There are plenty of movies out there aimed at young audiences, but there are some movies that say they are child-friendly that aren’t.
In a recent online discussion, people discussed frightening children’s movies that aren’t really appropriate for children. Here are ten of their top choices.
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Chicken Run
Claymation is not for everyone. One mother said, “My son, now an adult, told me recently how much Chicken Run freaked him out. I scared him forever for claymation.”
Another person replied, “It was James and the Giant Peach that got me. The kids Aunt’s scared me.”
Return to Oz
As if the flying monkeys and Wicked Witch weren’t bad enough in the original. One person said, “We need a breakdown as to how this movie even got made because part of the pitch is ‘so then Dorothy, the little girl, gets electro shock therapy.'”
Another said, “What you don’t want to hang out with Princess Momby in her hall of heads?”
Pinocchio
You would think that you’d be safe putting on a Disney film for your kids, but maybe not.
One man said, “Good grief the donkey scene. Lampwick screaming for his mom while turning into a donkey was beyond disturbing. What makes it even more disturbing now that I’m older is it basically reads like an allegory for child trafficking. Older man lures troubled children in with the promise of candy and fun and then sells them into slavery.”
Anastasia
Anastasia is an animated film about a little girl. It should be perfectly safe, right?
One woman said, “Anastasia was crazy dark for a kids movie. It begins with the Bolshevik revolution, which gets started because a crazy warlock sells his soul. His skin and flesh are sucked right off his bones into hell and then releases a horde of demons to stir up violence and slaughter the Czar and his family. And that’s just the prologue. It’s super heavy and macabre.”
My Girl
This movie is mostly family-friendly, but that depends on the maturity of your kids. Some may be upset at the ending. One commenter said, ” My Girl, yes. The stinking bees.”
Another replied, “He cant see anything without his glasses!”
Don’t Look Under the Bed
This one was a Disney Channel original. To be fair, it is a scary movie, but it’s pretty creepy, considering it is aimed at children.
One person said, “Don’t Look Under The Bed (a Disney channel original) – I’m still horrified thinking of the characters.” Another said, “Thank you! No one ever remembers this movie, but it gave me nightmares for weeks.”
The Land Before Time
The Land Before Time is an animated film about dinosaurs that many children love. It’s also really sad.
One commenter said, “I don’t know if anyone remembers The Land Before Time. It was the saddest cartoon movie I’ve ever seen, when the mother dinosaur died. I was feeling depressed for days because of that scene.”
A woman replied, “I was 6 or 7 the first time I saw it and I sobbed. To make it even worse, my parents had picked it up at a garage sale and given it to me to watch while I was left alone with my older brother, who was definitely not comforting me.”
Disney’s Dumbo
Another animated film aimed at kids that is simply not for everyone.
One woman said, “Sorry, it’s awful. As a kid I remember it being an uplifting story of an elephant who can fly. So I showed it to my then 4 year old. Who cried through the movie and asked why they were beating the animals. It’s 60 minutes of animal cruelty and less than ten minutes of uplifting content.”
The Never-Ending Story
While there are plenty of child-friendly scenes, some might not be appropriate for young viewers. One man said, “The horse scene was incredibly sad, but the part that traumatized me was that wolf creature. It terrified me.”
Someone replied, “How else are you going to teach kids about loss and soul crushing grief!?”
The Black Cauldron
Yet another animated Disney film that really isn’t suitable for young children to watch at all. One person said, “That movie is probably the most not for kids Disney movie they’ve ever made.”
A woman replied, “I rented that when I was babysitting my cousins, their mom was so mad at me, as a teenager I didn’t get it as a mom I do.”
This thread inspired this post.
I’m John Schmoll, a former stockbroker, MBA-grad, published finance writer, and founder of Frugal Rules.
As a veteran of the financial services industry, I’ve worked as a mutual fund administrator, banker, and stockbroker and was Series 7 and 63-licensed, but I left all that behind in 2012 to help people learn how to manage their money.
My goal is to help you gain the knowledge you need to become financially independent with personally-tested financial tools and money-saving solutions.
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