MovieChat Forums > Antz (1998) Discussion > This IS a kids movie as well!

This IS a kids movie as well!

posted 11 years ago by Thetruthisinhere
3 replies | jump to latest

I keep reading here that this film is apparently so sophisticated and not meant for kids etc ,that it scared or disgusted some kids for whatever number of reasons etc

THis film came out not long after my 9th birthday,when I saw it I fully appreciated the story,the philosophical,psychological,emotional and other aspects of this.I appreciated the sarcasm,irony and all kind of other humor as well as the tension and relationhip aspects of it. It did not scare me nor disgust me any more than ,say, Shrek or Ice Age,and I was older when those came out to boot.

So I am here to say that for any parents who are considering to show it to the kids thinking they won't get it maybe, just try them. Many kids are much more mature and sophisticated than you might think. I recall surprising adults all the time when I was a kid,and I just had such a laugh at shocking adults constantly. I would often end up conversing with adults regarding relationships,philosophy or psychological issues,stuff that a kid normally does not indulge in or care for. Yet,many kids do,and so did I,and for some reason adults kept being shocked,lol.

Maybe it is a generation thing,but this film,for a 9year old with a normal development,is totally fine to see and appreciate and enjoy. Being 23 now,I pretty much recall very clearly how I ''got'' all the references and whatnot that are supposedly mature and apparently were supposed to be ''over my head'' at the time.

And kids NOW are probably even more savvy than I was,as a semi-sheltered kid in the late 90s,prior to having had my own internet or access to so much knowledge that kids now have.

[–] taijiquan12 10 years ago

I'll just piggyback on this message saying that even though I was a bit older than this poster, 11, when this came out and I saw it, I had no problems digesting the themes and wasn't shocked by any of the content. I really don't think that this movie would scar any kid or do harm that had loving parents.

In fact, I think Antz is a great example of a kid's movie that doesn't treat children like idiots and gives them a place to start thinking about psychological and philosophical concepts, along with the fun of the other content in it.

Kids are going to get exposed to the ugly side of the world one way or another, and in my opinion, having that done through small doses of controlled entertainment is much better than being sheltered and then having that artificial barrier broken down by a single traumatic wake-up call to reality.

Maybe Antz isn't for little, little kids, like younger than 9 or 8, but that's why it's PG and not just G.

"Bulls**t MR.Han Man!!"--Jim Kelly in Enter the Dragon

[–] Thetruthisinhere 10 years ago

amen on that,I fully agree, thanks for piggybacking hehe, I think it is healthy indeed to start ,among others things,with films like this,I also liked the Flintstones,Jetsons,Hair Bear bunch, Hong-kong phooey,captain cave-man,scooby-doo,looney tunes,top cat, huckleberry hound,snagglepuss and many other much less known toons that I had opportunity to see as a kid,and even stuff like cow and chicken,I am Weasel, Courage the cowardly dog, Mina and the count(1998), powerpuff girls, addams family(1992) and some others from the 90s,I mean they all had some,some had even lots of mature stuff,sexual innuendos even,stuff cartoons in our PC world wouldn't be allowed because of that whole super-sheltering aspect and adults being controlfreaks. Now I know that recognition of sarcasm is something that a kid develops only at age 7-9 or so,not earlier, so I agree that some of it cant be appreciated or understood by kids 6 or younger,maybe not even most 7 year olds. But like 8-11, no problem,and actually before this movie I had already seen most of the toons above,and some were quite raunchy and wild,and the topics would be scandalous and provocative nowadays. But just give it a try yeah, no harm will come.Bottom line is that the parent is doing the parenting,not the tv.

[–] aliholly9389 8 years ago

I'm your age OP and I didn't like this movie when it came out. Kids are different. Consider what your kid likes watching before allowing them to see this. I found this film disturbing when it first came out.
Watching it now, I don't hear any effort from the actors to be "animated" like most actors do when they voice characters in a kids film. Not to mention there are quite a few deaths, which is definitely not portrayed in children's films. I don't think the intention was to make this a kids film