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Let me just say the Witches freaked me the hell out when I was little. Scared to freakin' death!!! Roald Dahl is one kooky mo-fo...
posted by : jeanne on 6/24/2008 at 9:43 AM Flag For Abuse
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Did you know . . . The Secrets of NIMH - NIMH is an acronym for National Institute of Mental Health. Puts a whole new spin on it, doesn't it?
posted by : me on 6/24/2008 at 10:22 AM Flag For Abuse
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Add Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and the Original Freaky Friday to your list. My sister and I loved loved loved Freaky Friday, but upon re-watching it 20++ years later, there is a whole creepy thing where the dad is turned on by the mother calling him daddy (the mother is actually the daughter in her mother's body). It's nauseating to watch. That said, my sister and I yelled "Boris" when the Boris from the original movie showed up in the new one as a delivery guy also named Boris. We loved the new one. The teenagers sitting in the row in front of us must have thought we were drunk.
Amy
Mom to 3
www.sofiabean.com
posted by : Amy at Sofia Bean on 6/24/2008 at 1:25 PM Flag For Abuse
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I second Chitty Chitty Bang Bang -- that creepy guy with the long nose who hunted chilren was Scarrrry.
Totally agree about Watership Down. I am still scarred.
posted by : Roper on 6/24/2008 at 1:28 PM Flag For Abuse
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I'd replace "Cars" with "Monsters Inc." I mean, let's just validate the fear of monsters in the closet! I won't even let my kid watch this one.
posted by : MiddleGaMoms on 6/24/2008 at 1:31 PM Flag For Abuse
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I was cracking up to see so many of my favorite childhood movies on this list. Labyrinth, I think, would definitely have been towards the top on my list when I was a kid. When those muppets start removing their own (and each other's) appendages and start throwing their heads at each other, holy crap. That used to freak me out...but I loved it. As I got older, we started referring to the movie as "David Bowie and his magic pants". Yikes!
Speaking of Jim Henson movies, though, the regular muppet movies really should be on here as well. Apparently, when I was very young, my parents took me to see The Muppets Take Manhattan and as soon as the big brown monster-looking muppet (I can't remember his name) graced the screen, I dove over the back of my seat and that was the end of that.
posted by : K80 on 6/24/2008 at 1:48 PM Flag For Abuse
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Time Bandits! I couldn't sleep without my closet door open and the light on for at least three years after my dad took me to see that when I was 6. Giants, dwarves, things coming out of your closet - all the scare elements in one "children's" movie!
posted by : yikes on 6/24/2008 at 2:04 PM Flag For Abuse
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I remember hiding from Watership Down when I was little. Those rabbits with the claws were so terrifying. And the Willy Wonka boat scene is just classic - it still creeps me out a little now.... I could go on, this is a great list. And now I have to find both the Garbage Pail Kids movie (who knew??) and the Mark Twain-meets-Satan in claymation film. Who thinks this stuff up???
posted by : superblondgirl on 6/24/2008 at 2:29 PM Flag For Abuse
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If my nephew were old enough to enter a comment, I'm sure he'd say "Jumanji." It terrified him so much that he wanted my sister-in-law to throw it out, not just return it to the video store. He was so scared of it that just the thought that more copies existed stressed him out, and he wanted to throw out every copy in the world.
posted by : hippygoth on 6/24/2008 at 3:09 PM Flag For Abuse
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What a fun read.
What about that French movie with the hoardes of drunken Santas and the little girl named Miette and Andre the Giant? What was that one called?
posted by : anarchist mama on 6/24/2008 at 3:46 PM Flag For Abuse
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My girls watched Brave Little Toaster - and I think it'll be one of those scarring experiences. Its been several months and we still get the occasional nightmare from it. Five is to little for the little taoster.
And Ya, I'm still freaked out by the tunnel scene. I saw it at our town library and had to leave the room for a while.
posted by : twinbabiesdad2 on 6/24/2008 at 5:01 PM Flag For Abuse
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Watership Down! I'd forgotten about that one. Very upsetting as a young'un.
posted by : brettsinger on 6/24/2008 at 5:16 PM Flag For Abuse
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Christ, I love you man! I have to agree that the list will be perfection with the addition of Time Bandits. That one was weird.
Alice in Wonderland? Any one of the animated or live action adaptations could easily be list runner ups.
posted by : HDCS on 6/24/2008 at 5:43 PM Flag For Abuse
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If we're talking about movies that make me cry, more than Old Yeller, it would have to be Where the Red Fern Grows. As an adult in my late 30's that movies will still make me cry.
posted by : NeoPrincess on 6/25/2008 at 2:03 AM Flag For Abuse
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How about The Incredible Shrinking Woman? When her little shoes were sitting outside the sink disposal it really freaked me out. Funny how odd things scare you as a child!
posted by : SeminoleGrl75 on 6/25/2008 at 8:27 AM Flag For Abuse
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Great list! One major, major oversight though...
Babe - Pig in the City (1998)
This is the movie that nearly bankrupt Universal Studios. George Miller (Mad Max trilogy, Twilight Zone the Movie) wrote and directed this amazingly executed nightmarish epic. Universal had given Miller carte blanc based on the smashing success of the his first Babe installment. One can only imagine the sound of the studio execs. jaws hitting the floor upon seeing some of this footage. I recall sitting in a crowded theater that errupted with screaming children even before the opening credits. I remember horrified parents quickly whisking their children out of the theater and demading refunds. I refuse to ruin anything. If you haven't seen this one you REALLY should. It's an under-noticed classic!
-E. Barshay
posted by : EBarshay on 6/25/2008 at 10:39 AM Flag For Abuse
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Um I think Alice through the looking glass got missed. I would have to call that one the scariest movie I have ever seen. A freaky backwards dark world on the other side of the mirror just waiting to get you. Much scarier than carebears!
posted by : LLacroix on 6/25/2008 at 12:18 PM Flag For Abuse
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Disney movie called The Watchers in the Woods. Scariest Disney movie ever. I had nightmares about it forever.
posted by : abbim on 6/25/2008 at 12:46 PM Flag For Abuse
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Anarchist mama: You're thinking of The City of Lost Children (so NOT a kids' movie).
Charlotte's Web is another one I still can't watch. How about The Yearling? Black Beauty? (It was on TV when I was 10--I became hysterical when they shot Black Beauty's brother after he broke his leg--nightmares for days.)
posted by : katydidmama on 6/25/2008 at 1:28 PM Flag For Abuse
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what about Return to Oz people? It came out in 1985, it was Fairuza Balks first movie. She plays dorothy who after her return from Oz is promptly put in a mental institute and subjected to electroshock therapy. Then there are the scarey characters in Oz, Princess Mombi who takes the heads of all pretty women so she can wear them like jewelry, the wheelers, the evil gnome king? Am I the only one who saw this movie in the 80's? I love it now but I had nightmares for YEARS about this movie
posted by : SashaP on 6/25/2008 at 3:28 PM Flag For Abuse
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Some have already been mentioned but here's a list of notable PG or less titles missing from the list per my own viewing experience (year included for multiple movies with same title); The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T, Return to Oz, Something Wicked This Way Comes, Gremlins, Escape to Witch Mountain (1975), The Shaggy Dog (1959), Freaky Friday (1976), Where the Red Fern Grows (1976), Bridge to Terabithia (2007), Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), Village of the Damned (1960), Empire of the Ants (1977).
posted by : garyd on 6/25/2008 at 5:19 PM Flag For Abuse
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oh wow. so many great movies from when i was little! actually, most of the ones on this list didn't really scare me (but then again my parents let us watch real horror movies at a young age)...but most of them were just so sad. oh, how i cried with each viewing of dumbo or watership down!
and neverending story IS a traumatizing movie! i was terrified of the part where the wolf-thing jumps out of the wall. other than that, i think most of the depressing undertones escaped me as a child. i used to love it until i re-watched it a few years ago and realized how incredibly depressing that movie is. especially when the horse dies! the horse loses the will to live and pretty much kills himself, drowning in the swamp of sadness! that's terrible!
oh and what about animal farm? the drinking....the violence...the politics....how'd that one manage to escape the list? farm animals are supposed to be cute and fuzzy not menacing revolutionaries! and then there's the part at the end, where the horse dies and they cart it off to the glue factory....talk about traumatizing! man, i refused to use elmer's after watching that.
posted by : photo lauren on 6/25/2008 at 6:15 PM Flag For Abuse
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E.T. was the second movie I ever saw on the big screen. I was terrified of all the government people in suits invading the house, and then they almost killed E.T.! I am 31 years old, and I STILL don't like it for that reason.
For a little kid, I would think "American Tail" would be scary: getting lost in not only a new city, but a new country! Then to be put through all the things poor Fievel endured... For whatever reason, though, I don't find Nemo to be as frightening.
In "Happy Feet," I think the seals were scary for my daughter. She does, however, love "Monsters, Inc."
She did not like the Huffalump movie.
posted by : Random Mom on 6/25/2008 at 10:37 PM Flag For Abuse
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Wow! I feel so validated! Most of those movies scared the crap out of me as a kid, including the brave little toaster.
How about the Phantom Tollbooth?
Also, does anyone remember a movie that ends with a scene of a child walking out of a house holding a charred lump of something and looking to the sky saying "Mom??? Dad?????" I have no idea where it came from, but it gave me creeps for years afterward.
posted by : notabreederyet on 6/26/2008 at 1:01 AM Flag For Abuse
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My boys' (ages 3 & 4) top 5 movie list includes several from this list- bad parent, anyone?
-Labyrinth
-Nightmare Before Christmas
-The Dark Crystal
-Charlie and The Chocolate Factory
-Corpse Bride (should have made the list)
posted by : LovePumpkin on 6/26/2008 at 2:09 PM Flag For Abuse
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Random Mom-
You're thinking of Time Bandits. The charred lump was concentrated evil...
posted by : katydidmama on 6/26/2008 at 3:49 PM Flag For Abuse
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The Black Stallion. Hands down. Hits all the nightmare zones.
Consider the first half of the plot line:
1. abandonment
2. cruelty to animals
3. fire
4. drowning
5. more abandonment
6. a king cobra
Sure, everything turns out nicely in the end, but you're so traumatized by the time Alec gets off the island, the rest of it is a teary blur.
posted by : clio on 6/26/2008 at 7:35 PM Flag For Abuse
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Maybe I'm showing my age here, but when I was a kid, Garbage Pail Kids were the essence of awesome.
First off, for those who weren't cognizant in 1987, Garbage Pail Kids were a hilarious send-up of Cabbage Patch Kids. Cabbage Patch Kids were EVERYWHERE from 1984 onward, and they were just oh-so-cutesy. Garbage Pail Kids were they opposite - grosser than gross, which, at that age, was more than a little bit subversive. Lots of kids' parents wouldn't even let them have Garbage Pail Kids, so they had to hide them in their rooms and sneak around to trade them with their friends. We were too young for drugs, so this is what we had. And they were funny! Really funny! Ok, so I was 9. But that doesn't negate the fact that they were hilarious at the time. And then Weird Al came along and taught us what humor REALLY was all about.
Goddamn I'm old.
posted by : Afroblanco on 6/26/2008 at 9:37 PM Flag For Abuse
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One of my favorite childhood movies was "Oliver." My husband bought it for me a few years ago and gamely sat down to watch it with me, the first time he ever saw it. I smiled and hummed the whole way through it. When it ended, he looked at me and said, "That was horrible! Who would let a kid watch that?! It's full of domestic violence. For chrissake, the woman sings a song about doing anything for the man who is mean to her and he KILLS HER!!"
posted by : classiccook on 6/27/2008 at 1:48 PM Flag For Abuse
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THEY CALL THIS ENTERTAINMENT!!!? Where's the fun part??
What Disney "kids" movie isn't scary? Don't they all (or almost all) have:
parents die
kids get lost, stolen, run away
people are cruel to animals
people are cruel to each other
animals are cruel to each other
Do kids REALLY need to know that these things happen in "real" life? How many kids would really have these things happen to them? Not many, I bet. Why do kids need to know that mean and scary things happen?
I think that many parents allow kids to watch movies for which they are too young. My son is 5 1/2 and I know that some of his same age peers are watching Spiderman (and sequels), The Hulk, Pirates of the Caribbean, Star Wars (series), Narnia, etc. Get real, people!!
Of course these same kids are playing killing and fighting games on their videogames and computers, but that's a whole different discussion.
My son (5 1/2) is VERY sensitive and won't tolerate any mean-ness or scary stuff in his shows. He couldn't make it through Cars because the red car main character was so rude and mean to everyone and he didn't like the part where he tears up the town...that's as far as we got before he ran screaming from the room.
There was an EASTER special this year with the abominable snowman (from the Rudolph show) who was harassing the Easter bunny and made him spill all of his eggs. COME ON PEOPLE!!! My son said, "Why does there have to be a mean guy in an Easter show?" Yeah, why does their have to be? Out of the mouths of babes!!! You would think an Easter bunny show would be safe!!!
Here are a few films I would add to the list:
Shiloh: abused dog makes friends with nice family; young boy is forced to return the dog (friend) to the cruel and abusive owner
Any Disney movie: Nemo, Little Mermaid, etc. Let's don't even question Sleeping Beauty (the scariest)
Black Beauty, Black Stallion and My Friend Flicka, and almost any other horse movie (or animal movie)
Surf's Up (offensive language), Happy Feet (scary elephant seal and killer whale)
March of the Penguins!!! Great documentary and very educational. It's a documentary so you might think it was safe for your little one...good thing I screened it first before showing it to my son. The part where the "main characters" baby dies is HEARTBREAKING!! It brings tears to my eyes even to write about it. My son would have been DEVASTATED!!!! More appropriate for older kids.
I would never let my son watch any of the movies on the original list of 26 and there are hundreds of others he won't see.
My son likes to watch surfing on the sports channel or drag racing or monster truck rallies. He loves things like How It's Made or Modern Marvels. On PBS he will watch "Between the Lions".
Who really needs movies anyway? The kids can probably survive a long and happy childhood even if they don't see all this non-entertainment.
Now, go and have some FUN with your kids!!
posted by : rlitz98 on 6/28/2008 at 3:48 PM Flag For Abuse
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OK first of all, this is a flawed article because several of these movies are NOT meant for kids. Many of them are rated PG or PG-13 which pretty much rules out KIDS now doesn't it? I mean what kind of parent would take a little kid to see a movie that was not meant for kids anyway? Just because you are the kind of bad parent that would take a 4 year old to see Indiana Jones then wonder why she got a little scared when people's FACES melted off so you wrongly include it as a child's movie?!?! How did your 4 year old like Kill Bill 2 or 300? I feel sorry for your kid...seriously. Secondly, as for the older Disney movies that showed violence toward animals...well times were different back then, and kids (and adults too for that matter) weren't the coddled bunch of pu$$ies they are today. Animals died, get over it. Next - you put CARS on this list? CARS? Seriously? Give me a break, this is one of Pixar's greatest movies ever. Oh and the argument for this movie being listed makes less sense than when W tried to convince us that invading Iraq made sense - total stupidity. But then I guess I shouldn't expect much more from the kind of moron that would take a FOUR year old to see Indiana Jones? This article was more scary than any of the movies you listed. I hope no-one paid you for this article. WEAK!!!!!
posted by : Reality check on 6/30/2008 at 12:04 AM Flag For Abuse
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Wow some of you people are such babies. OMG I won't let mt child see this movie because someone farted sideways in it. Get over it.
You people are the reason we are raising a generation of over pampered, overprotected wusses that feel entitled to everything and grow up to become adults that have to go on Lexapro and take a month off work when their boss yells at them because they screwed up.
I am guessing you are the kind of parents that expect every team to get a trophy in little league whether they win or lose right? Thinking that losing might harm your child's self esteem. That kind of overprotection is a sure way to set up your child for failure when they get older.
Americans have no BALLS anymore because of this philosophy. But then, in 50-100 years we are all going to be working for the Indians and Chinese anyway. All empires end eventually, usually because the ruling class gets greedy and the working class gets lazy..you know like America is now.
Oh yeah, this article sucked. Thats right I said sucked. Avert your child's eyes!!!!!
posted by : Get over it wusses on 6/30/2008 at 12:19 AM Flag For Abuse
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I have to agree that most of these movies scared the bejeezus outta me as a kid. Probably why I like horror movies as a big kid (not a "grown-up").
But at the same time, I have to agree this generation of parents wants their children to be shrink-wrapped to protect them from *everything*. I saw it as a high school teacher, and I see it in my stepchildren. The oldest is so neurotic b/c of his mother he's turning into a gentile Woody Allen (sans the sexual depravity thing)
The biggest point is that if you have young children, don't let them watch PG-13/PG movies! Watch a movie first before letting your children see it. Be a *proactive* parent. Isn't that why everyone *insisted* on putting ratings/parental controls on movies, video games, music, the Internet and public television? I'm sick of everyone scapegoating various forms of media instead of monitoring what your child sees, listens to, and does on the computer. Parents are too self-absorbed nowadays to have children, and then they wonder why their children become intollerant, spoiled, lazy, whiny societal drains.
Even though my parents grew up in the 1950's and were staunch Catholics, my sisters and I could listen/read/watch whatever we wanted, because my folks were either *present* or they trusted their skills in raising us with morals and values that we knew right from wrong, and what was real and what was "special effects".
posted by : WeldGirl on 6/30/2008 at 9:02 AM Flag For Abuse
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Katydid: All I can really say is DITTO! Return to Oz was very scary as a child. Still today, I don't like to think about those nasty Wheelers and Mombi with all those heads. Remember when they all started screaming...
posted by : MRM99 on 6/30/2008 at 11:57 AM Flag For Abuse
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I look back at some of the movies I watched as a kid and have to think that maybe I wasn't easily traumitized. Two of my favorites growing up (neither of which are on this list) are The Last Unicorn and Flight of Dragons. Among other things, The Last Unicorn had a character get killed and eaten (on screen) by a really big, ugly bird. Yeah, it was animated, but still. In The Flight of Dragons, the main character kills the bad guy with logic...and every new piece of logic that was pronounced causes one of his multiple heads to explode.
As for one of the reasons for Old Yeller being the poor thing, you do realize that a dollar was a pretty large amount of money back then, don't you? I mean, when you could buy a bag of flour for a couple of pennies, a dollar could buy most of a month's supply of food...especially if the family were farmers.
While everyone is picking on Disney, here's one that I haven't seen mentioned: The Great Mouse Detective. Abandonment, creepy toys, scary villian in disguise, lots of things to scar a small child.
posted by : citywolf on 6/30/2008 at 6:31 PM Flag For Abuse
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Cole Gamble, you are stinkin' funny and right on the money. Hey! That rhymes!
I loved this piece, and I agree with everything, well at least for the movies I've seen.
I remember being terrified by the Flying Monkeys in The Wizard of Oz, but that was back when we watched the movie on a special Sunday night showing on TV while eating our TV dinners. Maybe we should have been frightened of the "salisbury steak." What was that, really?
Jen Singer
MommaSaid.net
posted by : jensinger on 7/3/2008 at 2:56 PM Flag For Abuse
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I don't think the true trauma of ET has been represented. I remember watching it in the cinema as a kid and joining all the other kids in wailing inconsolably when ET dies. Then he comes back to life and just as we were all cheering up, he says goodbye to Elliot and leaves forever. Cue abject hysteria. Not helped at all by my mother who had been crying silently for the last half hour and started openly weeping at the line "B Good".
You never really know what's going to upset kids though. My godchild was terrified by The Elmo Movie. However she ended up seeing part of Eight Legged Freaks and the sight of giant spiders devouring dirt biking teenagers produced nothing but delighted giggles and applause.
posted by : Dreaded Rhubarb on 7/6/2008 at 1:51 AM Flag For Abuse
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I disagree with this list. I saw all of these movies. Most when I was a kid. My almost 7 year old daughter loves at least 96% of these movies. Let's face the real issue here. Parents are not screening the films before letting their kids watch. I think that you have listed some pg13 movies as kid movies, though. A kid movie is a movie that a child under the age of 12 can watch without becoming scared or violent. Just my opinion, though. Also, I need to say that you people are worried about movies scaring the crap out of your kids, but you let them play video games that teach them to kill other people. You let them take guns to school and shoot people, but you won't let them watch a disney movie????? What is wrong with you people???????
posted by : ShelBell11978 on 7/9/2008 at 6:18 PM Flag For Abuse
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I loved the list, but was so shocked to see that the LION KING didn't make it -heck, I think it should be #1. Have you seen it? I mean come on, first the cub (boy) witnesses family violence, then his uncle kills his father, and WORSE - the cub is then BLAMED FOR IT, then OSTRACIZED out of his family and society, has to fend for himself when he's not quite capable yet, and has to go find some friends in the woods who eat bugs. ICK! How can it get any worse? I mean, sure, the kids may not quite "get" it but I can almost guarantee there will be nightmares after viewing that psycho drama! Esp. for kids who are at the vulnerable age of just starting school, just getting their bearings on what is real or true or not, and maybe dealing with guilt over hurting their parents through their misbehavior or other actions. Its common for kids just starting school to worry about their parent's well being while they are away, just as the parent worries about the child.
posted by : Marshella on 7/15/2008 at 4:23 PM Flag For Abuse
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I have one that hasn't appeared yet: Unico in the Island of Magic. Turning people into living zombie puppets?? Waaay too much for me as a kid. Also the "Alice in Wonderland" with Carol Channing. The pig scene and the Jabberwocky scared the pants off me.
posted by : Xapno on 7/15/2008 at 7:28 PM Flag For Abuse
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Great list, but I'd easilly ditch CARS in favor of the sorely underrated BABE II: PIG IN THE CITY, whose disturbing imagery as relayed by an uptight co-worker who took his daughter's 6-year-old birthday party to it (THE HORROR! THE HORROR!) got me to leave work early to take it in. Mah-velously dark.
Ciao!
The Wook
posted by : The Wook on 7/16/2008 at 12:56 PM Flag For Abuse
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Really? No one has mentioned "The Black Cauldron?" The Horned King was down right terrifying, and he reanimated the dead! He created an unholy, unstoppable zombie army! That's Romero level horror right there...
posted by : Gopher Boy on 7/16/2008 at 3:13 PM Flag For Abuse
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i vote for:
Hugo the Hippo (starving and slaughtering animals. yeah.)
and
Something Wicked This Way Comes (I can still see the boy hiding in the storm drain/gutter...)
posted by : missamandamay on 7/16/2008 at 4:03 PM Flag For Abuse
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Unico, The Last Unicorn, the Peanut Butter & Jelly Project, Escape From Witch Mountian, Return to Oz, Something Wicked (spiders, a carousel with bones)...
There are SO many more!
posted by : perikate on 7/16/2008 at 4:59 PM Flag For Abuse
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How about The Adventures of Raggedy Ann and Andy? I found a clip of them meeting The Greedy, a monster made of candy that can't get enough sweets. Naturally, he wants to eat Raggedy Ann because of her sweet, candy heart.
That's right. A giant, goopy monster trying to eat a stuffed girl's heart.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=q4QV4o_Qq2c
Also, Brave Little Toaster and Unico also shaped my brain as a child. They are incredibly insane films.
posted by : john_the_harrison on 7/16/2008 at 5:13 PM Flag For Abuse
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I'm glad that the witches made the list. I watched it when I was about 4 at kindergarten, it was all kinds of scary like when they took the masks off and you saw their real faces, but what got me was when the head witch turning another witch into a pile of black bones... i had to be taken out the room i was soo distressed and i had nightmares for months, I still can't watch the film lol.
posted by : soanne on 7/18/2008 at 5:39 AM Flag For Abuse
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Oh this list was SPOT ON. If I could add a few more, the list would definitely include Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (that big nosed thing scared the life out of me) and Return to Oz (where Dorothy goes back after Oz has been taken over by a headless queen). Yeahhh... OH! And Babe II... oh man. Freaky.
posted by : ohmorgosh on 7/18/2008 at 3:36 PM Flag For Abuse
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I can't believe I forgot to mention ERNEST SCARED STUPID. Oh Lord.
posted by : ohmorgosh on 7/18/2008 at 3:42 PM Flag For Abuse
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I have to be the third person to say that Return to Oz was terrifying and it was a visit to the cinema that haunts both my brother and I to this day.
There was no warning about the level of terror and my little bro spent the movie with his head buried in my mum's chest!
I watched it again recently and it still gave me the creeps.
posted by : Asa on 7/30/2008 at 2:31 AM Flag For Abuse
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The Goonies was the single most terrifying film I saw in my childhood. Sloth's disfigured face alone gave me nightmares for a week, then throw in a scene with some dead guy's bones... it took me a long time before I could appreciate that movie without freaking out.
Let me also mention my all-time favourite animated film, the Iron Giant. I saw it in the theatre, and half the kids in the crowd lost their minds near the end when the army started shooting at the Iron Giant and he suddenly morphed into a towering alien killing machine. One poor boy down the aisle from me was moaning, "This is not a good movie, Mommy! Take me home right now!"
That said, it's a sorely underrated work of genius and I plan on showing it to my boys. Just not until they're 9 or 10.
posted by : Chad on 8/2/2008 at 6:08 PM Flag For Abuse
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I second the Alice in Wonderland live-action with Carol Channing -- it was a miniseries. The baby that turns into a pig was revolting. I still hate looking at baby pigs.
posted by : Snuffle on 8/4/2008 at 10:17 AM Flag For Abuse
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Wow! I don't know what this says about me, but these are some of my favorite movies growing up :-)
posted by : HJB on 8/4/2008 at 5:11 PM Flag For Abuse
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Yup Time Bandits is missing from this list... the end was enough to screw me up for life. Even now thinking about it my skin crawl.
I think Goonies would be up there too...
And yes Pan's Labrynth was scary... but it was not a kids movie... ppl who took there kids to see an R rated film are just dumb.
posted by : CorrGurl on 8/6/2008 at 12:06 PM Flag For Abuse
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I agree with putting Return to Oz on this list. Mom took the three of us to see it, and we had no idea it was so dark and frightening. She still apologizes to us for going to that movie.
I have not heard a mention of a film which really frightened me personally--Pinnochio. We went on a school field trip to see this one when it was re-released in the 80's I think. I remember the little boy being turned into a donkey, and his terrified screams being laughed at, and no one came to his aid. Grown-ups can be so cruel!
posted by : Planoamy on 8/6/2008 at 3:00 PM Flag For Abuse
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"Why do kids need to know that mean and scary things happen?"
Good Christ--if bad things didn't happen to good characters, most stories wouldn't exist, correct? It's called conflict, people, and it's what real life (and children's books) are all about. Exactly what would you want all stories to be like--VEGGIE TALES? And have some of you ever figured out that the reason kids' movies can be hell to sit through for parents is that said movies have been so sanitized of any drama that even the kids don't like them.
posted by : deering on 8/6/2008 at 7:54 PM Flag For Abuse
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"Even though my parents grew up in the 1950's and were staunch Catholics, my sisters and I could listen/read/watch whatever we wanted, because my folks were either *present* or they trusted their skills in raising us with morals and values that we knew right from wrong, and what was real and what was "special effects".
Amen--same here (though my parents weren't Catholic.) My parents had the good sense to teach me the difference between real and fantasy--and between junk and good stuff. That gave me a foundation to develop my own aesthetic judgement and self-reliance--which is what any kid will have to do to grow up at some point. I feel sorry for kids these days--their entire lives are ruled by fear and parents who can't think in terms of anything else.
posted by : deering on 8/6/2008 at 8:01 PM Flag For Abuse
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"Pee-Wee's Big Adventure"... Beyond the Paul Reubens creepiness factor, there is a part where Pee-Wee is told by the other bar patrons that the woman he just gave a ride to in his semi has been dead for years. Creepy enough, but at that point he turns to the camera and screams, and his eyes and tongue bug out of his head in some old-school c-g effects. Kids now may not think anything of it, but it was pretty scary back in the day.
posted by : Angelicious16 on 9/17/2008 at 10:20 AM Flag For Abuse
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Great article, thanks!
posted by : mdog on 9/22/2008 at 2:54 PM Flag For Abuse
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And p.s. to the people who would not let their children see these movies, fine for you, but you should have told that to my parents 20 years ago, because I saw most of these as a child! And last I knew, I don't think I'm out there killing people! The writer's point is how disturbing and possibly inappropriate some of these films are. And BTW, it's called drama. If there is no threat or conflict for the main characters, there won't be much of a story.
posted by : mdog on 9/22/2008 at 3:09 PM Flag For Abuse
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"Good Christ--if bad things didn't happen to good characters, most stories wouldn't exist, correct? It's called conflict, people, and it's what real life (and children's books) are all about."
I second that, heartily. Kids need to know that not everyone is nice and that heroes/heroines of stories find ways to deal with it. I wouldn't be surprised if most people's favorite movies are ones that make them cry -- mine sure is. Granted, exposure to these things needs to happen at appropriate ages (for example, I'd question the judgement of anyone who thinks that "The Incredibles" is an appropriate movie for a 4 year-old), but I'd argue that it's in the kids' best interests to see films that might be a bit scary. (Hasn't anyone read Aristotle?)
We didn't have a TV growing up, and I didn't go to a movie till I was 12, but my scariest from other people's VCR's was "The Last Unicorn." Yikes! Also, "Benji the Hunted" which was a 'treat' for my 2nd grade class. The author is right: bad things happening to animals is THE WORST for kids.
posted by : chezsan on 9/23/2008 at 4:23 PM Flag For Abuse
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Killer tomatoes?
posted by : Carolinaph on 10/19/2008 at 3:28 PM Flag For Abuse
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I have to add Gremlins, Ghost Busters (I had nightmares about Slimer for MONTHS), and All Dogs Go To Heaven. That one is very dark with doggie death.
posted by : 80skid on 10/22/2008 at 12:07 PM Flag For Abuse
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Loved the list! So many of these are films I'm planning on purchasing for my children--seriously I just put a list together a few weeks ago. That is, though, despite the fact that my siblings or I were terrified by many of them (Watership Down, The Dark Crystal especially). My younger brother actually tried to throw The Boogie Man and the Dark Crystal in the trash; perverse child that I was, I rescued them b/c I enjoyed being scared. I also agree Watcher in the Woods, Something Wicked This Way Comes, Gremlins, The Last Unicorn all need to be on the list. Also, Legend--that early Tom Cruise movie. My grade school piped this one to all the classrooms every year for one of our monthly movie Fridays. Every time I see this one as an adult, I continue to be shocked.....
posted by : laughing reader on 10/24/2008 at 4:50 PM Flag For Abuse
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Most of those weren't scary to me at all as a child. Mind you, I didn't see any of the ones rated pg-13 or higher until I was a teenager. One movie that really freaked me out was Stand By Me- the leeches were bad enough but the kids were trying to find a corpse for goodness sakes. Another was Hocus Pocus. I mean, witches trying to suck the life out of children to use in spells? Totally creepy.
posted by : nohorrorforme on 10/27/2008 at 6:26 PM Flag For Abuse
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I second the suggestion that "5000 Fingers of Dr. T" be added to the list, the only live action movie by Dr. Seuss. It was only about 15 years ahead of its time in terms of trippy paranoia and nightmarish imagery in a family film...
(see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHVRxzvkJao&feature=related )
and also... Spirited Away. but otherwise... good list!
posted by : christopherwalken on 10/29/2008 at 7:58 AM Flag For Abuse
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Quotes from 5000 Fingers:
"Enjoy your stay. But should you choose to escape, the fence around the Terwilliker institute is ELECT-RIFIED! HAHAHAHA"
"You mean he has to keep beating that drum for eternity?"
"Oh no. You see, the man I'm torturing is INSIDE the drum."
"We should always believe children. We should even believe their lies."
"Elevator operator: (Dungeon elevator song) First floor dungeon/Assorted simple tortures/Molten lead, chopping blocks and hot boiling oil..."
Rollerskating Twins: "Or you will get choked by the beard of the twins with a siamese beard, with a terrible twin on each end!"
"I'm not going to let some men on skates boss me around! Bart, hand me some of that pickle juice." -- "Are you sure? That's some strong stuff!"
"Nonsense, Bart. Dr. Terwilliker is an honorable and decent man. Now why don't you run along back to your cell. I've got 500 sinks to install in 500 cells before tomorrow, or else the plumbing inspector won't allow the Institute to open up on time... and I won't get paid!"
posted by : christopherwalken on 10/29/2008 at 8:28 AM Flag For Abuse
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wall-e??! the planet has DIED--scariest children's movie ever!
posted by : gillian on 11/6/2008 at 11:55 PM Flag For Abuse
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Wall E had not come out at the time this was published. But I'll have to go with you on that one.
posted by : Cole Gamble on 11/14/2008 at 2:09 AM Flag For Abuse
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the part in shrek where the john cleese character tortures the gingerbread man scared my son. we fast forward through it and he's fine.
most disney movies need to have a villan of some sort. i watched every single disney movie when i was little and didn't have nightmares. but definitely gremlins, goonies (although it was one of my favorites), and why isn't all dogs go to heaven on that list? the dogs have a fight scene in hell!
but really, i think kids are tougher than we think. my 2 year old watches happy feet and i thought he would be scared of the seal but he could care less. we may underestimate them.
oh, and you think watership down is a scary movie, you should read the book. although, in all fairness, the book is very clearly for adults.
posted by : jmomma on 11/26/2008 at 2:17 PM Flag For Abuse
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also to address another popular suggestion here, I never saw Babe II but I've heard it's freaky.
posted by : Cole Gamble on 12/18/2008 at 3:55 PM Flag For Abuse
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If you haven't seen "The Lady in White", it is a must have for any scary movie list. The scenes I remember are when the boy is locked in the school closet all night and where the kid locks himself in the car while the murderer tries to get at him. A classic in kids' horror on non-stranger danger.
posted by : TerrorizedByJaws on 12/19/2008 at 1:09 PM Flag For Abuse
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To this day, my daughter (now 19), refuses to watch "Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland". I don't think she even remembers why.
posted by : TerrorizedByJaws on 12/19/2008 at 1:15 PM Flag For Abuse
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I agree with ET- my father brought my sister & I to see that movie, and when we left the theatre- I still didn't know what ET looked like...
I sat terrified covering my eyes throughout the whole movie...!
posted by : Terrified of ET on 12/30/2008 at 12:57 PM Flag For Abuse
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What about Willow? That movie scared the crap out of me as a kid....when they started turning into pigs or whatever, I about peed my pants.
posted by : nminnm on 1/9/2009 at 10:50 AM Flag For Abuse
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Dear Reality Check: I know there is zero likelihood you will read this since you posted your comment months ago, but here goes anyway. The reason I didn't respond at first is because you just clearly didn't get it and there was no seeming reason trying to explain it. Also your view is in the vast minority. But now I respond to you in hopes I can help you understand and better enjoy any future reading you may do.
This was a SATIRICAL article. Did I really mean parents should keep their kids away from these films? No. The piece is meant for humor, so it employs hyperbole. I know you are familiar with hyperbole as evidenced in your post:
"You people are the reason we are raising a generation of over pampered, overprotected wusses that feel entitled to everything and grow up to become adults that have to go on Lexapro and take a month off work when their boss yells at them because they screwed up."
posted by : Cole Gamble on 1/12/2009 at 3:42 AM Flag For Abuse
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(continued)
See, you know hyperbole. Only when you do it it isn't funny.
To be clear, I am not defending myself or all the other posters you attacked here. I simply want to help you because if you approach everything with the same rage as you did here you're headed for an aneurism.
I hope this helps you to take what you read less literally, which is a deadly practice when on the INTERNET. Like I said, I hope this helps you better understand and enjoy things you read in the future. If not, please read other pieces I have published on this website. I'd love to take another trip into your warped wonderland.
posted by : Cole Gamble on 1/12/2009 at 3:50 AM Flag For Abuse
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All of my favorite kids movies are on here. Movies I loved so much as a kid, I own the DVDs now. I have The Secret of NIMH (also a great kids book called Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH), Labyrinth, The Dark Crystal, and Willie Wonka (the original, the remake was way creepy). I also love Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Alice in Wonderland, Something Wicked This Way Comes, Willow (which I also own now), The Last Unicorn, Time Bandits and all the Star Wars movies. I honestly don't get the creepy out of these timeless, beautifully woven stories. Perhaps it's because I watched movies with my parents and felt so safe and secure that little innocent thrills and chills were more fun than scary for me. They also read to us from very young ages, often from books like Lord of the Rings rather than Goodnight Moon, so we all had good grips on the difference between reality and fantasy. I don't think I'll be protecting my kids from potentially experiencing emotions from movies and books. It's good practice for when those emotions arise from something real.
posted by : mchaos on 1/12/2009 at 11:16 PM Flag For Abuse
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Love the list. And "The Witches" scares the shit out of me Now! Willow too. I still like them: I just fast forward all the scary parts.
posted by : Hot mama on 1/28/2009 at 11:35 PM Flag For Abuse
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One more to add: The Last Unicorn. That red bull terrified me when I was younger!
posted by : Cheshire Cat on 3/3/2009 at 4:36 PM Flag For Abuse
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This parent obviously needs some lesson in psychology. If it wasn't for the fact that young children find these movies that are filled with sensory overload appealing, would you really think that they would be interessted ? In cases like this, you have to put your self in the mind of a child, not an adult.
It agonizes me to see parents that filter the movies and videogames in the house because they say it provides for further viollence. In any case, these movies are all wonderful for children, as it triggers an implicit thought process into their own reality.
Parents, its just a kid. Let them be.
posted by : Lere on 3/10/2009 at 11:15 AM Flag For Abuse
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classiccook, May I add a reply to your post? It can mostly be described as conditioning. For the same reason that a child may grow up to be tough because their parents are Police officers, or Fire fighters, some children grow up being afraid of the world because that is how their parents make them to be. The child learns from experience, and when you yell and tell them that the movie is bad, unless they have a strong desire to watch it, it will be engraved in their experience that those type of movies is bad.
I had a friend the other day come over and bring his children, one of his boys wouldn't go near my puppy yorkshire, When I asked the boy why he feared the puppy, he bluntly told me "I don't. But my mom told me your dog is bad".
The conditioning that some children go through is amazing, and if you look up cases of delusional paranoia, or the history of killers or people of the sort, you can see that very often they had a disturbed parent-child relationship. And I don't mean aggressive. Actually, most of the times the parents are described as too controlling as the need for revolt.
I agree letting a 6 yr old play video games where the characters guts go flying in the air, but after a certain age (9, 10), its just too much.
posted by : Aaron on 3/10/2009 at 11:26 AM Flag For Abuse
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I meant I agree on not letting a 6yr play.....
posted by : Aaron on 3/10/2009 at 11:29 AM Flag For Abuse
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I personally know that one of your web designers watched many of these movies. Imagination yes, talking about the movies....yes. many times over. I have to agree with Cole gamble. Talk to your kids about these movies. The Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland, Labyrinth. Willow, Classic, Willie Wonka ......timeless. When watched and discussed with the comfortable warmth of the family becomes the spark with which imagination becomes magnificent. Personally I think the world needs more of this open minded, imaginative power.
posted by : designers mom on 3/10/2009 at 9:14 PM Flag For Abuse
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You know what surprises me more than this movie not having been mentioned thus far is the fact that I didn't think of Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events sooner, considering my initial response was "What a macabre and potentially disturbing story!" In case any of you haven't seen it yet, I won't spoil anything by saying Count Olaf is not the guy you'd want to have looking after your kids (just read the title), and don't let him invite you to any weddings either!
posted by : JDonVance on 4/13/2009 at 3:41 PM Flag For Abuse
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I loved the list. I agree that I was completely tramatized by Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and the Wizard of Oz. You could not pay me to watch them today along with the tv shoes Hee Haw and Sanford and Son.
posted by : finnfan on 4/23/2009 at 8:56 PM Flag For Abuse
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While some of these movies DID disturb me as a child (The Neverending Story got my vote!) I must say, these are not even close to what your child COULD watch. I love my parents, and i am very close with my dad, but he definitely lacked what i would call and sort of "appropriateness meter" when it came to what movies i watched as a youngster. I watched The Fly (the icky fly with Jeff Goldblum and Gena Davis with all the goo!) when i was just over three years old. Granted, i was the one that wandered downstairs while he was watching it, right at the exact moment the Fly thing pukes on the guys leg, but again, my father figured why not, it's just a movie. I also watched the 80's remake of the Blob when i was 5. not even 15 minutes into the movie i was screaming my head off, hiding my face. I had nightmares for TWO YEARS. But, i also LOVED LOVED LOVED Beetlejuice at the same age and would watch it religiously everyday after school. I now tend to have adverse reactions to scary movies and places, and get deeply paranoid in certain situations which include pitch black rooms and noises. I LOVE haunted houses . . .until i get in one and then hide my face in the back of the person in front of me and make them drag me through. I have been told i am highly entertaining in those situations as i succumbs to pure flight instincts and run wildly away from whatever is chasing me, even if that means smacking straight into a wall. I put this on watching terrifying movies and shows from a very early age. I am not mad at my parents, however, and seem to lack the same "appropriateness meter" when it comes to my niece and nephew, as i saw absolutely nothing wrong with them watching Donnie Darko. My nephew proceeded to have nightmares . . .and the cycle continues! Bravo to the writer for compiling this list! And remember, there is ALWAYS worse out there, but in the end IT'S JUST A MOVIE!
posted by : coloradoblue84 on 5/11/2009 at 5:33 PM Flag For Abuse
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I cannot believe these movies are considered scary. In the 40's King Kong came out and plague the kids with nightmares of that time. Now of course, we laugh at the black and white movie of King Kong and wonder what they were thinking. As technology progesses movies are going to look scary to kids of that time. Kids of this time are laughing at movies of the 70's to 90's wondering why you guys were scared. I'm sorry but if you were scared of the neverending story you're scared of everything. Most kids have no idea what "the nothing" is, yet they still enjoy watching the movie, so what's your problem? Beside being scared is a learned action. Kids are not scared of a spiders or bugs until they learn to be scare. So talk to your child and they won't be scared. If a part may seem scary, the parent should laugh and the child will mimick the parent. they will learn not to be afraid of that "scray part." A great example is when a child gets hurt. If you show that your scared and neverous, the child will be that way, but if you smile and laugh and put a bandaid on their knee. They won't be afraid and continue playing. I'm telling you this from experience with my son. It's okay if things die in a movie. You can't shield your child from everything because we do not live in a happy world where nothing will happen to you. Kids need to know that there are people out there that will hurt you. Don't pretend these things don't exist you're only hurting your child.
posted by : AvgMom on 6/2/2009 at 10:11 AM Flag For Abuse
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I think this could be ties back to the article on politics and squeamish people. Does anyone remember Saturday morning cartoons? The Road Runner, Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck? Those are some pretty violent cartoons when looked at from an adults' viewpoint. But kids don't see it that way. Also, regardless of how movies are hyped, the parents are responsible for choosing what is a "kid friendly" movie and what their own child should see. I am often at the movies and thinking "What the heck were these folks thinking bringing their kids to see this!" Furthermore, animation does not make it a "kid friendly" movie anymore that a comic book makes a child's story book.
posted by : toocutedobs on 6/5/2009 at 12:16 PM Flag For Abuse
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The most disturbing kids movie I've seen, The Santa Clause 2. Evil dictator Santa imposter taking over the North Pole with his robotic goose-stepping toy soldier army and turning the place into a forced-labor camp. Gee...what's scary about that?
I don't even want to get into Bernard the elf being placed under "house arrest", that was just wrooooong!
posted by : JGM123 on 6/8/2009 at 12:24 PM Flag For Abuse
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Wow. I would hate to be your over-protected, sheltered kid. These movies all have disturbing aspects, it's true. But I grew up on these movies and still love them, and if I ever had any nightmares because of them, I certainly don't remember them now, and they've had no negative effect on me. I think most of these movies are perfectly fine for kids, but seriously, look at the rating. Why would you let a little kid watch a PG or PG-13 movie in the first place? Also, there's a reason PG stands for Parental Guidance. You can't just plop a kid down in front of the TV, especially if some nature of the movie could be disturbing. A parent needs to be there to guide the child through the movie, answer her questions or calm any fears, and be available for a comforting hug when needed. I remember bawling when I saw The Lion King when I was 6 years old. Musfasa dying was devastating, but you know what? My own dad was sitting right there on the couch beside me, so I didn't need to be afraid of my dad dying, because he was there hugging me, and crying too.
posted by : commonsense1023 on 6/8/2009 at 9:51 PM Flag For Abuse
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I agree with some of the things on that list, but for different reasons. Willy Wonka, ET, and Wizard of Oz still freak me out now. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was fun and much better, but not only do you manage to insult that (and many people do because of Johnny's version of Wonka) you manage to insult every parent and person who went to see it, and practically call them criminals. Also, whether you regard it as one or not, Indiana Jones is not childrens movie. Pan's Labyrinth isn't either, and yet while you have to sense to recognize that you also can't figure out that it isn't a horror movie either, and it's not "dressed up" as a fantasy, it IS fantasy (. Not all fantasy stories are for children you . The parents that did take their children to see it were fools, they must not understand the American rating system, didn't see any trailer or review for it, or figure that is a limited release foreign film. You also include the movie Speed Racer on your list, yet you've never seen it. Yeah, that makes sense. I haven't seen it yet either because it's just not at the top of my list, but it has amazing visuals, and I'd think kids would find the bright candy colors fascinating. Including Cars on your list is ridiculous, at least for the reasons you give. And calling it the most bleak? I don't think kids are exactly thinking of the apocalypse when they see a movie like Cars, I think you are just trying to project your own adult fears and concerns onto them. Chronicles of Narnia... creepy English children? Wow, I don't have to say more than that. I hope you also aren't projecting THOSE views as well onto your kids. I do agree about the Christian part though.
It's ironic that on the same page of comments like "Why do kids need to know that mean and scary things happen?," there's a link called The Over-Parenting Crisis. And you wonder why your kids are so sensitive.
posted by : ayashe on 6/9/2009 at 12:53 PM Flag For Abuse
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dunno how i've just stumbled upon this glorious nugget of a posting, but i want to share:
i LOVE labyrinth. easily one of my favourite movies. that said, when i was around 7, and i caught a showing of labyrinth on the disney channel, i was terrified by the bulge in david bowie's pants. i'd never seen anything like it and i thought for sure there must be a monster hiding in there. i had (and still have, on occasion, but now they're just funny) nightmares that david bowie's crotch got bigger and bigger until it crushed my family to death. one day, i asked my mum what the goblin king was keeping inside of his pants, and that's when she decided it was time to teach me the difference in boys and girls.
also, amen to the care bears movie. i used to have recurring nightmares well into adulthood about being stuck in a cave with a man with red eyes and a big bubbling pot, but until one of my friends brought this movie to a christmas gift swap as a gag, i had no clue what the nightmares were originating from.
on the whole, though, i miss the innocent, naive feelings of fright these movies conjured up.
posted by : the santa clause on 6/9/2009 at 1:30 PM Flag For Abuse
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this is hilarious. Anyone who has a problem with it clearly has no sense of humor and should just be ignored.
I have to add two movies to this list:
101 Dalmatians: Evil old lady seeks to SKIN PUPPIES AND MAKE A COAT!!! I think the less said about this, the better. It actually didn't scare me as a child, but in retrospect...
The Hunchback of Notre Dame: looking back, there is racial tension, inappropriate sexual obsession from many different parties, torture, sexual slavery, and attempted gypsy genocide. I loved it, but my mother was horrified by it. The end scene, with the creepy old friar falling into a river of lava (basically) haunts me to this day.
posted by : lowell23 on 6/11/2009 at 11:28 AM Flag For Abuse
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.I find this list hilarious. Clearly it was written as comedy piece and I think some of you are taking it wayy too seriously. But anyways, a movie i think should be on this list is Coraline. It came out after this article was published, but it was sooo not a children's movie. I'm 21 and i was sitting in the theater scared lol. Other than that, it was a brilliant movie, and something i'd probably let them watch when they got to be teenagers or something. But it is absolutely NOT for kids..The part where mother locked her in the closet and she met the other ghost children, lol i was covering my eyes!!
posted by : Ashley Lynette on 6/29/2009 at 7:05 PM Flag For Abuse
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Chitty Chitty Bang BAng should also be added to the list, and i see Amy agrees! That child eating kidnapper really haunted me for years!
And i was always scared of Charlie and the Chocolate factory too!
It's so funny, because sometimes you think you're the only one who got creeped out by it!
posted by : Having Fun on 7/2/2009 at 12:55 PM Flag For Abuse
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Every child reacts differently so to me this list seems a bit absurd since you could technically add every kind of kid movie (and then some) under the sun. At seven, my brother LOVED the Alien movies - ate, slept, breathed, and drew them in church. He was afraid of the scene in Disney's Snow White where she was running through the creepy forest. You can pick everything to death, but there's nothing like the magic of good judgment and a device called the "remote control."
posted by : Odd Duck on 7/28/2009 at 10:30 PM Flag For Abuse
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Definitely Return to Oz. That movie just about made me wet my pants, especially after the technicolor and glittery pink Witch and dancing munchkins from the first movie.Little Monsters - I slept with a nightlight on until I was *13* because of this movie. Nuff said, right?
It's funny that the things that disturb us as parents may have no effect on kids. I won't let my girls watch The Lion King anymore, but the one time they saw it, it didn't phase them. I would also think that Monster's Inc. would be pretty scary, but nope, they love it. I find Shiloh to be incredibly disturbing, but again, it's one of my girls' favorites. Go figure. And to the poster who mentioned that he learned the difference between reality and fantasy because his parents read him stuff like The Lord of the Rings - my mom read that to my brother and I when I was little. I made her stop at the scene where the White Wizard appears in the woods. Even though she told me that it was Gandalf, even though I am an avid reader, it scared me so badly that I could not bring myself to read the books until I was about 25 and the movies came out. You just never know what's going to freak a kid out, do you?!
posted by : AnonaMom on 8/3/2009 at 8:25 PM Flag For Abuse
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I agree with some of your films, but too many of them are WAY out there. Bruno Bettelheim, the author of "The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales", points out how important it is that children confront their fears through storytelling. While no sane person would want to read their child the unexpurgated "Fairy Tales of the Brother's Grimm", I believe you are missing the point of many of these tales: the hero faces his fears and overcomes them. Bambi's mother dies. It's very sad, but mothers die every day. It's reality, and it's one of children's deepest fears. The point is that he survives. His father comes to take care of him. The hero has to shoot Old Yeller. It doesn't teach that your best friend will get rabies and turn on you. It teaches that a man must be responsible to his family and to his pet. He didn't shirk his duty to put his dog out of its misery. Growing up involves loss. The tunnel scene in "Willy Wonka" marks a transition on the hero journey from the real world to the special world where the hero will pass his tests and grow up. Wonka is scary, but he's nothing the hero can't handle. As for the flying monkeys, why shouldn't kids be able to enjoy something that makes them hide behind a pillow? Sometimes stories should be scary. It's thrilling. The point of fear in storytelling is learning how to confront and overcome them. If you enjoyed it as a kid, chances are your kids will, too.
posted by : The Major on 8/3/2009 at 9:31 PM Flag For Abuse
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omg you have got... to be kidding me. please do not get ticked off at me please. im just not sure i understand. i guess you can tell that i am not a parent yet. im in highschool. i don't understand the reason behind ALL of the movies. a def. yes to some. but like really? it seems to be just an overreaction. dumbo? bambi? cars? im sorry. again. im not trying to be rude. i just understand the reason even with the captions
posted by : katherine on 8/3/2009 at 11:47 PM Flag For Abuse
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I've seen all of these movies and would let my kids watch them as well! None of these are scary, I think you people lived sheltered lives as children and are wusses. E.T. is a classic and one of the best movies made in the 80's. I stumbled upon this site while trying to find a list of good kids movies to download for my kids before "Hollywood" & the feds make it illegal to fileshare. I'm amazed that people have negative opinions about these movies I grew up watching as a kid and btw The Song of the South is awesome! I guess these days people will find racism in anything, if you wanna see real racism tune in to BET!
posted by : Southernman on 8/6/2009 at 4:16 PM Flag For Abuse
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Personally, I was raised on horror movies. My dad took me to Alien when I was two.
posted by : Cole Gamble on 8/21/2009 at 12:12 PM Flag For Abuse
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It's funny how these lists are always made by adults. I saw most of these movies as I was a kid, and the only scene that scared me were the pink elefants in Dumbo. Not a tear from this face fell for Bambi's mother. I envied the pop-your-eye-out-and-look-around-the-corner ability of Augra in the Dark Cristal... ET made me cry, but bc it was so sad that the nice alien had to go. David Bowie's antics bored me, rather than scared me.
As for non-for-children movies like Pan's Labyrinth, I don't think they should be on the list. It's the parent's own fault that their children get scared for seeing a movie that is rated R, for Pete's sake! Ot's unfair to "blame" the movie for that.
posted by : Nuri on 8/26/2009 at 5:02 AM Flag For Abuse
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The Last Unicorn -- The boob tree still baffles me.
posted by : Jenzerb on 9/9/2009 at 12:33 PM Flag For Abuse
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I saw most of these films as a kid. None of them were scary to me.
posted by : bo333 on 9/13/2009 at 9:36 PM Flag For Abuse
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He forgot Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer.
Can't beat old-fashioned sexism and discrimination.
posted by : Yokko on 9/17/2009 at 12:04 AM Flag For Abuse
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boob tree?
posted by : Cole Gamble on 9/22/2009 at 7:22 PM Flag For Abuse
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Dangerous work reading Cole. I almost peed my pants I was laughing so hard.
But thanks for making my day ;-)
Also, my two cents: ET was the scariest movie EVER.
posted by : MarianS on 10/14/2009 at 11:55 AM Flag For Abuse
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oh, and p.s. the title is DISTURBING kid's movies, not scary. There's a difference.
posted by : MarianS on 10/14/2009 at 11:58 AM Flag For Abuse
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I saw a movie when I was a kid about a talking snowman who had a
football-shaped head, icicles for hair, and red glowing eyes. He lived
on a mountain and the kid used to come and visit him. Does anyone know
of this movie?
posted by : GlassSunrise413 on 10/19/2009 at 3:44 PM Flag For Abuse
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Are you serious? Do you all really want movies so bland that they elicit no emotional response at all? The most important lesson kids need to learn about movies isnt in the content, it's that they are not real! Just entertainment. I loved all these movies as a kid, and my kids love them now. And guess what, when they see something scary on the screen, they appreciate it as good storytelling, because they know its just fantasy.
posted by : Mike L on 10/27/2009 at 12:13 PM Flag For Abuse
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What about the children??? LOL. Give me a break! These movies are the least of your worries regarding the care of your children. They are not that scary! I was more afraid of Freddy Krueger than of these movies (I shouldn't been watching Freddy Krueger anyway!). I loved The Neverending Story, I couldn't get enough of watching it, saw it in the movies. Ok, why is Pan's Labyrinth even on this list, very dark movie that is most definitely NOT for children. If a parent took his or her child to see this movie, then they obviously did not do their research. Parents need to be parents, movie directors are going to do just that, direct movies. Just because you're a scaredy cat doesn't mean you have to impose your fears on your child.
posted by : CryMeARiver on 10/31/2009 at 11:07 AM Flag For Abuse
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Return to Oz's omission from this list is just criminal. The premise of the film is that Dorothy gets sent to a mental institution! She comes back to Oz and finds the Yellow Brick Road destroyed, "where all all the Munchkins?" (!) the Emerald City in ruins, decapitated heads and freaking Wheelers?? Yikes!
posted by : Return to Oz deserves mention on 11/18/2009 at 11:37 PM Flag For Abuse
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Nope, "Pan's Labyrinth" doesn't count as a kid's movie. Nor does Indiana Jones. One is an adult fairy tale (and a return to form after the emasculation Disney wrecked on the Grimm tradition), the other is an action/adventure film.
I'd put "A Series of Unfortunate Events" on the list. That is possibly THE most disturbing kids' movie ever. It's never really scary, but it's highly distressing, and once you considering the books, it really might find its way on a list of most disturbing stories ever, including non-kids' stuff. Basically, it's about three kids whose parents die in a fire, and they're taken in by a distant relative Count Olaf who wants them only for their enormous fortune. Meanwhile, they also learn valuable life lessons, such as the fact that people in the real world only care about themselves, that nobody is looking out for the interest of three orphan children, and that even the nicest people can be completely irrational. Well, that's the way the world often works, but goddamn... In a kids' book! Also, it's packed full of black comedy. For kids' lit, I cannot for the life of me think of anything more subversive and, well, brutal.
posted by : JMW on 11/24/2009 at 11:34 AM Flag For Abuse
