Prepping Avatar for little guys that haven't seen it

[Opie100]

I'd like to prep my 8 year old for Avatar land prior to arrival, but he's not old enough to see the movie yet (not seeking advice on that part). Any other material out there that will give him context prior to arrival Saturday?

 

[CAS239]

Why isn't he old enough for it? There's nothing bad in the movie.

Maybe if not the full movie, have him watch the trailer on YouTube. That's about all I can think about.

You also don't have to see Avatar to enjoy Pandora but it would probably be better for a child so they somewhat know

 

[CarolynFH]

Personally, I don't think he'll need to know specifics from the movie Avatar in order to enjoy the land of Pandora. You might look at the various videos available online and tell him that Pandora is a planet far away in space, that many years ago a mining company did a lot of damage to the ecology and environment of the planet, and that now the damage is being repaired and people are beginning to appreciate how beautiful the different plants and animals and scenery are there and that the customs of the native people should be preserved. It seems that my 8 year old DGD is aware of ecology and environmental issues on Earth, so hopefully he is too, and I think that's the message of Pandora (and all of AK, for that matter). It's also like visiting different places on Earth, like the rain forests or the mountains. Some things look similar to what we have here, some things are very unique.

 

[Anabelletoronto]

I haven't seen the movie and a lot of people have told me that the land is amazing even if you don't know the story. So maybe you don't even need to worry about him understanding.

I do plan on trying to see the movie before our trip but my 6 year old won't see it.
Maybe there are some clips you can watch that aren't violent or scary?

 

[DWillowBay]

I just told my son that it was a completely different world. He was fine with that. I was tempted to tell him it was a "whole new world", but he'd expect Aladdin to fly by...so...not that.

 

[BrianL]

Why isn't he old enough for it? There's nothing bad in the movie.

Maybe if not the full movie, have him watch the trailer on YouTube. That's about all I can think about.

You also don't have to see Avatar to enjoy Pandora but it would probably be better for a child so they somewhat know

I agree. The movie is about on par with a Star Wars film, perhaps with somewhat harsher language because they speak as actual Earthlings (meaning they use our swear words and colloquialisms, as opposed to made-up ones - no F-Bombs though). The action is of the same "cartoon violence" as Star Wars. There is very little blood or anything. There are some harrowing scenes and some main characters die, but, again, not too different form Star Wars.

That is not to assume that your kid has seen Star Wars, it's just the closest example of a very similar in tone movie that I know most kids seem familiar with.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

My DS9 didn't watch it prior to going. I offered to show it to him (I had pre-screened it and felt comfortable talking him through some of the more mature scenes and explaining the avatar concept which I didn't think he would get), but he wasn't interested. I did let him know what "flight of passage" meant. He did enjoy both rides and Pandora at night. Perhaps, if you have the movie, simply showing him the "flight of passage" scene from the movie and a few other select scenes? Maybe the scene where they are paired with their Avatar? I think that would give him enough background to understand what world he was walking through in AK and what is happening in FOP?

 

[Klayfish]

Why isn't he old enough for it? There's nothing bad in the movie.

Maybe if not the full movie, have him watch the trailer on YouTube. That's about all I can think about.

You also don't have to see Avatar to enjoy Pandora but it would probably be better for a child so they somewhat know

I was kind of wondering the same thing. I haven't seen the movie either, and have no desire to, but my understanding is that it isn't rated R or anything. Why can't he watch it?

But having said that, no you don't need to see the movie to enjoy it. Like I said, I never saw the movie, but loved the rides.

 

[dclpluto]

No need to see the movie. Most people that loves splash mountain probably hasn't seen the movie it was based on.
I wouldn't even know it was based on a movie if it wasn't for the disboards.

 

[Opie100]

Thanks everyone. We've had some language problems at home, so we'd be hypocrites to discipline him and then show him a PG-13 movie with similar language. Looking forward to the trip! Thanks again.

 

[adelaster]

Thanks everyone. We've had some language problems at home, so we'd be hypocrites to discipline him and then show him a PG-13 movie with similar language. Looking forward to the trip! Thanks again.

https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/avatar

Just in case you haven't heard of this awesome website yet, it's a great tool for books, movies, and video games!

 

[adelaster]

Why isn't he old enough for it? There's nothing bad in the movie.

Maybe if not the full movie, have him watch the trailer on YouTube. That's about all I can think about.

You also don't have to see Avatar to enjoy Pandora but it would probably be better for a child so they somewhat know

This made me LOL. I grew up in a house where I wasn't allowed to watch anything past a rated G movie until I left home. My parents still don't watch anything past PG really. You can imagine how many films I've had to catch up on in the last 10 plus years.