Dis-Enchanted
A recent Disney film is now available on DVD. So, since we’ve instituted "family movie night", wherein we watch a movie together and eat dinner in the family room, and since it’s a Disney movie, a fairy tale, we figured we’d get it and watch it and have a pleasant evening.
It’s a fun movie! Really! See, there’s this princess locked away by a prince’s evil stepmother, who’s very Snow-White-esque, singing to all the birds and animals and daydreaming of her handsome prince. The prince hears her singing…he searches out the beauteous voice…he finds the princess…she’s swept off her feet…
And then the evil stepmother, trying to keep her away from the prince, dumps her into a wishing well that has, as it’s other end, New York City.
At which point, the movie turns from a cartoon into real life.
All well and good. Lots of hilarity ensues when this dewy-eyed innocent Disney princess tries to cope with real-life NYC.
She meets a man. She starts falling for the man. The prince and a henchman of the stepmother also go through the wishing well to rescue her/keep the prince from rescuing her…
And then the evil stepmother, deciding her henchman is worthless, jumps into NYC herself.
At which point, the dotter crawled up into my lap.
And then the witch, foiled in various connivings, busts loose with lots of flames and witchery and turns into a very well-done CGI dragon lizard thing, big and scaly and scary.
"Scary" being the operative word.
Really scary for a six-year-old who has only encountered scary stuff in The Wizard of Oz (which is banned from the house for a few years) and in cartoons. She’s quite the adept at the scary stuff in cartoons, because she’s well aware that it’s Not Real. But CGI that’s presented in a realistic way?
Really, really scary.
I spent quite a bit of time last night in the dotter’s bedroom before she fell asleep, having to explain how it was all Make Believe. How it was all done with computers. How it wasn’t a real dragon lizard thing, and the witch wasn’t a real witch, and it wasn’t real fire, and it was all pretend, and everything was okay.
I felt blindsided, frankly. I didn’t even think to research the movie beforehand–after all, it’s Disney, fer cryin’ out loud! A Disney children’s movie.
So: Make sure your kiddos aren’t quite as innocent about scary special effects as mine was before you show it to them.
posted in Family, OmegaDotter, Pop Culture | 7 Comments
