Pete's Dragon

I have come to realize that children's movies now a days are a lot friendlier than they were back then. Yes, some of them also seem way too grown up, but that's beside the point. I didn't really notice it until I watched Pete's Dragon the other day with my Lydia. Two minutes into the movie it seems, there's a little musical diddy. Harmless at first, it seemed... of course, at first to me was when I was the age of my oldest and watching this for the first time ever.

Watching it now? Um... wow.

Here's an excerpt from the very first song in the movie:

Gonna snag him, gag him, drag him through town
Put his head in the river, let the pup drown,
Trap him, strap him, wrap him in a sack. Yeah!
Tie him screaming to a railroad track.
...Gonna paw him, claw him, saw him in half,
When he cries out for mercy we'll just laugh,
Beat him, heat him, eat him for dessert. Yeah!
Roast him gently so the flames won't hurt.

Yes. You read that correctly. They are talking about maiming and killing poor Petey.

And the Dark Crystal? One of my favorite movies of all time. Yes, I am that weird. But again, that's not the point. I would not let Alanna watch that until she was a few years older. It was another one of the movies I watched around 7-8 years old (of course, I also watched movies like Terminator and Predator... cuz I was that cool) that I just think is WAY too scary for her. Not to mention Lydia.

I mean really... if you were between the ages of 2-7 and you saw something like this:



...would it give you nightmares?

This is the bad guy in one of Alanna's favorite movies, Quest for Camelot:




Tame by comparison right?

It's so weird to put in the movies I watched as a kid and then have to worry about whether or not I should keep them playing because I'm worried about what it's going to do to my kiddos.

Another one of my favorite movies that I would not let my kids watch now, Legend, was rated PG in the US (G in Ireland).



Yeah, would not stick that one in the DVD player now. Of course, it's still one of my favorite movies... it's even where I got the FIRST name that I had chosen for my youngest. But was overruled in the end. Lydia's just as pretty though. Anyways, I wanted to name her Oona. And I almost won, but... well... nevermind.

A lot has changed since I was a little person.

What are some movies you loved that you might not want your kiddos to watch until they're older?