Kids are not Stupid (or, Thank God for Pixar)

In a world, where potty humor seems to dominate the kids flick world, it’s nice to have Pixar.  Yesterday we went to see Pixar’s latest, Up.  Much has been written about this movie so I don’t really feel the need to review it here except to say, go see the movie and make sure you bring some tissues with you.

I am most grateful for the Pixar studios attitude towards film making.  It doesn’t seem as though they are out to make blockbuster kid flicks, even though I know that is probably the ultimate goal of certain movie ventures.  Their goal, it seems to me, is to tell a good story.  And they do, again and again.

The the thing about a good story is that it appeals to everyone.  You don’t even need a lot of dialogue a la Wall-E, which my David loves.  The cartoon preview before Up has no dialogue but it’s still a good story and quite humorous.  A good story has a definitive beginning, middle and end as opposed to a long string of potty humor gags and chases.  And these stories do appeal to children.  Children don’t have to be the crass little beings it seems that a lot of kid flick companies seem to see them as.  No, maybe they won’t understand the bigger themes in certain movies, but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t  be given a good story.  Ana and David could, 5 years from now watch the Up again and derive meaning greater than the sum of the parts of the story.  And that’s the other part of good story telling, each time you re-visit the story, you find something different, something else to take to heart.

As a parent, it was nice to actually be able to ask a question last night about the movie, “What did you learn from Up?”  Ana and David weren’t up to that kind of discussion, of course.  But Jim and I had a brief conversation about what we could take a way from the movie.  Hopefully, hopefully, they will learn not to take everything, including movies, at face value. 

I’m not sure I could have such a discussion about a Madagascar movie.

Thank you Pixar!!

Comments

[Elizabeth]

I'm glad you all enjoyed it.
I will wait patiently for it to get to us now :-)

[Laura]

Oh...I hope it doesn't wait too long to get to the other side of the Pond!! You will love it!