Fred Claus appropriate for the younger kids???

[ThreeMusketeers]

My dd who is *almost * 6, is begging to go see this movie. I watched the trailer online and tried to get some reviews but I'm not finding much. Has anyone seen it? Would it be appropriate for a 6 year old? It's rated PG, which we don't have a problem with. We still have a Believer here, don't want to ruin that! Some of the xmas movies question the belief and so forth. Just don't want to ruin her magic at 5 1/2. Any thoughts?

 

[0hmyheck]

I can only saw that we are not going to see this movie.

 

[SplashMountainMama]

Vince Vaughn was on the Today Show this morning and from the way Meredith Viera was talking about it with him it seemed like it would be OK. He even spoke about his nieces and nephews (believers) who saw it and now believe that he actually knows the big guy!

 

[kitsch4]

When I had a question about a movie, someone on these boards told me to check out commonsensemedia.org. It's been helpful.

 

[ThreeMusketeers]

thank you! Will check that webpage out!

 

[Merriwind]

I like Dove.org for movie reviews. They rank movies on five scales--language, violence, etc. They provide very specific info on why the rank each category as they do. The last category is other and I would guess that anything relating to blowing the jolly guy's cover would be in there. That being said, I would be very surprised if a holiday movie geared towards kids did blow his cover.

Good luck!

 

[splashmtnfan]

We still have a Believer here, don't want to ruin that! Some of the xmas movies question the belief and so forth. Just don't want to ruin her magic at 5 1/2. Any thoughts?

WOW. I was just looking for a place to post a question, and found this thread, which is along the same lines. I would also like to find out about this movie, so, here I am.
Question is how old are children when they stop Believing? My DD is 8 and I just wonder is this her last Magical Christmas? I am hoping not, but....

So, first how old was your child/children when they stopped, and how did it happen?
Hope it is ok to post here. If not so sorry, but I am really interested. We are going to WDW Dec. 18-23 and just wonder also how you guys who go for Christmas pull-off the big guy finding you there! DD is the reason we decided not to stay through Christmas, she does not think he can find us.

 

[splashmtnfan]

I checked-out Dove.org and was very impressed. Did not see Fred Claus there though I guess it's because it is not out yet (?) I learn so much from everyone on here. Thanks. Now I know a place to go for REAL movie reviews for my family.

 

[ThreeMusketeers]

True..i guess it dosen't come out til the 9th! lol

 

[splashmtnfan]

Yep, my DD8 asked me today "What's the date today?" When I told her she jumped up and down saying "Fred Claus starts tomorrow, YEAH!" They keep up with everything!

 

[tchrrx]

We already told DD7 that she won't be going to watch Fred Claus. She was crushed this morning when she heard that Enchanted is rated PG. I had to explain to her that meant Parent Guidance and that we were giving her permission to see Enchanted.

Of course, this is the same child that will bring me a CD and tell me to get rid of it if she thinks she heard something inappropriate on it. (So far, we gotten rid of Jesse McCartney and Elvis--which, had nothing wrong on it, she just misunderstood the lyrics!)

How much longer will she monitor herself this well?

 

[splashmtnfan]

Why not? What did you hear about it? Is it bad?

 

[BayouMouseketeer]

Another good site to review movies is pluggedinonline.com. It also reviews DVDs and music.

I always check there before deciding if my kids will see a movie and try not torely simply on the rating.

 

[tchrrx]

Why not? What did you hear about it? Is it bad?

I actually didn't hear anything bad about it. Personally, DH & I just don't care for the main actor. We kind of have a pre-conceived notion about him based on other movies we've seen him in. This movie, honestly, may be good, but who knows.

 

[splashmtnfan]

I actually didn't hear anything bad about it. Personally, DH & I just don't care for the main actor. We kind of have a pre-conceived notion about him based on other movies we've seen him in. This movie, honestly, may be good, but who knows.

O.k. Thanks. He is known for some race-y movies, I will watch it myself first, as I did "The Game Plan" which I thought was a very good movie.

 

[flowerfairy]

Another good site to review movies is pluggedinonline.com. It also reviews DVDs and music.

I always check there before deciding if my kids will see a movie and try not torely simply on the rating.

Thanks! I just checked out pluggedinonline.com and its great!

One more website that's good as well is kidsinmind.com. It's always nice to get a couple of reviews before heading out to the movies.

 

[abolanwoski]

I took my 3 yo DD to see a sneak preview of Fred Claus last weekend. The only qualms I have are that they use the word Hell a couple of times. There is no Santa spoilers in the movie, unless you count the Salvation Army Santas chasing down Vince Vaughan when he steals their money. (this is the extent of the violence) DD was scared of Kevin Pacey as the evil accountant (mostly the strident tone of voice and scary music accompanying his appearences I think)

Overall, Paul Giamatti makes a loveable Santa and the North Pole visuals are stunning (not quite as good as Polar Express, but good). The end of the story is happy, and they emphasize that there is no such thing as a bad child. But there is conflict through out and often DD was asking "what happened" because the dialogue or theme were above her head.

So, overall, not inappropriate for little ones, but they may not understand some of it.

 

[dbarker]

Thanks for the review. I was wondering about that movie myself.

 

[bridegirl]

We took our kids last night - the movie was boring and not funny - and I didn't need all the santa questions now raised by my 5 year old, who prior to the movie still believed in Santa and now that seems all over

I would tell my friends to only take kids who already know the truth about santa

My 8 year old (sadly) already knows the truth (kids on the playground, you knwo how it is), so the movie didnt spoil that for him - but he was bored and didnt think it was funny

Just our opinions

Pixie dust,

Susy

 

[smylie1]

WOW. I was just looking for a place to post a question, and found this thread, which is along the same lines. I would also like to find out about this movie, so, here I am.
Question is how old are children when they stop Believing? My DD is 8 and I just wonder is this her last Magical Christmas? I am hoping not, but....

So, first how old was your child/children when they stopped, and how did it happen?
Hope it is ok to post here. If not so sorry, but I am really interested. We are going to WDW Dec. 18-23 and just wonder also how you guys who go for Christmas pull-off the big guy finding you there! DD is the reason we decided not to stay through Christmas, she does not think he can find us.

DS9 told DH last week that he "thinks he's figured out the Mom and Dad buy all the presents."

I'm a little sad that that era has passed, but it was getting harder to explain why, when DS13 and I would talk about Christmas presents, I would say something like, "well, if that's what you want, you probably won't get much else." when he would ask for something expensive (the latest..a 36", wall mounted, flat screen, plasma TV for his room I laugh 'cause he's GOT to be joking!). DS9 would always ask why it mattered how much it cost because it was free if Santa brought it. I tried not to have these conversations in front of him, but slip up every now and then.

I've never been to WDW at Christmas. I'm anxious to hear how people handled the Santa situation!