Tell me about Disney movies

[jent]

So, DD has only seen a very few movies- when she was younger the attention span wasn't there, plus she's sensitive and finds a lot of things scary. We watch clips, mostly of musical numbers, on YouTube instead. But now that she's older I know she will enjoy them and I'm thinking of putting a few on her Xmas wishlist. But, which ones should I avoid? Which are must-haves?

Her first movie was Mary Poppins- we own that. Nothing scary and the musical parts are much-loved.

She's seen Princess and the Frog on Netflix- enjoyed it but then didn't want to see it again for a while b/c of the scary parts. We recently watched it again and she enjoyed it.

She's seen Beauty and the Beast at someone's house- again, she found it scary but it was OK b/c she sat on my lap for the scary parts.

Movies she's interested in: Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Lady and the Tramp, Aladdin, Little Mermaid.

[lizzywednesday]

What do you want to know?

I've seen all of these so I'll give my commentary on them here:

Cinderella - I think the scariest part/person is the Stepmother, though there are some tense moments when Jack & Gus (two of Cinderella's mouse-friends) are being chased by Lucifer, the Stepmother & Stepsisters' cat.

Sleeping Beauty - Maleficent, the "bad fairy," is pretty scary in her regular form, which is seen at the beginning, but towards the end, Prince Philip fights her after she transforms into a dragon - fire, flames and blackness. She also calls upon "all the powers of Hell" while she summons up the power to transform.

Snow White - When Snow White initially runs away, she runs through the forest at night & the trees catch at her clothing like hands with claws. The Stepmother transforms herself into an old, ugly, witchy crone, who makes lightning flash & she's chased up a cliff by the dwarves & Snow White's animal friends (she falls over the edge.) And, I'd guess that maybe the Magic Mirror could be scary - it's a disembodied face in the middle of the mirror that talks to the Queen/Stepmother.

Lady and the Tramp - Fairly tame, but be prepared for the dogcatcher, who picks Lady up off the street after she gets loose from her collar and the rat that sneaks into the Baby's room while Lady's chained up in the backyard.

Aladdin - Jafar. is. Scary. Creepy, in a Great Villian kind of way, but also Scary. He transforms himself into an old man in the dungeons where Aladdin is tossed after "rescuing" Princess Jasmine from the marketplace and later in the movie (almost at the end) he's transformed into a huge, red genie with flashing eyes and a booming voice.

Little Mermaid - Ursula and her minions, the eels Flotsam & Jetsam, are spooky enough when they're "normal" size. Ursula takes Ariel's voice in exchange for making Ariel human - this scene could be scary (lots of "backlighting" and minor chords) - and, towards the end, she takes the Sea King (Triton, a.k.a. Ariel's father) hostage and steals his crown & trident. She "grows" to giant size and makes the sea swirl with a storm.

[Tenasparkl]

My daughter is a little younger, but in the last month has become obsessed with Tangled. She still doesn't have much interest in sitting through all of beauty and the beast, little mermaid etc. but she'd watch the whole movie of tangled over and over if we'd let her.

[Dream]

My DD is the same, we're just getting into Disney movies so she hasn't watched much yet. She was scared of Beauty and the Beast but was ok watching it with me. But she loved Tinkerbell, no scary parts in it.

[BabyBearsMom]

Snow White and Pinnochio terrified me when I was child. I also think Aladdin is a little scary.

What about Lion King? The hienas can be a little scary but not too bad. I think Lady & the Tramp is a good one and not very scary. I remember loving it when I was young.

[zag95]

DD has had some issues with some of the scary parts- she won't watch Beauty and the Beast, without one of us, and doesn't really want to watch it at all. (too scary)- DD will be 4 at the end of January.

She does like Cinderella- that is probably the most tame of all of the list. We've also watched Tangled, 101 Dalmations, Finding Nemo and a Bug's Life. (on Nemo we fast forwarded thru scary parts), same with BL.

We did see the new Pooh movie, as our first movie!

[karstmama]

i won't weigh in on if 'peter pan' is scary, but it has some poor body image scenes i'm planning to avoid forever if possible.

[hellokitty]

There are scary parts in almost every disney movie. DS1 is very sensitive and we have to fast forward through those sections. Peter pan bothers me, b/c I think it's racist.

[jent]

Thanks all!

This is exactly what was looking for- just what's in each movie, & what would be scary or objectionable. Eg, like Bambi being a classic but really scary b/c the mom dies at the beginning. Some of these movies either I never saw all the way through or just don't remember.

I forgot about Lion King- good suggestion.

Interesting about Tangled- it's available for Instant on Netflix, and DH and I checked it out. We wound up watching it all the way through- it was that absorbing for both of us, but we felt it was a little too intense for DD.

[TwinFoxes]

Well, if you don't want Bambi because the mom dies, in The Lion King, the dad gets killed by Scar, and it's Simba's fault. It came out on video the first time when my DN was a tyke, and we'd have to start the movie after that scene.

What about Aristocats or 101 Dalmatians? Cruella de Ville is villainous, but in an over the top comical, not scary, way to me.

I haven't seen Pocohantas, what about that one?