Brave - West Palm Beach,FL

We loved it, no issues here I think there are more questionable moments in some of the older "classics" than in this one. Personally, I enjoyed every min of it and so did hubby and son.

I haven't seen Brave but I know most fairy tales are very dark and scary. The Disney versions have traditionally been less graphic but frightening none the less, all the way back to Snow White. I grew up with these stories, and my kids did too. It was never reflective of real life for us, it was always make believe, fantasy, and the scary parts were what made it thrilling and exciting.
As a little girl I remember being scared out of my mind watching The Wizard of Oz (the witch! the monkeys!) but I couldn't wait until it came on again, every year at Thanksgiving :)

We really enjoyed it. my kids are 7 and 5 the only part my daughter got emotional at was at the end when merida(sp) was crying. I think the message was a good one, it represents what does happen in a lot of homes with the arguing and stuff and to realize that a parent or child can be changed or gone forever in a second is a great message. I think the princess and the frog was darker and scarier than brave. and that was rated G.

Well, my 6 year old girl (almost 7) loved it and opted to see it twice in a week (chose it over Madagascar 3 on the second round). I think she enjoyed it even more the second time, when she knew how things would work out and thus didn't feel scared at the fights.

I will say that the 4 year old boy of a friend of ours was scared several times and had to leave during the bear fight scenes, and the themes are probably not appropriate for that young a child. Would you have known that from the previews? Perhaps not.

The fight scenes were intense, yes. The topic of mother-daughter struggles is not pretty, and that's what the film is about. I think the filmmakers clearly showed that the way the daughter behaved towards her mother wasn't right--we weren't supposed to like how she talked to her mother, especially at the beginning. The movie seems to be about the daughter realizing she needs guidance from her mother and appreciating her (as well as about the mother realizing she needs to accept Merida as is). Maybe it particularly spoke to me because my daughter and I get into power struggles, and I identify with the issues in the film. I also LOVE that we finally have a princess film from Disney where she doesn't end up married--doesn't even WANT to get married yet. With all the media stuff which pushes girls to think they 'have' to have a boyfriend in order to be okay, it's nice to see something else.

Loved it. We found it humorous and exciting. What exactly did you have a lot of problems with?

It was rated PG. You shouldn't have taken a 4 and 6 year old. You don't get to be mad at Disney.

I really enjoyed it, and so did my 5yo daughter.

If you have a problem with it, it would be helpful to explain what that is in your post.

Yep, took my 3.5 year old daughter to see it last weekend. She loved it! She was a "little scared" (her words) for some parts, but overall, she really enjoyed it (as did dad & I).

To each his own, but I'm with the other moms who remind you to look back at the old Disney movies--moms dying, shooting, poisonous fruit, a young girl living with a bunch of men, "evil" stepmothers, and the new ones, too: princess & the frog was creepy to me (the voodoo guy "sold his soul" for powers!)!!
We don't shield our girl from the world, but I try to avoid most violent news (rapes, murders, etc). But, she knows what a car accident is and that she has to be careful playing outside because there are bad people in the world...

I guess it's just up to each mama/dad to do what they think is best for their kid(s).

We loved it. The entire family went on 4 July.

Why didn't you like it?

ETA:

It's rated PG. If you are concerned with those kinds of things, you should read the reviews on movies here before you go so you're not disappointed: http://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/brave

ETA2: You know, I was sitting here reading responses and thinking "what's so wrong with kids getting a little scared? Are parents too wussy to teach their kids the difference between real fears and imagined fears?" Just something to think on.

I saw it and thought it was great. I was thrilled that the mom didn't die! Seems like all Disney movies mom dies!!

This was PG and yes, it was dark but again that is why it was PG. Just because it was an animation doesn't mean that it was appropriate for little ones.

Having seen that Commensensemedia put Brave at an 8-9 year old range, I decided not to take my 4 year old. I was afraid it would be too dark for her.

I personally can't wait to see it!

The devil bear was a bit much for my daughter, 5 soon 6, and the fight between mom and him got her over onto my lap. Which was good because I was able to talk to her and comfort her. But all in all she enjoyed it, she even understood the plot.

Each child is different. You know your kids best. Mine actually likes dark and spooky sometimes.

I was cautioned by a friend that while they felt it was an overall good movie, it was likely not a movie for DD to see at this time, as she doesn't even like it when one of the Backyardigans is a bad guy. She got quite upset in Up when Muntz caught the bird. So we will hold off on Brave. I think that ratings are so hit and miss that unless I or someone I know well has seen the movie, I am not going to take her to the theater to see it, even if it was G (which Bambi is and the mother gets shot - someone at Disney has a problem with mothers, IMO).

We took our daughter a couple of weeks ago - she turns 5 next month. I prepped her some beforehand, let her know there were some scary parts involving bears, a witch, etc. but that, like all Disney movies with scary parts and scary people, everything turns out ok and there is a happy ending. She still wanted to see it and afterwards told me that she didn't think it was that scary at all - "It's just a movie Mommy - it's not real!" And this is the kid that doesn't like Ursula the sea witch from The Little Mermaid and doesn't like seeing Nemo get flushed down the toilet.

Personally, I thought it was terrific and we all really enjoyed it. I especially appreciated that Merida and her mother were able to "meet in the middle" and learn to understand and appreciate each other better, while Merida wasn't just looking to get married, or win the guy, or even fall in love at all. As for the dark scary parts, that's what makes movies exciting - life isn't just rainbows and lollipops, and those kinds of movies and shows make me want to gouge my eyes out with a spoon. I would rather have my kid watch Brave than any of the Chipmunk movies or the newer versions of Yogi Bear and Scooby Doo.

I don't take my kids to any movie I haven't educated myself about. My favorite site is CommonSenseMedia.org. They tell detail about character attitudes and conflict, scary scenes, etc.

Brave is said to be best suited for kids 7 or older, with many parents chiming in rating it for ages 9 or higher.

Disney, Pixar, etc don't set the movie ratings. That is done by Motion Picture Association of America, and ratings are not standardized. The rating does not tell you what you need to know about appropriateness for your own kids.

PG means Parental Guidance, which means you need to know what you're getting into before you go.

My friend and her husband went together on a date night, and I asked her to watch it with the question of whether or not it would be appropriate for my 5 yr old. They both agreed it was far too scary, and much better suited for 8-10 yr olds, minimum.

We will not be seeing it in the theater. When it comes to RedBox, I will rent it eventually, and make the call myself if/when my kids will see it.

ETA: While it is true that Disney/Pixar don't set the ratings for their own movies, they DO determine the target market through their advertising and merchandising. Clearly, they are envisioning older preschoolers and young school age children will be the target market.

My 6 year old LOVED this movie, but my 4 year old not so much. She got bored after thr first hour.

My kids are huge fans of AMC's Walking Dead, so I don't imagine they will be too upset by Brave.

We recently took my 3 and 4.5 year old to see this. They liked it, were a little scared of the bears (fight scenes), but it didn't seem to impact them. I was actually quite surprised they stuck through it as well as they did. I thought it dragged a bit until about half way through. Definitely for a more grown up audience. We saw The Lorax a few days after and my kids liked it way better.
HTH,
A.

Okay, well first of all I think it's totally fine for individuals to decide what their kids can watch. We are fairly liberal with what our kids watch and listen to and I see nothing wrong with a PG movie for a 4 and 6 year old. So ignore comments along those lines, they are just unnecessary. If it was rated R, it'd be another conversation.

My mom and 9 year old saw it and they both thought it was weird, for the same reasons you have in your SWH. My 5 year old was freaked out by the previews for it when we saw Madagascar 3. My 7 year old didn't seem too interested in it, so he stayed back with the sitter too.

I definitely think Disney and Pixar gooned this one up and did not live up to their typical standards. They do make kids movies, and I think they should have stuck to that kind of story line. Turning the mom into a bear and having the bear (aka mom) hunted is a horrible thing to show to kids.

I think Rango is the worst ever made kid movie, and Brave is just a step above it. I didn't like it for the same reasons you listed. My kids thought it was ok, but they are older, 12 and 9. But even my 9 yo thought it was a little scary, but he's our sensitive one. The only other person I know that thought the same as us was our pastors wife, but I expected that. =)

My sons (8 & 9), DH & I all went to see it together. We all enjoyed it. I didn't think it was that scary or dark. Someone mentioned Tangled and I think that had darker stuff and scarier moments. As for blaming anyone for ratings or marketing, that's just silly. We're the parents and we determine what our children watch. Know what the movies are about ahead of time and know what each child can handle. If the movie is a no go it's okay to say no to the kiddos. They'll survive if they don't see it.

To the Snow White commenter, I can't believe anyone would just assume that was a kid movie. All anyone had to do was watch the preview and they'd know it was absolutely NOT for little kids. CommonSenseMedia.org is an excellent site for guidance if one is not sure about a show/movie/cd/etc. Ratings are quite subjective and what one person is fine with another is not. I'm sorry y'all didn't like the movie, but it's okay you didn't. There is lots of movies people love that I can't stand. It's the way of the world. :-D

My 11-year-old girl loved it and I enjoyed it too. But she totally agreed that it is not for younger children at all. I'm amazed at moms posting that their young kids (3, 4, 5, even 6 or 7) were fine with it -- I thought it much too intense for kids that young, too violent and scary, and otherwise, well, boring for the younger set who would not "get" the whole serious mother-daughter problem. We liked it but it's definitely a dark fairy tale despite cutesy touches like the triplet brothers. Frankly the bears and the bear fighting scenes would be terrifying to many children, I would think.

This is a case of the makers -- and I'm blaming Disney here, not really Pixar -- marketing an animated film to young kids when the actual content on the screen is not for them. But they're out to get little kids to fill those expensive theatre seats. And parents do not pay enough attention either to ratings or to reviews of films. The mom of one of my daughter's friends wanted to take them to see "Snow White and The Huntsman," and had no idea that it was PG-13 and is a very violent, adult version of the original tale where Snow White is being hunted. I wonder how many kids were taken to see that movie and were petrified? (I told her my kid can't see PG-13 movies yet and she was glad to know that that was the rating--she was just going by the fact it was about Snow White.)

Regarding "Brave," I do wish the plot had somehow shown Merida being more resourceful and creative somehow to solve their problems. She definitely was brave and determined, but I didn't see a lot of smarts there to go with it, honestly.

I took my 5 y/o and also my 7 y/o niece. I'm glad I did not take my 2 y/o because it would have been way too scary for her. My 5 y/o was actually really scared but I didn't know till the end when it all resolved and she started crying from all her pent up emotion. She claims she will never watch it again. My niece was totally into it though. She loved it. Personally, I didn't think it was their best (Disney Pixar) but I thought it was different and a cool storyline and I appreciated that. I actually really enjoyed the mother/daughter relationship aspect of the movie.
I did think there was a little too much "boy humor" thrown in there... like they are trying way too hard to get the boys to come to the princess movies,... it's a princess movie, just work with that you know?
Overall I really enjoyed it and thought it was a decent movie to add to whole princess repertoire.