

:47: Oh, dear.

[lizzywednesday]

...

(And ps. Thanks teacher for sending home a book about Pompeii. That was a fun talk last night) :)

Oh my goodness! I had issues with that when I was in 2nd grade because we had a subscription to National Geographic and I'd seen a photo from a newer archaeological dig on the cover or something.

I kept asking my dad about whether or not a volcano would erupt here and who would save us from the ash and lava if it did. (Of course he'd also told me how the Russians had nuclear missiles pointed "right at (my) head" ... yup. Cold War era tension right there.)

[Simon]

Ds1 didn't see a movie at the theater until about 6.5yo and we started with a film using real people (Dolphin's Tale) because for kids those are often tamer (re:violence). It went very well and he enjoyed it.

We did a few other films shortly thereafter (at the summer movie special prices) and a few were busts--primarily the cartoons. He made it through the film okay (held my hand or covered his eyes) but later admitted he didn't like the movie (due to tension as much as overt scary things).

Honestly, he watched a lot of preschool Nick Jr/PBS type shows until very, very recently.

We skip the first chapter (mom dying scene) in Nemo and the rest of the film was okay at around age 5.5.

[hellokitty]

My oldest is extremely sensitive to movies too. He will be 9 early next yr and just this past yr is he able to sit through a movie w/o freaking out. We have had some pretty terrible experiences taking him to the movie before (DS2 was fine). From having to leave the movie all together, or having to take him out of the theater for a small break during intense scenes. He also has a habit of TALKING throughout most of the movie. This past yr, he is finally able to enjoy a movie and let us enjoy it too! So, if you think they will get freaked out, I'd just stick to doing dvds at home.

[lcarlson90]

DS2 is 4 and he is very sensitive. We took him to see Cars 2 in the theater and we had to leave. He has gotten a little better. We took him to see Hotel Transylvania this weekend and he liked it. I thinks it's more about the darkness and the loudness then the content of the movie.

[maestramommy]

My kids haven't been to a theater yet:) They are not unusually sensitive. Just extremely underexposed. I don't think they would enjoy any movie out these days in a theater, at that volume.

This Halloween we took them to an outdoor showing of It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown. It was on a law with a projector onto a fairly large screen, but they were sitting about 50 feet back and the volume was about comparable to at home. They really enjoyed it, though Dora found the Great Baron scenes scary.

As another point of reference, Dora went to a bday party this weekend where they watched Night at the Museum. When I picked her up she said she didn't like the movie, it was so boring. In fact the mother told me halfway though Dora said to her, "I think I'm done with the movie. Can I do something else?" :hysterical: It wasn't until later than night when she refused to go to sleep that I realized the movie was scary. I had to look it up because I didn't know what it was. dinosaurs coming to life in the museum and chasing Ben Stiller in full CGI, Oy!

My kids have seen Nemo, Cars, Mulan, Kiki and Totoro, Mary Poppins, Ponyo, and they are fine. They did find Beauty and the Beast too scary (facial expressions were too expressive I guess).

So yeah, I have no idea when my kids will see a movie in a theater. Actually I was going to start a thread related to this. :p