Movies for kids? Ask a kindergarten teacher

Watch out for scary movies
Six years old is a little young to appreciate romance, but it’s definitely not too young for things to get scary.

“We even watched a filmed version of Mozart’s ‘Magic Flute’ and they were scared,” says Brooke, “because the mean queen was coming after the prince. When someone’s being chased, they get a little worried. I mean, they were watching a (science film) about sea turtles today and they started to cry.  My kids are going to have nightmares tonight ... about sea turtles.”        

Kids can also be the ultimate critics — they’re not afraid to offend anyone by saying a movie stinks. “If I’m showing something older, like for instance, ‘Beauty and the Beast,’ they’ll say, ‘Oh, that’s too girlie.’ ”

She also showed them “Aladdin,” which got a few “that’s boring” comments from the kids. As for movies they have liked, she definitely counts “The Land Before Time” and its straight-to-video sequels as favorites. Don Bluth directed the first film and is responsible for some other kids’ classics, such as “An American Tail” and “The Secret of NIMH.”

Warner Bros. Need a movie that's a bit off the beaten path for your youngsters? Try "Duma."

She also recommends “Duma,” a live-action film from 2005 about an orphaned cheetah. It’s from director Carroll Ballard, who also made the excellent films “The Black Stallion,” “Never Cry Wolf” and “Fly Away Home.”

“The kids were fascinated with this movie,” she says of “Duma.”           

If she had second graders, she would show them “King of Masks,” which is a Chinese film about an orphan boy who’s adopted by an old man who shows him the art of making theater masks.  “It was a surprising movie for kids, which wasn’t really marketed for kids,” she says. “It was fun to watch the man change this little boy’s life. And have him appreciate his craft. And all the masks were fun and the dancing was fun.”

She thinks about showing it to the kindergartners, but worries it wouldn’t hold their short attention spans long. “I’ve been at the movies with them,” she explains. “They don’t even sit at the movie theater. They constantly talk. They stand up. It’s hard to take a child to the movies.”

‘It was an event to go to the movies’
Of course, it was no different when we were kids. “It was an event to go to the movies,” Brooke recalls. “You’d go in and everyone would be locked in the theater. Crazy, screaming kids, I can still picture it.” Her favorite movies from that era include the “H.R. Pufnstuf” movie, “Escape to Witch Mountain,” “Bedknobs and Broomsticks,” “The Shaggy D.A.” and any “Herbie the Love Bug”-related film.

“Anything Disney-based that was live action like that, I loved,” she says. “Everything that grandma would take us to go see.”

Of course, we didn’t have the multitude of animated movies that the kids have now. Brooke thinks there aren’t enough animated films directed at boys, thus their love for live action movies such as “Pirates” and the upcoming “Transformers” film, which they are all eager to see.

“If they had a movie about Yugioh, the boys would be so happy,” Brooke says. “They had a Pokemon movie, but Pokemon is out. Yugioh is the one to do. That should be the next one.” 

For now, school’s out, but next year you can be sure that there will be kids coming to class obsessed with the latest movie. Some will even dress up on days that are not Oct. 31.

“Having a couple kids come to class as Jack Sparrow was strange to me,” Brooke says. “Oh, and I had a couple of kids show up as Darth Vader.”

Just a day in the life of a kindergarten teacher.

Paige Newman remembers going to the movies with her sister and grandma — who would pop her own popcorn, bring water in old Milk of Magnesia bottles, and sneak it all into the theater in her oversized purse.

MORE FROM MOVIE OPINIONS

Oscar season nears, but where’s the buzz?

Oscar season nears, but where’s the buzz? Hollywood’s vampire obsession may bleed out Does ‘Precious’ stereotype big black women? Newsweek: The problem with ‘Precious’ When it comes to stardom, Clooney has smarts ‘Saw’ franchise creates buzz, but is it any good? Remembering concert documentaries that rock theGrio: ‘This Is It’ a final act fit for a king Best actress category looks slim for Oscars theGrio: Tyler Perry can’t do bad all by himself   Add Movie opinions headlines to your news reader: