Cars: the movie - is it appropriate?

Hi all - I'm a TV idiot... my kids have seen the Little Bear and Dinosaur Train shows and that's the grand extent of their TV/movie experience. Their school wants to show Cars next week as an end of school treat and sent a note asking if that was ok.

So... is it ok? Have any of your three year olds seen it? Any themes that you didn't like, scary parts? Is this a decent choice for a first movie?

Thanks!

 

It's totally fine. My kids watched it well before they were 3. There is one tractor chase part, but it's pretty harmless. It's been one of our favorites for years.

 

I agree, it's totally fine. My kids also watched it before they were 3. It's a cute movie and all 3 kids love it.

 

Yep, it should be fine. My kids saw it when they were pretty young and enjoyed it.

 

Royce's favorite movie!! And has been for at least 6 months. There's really no scary parts to it, I love the tractor scene (but then again, I grew up in the country and it strikes REALLY close to home.)


And if you were to watch it, you'd probably enjoy it. It's one of the better storied Pixar movies.

 

Really good. Liam became obsessed with it at 2 years old and he still is (well, that one and Toy Story). He is speed. They will love it.

 

My 2 watch it at least once a week and LOVE it!

 

My girls LOVE LOVE LOVE Cars! I took it out of the library for them and ended up buying our own copy because they love it so much. They saw it for the first time last summer and they still love it and play "Lightling and bumper car." Its really cute and aside from the scene when Lightning falls out of Mac and Lightning's bad dream, there really aren't any scary parts.

 

My kids LOVE this movie and they are two years old. I personally don't think there are any parts of this that would scare three year olds, but if you want to preview it before they show it at school, I would suggest you rent it (or Netflix it) beforehand to make the choice yourself.

 

I will be the lone dissenter.

It was too scary for my DDs at 3 (and still is at 4). I also objected to some of the language (It does have the word Hillbilly H*LL) and states"for the love of chr*st can we ask for directions"...both language I dont want my kids listening to- espc at ages 3 & 4.

We have seen parts when we watched it once (I previewed it) and I fast forwarded/skipped scences too scary/poor languagel. I wish they could take some of the 'adult' humor out . I am suprised it is rated G to be honest. I have no problem with the movie and if they do want to watch it we can have a discussion on appropriate language and talk about some of the situations, but not at this age.

I am usually not super conservative, but my girls repeat A LOT of what they hear and listen to. So I screen things fairly well. I also have a DD that is sensitive to scariness and violence so I always pay attention to the levels in shows.

This website suggested it for ages 5+ for the language and scary scenes.

I like this site since it puts an 'age' for movies and lists the reasons (language, scary scenes, etc).

MediaCommonSense

The shows that we watch at home are Blues Clues, My little Pony (mostly sing alongs, about friendship), Kai Lan,Team UmiZoomi, Strawberry Shortcake (newer ones with no antagonists) etc. So all VERY G rated level stuff.

 

It's on repeat in the DVD player in the car. They love it!

 

I will join in the dissent. We watched it together just a couple of months ago (they just turned 3, I haven't updated their ticker yet) and there were elements that I didn't like. The language didn't bother me but I didn't like the race scenes and I didn't like the theme of fame and betrayal and just generally using people. I was on the edge of my seat with the race scenes. I think that kids these days become adrenaline junkies way too early and affects what they are interested in, what they have attention for and what speed they need things to go to keep their attention (at the expense of slower moving movies, books, schoolwork, etc.) That's one of the reasons they say no tv before they turn 2. I just thought those scenes were too suspenseful for them and it was interesting to me that those quickly became the scenes they wanted to see (we watched the movie over a few days so every time I started it again, they asked for the race scenes instead of starting again where they left off). Sometimes I read a book (like Franklin) or we watch a tv show (like ... can't think of it but I know one in particular that has this really bad for me) and they introduce the kids to the concepts of bullies and friends betraying each other and kids being mean to each other and teasing etc. The "bad guys" always get it in the end and learn their lesson etc but I don't think my kids really know that this behaviour exists and I really want to protect them from that (keep them innocent) for as long as possible. I can't stand the thought of my guys being in the world of mean kids and I know I can't stop it and kids have already been mean to them but it still upsets me. To me it's like exposing them to violence. I don't want them to see it as just another part of the world that is accepted by Mommy and in our home.

That's ole sensitive me but I'm not showing them Cars again until I know they've been good and ruined by outside influences that I have no control over (I'm joking, I don't think people are ruining their kids by showing them Cars).

 

My kids love the movie and ask to watch it all the time. We check it out from the Library about once a month. We took no exception to the language (they have probably heard worse from us on accident at home) or the message of the movie, but every parent has a different comfort level on what they will let their kids watch.

 

My kids saw it for the first time at 3.5 and were terrified by the first 10 minutes. Of course, with my kids, that would be true of nearly every movie. :laughing:

It's not violent or anything, but they couldn't handle the suspense when Lightning falls off his truck and gets lost in the middle of nowhere. It's also VERY loud, what with the auto racing and everything.

I've never watched the whole thing straight through, and I don't remember the racial issues others have mentioned. But the "humor" about hicks vs. sophisticates (some of which I found a little mean-spirited, although the "hicks" do win in the end) definitely went over their heads. And there was some sexual innuendo IIRC.

Anyway, I wouldn't mind my kids watching it if they actually liked it, but they didn't, and there were some things that didn't quite seem appropriate for 3yos IMO.

 

I'm not trying to start a debate about a Disney flick but really? How about how Lightening learns in the end what it really means to have friends that are everything to you? About how it meant more to have the King finish his last race then to win the Cup - respecting elders (such as Doc and The King) - while I agree that some of the things Lightening did in the beginning were less than stellar I thought the movie really showed how you want to treat people in the end...as for the Hillbilly Hell language - my kids have never repeated that part (amazingly enough)...I didn't recognize any sexual innuendo either except for the part where Mater drives away singing "Lightening and Sally sitting in the tree" and then stops because he can't spell k-i-s-s-i-n-g LOL...

Personally I thought it was a fun movie - and even more fun in HD/BluRay!

 

We have it, my girls are in to movies with animals in them so it is not one they went crazy over but I had no problems with it, neither did they!

 

It's their favorite movie... and as much as I love Disney movies, there are relatively few without "scary scenes" (ie: the dragon in Sleeping Beauty/Ursula in Little Mermaid/Parents dying in Bambi and Lion King/etc...) and this one really has nothing to be afraid of. THere is the tractor chase scene, which really sensitive kids might not like, but it's nothing compared to the others. My boys love it, and sadly, can quote quite a bit of it. :blush: