Comments on: Tom Hanks made my child cry

By: Mervin Bunter

Mervin Bunter — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 22:29:57 +0000

Remember that this movie was made originally for 3D. Look at the horror that Zemekis made of the new 3D animated Christmas Carol. All of his 3D movies are filled with crazy roller-coaster sequences. By the way, don’t take your kids to see the new Christmas Carol either: it’s the same director as Polar Express.

That said, I’m surprised that so many people still think that “animated = safe for kids”. Even if a movie is rated ‘G’, it might not be something we want our kids to see.

By: Jen

Jen — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 03:10:26 +0000

I’m glad I’m not the only one who didn’t like the movie! I taped it on cable last year and didn’t even really watch it, but the parts i saw looked really scary, and I don’t want my girls watching it until they are much older. I was surprised about how many people say they love it!

By: Dallas

Dallas — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 01:36:12 +0000

I saw this movie in the theater a few years ago, with my husband and my (then) 7 year old stepson.

They were both, “meh”, which surprised me, because they both love animation and books (and had read the book in advance).

While we were walking up the stairs to our seats, I was holding 3 large Sprites, and I tripped. I sat through that movie wet and cold, with a bloody chin. I was so excited about seeing it, that I was set to ignore my physical discomfort.

The emotional discomfort was even worse.

I literally hated every single minute of it, and will not allow my child (now 2.5) to ever see it.

By: Elana

Elana — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 22:51:13 +0000

We watched it last night with our 2.5 year old. She was on the edge of her seat for the ‘roller-coaster’ parts. I put her on my lap and made it like it was fun, I fast forwarded through the creepy top part on the train. I asked her if she was scared, and if she like or didn’t like being scared, she said she liked it. Thrill seeker! What amazed me the most is that she teared up at the end when they found the bell under the tree. I asked her if she was sad, she said, “not sad, crying.” I had no idea a two year old was capable of crying from being emotional…

By: NicoleK

NicoleK — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 03:53:35 +0000

I’ve only seen bits & pieces of this film… enough to know it’s not for my sensitive 5-year-old son (who also has very limited screen time) I’ve been bothered b/c I heard that next week his kindergarten class will be having a pajama party and watch this film! ummm… i’m tempted to keep him out all week so he doesn’t hear all the build-up and plans! Not sure how I’m going to handle it. Being that he is bored in school already, I’m not thrilled they are showing a movie… but that’s a whole other topic! All in all, I think this film should probably be rated PG and not G…

By: Elizabeth Wickoren

Elizabeth Wickoren — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 01:25:16 +0000

In our house it was an almost seven year old, not a three or four or five year old, who liked the movie, so I think the maturity helped there. I don’t think it had anything to do with desensitizing for us though, just age, because we don’t watch TV on the weekdays at all and the majority of things my kids watch are previewed-and-approved-by-mom DVDs. Older kids KNOW that TV isn’t real and especially that cartoons aren’t real (live action can be harder for it to sink in that it isn’t real, they are real people acting), younger kids have a much harder time distinguishing real from story. It might be true for other families though that kids who watch alot of TV really young learn quicker that TV is just pretend than kids who watch very little TV. An interesting thought…

By: AJ

AJ — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 15:51:49 +0000

My gut feeling is that the 4- and 5-year-olds who don’t get scared by the film have probably been exposed to more screen time than the scared ones. Meaning, the less experienced kids empathize more with the characters and the events seem more real to them.

I couldn’t help notice that the parents who said their kids weren’t scared often also referenced a 3- or even a 2-year-old in the home not being scared. My daughter didn’t watch a film until after her 4th birthday, and even now, she usually only gets 30 minutes a week now at age 5.

By: Sile

Sile — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 15:34:50 +0000

I think the most important thing to remember is that just because a film is animated does not make it suitable for young children. After all, originally cartoons were created for adults.

I definitely wouldn’t show most of the animated stuff out there now (including this movie) to a child under 10. Certainly not without first watching it myself. Most of the Disney classics aren’t even really “appropriate”. Of course, this also depends on the child. Different children have varying degrees of sensitivity, as we have seen from everyone else’s two cents.

I know you expected the movie to be just like the book, but most movies tend to stray from original plots these days, so better safe than sorry.

For those others who have decided to AVOID the movie, just watch it on your own and form your own opinion about it. Banning a movie from your house based on someone’s review of how it was inappropriate for their children is just silly. No offense, AJ. :)

By: anjii

anjii — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 08:05:40 +0000

My 2 year old loves it, and calls it “Christmas choo-choo show”. But I agree with AJ in the post about 2-3 year olds not understanding the danger involved. It’s definitely over his head for now.

But my almost 5 year old, who is extremely aware, inquisitive and communicative, also LOVES it, despite his understanding of everything that’s going on. I agree with Elizabeth Wickoren’s point of view, which, for certain kids, this type of movie satisfies their cravings for action and adventure, without the age-innappropriate stuff. Wyatt’s friends at school and his cousins are all watching stuff like Transformers, Spiderman, Indiana Jones, etc…. and he wants to watch them too… NO WAY!!!!! But things like this, Narnia, Journey to the Center of the Earth, et. al. are things I can say yes to, and enjoy watching with him, without exposing him to language, adult content and ideas he doesn’t need to see. As for all those “hero” movies, I’m planning to rent and preview some of the cartoon versions, like Clone Wars, Transformers Animated, Justice League, etc. and see if they’re an appropriate outlet for him to watch that good guy/bad guy stuff he’s SO needing to explore right now.

By: Ellen

Ellen — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 00:43:26 +0000

ABC Family showed it last week, and I thought my 3-year-old anything-train-related-loving son would like it. Holy cow, was I wrong. He was actually trembling at one point. I think we made it through about 15 minutes (boiled down to about 5 after fast-forwarding) when he tearfully asked if we could turn it off. I felt so bad! I guess it is time to start prescreening G and PG movies!