<p>Yeah, I know the movie is PG. And my hyper-alert D-in-law feels terrible that she did not consult more websites and such for that “guidance”. She really did not know, from the trailers we’d seen, what the plot was----and it was not the big scary things that upset our grandson. It was the fact that the “mommy was the bear” (which is what he kept saying over and over when he got upset). Actually, I was surprised that he understood that–you never know what a 3 year old “gets” and does not “get”. </p>
<p>I actually really enjoyed the plot of the movie and thought it was NOT cookie-cutter Disney at all. We did not see the 3-d version, but I thought the animation was stunning. The hair, particularly Merida’s was amazing. The “nudity” was hilarious—when the DVD comes out and we watch it with our grandson, I imagine that will be his favorite part. :)</p>
<p>I think the trailers pretty much telegraphed what was going to happen: Meridah disobeys mother+climatic conflict with a bear+3 cute kids+3 cute bear cubs=?
That said, if anyone has read Grimms Fairy Tales in the original translation, aka pre-Walt, then you are never shocked by what kids can be exposed to or handle.</p>
<p>churchmusicmom – there is a website that breaks down the contents of kids’ movies very clearly and helpfully. Maybe you can share it with your daughter-in-law for other movie selections.</p>
<p>My son (18 years old) and I had time to kill and we went to see Brave (anything is better than Adam Sandler). I have really enjoyed all of the Pixar films.</p>
<p>The animation is incredible. The details in the girl’s hair. The backgrounds would be hard to tell it was animation. In the end I think this is one of the weaker Pixar efforts. It is great for the kids, an exciting story. what I felt was missing was the sly humor directed towards the adults in the audience. While it was cute, the movie pales next to the Toy Story movies.</p>
<p>Wow … I think you guys can be a tough crowd. I just when to see Brave with my 15 and 21 year olds … and we really liked the movie … not thinking it is an all-time classic but very nice. My daughter thought the best part was that it ran very much against type as it was a mother-daughter adventure story without a prince charming/male coming to the rescue. The ending was cliche but what kid’s movie does not have a sappy cliche ending?</p>
<p>When my niece saw “Tangled”, she was very upset when the bad/mommy/witch fell out of the tower to her death. She couldn’t pick up on the subtlety that there was a right mother and a fake mother. She turned 5 in April so she was probably also 3 or 3 1/2 when Tangled came out. </p>
<p>It’s hard for parents because they want to all go as a family and not leave the little one behind but often animated movies are much more intense in their scariness than live action ones. There’s no “The Love Bug” equivalent being made today that you can bring little kids to.</p>