What Disney Movies to Introduce a Toddler to?

[scrappinginontario]

My DD will be 3 next week and I'm interested in finding out some of the Disney movies that others use that are not too scary for young children. Many (Beauty and the Beast, Snow White, Bambi, etc.) have frightening parts in them so I'm choosing to wait until she's a couple of years older before introducing those to her.

'Up' was recommended (I haven't seen that one yet) and she enjoys 'Mary Poppins'. What others do you recommend to gently ease her into the wonderful world of Disney movies?

 

[Maggie'sMom]

Winnie the Pooh is always a good one for little ones. Cinderella isn't too scart. That was the first Disney princess movie my DD saw and she was 2.5yo at the time.

You are right that so many of the movies have scary parts. My DD8 still doesn't like Sleeping Beauty and Snow White scared her at first. Luckily she's over that now.

 

[4HppyCamprs]

I agree with Winnie the pooh. Almost all Disney movies have some really dark parts. That said most little kids do not even notice the scary parts. It is part of the way that kids process. I loved "The black cauldron" when I was little all I remembered was Gurgi the cute little guy. I bought it recently and the Horned King was SCARY! anyways be prepared that there is darkness (ie scary) parts to all Disney movies.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Thanks for your help!

My mom is buying her a Winnie the Pooh DVD for her birthday and I know she'll be excited as she enjoys the 'shorts' that they play on Disney Junior.

Any other suggestions?

 

[deserrai]

Finding Nemo was the first one my 2 year old fell in love with. Her other favorites are Toy Story (all 3), Cars, Monsters, Inc., Cinderella and Beauty & the Beast.

 

[Curiouser&curiouser!]

We have let our DS2 watch all of the Disney Movies that we own and he hasn't had a problem with any of the scarey parts yet.

However, if you want to avoid the scarey ones: We found some classic Mickey and the Gang shorts called Have a Laugh. Our DS absolutely loves those! They definitely helped him get familiar with the gang in something other than Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

And you might want to consider Monsters Inc. Though there are a few scarier parts, we have found that one is helpful when he is worried about the closet or under the bed- It's just his friends Sully or Mike Wazowski!

 

[ktlm]

DD was sensitive at that age. She loved Cinderella, Cinderella II, and Peter Pan. She wasn't a big Nemo fan, but if you fast forward through the first few minutes, that is fine for the little ones too. Cars is fine, but DD never cared for that much either. Toy Story is okay (3 is a bit scary), but again it was never one of DD's favorites. Aristocats, 101 Dalmatians, and Lady and the Tramp are decent ones for that age. She loved Aladdin at that age, but we had to fast forward through some chunks of it at the beginning and end with Jafar. By 3 1/2, I think we were pretty much watching most of them, but the fast forward button was in use quite a bit for the scary parts (at DD's request/demand). She really liked Pooh at age 1 and 2, but by age 3, she had already kind of outgrown Pooh (as much as anyone ever outgrows Pooh!). DD saw Up in the theater a couple of months after turning 3. DH and I screened it first and weren't sure if it would keep her interest as while it is a great movie it has some adult themes, and we were also a little concerned about her asking questions, or being upset, about what happened to Ellie, but she had been begging to see it after seeing the commercials so we let her. She absolutely loved it. I would say screen that one yourself first before you show it to her though.

 

[princessmom29]

We don't sensor much in our house. DD watched all of these at 3. If she was bothered by a particular scene, we talked about what was going on, what bothered her, why, ect. Fear, loss, bad things that happen, ect are all a part of life. I look at the scaled back versions of these things found in Disney films as teaching tools. I believe they helped to teach DD that while bad things can happen, generally life is good and we are thankful for that. We don't try to shield her form these things, but rather try to help her understand them.

 

[LittleBlackRaincloud]

My children love the 'animal' movies. Lady and the Tramp, 101 Dalmations, Fox and the Hound, etc. They love Snow White and Peter Pan also. Also, all of the Pixar movies are a huge hit...suprisingly, Up! is their favorite of those!

 

[mom2val]

Winnie the Pooh videos were the first ones dd watched. She loved them.

 

[BNM]

I agree, if you want to prevent your child from seeing anything scary then Disney movies are pretty much out. I have a friend who is sensitive to that because she was allowed, as a child, to watch movies that were just too adult and scared her, badly.
But there is one, wall-e, that has basically nothing scary in it ( a few explosions, but that's it). I think snow white is scary. The queen's henchman comes after her with a knife! Omg!
My 2 yo loves the little mermaid. And it was great that he was familiar with it before we went to DCA and rode the ride, saw WOC, ate at Ariel's, etc.

I am actually more concerned about some of the racist messages I'm seeing in some of these classic films. I have a lot harder time explaining that than the scary villains, which are, after all, just pretend, and death / loss, which is a part of life.

Peter pan is a cute movie but all that red man stuff just bothers me. The kids watched the movie but I'm not going to be buying it.

 

[JustCallMeMommy]

My DD loved Finding Nemo at that age. At first, I skipped over the first scene, but she was watching it within a year.

 

[msmama]

My son (now almost 4) has seen them all (well, except the ones I don't like and conveniently don't have - like Bambi and Fox and the Hound).

I never censored anything, but, like a PP said was there to answer questions and reassure him if necessary. Beauty and the Beast was one of the first he ever saw and still his favorite.

One thing that I think helped us was reading the stories before hand. Some (like 101 dalmations) he still prefers the story to the movie. But knowing beforehand the general idea I think helped (of course I also have a kid who stuff just rolls off of).

I have a few books of Disney Stories, but my local library has them all, too!

 

[AshleeH]

We don't sensor much in our house. DD watched all of these at 3. If she was bothered by a particular scene, we talked about what was going on, what bothered her, why, ect. Fear, loss, bad things that happen, ect are all a part of life. I look at the scaled back versions of these things found in Disney films as teaching tools. I believe they helped to teach DD that while bad things can happen, generally life is good and we are thankful for that. We don't try to shield her form these things, but rather try to help her understand them.

We did the same. My friend has toddlers now and she swears by Tangled for her 1 year old when she needs a few minutes to get things done. Her 3 year old loves princess movies, but also loves the Lion King (arguably the darkest Disney movie) and they had a nice discussion about what was happening in the scarier scenes.

My kids started on Finding Nemo (of course, he was a tiny baby, but he cooed at the pretty colors lol!) and Up. Toy Story and Cars were also great for toddlers. My kids like pretty much all Disney movies now and have since they were 4, but those remain the favorites.

 

[ilovebassets]

I recommend fantasia and fantasia 2000. He especially adores the flying whale sketch in fantasia 2000. It's literally the only thing (disney or not) that we let our 17 month old watch. It's not overly "disney" but does introduce mickey and donald and daisy, etc.

 

[Queen2PrincessG]

We didn't wait. Disney movies were always on in our house. One thing I've learned if you make things a big deal they will be a big deal. DD is 2 and she has seen a lot fo Disney movies but her favorites: Mulan, Snow White, Princess and the Frog, The Lion King, Nemo, Rapunzel, Beauty and the Beast.

It depends on the kid. Some of the "scary" parts in the above movies scare my nephew who is older than her but DD isn't phased because we never held back. We explained what was going on and that was that.

 

[DisneyWorldPlanner]

This is a great question! I have a hard time with this because of the "dark" scenes in a lot of the Disney Movies! Even Beauty and Beast can be a bit scarey for me lol... I guess I'm a kid at heart! I mean the fight between Gaston and The Beast, the Wolf attack with Bell eekkk....

My little guy LOVE the Newest Winnie The Pooh Movie! Have probably seen it 300+ times but who's Counting!

 

[millerette]

My dd, who turns 2 thursday loves
Mickey mouse clubhouse
Little einsteins
Tangled
UP
Bolt
Finding nemo
Carstoons, cars, and cars2
Toy story (all of them)
Tinkerbell

Just to name a few ;0)

 

[CentralFloridian99]

I watched Disney movies all the time when I was 1-3! TBH, I was never scared of the classics. The one's that are fine are Pooh, Peter Pan, Lady and the Tramp, 101 Dalmations, Cars, and Cinderella. But why wait? (most) Disney movies are awesome!

 

[Queen2PrincessG]

http://www.lilsugar.com/Classic-Disney-Movies-21794765