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| sally |
Posted
on 21-Dec-01 05:09 PM
Warning: Mommy talk!
One challenge I find as a parent is finding movies that convey values I can be comfortable with. So many "kids" movies (and TV shows, too) seem to think it's funny to be sassy or even potty-mouthed. Yuck. Partly I think it's a matter of trying to be funny for the parents who are watching it, too, but I don't think it's funny at all. The way that obnoxious lemur character talks during the mating scene in .. what's it called, "Dinosaur"? The Aladar movie? YUCK.
Anyway, here are a few good ones I've found.
The "Book of Virtues" is a series of interesting classic stories with positive lessons from many different cultures. It's based on the William Bennett books, and while he's very conservative--used to be in the Reagan administration as education chief, I think--I like his take on kids' stories. Some are Biblical, but not conversion-oriented. And he's got at least one Hindu story (Yudhisthira and his dog).
The “Brave Little Toaster” series is SO cool. I caught it accidentally on cable and couldn’t believe there was a movie in which household appliances are heroes. My son’s favorite is “Brave Little Toaster” to the rescue, when the appliances rescue animals from a nasty research lab. And even the music is good!
The "Land Before Time" movies are a big favorite at our house. The heroes are young dinosaurs. It also has good music, folk and good rock-style stuff, which helps me ... I'm really allergic to schmaltzy pop.
Sunakhari mentioned "Little Mermaid" somewhere ... Funny story: The day after seeing it, my son went to preschool and did something against the rules. I told him he should obey his teacher. His answer? “But the Little Mermaid disobeyed her father!” Interesting what lessons kids take from movies!
I'm not a big Disney fan, especially the more recent ones. I’ve noticed that almost all of them have a theme of “follow your dream ... and to do that, disobey your parents.” That pretty much conflicts with the values we're trying to teach, but at the same time, kids take home different lessons at different ages, so I might reasses some of them. I like “The Jungle Book,” though. It’s fun that the bear’s name is Baalu, and my son totally cracks up at the monkeys.
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| sunakhari |
Posted
on 23-Dec-01 08:27 PM
Sally
Little Mermaid...she did watch it in another language so I think the disobediance part was omitted :). OR at least I'd like to think it so.
Another interesting part of kid movies and shows: my lil one did not speak any English at all until she came to the states about the few years ago and her English "teacher" was Rugrats!! :O Most of her vocabulary came from the show therefore, you can imagine her usage of the rugrats slang. By now, we have it all corrected but i just love the part where she says "you are my bestest mommy in the whole wide world".
Unfortunately, the kiddie movies nowadays are not that kiddish anymore and I have to be ultra careful as to which ones I would want her to see.
But even with Disney these days one can't be too careful therefore there is no telling what other production houses come up with!
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| le chef du nuit |
Posted
on 25-Dec-01 11:27 AM
digressing from the issue a tad
notice how cartoons seem to be geared towards older folk these days?
think, the most popular ones are the simpsons, futurama, king of the hill, southpark...
even cartoon network.. i dont see how exactly a kid of ten would enjoy dexter's lab or johnny bravo
whatever happened to scooby and yogi bear ana all those true kids cartoons?
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| bug |
Posted
on 26-Jan-02 10:01 PM
Hi Sally,
I don't know how old your kids are but here are some of the good movies(short and sweet) for toddlers -
Rainbow Fish series - its originally french but its english version is perfect for kids.
Aurthur Series
Snowman
How the Grinch stole the Christmas
Teletubbies
Thomas the tank engine
The little blue engine that could
Dragontales
Clifford the big red dog
Dr. Seus has a lot of videos for kids and are really good for improving their phonics.
Bug
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| sunakhari |
Posted
on 28-Jan-02 01:10 PM
bug:
rainbow fish series rey? whats the original name in french? whats it about? I would love to know more about it.
I also like the Madeline series..has little morals in them.
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| bug |
Posted
on 28-Jan-02 02:36 PM
SunaKhari,
I don't exactly know its name in French but its based on the book "Rainbow Fish" by Marcus Pfister.
It a very good series for kids and we use it for many lesson plans in school for the kids. Its a story about a beautiful fish who has colorful-glittery scales as the name suggests "Rainbow Fish", who thinks he is too good to play with the other fish. But eventually, he learns his lesson about sharing. All the other series too have good messages.
As you know how egocentric children are and how hard sharing is for them - this video definately helps them understand what sharing is all about.
I have read a couple of books on Madeline but haven't watched a video, yet. I should try doing that. Thanks for the info.
And, I would also recommend "The Muffets" - its a puppet show but it has a lot of short stories based on morals and values. And some of the stories are the stories we grew up listening to. Its great - you should definately check this one out!
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| sunakhari |
Posted
on 30-Jan-02 01:15 PM
Thanks! Bug :)
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