GOOD movies for 4 and 2 year olds

[writteninkursive]

So my mom has this nasty habit of buying my two daughters, ages 4 and 2, all these ridiculous Disney movies and stuff. I hate the messages they send across ("you're nothing without a man", pretty consistently) and I want to get my kids some GOOD movies. They love having movie time, but we've been watching 'Jungle Book' over and over again since I have no idea what good ones are out there. I found one on Ebay called 'Harold and the Purple Crayon' that looks amazing.

Does anyone have any movies with good messages for kids this age, that aren't live action (because my kids won't watch anything live action yet)?

Thanks in advance!

[naismama]

My 4yo and 2yo liked the 3 Curious George movies. They also loved Wall-E. I know you are not a fan of the Disney stuff--I'm not either--but my kids saw and loved Aladdin. We skipped scary parts, but they mostly fixated on the music and the silly stuff like the genie, the magic carpet, and the bad guy calling Aladdin "prince Ah-boo boo."

[kavamamakava]

The Seventh Brother - about a puppy who gets separated from its humans and adopted by a rabbit family

The Swan Princess - it's based on Swan Lake and is kind of a fairy tale but my kids loooove it.

Tinkerbell - these are Disney movies but they are about fairies, not romance. Maybe watch some of the shorts at disney.com and see if you like them?

Fern Gully - kind of old but it's about fairies trying to save their forest when loggers are cutting down trees. Lots of famous actors do the voices

Kiki's Delivery Service - Kiki is a young "witch" who starts up a delivery service because she can fly around on her broom (dubbed by Disney but from Japan)
Other Miyazaki films are Ponyo and Spirited Away

[zinemama]

Kiki's Delivery Service and Ponyo.

[ShadowMoon]

WALL-E was my son's favorite movie for a long time and still is. It's Disney/Pixar but has a positive environmental message.

[Daffodil]

Yep, Kiki's Delivery Service. Also My Neighbor Totoro. All the Miyazaki movies are great, but those two are probably the most appropriate for really young kids. Ponyo is also pretty mild, but could scare some kids.

[meemee]

NO NOT spirited away. Thats REALLY scary for young kids. fabulous movie they will enjoy later. but def. not for a 2 or even a 4 year old.

[Slaydensmom]

Harold and the Purple Crayon HBO series is great! There are about 12 episodes that are all about 25 minutes each. My 4 yr. old son loves Harold. He also loves WALL-E. If you don't already have Milo & Otis, that is another good one about a cat and a dog that are friends and their adventures.
Otherwise, he watches alot of Curious George DVDs(the PBS series) and Mighty Machines.
Also for shorts...Pocoyo is really cute. And we love Charlie & Lola(Nickeloden).

[kevinsgirl]

I know you said they don't watch live action yet, but have you tried classic musicals like Mary Poppins, Sound of Music, Annie? My girls love those--and when my DD#2 wasn't even 2 yet, she'd be belting out the tunes to those. Something about good music makes it different for them.

They also like Pippi Longstocking, 1988.

[bri276]

My DD likes the Ice Age movies, Madagascar, Elmo in Grouchland, Follow that Bird (Big Bird), and she loved the Clifford movie.

She's so not a Disney girl. I actually don't have any problem with her watching the princess movies but she couldn't be less interested in them.

[zinemama]

I second the classic musicals. Really, you can't go wrong with Singin' in the Rain.

[Peony]

Originally Posted by kevinsgirl

I know you said they don't watch live action yet, but have you tried classic musicals like Mary Poppins, Sound of Music, Annie? My girls love those--and when my DD#2 wasn't even 2 yet, she'd be belting out the tunes to those. Something about good music makes it different for them.

They also like Pippi Longstocking, 1988.

Totally. Last summer, my then 2 year was obsessed with musicals, especially Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

[One_Girl]

Strawberry Shortcake, Dora, Curious George, and Winnie the Pooh were some of my dd's favorites. I also like some of the Barbie movies because the girl characters are strong (though still Barbie shaped) and most of the time they have adventures but don't get married, sometimes they save the boy or work with him and then get married.

[Girlprof]

We also love classic musicals and classic movies in general. Check out Ty Burr's book on movies to watch with your family - this is a really fun read and has a lot of great ideas. Also, our 2 year old is a big fan of Richard Scarry's Busytown stuff and our 6 year old is not at all bored by it. Winnie the Pooh and Little Bear are also big hits. Maybe Angelina shorts? But really - Ty Burr is the best I've read about watching GOOD movies with your kids and he's got girls.

[meemee]

Originally Posted by Peony

Totally. Last summer, my then 2 year was obsessed with musicals, especially Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

wow really. even at 3 my dd freaked out with chitty chitty bang bang. she enjoyed the first part. but the moment the second part started she freaked otu and we stopped watching.

we did a lot of the dog movies. she loved them. benji was a particular favourite.

clifford the big red dog was a good one too. she still does at 7 1/2.

[tinyblackdot]

curious george, charlottes web, milo and otis, babe, land before time, iron giant, wall-e, tigger movie, winnie the pooh, fraggle rock

[kavamamakava]

I just remembered the most adorable series. Little Bear.

[sunshadow]

Ok so, my daughter, 3 on Friday, loves anything dogs so I am often picking up dvd's from the library on dog breeds and dog training. There are some cute puppy dvd's for kids. My daughter loves "Puppy plays the classics" and "Puppy town". She also likes the scholastic dvd's. Not really "Movies".

I haven't had much luck with feature length movies since everything scares her it seems and every movie has to throw in some paralysis scene. Some that she has enjoyed are "Moondance Alexander" about a girl and a horse, she also loves horses, Little bear the movie, Fox and the hound part 2, and and... well that's about it. Everything else we have tried to show her she wants to skip through because it's scary. We made the mistake of watching Milo and Ottis last weekend. That movie is terrible!!! She really didn't mind it except for the cat falling off the cliff, but I was horrified!

[Wittyone]

Little Bear series, Franklin series (cute turtle and his forest friends), Wall-E here too. My just turned 4 is really into old Pink Panther cartoons we found on hulu.com but not sure they'd be good for the 2 yo. Other movies he's liked for a couple of years are Milo and Otis, and Diego (Dora is way too insipid for me but I like Diego). We LOVE Kipper - very gentle and sweet. We also like Pixar stuff - Cars, Ratatouille, Finding Nemo but watch with them and be prepared to skip ahead as each of those have a scene or two that was scary at 2. We got a Charlie and Lola dvd at the library the other day, ds and I liked it, dh thought it was weird. My son is also ADORES the Magic School Bus series, books and videos.

[Luckyl8dybug]

My Kids are the exact same age. I have a boy 4 and girl almost 2. When we have movie night with our 4 year old (and soon when our daughter turns 2), we use http://www.commonsensemedia.org It is a great site that gives ratings on most movies tv video games and book. It has detailed brakedown and grading of each type of media. Keep in mind that a 2/4 year old has no way to determine if something is real or fake. They do not gain that skill 'till about 7 years old. So if you want to keep monsters out of the closet and nightmares at bay, I think the site gives a great guide to help finding the right movie. Some of our favorites at a young age are Elmo in grouch land, Winnie the pooh There are some Pooh movies that have scary moments so read the review, but most are good for the young ones, Toy story 2, Milo and Otis(skip the birth scene), Blue's big music show... Check out the site. You will find something you like there. :)