MovieChat Forums > Brother Bear (2003) Discussion > No death scenes in kid's movies please

No death scenes in kid's movies please

posted 16 years ago by birdseed-11
62 replies | jump to latest

I think one of the big problems with this movie is that there are two deaths. Parents, like me, who don't want to have to explain death to my 5 year old (yet) wouldn't take their kids to this movie, or rent the DVD at this point.

I mean what has Disney been thinking lately? Let's entertain kids by showing them their families can be destroyed? Who is the sadist that comes up with this stuff?

First we get that obnoxious Lilo 'n Stitch. Awful! "Let's put a felon, no a most-wanted felon, no a galactic most wanted felon, with a little girl whose family might be broken up at any time. He has claws and could dice her up at any time because he's an irresponsible criminal. And let's portray government as bad people who want to destroy a family's happiness. And let's portray the peacemakers as vindictive assassins who want to kill innocent Stitch for no good reason. What family wouldn't want to see that?"

Then Lion King: "Let's have a lion cub who sees his father get killed and thinks it's his fault. Better yet, he finds his father's lifeless body. Wow! What a great way to entertain a family."

I actually caught my daughter crying in front of the Lion King at that scene. I had to stop and explain to her that it was all make believe. Thanks Disney!

Then we get Brother Bear: "Let's have three brothers. One gets killed. Right away so the kids can cry early. So the other brother kills the bear responsible who is also a mom to a cub who we meet and come to sympathize with. So the kids, who also have a mommy, will cry again when they think that maybe they could lose their mommy too. What family doesn't want to go home from the movies and discuss death and loss with their kids?" Brilliant!

[–] mentally_blind 15 years ago

"Parents, like me, who don't want to have to explain death to my 5 year old (yet)"

YOUR 5 YEAR OLD DOESN'T KNOW WHAT IS DEATH?????? Crazy Americans

[–] rocktheworld 15 years ago

"I actually caught my daughter crying in front of the Lion King at that scene. I had to stop and explain to her that it was all make believe. Thanks Disney!"

My mum took me to the movies to see The Lion King and I think I was about 5 years old. I remember how sad I was and how much I cried, even my mum had cried. But that makes us human.
So, be happy that you child cried. She got feelings. Congratulations!

The sun can't shine ALL the time. To appreciate the light, you sometimes have to see the darkness as well...

Send a heartbeat to the void that cries through you...
Movie Count: 861

[–] irishpride831 15 years ago

well dont take your kid to the damned movie in the first place if your really care that much about it
haha well you should toughen your daughter up a bit ; ]

anyways get over it and if you really dont want your kids seeing anything like ...well your on imdb right now so next time you want to take your sheltered kids out to a movie go on here and find out about it first

[–] holly_bff 15 years ago

I appreciate that you don't want your children to be exposed to something as negative as death, but we all have to be realistic here, kids ARE going to learn about death, the easy way or the hard way. You can't control that, but you can control how they learn about it, and I think the Disney way is the best way, because it shows that with death you grow and become stronger as a person. Death and Life go hand in hand, and you can't teach one without the other, it's good for children to realise that as soon as possible in my oppinion. Just think that there are far worse ways for them to learn about death.

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war does not determin who is right,
war determins whos left.

[–] Blue_Spirit61 15 years ago

if you don't want your kids to watch Disney movies that involve death, that's your problem!
If kids don't watch movies that don't involve death in the cleanest possible way ever (as in no blood or stabbing or anything), how are they going to deal with real life death? Like if a kid had a dog for a few years and suddenly gets hit by a car or something and it dies, the kids just going to think that the dog is taking a nap!
Are you getting what I'm sayin here?

And I will get him back even as he gloats. In the meantime I'll practice on less honorable throats!

[–] holly_bff 15 years ago

This reminds me of Bill's little monologue in Kill Bill volume 2. Beatrix found him and they are both in his home, and he begins to tell her about "Amilio", their pet fish and how BB (the 4 year daughter)stepped on him, he then begins to say how that it is the perfect representaion of life and death...

"A fish flapping on the carpet, and a fish not flapping on the carpet, so powerful, and that even a child with no concept of life and death, knew what it meant"

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war does not determin who is right,
war determins whos left.

[–] csagne 15 years ago

Death and tragedy are actually a well rooted tradition in fairy tales. And the Lion King is based on Hamlet (see it explicitly said in the DVD comments), a tale which predates the play by a few centuries already.

Tragedy and the catharsis (the purification process) are actually essential elements (read Bruno Bettleheim's The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales) that help children acquire the psychological strength to deal with difficulties in later age.

Of course the Lion King is not suitable for kids aged 5 (my daughter, aged 2, only watches "Can you feel the love tonight"). It is down to you as a parent to control what your kids view and whether they have the maturity to do so.

[–] jbeattie76-1 15 years ago

I remember that scene too, the one in the Lion King, yeah I saw that movie in theaters. I was probably bout five or six, to be honest, I don't remember even caring that much at all. And then in Bambie, when the hunter kills his Mom, yeah don't remember that being all that big of a deal either. Mostly cause my parents educated me enough to know that, that was all fake, "animated" as they called it. And to be honest, even at five, I didn't really care about either one of those characters dying. Robin Hood's my favorite disney movie, no body dies in that one.

The original poster is a neglectful parent, all of us, here in this comment area, should report her immediately; before her kid grows up and starts a new religion. One where the parents don't expose there children to anything, because they're too afraid to explain it to them. Ma'am you're the parent who's child grows up and either gets pregnant, or gets someone else pregnant. All because you were to scared to explain anything to them....

I got two words for you:

Grow up!

Also, we're all dying, it's a just a matter of degree. So might has well thank Disney for preparing the little bastard...

[–] BwozqkNegative (165) 8 months ago

And then in Bambie

his name is bambi, not bambie

[–] areyouacucumber 15 years ago

Because death is as important as life itself, and so is the consequences of your actions. I do however agree with you that they shouldn't put death into movies just for the sake of it, but you mentioned The Lion King which I see no problem in having dealing with the issue since it was incooperated so well into the movie.

[–] animequeen553 15 years ago

Did you honestly tell your daughter that Mufasa's death was a fantasy? I mean yeah, I get it, it's a cartoon. But what happens if, god forbid, someone close to her dies? Are you going to tell her, "Oh it's alright sweetie, it's only fantasy. They'll be back if you use your imagination you special snowflake you!"

Explaining tough subjects to a child isn't as hard as cowards (yes, immature cowards at that) seem to think it is. I can promise you, your daughter will not grow up to be a serial killer by knowing what death is. Nor will she become a teen mother by knowing what sex is, or how babies are made. If you explain things to children and they don't get it, fine. Try again in a few years. But if they do most of them have this, "Oh! So that's how it works." and proceed to forget about it until they need said information again.

And are you really saying what I think you're saying about Lilo and Stitch? The whole point of the movie is that Stitch is good on the inside and even he can have and deserves a family. AND that even families that have been broken apart (Lilo and Nani losing their parents) can still be a whole family (It's broken, but still good). Maybe that doesn't apply to you, but as someone from a broken family that movie made me very happy. The fact that you're finding fault with that disturbs me.

It sounds like your daughter needs movies like this. Parents like you are usually the ones kids avoid talking to like the plague, because you just don't know how to talk to them. Talk to her about this stuff now when you can, because when she grows up she's going to look else where to places less wholesome then Disney for this information and I promise you won't be happy about it.

[–] StrongRex 15 years ago

Everyone here has pretty much said what needs to be said, so I don't really know what to add. I grew up watching these type of movies, and I learned a lot from them. At least they're better than crap like Hannah Montana and High School Musical, which will rot the minds of children. Disney's intention was to have people learn life lessons through his movies, and I think for the most part they are doing just that, with some exceptions every so often...

By the way, it was the youngest brother that went after the bear and killed her, not the older one.

[–] RemusMoon 15 years ago

I sincerely hope that the OP is joking, otherwise I'll lose faith in the human race.

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