[movie] Horton Hears a Who

[Annie]

That but also I'm super sensitive to the "nightmare factor". haha. So many things in movies that may seem harmless or even funny to us may give children horrible dreams. I am super sensitive to that....even have to remind my husband of it, since he loves old black and white movies and even some of those are not appropriate for younger children (gunfights or such in old westerns, etc.)

Oh, I know! So far, none of my kids seems to be that way, but you never know. Whenever I've watched an especially suspenseful or intense movie/show, I might lay awake a little longer--hearing "noises," sleeping with the butcher knife under my bed, etc. --but then I sleep like a baby until morning with no nightmares. My sister was the opposite. I remember once she watched an ooooolllld, fakey-looking movie about killer bees, and that affected her for YEARS afterward! I teased her so much about that....BUZZZZZ!!!! AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!

[Anon]

My oldest son is particularly sensitive to anything remotely scary and my second son is particularly imaginative, especially regarding monsters in the closet, and needs absolutely no help in that area. haha.

[matie-k]

That's so true about the scary factor for little children! Our daughter has gotten really scared even at little things in cartoons.

[kevinmiller]

Ahhhh...but do you have children, kevin???? (hee-hee ) I've become quite a different kind of movie critic now that I'm a mom. Things that easily slipped under the "appropriateness" radar during my single years have suddenly entered the "no-fly" zone.

Very good point. lol
And no, definitely no kids here. :lol

[John81]

Annie and Suzy, good posts about how shows can affect children differently and how we view shows differently when considering our children than we would have before.

[bzmomo7]

Ok, the hubby brought this home from the redbox and we watched it over the Christmas break. Here's my take on it:

1. Kevin said it was boring, I agree.....it lacked plot and just was not very good. You could never compare it to the likes of Cars or Nemo, though, some of the animation was quite good. There was that wierd "battle scene" that other people on here talked about. The elephant was daydreaming, and they changed the animation to show it was different. It was kind of dumb and done in some wierd animation style like someone else said--sort of like pokemon.

2. Music. Nothing worth much noting until the last scene of the movie when they burst into song (as Marcus put it) singing an old REO speedwagon song called "I can't fight this feeling". I have no idea why they chose that song, they don't sing much of it, but someone asked about music, so there's that.

3. Crass content. Yes, I agree. The kangaroo is just plain rude. There was a comment she made right at the beginning of the movie that some homeschoolers might take offense to.....I know I did. The mayer of Whoville is called a "blathering boob" several times by his fellow officials, and other little comments here and there that just are not nice. They do talk fast, REAL FAST and it is over quickly. I went back later and put the subtitles on and was amazed at how much I'd missed the first time!!

4. Scariness. Well, I'd say it's not too bad. The bird (vulture) is about the only scary creature in it. It is nothing like say, Nemo. I had my 5yr. old cover his eyes during one scene, just in case it scared him, because he's sensitive.

Ok, I didn't pre-view this movie before my kids saw it.....I watched it with them. (usually I DO preview them though) I would not let my kids see this again, I definitely wouldn't recommend buying it for kids to watch over and over. That being said, however, there are worse G movies out there that I wouldn't want my kids to see. I don't think my littlest two children caught all their fast talk, but if I had previewed it first the little ones wouldn't have been watching it at all. (The big kids probably could have cared less, but I wouldn't have been opposed to them seeing it) Ha Ha.

[okjac80]

I am pretty lenient on what I let me kids watch (CARS is a big time hit around here, as is Nemo, Princesses, etc), however I don't even like the Dr Seuss books. I don't know what it is about them, but I just find them creepy. They rub me the wrong way. I haven't let my kids watch it just because of that. I can't even stand the books!!

[futurehope]

My husband rented it for us to preview, but we haven't gotten the chance yet. My sister (who is totally on the same page with us about these issues) said she'd never let her kids watch it. She said something about crass content and careless talk. Our kids don't even know the movie exists...so, no big deal! We're the "meanest parents on earth" when it comes to movies/media. Our kids have never seen any of the "Disney princess" movies except for the old Snow White and Cinderella. They have no idea who Mulan, Buzz Lightyear, the Incredibles, Lilo and Stitch, Nemo, etc., are, unless they happen to know that information from friends or McDonald's Happy Meals.

Sorry to ramble...All that to say to Kita: Sorry, don't know much about the movie except what my sis has said.

:hide

:clap:
That's awesome Annie. :thumb It's difficult for mothers and fathers to take strong stands against all the different things plaguing the theaters and other forms of "amusement/recreation/whatever you want to call it. I'm glad to here I'm not the only mean, non-excepting of "accepted" childrens stuff, parent still around.

God Bless,

Futurehope

[John81]

:clap:
That's awesome Annie. :thumb It's difficult for mothers and fathers to take strong stands against all the different things plaguing the theaters and other forms of "amusement/recreation/whatever you want to call it. I'm glad to here I'm not the only mean, non-excepting of "accepted" childrens stuff, parent still around.

God Bless,

Futurehope

I can relate to that. My sister typically buys her kids whatever movies that hit the stores so she considers me mean and weird because I don't. If I haven't seen the movie or read reliable reviews of the movie I'm not going to buy it for my kids and park them in front of it.

Sadly, on a typicaly Friday and Saturday night the theaters are filled with "Christian" youth taking in whatever movie happens to be playing and all this with the parents approval and on their dime.

[futurehope]

I know exactly what you mean John. My wife has two much younger (14 and 16) half sisters due to her mother's second marriage and they watch just about anything. Even though their parents are both active, fundamental baptists, they allow a lot of things to come under the radar. The younger sister just had a birthday and they got her all kinds of posters and t-shirts and stuff with the Jonas Brothers (boy band) on them and then bought a bunch of memorobilia from that new "vampire love story" movie and the DVD "P.S. I Love You" (movie with a lot of inappropriates) for the older daughter for Christmas. It's just so sad how parents today will allow these things in.

[kevinmiller]

Wow. I just looked up "P.S. I Love You" and it's full of stuff that I would never dream of viewing, much less letting my kids watch it. :eek

[John81]

I know exactly what you mean John. My wife has two much younger (14 and 16) half sisters due to her mother's second marriage and they watch just about anything. Even though their parents are both active' date=' fundamental baptists, they allow a lot of things to come under the radar. The younger sister just had a birthday and they got her all kinds of posters and t-shirts and stuff with the Jonas Brothers (boy band) on them and then bought a bunch of memorobilia from that new "vampire love story" movie and the DVD "P.S. I Love You" (movie with a lot of inappropriates) for the older daughter for Christmas. It's just so sad how parents today will allow these things in.[/quote']

Many parents, even some Christian parents, believe these things are just innocent fun, just entertainment, and nothing that will harm their children in any way. I've even heard some parents boast that they watched or did things when they were younger and it didn't bother them, they turned out just fine.

How can parents, especially Christian parents, not see the potential for harm in so many of the things the world calls entertainment? Even secular worldly studies have proved time and again the negative effects on children and youth of viewing extreme violence, sexual situations, etc.

So many parents end up shocked when their children end up acting like what they watch and listen to and many end up sexually active, drinking and even "small time" criminals as a result of years of influence from movies and music.

[bzmomo7]

I am pretty lenient on what I let me kids watch (CARS is a big time hit around here' date=' as is Nemo, Princesses, etc), however I don't even like the Dr Seuss books. I don't know what it is about them, but I just find them creepy. They rub me the wrong way. I haven't let my kids watch it just because of that. I can't even stand the books!![/quote']

I totally agree about Dr. Seuss.....I'm not thrilled with the books either. My hubby brought the movie home without really knowing much about it. Some on here said it wasn't really that bad of a movie overall, so we thought we'd watch it with them and see. It wasn't great, and we wouldn't re-watch it. But I am sure that I'm looked upon as weird because most of the kids at church have been shocked to hear that my teenagers have never seen a pg-13 movie and only a select few that have been previewed that were pg. I just can't believe what they put in movies these days, or on TV for that matter......we quit watching it when they kept putting on Victoria's Secret commercials on in the middle of the 6pm news. I couldn't believe they were doing such a thing!

[John81]

Good points which show nothing is safe anymore. Many shows on TV are so suggestive, practically show nudity, are allowed to use some awful cuss words, and the commercials even during the "better" shows can be extremely lude and crass.

Movie ratings mean very little anymore either other than that if it received a PG-13 or higher it must be really bad. Some G and most PG rated movies these days contain a good deal of material I don't believe such rated movies should contain.

I was reading something about this not to long ago and a director or producer was commenting that it's not always about what is said or shown, but sometimes how often. He said the ratings board will allow one "F" word in lower rated movies but if that word is used more than once the movie gets an automatic R rating. The same was said to be true of "partial nudity", "rear nudity" and nudity "from a distance".

You are very right that most parents, even Christian parents, are allowing their children to watch just about anything short of porn. :sad

[Anon]

Well, being the Dr. Seuss fan I am, and the fact that we already have this movie in cartoon form, we really enjoyed this movie and I'm glad I bought it instead of borrowed it, because the kids love it.