Disney-Pixar's "Up" May Be Inappropriate for Your Kids
Disney/Pixar’s Up has been the rage of reviews since it opened. Looking fun and having a cool story, I decided to take my 6th grade daughter and her friend last weekend, and was joined by just about every other family in a 10-mile radius – the theatre was packed with kids in age from young toddlers to older teens.
It’s not a surprising sight these days to see young kids in a PG movie. Most animated movies these days are PG and most turn out ok. In this case, though, perhaps we all should have previewed the film before taking our kids – or perhaps the reviewers should have looked at the film more realistically from the eyes of kids under 13 instead of through their very adult lenses.
We all entered that theatre expecting the terrific animated adventure we had read about. We were all aware that the start of the film included a quick image of the passing of main character’s wife – but then expected the mood to lighten. It never did. Not a single person left that film with a happy look.
The movie was, indeed, a cinematic masterpiece in many, many ways. However, it was just too emotionally charged well beyond the opening montage with action that was far more intense for small children than any review had described. Ed Asner’s character, Carl, was so clearly in love with his late wife, Elle, that you could feel his grief throughout the movie. That theme was palpable until the very, very end – so much so that I had a few moments where I felt choked up. Looking over at my daughter and her friend during those times, they, too, had tears in their eyes.
Part of the issue, by the way, was the melancholy music which, other than the adventure moments, was incredibly pervasive. The other part of the issue was the bad guy – the adventurer we met in the opening scene when Carl was a small boy. He turns just plain creepy and evil – Indiana Jones nemesis evil, but animated.
Having now seen the movie, the issue is that the reviews all looked at the movie for its Oscar-worthiness and not for its kid-appropriateness. For example, Atopic Popcorn wrote: “Pixar has crafted a film that is their finest to date and so far, is the best film of the year.” Nowhere in that review does it dissect the emotion of the flick or whether this really is a movie meant for kids under 13 at all.
However, another review from the Telegraph gives us a more realistic assessment of Up by noting that this is the first animated film to ever open at the Cannes. That alone is telling and an indicator of the overall emotional temperature of the film. The review goes on to say: “The film, in its aerial beauty and its melancholic undertow, recalls Albert Lamorrise's The Red Balloon and Hiyao Miyzaki's Howl's Moving Castle. No recent animated picture has been quite so suffused with an awareness of human mortality.”
There you have it: “melancholic undertow” and “human mortality”. The only part this review left out is that those 2 themes were every present and quite intense.
So, who is Up meant for? Adults for sure, teens if they know what they are in for, and mature tweens. Keep in mind this is PG…and really should be PG-13 given the thematic content.
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Why are we so afraid of letting our children know about death? It's a part of life. Shouldn't we prepare them for knowing about it, so when someone close to them dies they can understand it better and be able to work through it easier?
I watched this movie with my 7 and 5 year old and both of them loved it. It was something that I could sit there and watch with them. So what that your kids had tears in their eyes from a movie... are our kids not allowed to feel emotions other then happiness?
i agree. Kids should know about death..but maybe when they are a bit older. I watched this movie with my 7 year old sister and my 16 year old girlfriend. It was cute...and sad. But, besides that, my little sister really enjoyed it and my gf and I had fun too.
I was skeptical if I should take my girl to see this movie, but did. There were several parts that I was uncertain about. I personally did not have a problem with wife dying, but she had experienced that (pet), though she asked why he was soo sad. There were some dark undertones though that are questionable for young kids . For instance the good guy gone bad knocking off 'heads' and threatening the old man, as well as starting a fire, and later a character falling to certain death. Though what glaringly scared my girl was when 'Kevin' was captured in a net, though this was harmless. My girl did ask a lot of questions throughout this movie (good thing it was a drive-in), and there were some questionable scenes, but we got through it with no known lasting effects. She was not aware of the fact that kid was in a divorced family, but she has no experience to know what that is. I think the PG rating was approriate...in fact my girl usually is not allowed to see PG at her age. As long as Parents go into the movie aware of what is there, each can make their own decision. From a Pixar persepctive this was a great movie, but by far the most questionable for little kids.
K, so, after eon's of hunter-gatherer lifestyle and a 10,000 years or so of hand-over-fist clawing and scraping out of barbarism, we have achieved a point where a parent is encouraged to be anxious over subjecting their kids to animated aggression and non-explicit mortality?
Um, Old Yeller, anyone? Charlotte's-freakin-Web, maybe?
You know what concerns me as a parent? The glazed over look in my kids eyes when watching almost anything else Disney makes since oh about the time they traded classical music for broadway in their animated flicks...
Especially the shows that are not animated; you know the ones with real® people in them?
I have only taken my 6 year old daughter to the movies twice and always preview what she will see. This time i took a chance because she REALLY wanted to go, and because it was PG and not PG-13 i 'assumed' anything too intense could easily be explained away.
First, i was unaware that not only would a main character die in the first part of the film, i was also unaware that child loss and/or infertility would be 'covered'. I was also unaware there would be 'violence' that i felt was pretty graphic when Carl clobbers the guy who was trying to rip up his mailbox.
I also think turning the 'hero' into a bad guy made no sense.
While i agree everything that has been said about the great effects/imagery i think the overall mood of the film was frankly depressing. While most of subject matter went over my daughter's head, i regret exposing her to such intensity at such a young age. Absolutely my fault for taking her before previewing but agree the movie would be more appropriately rated as a PG-13.
Shielding your daughter from the horrible things that can happen in life won't help her when she grows up. She needs to know that the world isn't full of sugar and flowers, and can't always depend on you to protect her.
This movie should be rated PG because it has a great message and is very inspiring. Movies that are rated PG-13 usually contain content that shows people making bad decisions and there is no good moral, but this teaches children many values.
Those intense scenes are very touching and helps you empathize with Carl and the situation. Some scenes in the film may have been depressing but it was also hopeful and had a happy ending.
This movie is appropriately rated PG.
PG-13 is just too high.
Do you people not think? No offense but just think about other movies that are PG and PG-13.
It obviously doesn't fit in to the PG-13 section. It is sad for younger kids , but it is a good movie! If this your child is very emotional and can't handle this then don't take them to go see it. It's a very good movie though. Probably for an audience that is at least 9-10 years though..
your comments would be helpful if you left out the "Do you people not think?" Why can't people have opinions that differ from one another without someone making a rude remark?
I can say what i want. This is a website where we all share our opinions and knowledge about things. So i can say what I feel like.
But seriously. This movie is not a PG-13 movie.
Thank you for reading ;]
my mistake...it was a silly question..i get it now...because it's the internet it's perfectly okay to say something hurtful 'because i choose to' and 'i can say what i want'
what a great philosophy to live by! good luck with that! =)
thanks for reading.