Movie suggestions for my gentle boys

[napless]

We watch very very few movies, and no TV. Since the death of their little brother, my boys (aged 7 & 9) will not watch anything that involves someone being separated from a loved one. (That lets out 99% of Disney movies!)
They like to watch old episodes of Scooby Doo. We've recently introduced them to Mr. Bean, and they like that.

They don't like seeing people being mean to each other, or seeing animals die, or hearing swearing.

We've almost given up on movies - but I'd like to watch something with them, and I am sick of Scooby Doo!

Any suggestions?

(I've thought of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the old Swiss Family Robinson, and Back to the Future - but I can't remember if anyone is separated from a loved one in those.)

Thanks for any help!

[ancoda]

Originally Posted by napless

We watch very very few movies, and no TV.

(I've thought of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the old Swiss Family Robinson, and Back to the Future - but I can't remember if anyone is separated from a loved one in those.)

Thanks for any help!

As far as the movies you listed. In Chitty Chitty Bang Bang the kids are captured by the kid catcher and locked up in the castle tower- so definitely seperation in that one.
Swiss family Robinson- The two older boys sail to the other side of the island to see if they can find help. They rescue a girl from pirates, but she is seperated from her family. There is minor volence when they fight the pirates.
Have not seen Back to the futures recently enough to comment on them.

My only thoughts on ones that might be appropriate are The Little Rascals/our gang, Veggie tales, or Old yogi bear cartoons.

[Nazsmum]

Not movie but what about the muppet show lots of music and lots of fun!!!
or muppet movies?

We don't watch TV but every so often we will watch muppets. I'm a BIG fan.

[tinybutterfly]

Mr. Rogers Neigborhood is out on DVD. There are several to choose from.

[ChocolateNummies]

The Fox and the Child is a lovely movie. It has beautiful scenery and what I saw (I missed the first 1/3 or so) is overall a very gentle movie. It has minimal dialogue, being primarily narrated. There are a few intense scenes and the ending could initially be upsetting to your guys, though it all turns out okay (explained below). You could warn them first and they may handle it well.

Warning :: Spoiler Ahead! Highlight to read message!

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The fox is injured at the end but does survive. At first, I thought the fox had died until I saw the last few scenes.

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Here is a full synopsis with spoilers.

If you think your boys wouldn't mind a subtitled movie. The Story of the Weeping Camel is also very good and interesting. I found the ending strangely moving.

My kids also like the Kipper tv series. We limit a lot of our tv so even my 8 yo enjoys it, though it's geared to a younger audience. It's a very gentle show.

[naturegirl7]

my son is VERY sensitive to any sort of violence - even implied meanness. Scooby Doo scares him.

We don't do much TV - instead will do OnDemand shows - He mainly watches PBS shows - they are really good and quite educational. And Freshbeat on NickJr (highschool age kids that sing and dance and work together to solve problems - made for preschool age kids and really quite nice).

We do watch alot of Discovery Channel and Animal Planet stuff - He likes Bindi the Jungle Girl, Magic School BUs (this show ROCKS!! and is on DVD) - those are Discovery Kids.
Jeff Corwin is a great show on AP - very respectful of animals and their personal space (unlike Steve Irwin) and eco friendly, really educational - funny too.
He loves to watch the various dino specials and stuff like that - can be graphic with animals eating each other but this doens't seem to affect him the way human to human or human to animal meanness does. It apparently isn't mean, just part of the food chain LOL
Mythbusters is another Disc. show that he enjoys watching - but they do blow stuff up alot, as they do the experiments - nothing violent though....

As for movies - so far Cars is okay. IceAge Dawn of the Dinosaurs is a HUGE hit - we actually had to buy it cuz he was renting it on demand every day LOL It is cute, nothing really overtly violent, so implied violence/dangerous situations. They do get seperated for a little while - more like split up into groups that are working together to get back together (one group on the top of the pile of rocks and another at the bottom and trying to get back up)....all the IceAge movies are funny, but he likes this one the best - it is really funny and the message is all about family and friendship and how your friends are your family.
Tried Shrek thinking it was similiar humor, but that was a bust, he begged us to turn it off (which we did). The live action Charlottes web was a hit here, but super super sad at the end - we sobbed together when Charlotte dies - not sure how your kiddos would handle that if seperation is upsetting for them...

Other movies we own - The Grinch (animated ol' school version), Donald duck in Math Land, School House Rock (this is awesome!!!!), a collection of Sesame St sing-alongs, some Barney episodes, some Wiggles episodes, and a bunch of Yoga Kids DVDs - these are fabulous! Fun, geared right to the kids, DS loves doing these, or just sitting and watching them when he feels lazy LOL

Not sure if any of that helps - but know that you aren't alone in steering clear of Disney movies - DS begged us to see the Princess and the Frog and against our better judgement we took him - upset him to the point he had nightmares. Disney is on my Naughty List.

[Pinoikoi]

Back to the Future, his brothers faces start getting erased from photographs because the main character has changed history... I think that would be a creepy image for your kids.

[napless]

Thank you so much, everyone! All of your feedback is very helpful! I welcome more suggestions!

[elanorh]

I agree with naturegirl's TV suggestions. I would add:

Our girls love The Dog Whisperer (National Geographic Channel), and while Mythbusters is a real favorite of theirs, they also like Dirty Jobs (you might need to periodically screen what's on that show) - we watch a LOT of Food Network. Guaranteed no swearing there! They like Good Eats, Iron Chef, Food Network Challenges, and Ace of Cakes the best. But they'll also watch Giada, and for whatever reason dd2 loves Emeril (!?). Also, if you get the Science Channel, they will watch anything on that. They are both into dinosaurs, but all those shows about Hubble Telescope, or How the Earth was Made, are also big hits. Another show they like is "How It's Made," on the Science channel.

And now it sounds like that's all we do, watch TV.

Planet Earth is also popular with them (you need to supervise it, there are some scenes where animals are hunting each other - which might disturb a kid - we would just skip ahead when something like that was coming).

I think unfortunately it is very hard to find a children's movie which doesn't have separation/death as a feature (CARS might be the only one I can think of right now) -- Even Toy Story 1 and 2 have separation as themes. Maybe because it's such an elemental concern of young children, it figures in so many of the stories and movies we tell them??

[napless]

Has anyone seen Kung Fu Panda? We were given that as a gift, but haven't watched it yet.

[napless]

Oh, and has anyone recently seen Pete's Dragon? I seem to remember it as a nice gentle movie. Does it have separation from loved ones?

[mata]

The villian in Kung Fu Panda is a very scary snow leopard-and there's quite a bit of intense sparring, plus a death or two, I believe. My sensitive 5 yo dd had a hard time w/those scenes.

[TEAK's Mom]

Originally Posted by napless

Oh, and has anyone recently seen Pete's Dragon? I seem to remember it as a nice gentle movie. Does it have separation from loved ones?

Pete's Dragon is not all that gentle; still good, though. The opening musical number describes how badly Pete will be treated if the Grogans catch him. Pete is a homeless orphan. Nora's fiancee is lost at sea (although he does come back at the end). Pete is beaten by the school teacher. The dragon leaves at the end (to help another child).

[khanni]

I think Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium is a really gentle movie. However, there is the issue of Mr. Magorium preparing for his death, but I thought it was understated. But, your kids might be more sensitive to that.

What about something like Singin' in the Rain? I keep meaning to watch it with my kids. I haven't seen it in a while.

[vbactivist]

There is an old live action disney movie called "Charlie the lonesome Cougar". There is no death, or violence, just a silly cougar who is a sort of pet of a lumberjack.

I'm sorry for your loss

[napless]

Originally Posted by vbactivist

I'm sorry for your loss

Thank you.




I appreciate all these suggestions!

[ChocolateNummies]

If you like documentary type stuff then you might all enjoy Alone in the Wilderness. It's old and has been played on PBS numerous times but it's just so inspiring to see this guy move to the Alaskan wilderness and build his cabin by hand. The guy is bachelor in the 1960s so expect just a couple of light comments/jokes about women.

If you like learning survival skills, you can find lots of Ray Mears' stuff on youtube (of course you have to watch out for the comments posted on that site). His shows are all about surviving in the wild and learning and preserving the art and skills of bushcraft. He doesn't over dramatize his shows, they are very informative and thoughtfully produced. Some of his episodes do deal with the survival techniques of certain people in history such as the Bielski partisans or Rogers Rangers so you'll probably want to avoid those shows but many of the shows just discuss the knowledge/skills of indigenous peoples across the world.

Also, what about Winnie the Pooh shows or movies? The tv shows should be pretty benign and the movies are typically pretty gentle except usually someone is lost for a while.

We like The Little Horse That Could - a video field trip. Documentary-like and maybe geared for a little younger audience. Good for horse lovers especially.

We also enjoy nerdy science stuff on youtube about things like string theory and m theory and parallel universes. We find it fascinating.

[MaterBum]

Mary Poppins has no separation, no violence. Very gentle and sweet. We watch at least once month here.

We think Kung Fu Panda is too rough.

I'm sorry to hear about your loss.

[carmel23]

Totoro

Possibly Howl's Moving Castle (you might want to watch this first--it is a great film!)