Took Ro and Ree to see the very first showing of Tangled (the new Disney Rapunzel movie) the morning it came out. And they were thrilled! They kept saying “No one else in the whole world has seen this movie yet, mama!!” I didn’t get into time zones and preview showings and all that jazz with them, just agreed and enjoyed their excitement. Hee!
They sat at the end of the row (quite far from me in my opinion) with their BFF and ate popcorn and some kind of Sour Patch candy stuff that I can’t even smell without wincing.
They loved the movie, thought it was fun and funny and also kind of scary. The kidnapper woman was vile (Disney villains are just loathsome, aren’t they?! but I swear she is the worst one I remember), but they were hanging pretty well with the movie as a whole until the hero got stabbed. Poor sweeties thought he was dead and cried big huge tears (oh my babies, oh my heart!). It was totally my fault too. I forgot to give them our standard pre-movie talk about how the good guy always wins in Disney movies and everything always turns out alright even if it gets scary for a little bit. Oh man! Bad mama. I scurried over to their side of the theater as soon as I heard the distress and hugged them tight and told them to just watch for another minute and then he would be A-OK. And magically he was (phew!).
They talk about the movie all the time and can’t wait until it comes out on DVD. And they’ve added a few Rapunzel-related items to their Christmas lists, which is so cute. The best part was when Ro was scribbling away at the art table today and handed me this:
Rapunzel in her tower. Swoon--the adorableness just slays me!
I’d love to hear what your kids thought of the movie. Did they like it, hate it, think it was too scary, or something else entirely?
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My 7 year old daughter loved it and my 5 year old son thought it was too romantic LOL.
ReplyDeletewe loved it... my 6 year old and I
ReplyDeleteLove her drawing! And I was happy to hear your perspective... another adoption blog I read said that the movie might bring up some "adoption issues" in older children. Where you used the word "kidnapper," she used the phrase "adoptive parents." Any thoughts before I take the Tongginator?
ReplyDeleteWe saw the movie the same day you did and had an almost identical reaction. My girls loved the charming characters and mourned the 'death' of Rapunzel's handsome rescuer until I reminded them that these movies always fulfill their promise of a happily-ever-after ending.
ReplyDeleteAfter the movie, we chatted casually about the plot and it started to become obvious that my girls weren't totally clear about how Rapunzel left her birth family and went to live with the "bad mommy". I needed to explain that Rapunzel wasn't adopted. That her 'real parents' didn't give permission for her to live with another family and that the evil witch kidnapped her and only pretended to be her mommy. I think it was confusing because the bad mommy seemed like a loving mommy at times.
It's amazing what goes on inside a child's head! But I shouldn't have been too surprised because our perceptions get much of their form from our life experiences. A young child who only has a simple grasp on the complicated concept of adoption could unconsciously (?) put themselves in this movie and come away feeling a little bit confused.
Donna
Our Blog: Double Happiness!
Went to see it with my little adopted daughter (four) and she loved it, although she had serious trouble with the 3D glasses. She didn't have any problems with the scary bits at the end, loved the songs, was thrilled by the adventures, enjoyed the animal friends (especially Maximus the blood-horse) and already wants to see it again.
ReplyDeleteOh, and she sat on my lap, so I was able to reassure her that the bad lady wouldn't win and the good guys would be OK.
She didn't "get" any sort of adoption/kidnapping connection, I think. At least she didn't ask any questions about it, tho part of it may have been that I explained early in the flick about the bad lady taking the baby and why.
And I think part of the deal with these is that a movie or play has to have "conflict", so there is some sort of opposition/villian/bad guy. Doesn't even "Bee Movie" have some sort of bad boyfriend guy who provides that service?
This was Tate's FIRST movie... she was into it for a while. We went with Tiff, Liza and Sollie... she wanted to play with them instead. Hey, she is only two so I was pleased that it captured her attention for so long.
ReplyDeleteTate gives it a 3 chappy thumbs up, cause she is a thumb sucker.
We saw it, too, and on the surface it was wonderful. Classic Disney with beautiful illustrations and a predictable ending. But, as an adoptive mom, I have to say I agree with Donna's comment...it is difficult for children (my daughter is 3 1/2) to understand Mother Gothel. She served as Rapunzel's "mother" for 18 years - even if she kidnapped her and didn't adopt her. And sometimes she was loving at times.
ReplyDeleteI am not sure this is going to be one we add to our collection when it comes out on DVD.
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FDChief: Totally agree that the 3D glasses are a pain, especially for the kiddos. I actually prefer the standard movies, and so does Ree, although Ro prefers the 3D ones.
ReplyDeleteAnd yep, it seems like every movie has to have conflict or it's too "boring," although with The Bee Movie (in my opinion), the boyfriend Ken is set up as a frustrated buffoon instead of a villain. The girls love to act out his line of "Arghhhhh, why does yogurt night have to be so hard?!" Makes me laugh every time. Anyhow, it's a good starter movie.
Glad to hear that the girls loved it. I'm waiting to take Maisie either when we're in Aruba (it's on the coming soon list so who knows when it will actually get there...and if they'll show it in English or Dutch) or we'll see it when we return as she'll be out of school so we'll need some activities to fill our days.
ReplyDeleteHi - My girls and I saw the movie yesterday and we all loved it. I hated that evil old lady. She was super mean. My girls were a little confused about how Rapunzel kept calling her Mom but we talked it over. My older daughter's favorite part was "The Smolder" My youngest said it All was her favorite and she was pretty happy she didn't cry this time. At Toy Story 3 she was sobbing. I then had to admit to my girls that I cried at the end of this one too. ;-)
ReplyDeleteGreg took Sara and Kelly on Friday, and they LOVED it. Greg said he's never seen them sit so still. I might take the girls again so I can see it. Kelly, Miss Afraid of Everything, sat on Daddy's lap during the scary parts and said they weren't really "dat scary".
ReplyDeleteThe girls like to yell at Disney movies when they turn Mom-figures into Villains (i.e. Snow White)...they yell, "That's NO MOMMY!". Makes me feel better! At least I know I'm not a villain!
Indiana Lori
I took my nine year old son to see it. We both thought it looked hilarious in the previews, not at all like a princess movie... there just happened to be a girl in it.
ReplyDeleteParts of it were very funny, and I personally LOVED it. BUT... It was definitely a princessy type movie with the singing and everything and I could tell that even though he said it was funny, he wished we would have seen Megamind instead! Dang!
Emily really liked it too. She looked so cute in the movie theater chair, barely weighing enough to keep the seat down. LOL I had to put my purse in the chair with her to keep her knees from whacking her in the head. HA HA HA
ReplyDeleteTahlia is dying to see this! Glad to hear you enjoyed it :-)
ReplyDeleteI took my 2 and 3/4 year old to it and she loved it. She kept reminding me after (as she does with many movies and shows) that it's all pretend and not real. She said her favourite part was the good bad guys. She also loved the popcorn.
ReplyDeleteYou are right most awful of all the characters. But the movie was great.
ReplyDeleteOoh, I just love that artwork! We'll be seeing the movie soon. We are waiting on L's cousin to come with us.
ReplyDeleteI've been trying to convince my 6-year-old to go see it with me, but she is afraid it will be scary. Anything with the slightest bit of suspense scares her. She has the Barbie Rapunzel (she always pronounces it Ree-punzel) movie which is too scary for her, and she assumes this will be the same.
ReplyDeleteWe saw it last week too. And I'm with you on this never-ending theme of Disney movies. Also, that almost all of them have no mother. That has to register somewhere in the kid's minds.
ReplyDeleteThe mean "mommy" was disturbing to me and to Dahlia because she said things that I say. So I really had to explain who she was and that she didn't mean 'I love you most' (like I do) and 'Mommy knows best' (which of course, I do....hehe). Again - even though I explained it, I fear it planted a tiny seed of doubt in my 7 year old's mind.
And for that reason - this is one Disney DVD I won't buy. (Though I loved it - especially the animation style.)
We took our 3-1/2 year old daughter this weekend and she LOVED it. She is really into movies - especially Disney and anything princess. I have to agree that I thought the same thing about the bad Mommy. Hated that she was seemingly loving at times and said things like "I love you More" since I say that to my own daughter. That has to be so confusing for kids. Still, I don't think our Ruby really got it. She didn't seem bothered in the least. Snow White was MUCH more scary. Totally creepy! We only watched it once and that was enough!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the warning. I'm taking my girls Saturday and will give them the "Disney" talk beforehand!
ReplyDeleteYay! I'm pretty excited to see it with Tatum in a few weeks. She's sleeping over to celebrate her 8th birthday. She'll love it.
ReplyDeleteHi Tonggu Momma and Donna -- thanks for the perspectives!
ReplyDeleteRo and Ree didn't come away with any adoption ideas, but they did get the whole "that woman stole that baby" part loud and clear. The part they were confused about was why she pretended to be Rapuzel's mommy -- and I've gotta say that Disney uses the kidnapping and/or loathsome "mom" figure over and over in movies. Yuck. Again, if I had spent a teeny bit of time preparing the girls they would have been way better off. I would have reiterated that Disney movies always end up happy, I would have sat next to them so I could whisper stuff as the movie went on, and I would have reiterated several times that the old lady was "the bad guy" and she wasn't going to win in the end. It's simplistic, but keeps our girls from getting scared at movies and works really well with all the Disney movies, who always have "a bad guy."
If anyone wants a totally sweet movie that doesn't have kidnapping/villains/mean moms, by the way, check out The Bee Movie. It's Ro and Ree's absolute fave movie right now and is adorable and funny.
DD 4 1/2 was great during the movie - cheered LOUDLY when Mother Goethel met her end - asked to watch the DVD when we got home - explained to her again why we saw it at the movies. But then 2 days later asked how we knew whether or not bad people were in our house. And I found myself explaining alarms and locked doors and windows and then she said but that's how Mother Goethel got in what if mean people had a key to the window so I was then explaining window locks. She doesn't have adoption issues now but has realized you can be safe in your bed (crib) and bad things can happen. My heart breaks for that bit of reality.
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