Monday, February 20, 2012

Minnie Moms: The Best and Worst Disney Movies & Shows to Watch with your Kids



Amy:  I asked our Minnie Moms to tell us which Disney movie or TV show is their favorite to watch with their kiddos.  And since not everything Disney makes appeals to us all, which movie or show sends them running from the room and plotting to hide the DVD.

Tink's favorite Disney movies are currently Sleeping Beauty, Cars 2 and Peter Pan but the movie we have watched over and over together is my personal favorite, Mary Poppins.  We love the music; me in a nerdy "I heart the Sherman brothers and no one outdoes Julie Andrews" kinda way and her in a "this is fun" kinda way.  I also love the London setting. I lived there for a semester in college but I fell in love with the history of England in elementary school.  (My collection of Queen Elizabeth coronation mugs and plates is second only to my Disney collection.)  I love that Mary Poppins helps the family realize what is really important...each other.  Tink loves the penguins and merry-go-round horses.

We haven't had cable in years, other than the brief time when we first moved to North Carolina last year.  At the rental house, Tink got to watch Disney Junior.  She's seen the shows before at Granny's house and at Walt Disney World.  We also have a bunch of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse DVDs and a few shows on our i-devices.  I'm cool with Mickey, Jake and Manny.  However, Special Agent Oso is just painful to watch.  I can't believe Winnie the Pooh got the boot for Oso.  He can't do anything right and the three special steps are usually quite a stretch.

And two movies my girls will never see if I have my way are The Rescuers and Pete's Dragon.  Both scared the heck out of me as a child and I have absolutely no desire to see them again or allow them in my home.  The only good thing about Pete's Dragon is the float in the Main Street Electrical Parade.


Natalie:  This month we are discussing the Disney movies we most love and dislike. I began to think through all of the Disney movies I have seen. What I quickly found was that the list of the Disney movies I have not seen is MUCH longer than the list of the ones I HAVE seen! After realizing this, I decided to
head out to my local library to start watching all of those Disney classics I have missed out on seeing.  Remember, the library is always a great way to get movies and books for free!

So, per my research, I find that my son and I most love watching the classic, Beauty and the Beast. My son loves the movie for the humor and the drama. He enjoys singing along with the songs and performing as though he is the beast. I love this movie for the voice of Paige O'Hara which pulls me in, makes me impatiently await her singing her beautiful songs. I loved the music right from the start when I saw this movie in high school. In fact, I remember listening to the tape of the soundtrack in my car, switching back
and forth between this tape and a few by Metallica! Last year, my son and I were so excited to hear Paige O'Hara perform one of the songs from the movie onstage at the D23 Expo in Anaheim, CA. It was an honor to be in her presence for both of us!

As for the movie I most dislike... there are 2 that come to mind. The first one is Bambi. I know. It IS adorable. However, it is dramatically too slow for both myself and my son. We actually stopped the movie and did not finish it when we rented it. My second movie I do not like is Fantasia.  Again, this movie is too slow for my liking. However, this one is one of my son's favorites as it introduced us to Sorcerer Mickey!

He and I will continue our quest for our newest loves and hates by way of library rentals! If you are looking for a great way to spend time with your kids, have them learn a few lessons about life in a safe, entertaining way, head on over to your library to rent a few Disney movies!


Nine:  This is a really tough one for me! There are so many films and TV shows we enjoy watching that it's hard to chose. I guess our favourite movies are Beauty and the Beast (Belle is my all time top princess and so far Tink thinks so too) as she loves the music and her Mrs Potts tea-set and Fantasia as we both adore Mickey (The Sorcerers Apprentice is my all time best Mickey short) and each piece is just enough to keep her attention.

We also love the Christmas and Halloween films, Mickeys Twice Upon a Christmas being a winner so far.

Regarding TV it has to be Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Nuff said.

As for hate ... I don't love Lilo and Stitch, as Stitch is quite annoying but I don't hate it.  I do find some of the made for TV sequels a bit unnecessary though.  I'm going to be really boring and say that, at the moment, I just don't hate watching any of the Disney films or shows.  Even Oso ;-)  Remind me of this when I've seen my 1000th episode ...


Beth:  My Favorite Family Movie with the Kids
I have to admit this is one of the hardest Disney questions I have had to answer, which I was really surprised about! I love watching Disney movies with my children, and we have a family movie night once a week in the winter and about every other week in the summer. It is a great way to enjoy those special Disney moments, but also to listen to my children's questions and even realize how they perceive different characters and story lines. I really had no idea how to approach this topic: Do I choose Princess and the Frog because every time we watch it, Emily sings along to every song, especially the "Shadow Man Song" as she calls it? Or do I go with a Toy Story movie because every time we watch Toy Story, the kids gather up their Woody, Buzz, Wheezy, Ham, Mr. Pricklepants, Barbie, Jessie and Ken to watch the movie with us? In the end, I went with the one movie that creates the greatest sound in the world. All three of my kids laughing, and I mean the real true belly laughs, all at the same time. Because of that, I had to go with Tangled.

Tangled is by far the one movie that all three of my children love. They love the movie, they love the soundtrack, which they listen to everyday and can sing every song. They even act out the movie while listening! The characters are very endearing, even beyond just Rapunzel and Flynn, but also Pascal and Maximus. The part of the movie that gets all three of my kids laughing so hard that at least one of them usually ends up with the hiccups is the scene where Maximus and Flynn are fighting over the satchel and it goes over the edge of the cliff. There is just something about this scene that tickles the funny bones of all three of my children. As soon as I hear them laugh like that, and all together, it just melts my heart and it makes me truly appreciate how blessed I am to have three children that are so special.


Corby:  I will admit, I'm not a big movie or television watcher and therefore my 7 year old isn't really either. I had to really stop and think about the Disney movies we've watched for this topic. I'm not usually one to watch the same movie over and over except I do have a couple of Disney favorites. And when I say favorites, I mean, I like them more than my son does. When he says he wants to watch a DVD, these are the ones I “encourage” him to watch, for my own selfish reasons, of course.

First of all, I love all the Toy Story movies. My personal favorite of the series though is Toy Story 2. I love that movie! I will confess, I get teary each time I hear, “When Somebody Loved Me.” As a matter a fact, I'm getting teary now just thinking about it so we will move on. And speaking of moving on...my absolute favorite Disney movie which may be a little random is Meet the Robinsons! I don't remember hearing a lot about this movie but that might have been because my son was 3 when it came out. We came across it one beach trip and I fell in love with it. I truly love the inspiring message in the movie, “Keep Moving Forward”. I find it to be uplifting and motivating as an adult and it's a children's movie for goodness sakes. I wish more movies would have such a positive message to children. No matter what happens in your life, Keep Moving Forward. So simple yet so profound. I also love the Walt Disney quote at the end of the movie. What a great tribute.

I've always been fond of the Disney Jr shows but sadly, my son is starting to outgrown them and move on to the tween shows on the Disney channel. The Suite Life, Jessie and Good Luck Charlie are what he is now prefers to watch and I happen to find them extremely annoying. I try to turn them off as soon as I see one come on but sometimes, he'll sneak one in on me. The laugh track is like nails on a chalkboard to me. I'm not ready for him to witness the smart mouthed characters and all the boy/girl crazy comments. There will be plenty of time for that in the years ahead I'm sure. I'd like to keep him as innocent as possible while I can. I'm sure my days are numbered. Seeing what lies ahead makes me treasure my days of watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Jake and the Neverland Pirates with our little one while I can.


What are your favorite shows or movies to watch with your kids?  Which ones make you head for the hills?

Thanks to Natalie, Janine, Beth and Corby for joining me today.  Please visit the Minnie Moms page for past articles and more information about these fabulous ladies. 
~~Amy


Images in this article are DVD cover art and property of Disney.

4 comments:

  1. I watch my nieces during the week, so we spend a lot of time watching Disney movies and the Disney channel. I, without a doubt, cannot stand Fish Hooks. The animation creeps me out sometimes, reminds me of Ren and Stimpy when I was younger. Jake on Disney Junior is by far the favorite show for my oldest niece.
    As far as movies are concerned, I personally love The Little Mermaid, and my niece likes it too. She really doesn't turn down any movie. She really likes Howl's Moving Castle. That is a good movie, but it's long, and she always wants to play it again afterward. Haha

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  2. Tangled!!! How could I forget about Tangled!? I LOVE that movie too! :)

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  3. Meet the Robinsons is another one of our favorites too. Such a great message!

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  4. Beth- so glad you just mentioned Meet the Robinsons. It's so overlooked, but we LOVE it. Little one hasn't seen t yet, but we own it, so she will when she's old enough to sit through an actual movie.

    Since Anna is only 16 months, we haven't really tried to watch anything "full-length" yet, but that girl L-O-V-E LOVES Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. We didn't watch TV with her for almost the first year, but MMCH makes it worth the wait. She lights up and dances around and enthusiastically says "yeah!" when Mickey asks if we want to go to his clubhouse!

    Her first Disney movie will likely be Alice in Wonderland because, well, it's my favorite! :)

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