Disney movies- yes or no?

newbie

Sun, Jul 20 2014, 5:12 am

My husband and I are confused if we should let our daughter watch Disney movies or clips of them. She is 4 1/2 years old and obsessed with the Disney princesses! Apparently she was introduced to them via other kids at the kindergarten. We don't fight this as I see it makes her happy, we just keep the princes away :-) but it seems that most children in her school are allowed to watch them. I find the themes often unsuitable (love scenes, strange family stories like in frozen where one sister tries to kill the other and the parents are dead) but as there is no halacha about it, how does anyone else here view this?

DrMom

Sun, Jul 20 2014, 6:07 am

I don't mind some of the older classic Disney films (Pinochio, Bambi, etc.) because the stories are generally gentle (even when serious) and told in a calm way.

I dislike some of the more recent ones with the mandatory obnoxious wisecracking sidekick and frenetic jump-cuts. I can live with a few mild romantic elements (obviously nothing explicit, which is usually not a concern with Disney cartoons).

I review each one on a case-by-case basis.

Of course, the answer is hashkafa-dependent.

amother

Sun, Jul 20 2014, 7:06 am

My personal situation-

I am so reluctant to allow it. Once they reach the age where they tire of Disney, they'll want to watch whatever else interests their peers. To me, allowing Disney now would be the gateway to allowing more later or else having to resist more strongly later.

The tv/movies issue is one of the main reasons I send dc to a school that is on the whole frummer than my own hashkafa.

Dc already asks questions about the characters on the bandaids and stickers from the pediatrician's office.

I realize that if we lived a strict yeshivish lifestyle I would grapple with this less.
I'm not willing to commit to that so I guess I should expect to continue to grapple with the tv issue for the long term.

morah

Sun, Jul 20 2014, 7:56 am

I started a thread on this recently. I am personally a fan of the movies, but not such a fan of the values they transmit. I'm still trying to figure out what to do. Btw, you totally got the plot of Frozen wrong, she doesn't try to kill her sister, she spends her life avoiding her sister in order NOT to kill her (till she figured out how to control her dangerous powers). And I wouldn't get too worked up over dead parents. 99% of children's film and literature involve dead, absent, or criminally incompetent parents.

Bruria

Sun, Jul 20 2014, 9:33 am

Yes. That being said, you should use your common sense to see which ones you do allow, for example the princess and the frog has some avodah zarah scenes, I would imagine this one you probably would not allow.

November

Sun, Jul 20 2014, 9:50 am

I say no to Disney. I find that Hollywood in general has so many agendas that have nothing to do with leading a good Jewish life, and can often be contra- indicated. My kids know what they know from backpacks and games- we have Disney monopoly and love it, but we skip the movies. Come to think of it, we skip most movies...

amother

Sun, Jul 20 2014, 11:36 am

I prefer no movies at all for kids. Maybe one or two like marry poppins or something classic. Just to show her a good one movie. Once kids start to watch they want more and more. There is no reason to let them have this outlet. They are too young and have a big imagination. My dd plays a lot of imagination games. I prefer to send to a school that most parents don't let the kids watch movies. When they are teens it's a struggle. I just wish I knew before to forbid all movies all together. I envy families who don't have this junk in their house.

debsey

Sun, Jul 20 2014, 12:10 pm

It's hard to put that genie back into the bottle (pun very much intended) Once you start and get her used to watching Disney movies, she's gonna want to "graduate" to other movies her friends are watching. When do you say "Enough?" Plus - 4 year olds are very impressionable. Ever notice the amount of snappy "comeback" backtalk there is in a Disney movie?
They don't stay 4.5 forever. Eventually her friends will be watching Twilight, or whatever other totally inappropriate junk will be in at that time. Best to not open that door.
debsey

rachel6543

Sun, Jul 20 2014, 12:25 pm

I have a 6 yr old boy. I won't let my son watch most of the Disney movies (yet) because many of them still have violent/intense scenes that I think would scare him and many just have content I don't think is apporiate. I'm just honest with my son and say it's too scarey for him to watch yet and maybe when he's older he can watch; my son is okay with that explanation. The only Disney movies my son has actually watched is the Disney Planes and Cars movies. We allow only limited videos in our house. Basically once a week on Friday afternoon before Shabbat starts, after he has had a bath and done his chores. I prefer to let him watch educational shows like Sesame Street, so the 2 Disney movies he has seen he doesn't watch every week. As my son gets older, we'll evaluate on a case-by-case movie if he will be allowed to watch it. I find that my son acts out and has behavior issues if he watches (too much) videos, that's why we really limit it. We encourage lots of imaginative play, reading, coloring, playing outside... Etc instead.

dancingqueen

Sun, Jul 20 2014, 1:09 pm

debsey wrote:

Btw twilight was written by a Mormon and the whole message of the books is how dangerous premarital relations is. No comment on the actual quality if the books.

debsey

Sun, Jul 20 2014, 1:19 pm

dancingqueen wrote:

Btw twilight was written by a Mormon and the whole message of the books is how dangerous premarital relations is. No comment on the actual quality if the books.

Yes. So she has extremely attractive young men with their shirts off romancing female 16 y.o.s and they're "in love" and have this undying affair (except for when they're being pursued by slavering monsters) and somehow this is supposed to DISCOURAGE pre-marital relations? Mormon ethics and Mormon values aren't Orthodox Judaism.

sequoia

Sun, Jul 20 2014, 2:24 pm

Ruchel wrote:

Case by case.

No Frozen in this home. My dd has been known to sing songs from movies she didn't see LOL.

What's wrong with Frozen? All my friends' kids have seen it, no one seems corrupted by a story of sisterly solidarity Twisted Evil

amother

Sun, Jul 20 2014, 2:33 pm

My DD 4.5 loves Disney princesses but I think that the movies are still too scary for her. She's enjoying educational TV. On shabbos I mentioned that the water in her water balloon was starting to evaporate, and she started telling me all about Australian desert shrimp, which I found fascinating.

The idea that TV limits the imagination doesn't hold up to logic. It actually stimulates the imagination by introducing new ideas.

shabbatiscoming

Sun, Jul 20 2014, 2:35 pm

My daughter doesnt like movies with scary bits, so she only started watching disney movies maybe last year. She is 6. I usually sit with her the first time she wants to watch one and if something is scary to her, we fast forward.
I dont think about the values or anything like that. I watched many many many disney movies growing up. I turned out ok in terms of my judaism. I have absolutely no problem with her watching them at all.
She has watched things like frozen, little mermaid, cinderella, over the hedge (not sure if that was actually disney). In all of these movies, there were scenes that we fast forwarded. It was no big deal really.

FranticFrummie

Sun, Jul 20 2014, 8:19 pm

I would say "no" at that age. There are way too many conflicting messages in those movies, not to mention unrealistic beauty standards, scary stuff, parents dying or missing, etc.

I would wait until your child is old enough to have a real conversation with her, and then sit down and watch the movie with her. Be interactive, and discuss what's going on in the film. Ask her what parts she agrees with, why she thinks that, what parts are not Jewish values, and what she would do differently if she were that character.

Movies can be valuable teaching tools, but ONLY if the child is old enough to understand the discussion, and if you are right there with her to help her navigate the hard parts. You absolutely cannot use them as a babysitter, you have to be actively involved.

DD is 11 now, and I let her watch movies that I've prescreened, and I sit with her the whole time, pausing the movie when we need to talk. She loves to ask me questions, and really looks forward to spending time with me. It's become a very positive, bonding experience where we can discuss Jewish concepts in a "non preachy" way.