Is this OK for kids aged 6 or 7?


I figured it has a G rating and it's a Disney film that it would be OK...but then I read all these posts about the "Banshee scene". I've never seen the movie but a friend of mine is wondering if it's OK to show his two kids. They're both boys--one is 6, the other 7 and they're both tough little kids:)

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My four year old did fine with it. The banshee shows up and is quickly dispatched. Probably on screen no more than five minutes.

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I wouldn't sweat it.

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It depends on if the kids are sensitive or not

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"Scary" does not equal "Inappropriate". It's not gory.

Walt Disney himself was proud of having something to scare the kids in the movie when he went "behind the scenes" for it in the Anthology series.

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It should be okay for kids. It's a brief bit, near the very end (so the happy ending comes quickly) and if the children have seen 'A Christmas Carol', with a relatively spooky version of The Ghost of Christmas Future, they should be fine. DETAILS SPOILERED HERE:
The banshee is only in a couple of brief scenes, near the end, and is 'scary' but not gory or violent. There is howling, and a 'ghostly' special-effects figure, which clearly scares Darby, but doesn't do anything but wave and howl. Darby, in fact, chases it off with a shovel. Then there's a pretty cool flying coach (shape of a horse-drawn hearse), the Death Coach, but, again, it's a ghostly effect with a headless driver, and Darby gets in of his own free will, and then tricky his way out with King Brian's help.

Even the fist-fight between Micheal and Pony at the end is about as non-violent as reasonable: a couple of punches are shown, but most of what sounds like quite the bare-knuckle brawl is shown in the faces of the spectators, wincing and flinching and 'ooh, there's a good one!'

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I never thought I'd see the day where someone was so overprotective that they asked if a vintage Disney movie was suitable for children . . . I mean, really??

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Yeah, but some kids are really upset by some stuff. Trouble is, it's different for every kid. Some are fine with Bambi's mother being killed, but freaked out by dragons. Or, okay with dragons, but upset by talking teapots, and similar 'unnatural' creations. Age and individuality has a lot to do with it, as does whether it's your own kids, who you know better, or a friend's kids being invited along. That's why I described the banshee scenes in the spoilers, so that they could consider the specifics, if they wanted to.

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I'm sorry, If your little darlings are so fragile that a fake ghost in a 60 year old Disney fantasy sends them shrieking into life-long therapy, you've done a pretty bad job of raising them.

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.....you've done a pretty bad job of raising them.


It's got far less to do with upbringing that it does with genetics. Some kids are hyper sensitive, others will laugh at the effects in this film, and they could be in the same family and raised the same way.

If the kids have not been hyper sensitive previously, then this film is safe to see. I saw it when I was very young, and remembered the death coach coming out of the sky more than the banshee when I just saw it again yesterday.

That coach was creepy/spooky! Between the banshee and coach effect, you have to give Disney kudos for special effects given what they had to work with. The "forced perspective" effects for the realism of the leprechaun's size was also amazing.

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Who's being overprotective? I was just curious. BTW the kids saw it last night on TCM and weren't even remotely bothered by it.

BTW kids today still get scared at Disney movies. Bambi's mother being shot and Dumbo being separated from his mother are pretty strong stuff for SOME kids. Just because it's a Disney film doesn't automatically mean it's OK for all children. Every kid is different and some are more emotional about it than others. Lighten up.

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No need to shelter the kids. There are a few scenes in the movie that terrified me as a child (the possessed horse, the banshee, the death carriage) but I watched it all throughout the years growing up and was no worse the wear for it. I'd be scared, maybe have a nightmare or two, then I'd be okay. It's part of being a kid; let them enjoy it.

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Well they did see it and were fine. I think the review I read overreacted to the banshee part. It was kind of extreme but it was over fairly quick.

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The banshee was the "monster of my childhood. Scared the crap out of me. A parents can only judge so much about how a movie will affect their kid. I grew up with this and it scared me

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