File it under the wussification of America, but in the 80's kids movies were frequently dark, dangerous, and sometimes scary.
Never Ending Story, Gremlins, Return to Oz, Monster Squad
Nowadays ever single kid's movie is just warm, fuzzy, and happy.
I sound like a grumpy old man I'm sure, but I'm in my 30's and I definitely think we are doing kids a major disservice in how much we over "protect" them these days.
It's interesting, because some of the best kid's films have dark parts in them. You watch them and compare to the fluffy, brainless garbage they have today, and you realize the story-writing and acting are better, as well as teaching kids that not everything in the world is great, and how to fight it.
sharei think it's movies in general now. something about how movies are made must have really changed since the 80s because Hollywood seemed to slowly transform into something much more corporate and soulless starting around 2000. There were isolated gems like Iron Man but there was a certain cerebral, funky, hand-made magic to 80s-era movies that they never recaptured.
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