Too Scary or Too Soft?

The Hoos has been complaining about the nightly viewings of Tinkerbell. I saved it to the DVR a couple of months ago and it has become required viewing as part of the bedtime ritual. LP still loves it.

Fortuitously, I received a copy of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in the mail Monday. I was stoked for some new entertainment. I couldn't wait to tell LP when I picked her up from school. I also thought it would be good to show her that Snow White was more than just one of the princesses on her Pull-Ups or a type of Barbie. We watched a few minutes during dinner, but LP requested that I turn it off right around the time that the Hunter considered killing Snow White as per the Queen's demands.

When we put the movie on again before bed (at LP's request), I skipped ahead to Snow White's first encounter with all of the lovely little animals in the woods. From there on LP was transfixed. When I returned to the living room after putting AK to sleep, LP caught me up, "The little men think it is their house, but it is Snow White's house! And they didn't want to wash their hands!" We had to promise we would watch more of the movie tomorrow in order to get her to bed. Of course, we haven't gotten to the part where the evil queen shows up disguised as a crone bearing an apple. I am a little concerned at how LP will react to that scene, but I think (hope?) a lot of the scary parts go over her head.

Admittedly, it has been a while since I watched Snow White. And it is kind of scary. Back in the day (it came out in 1937) I have to imagine that kids were so excited to see a movie that they were more willing to tolerate parts that were frightening. Or, maybe they were made of tougher stuff. Also, the art of movie-making has changed. Nowadays it is all about action and capturing a kid's attention for the duration of the film. Snow White tells the story at a more measured pace.

So, what do you think? Were kids better equipped to handle scary stories back in the day? A friend recently commented on some characters in Dumbo being less than pleasant and we all know how things worked out for Bambi's mom...

By the way, the art of animation has come a long way in the last seven decades! While the DVD pack I got comes with both DVD and Blu-Ray versions of the movie, we don't have Blu-Ray (which apparently is quite high-def and awesome - in addition to being kid proof; key since LP inserted our DVD and it skipped because she smeared cheese on it), although I can't really see how any high-definition would actually improve the quality, since the original movie animation doesn't have a lot of detail. Snow White doesn't really have a chin and is sort of blobby. Then again, maybe the scary parts are more palatable because Snow White doesn't look realistic - the way characters in more modern animated films might.

Check it out for yourself (the DVD/Blu-Ray pack comes out today) and let me know what you think - too scary for a three-year old? Or do you have any memories to share of being frightened by a seemingly benign Disney classic?

As I am sure you are well aware, the DVD did not magically arrive at my home - it was sent to me by One2OneMarketing to review.