My little girl just loves animals (except for the big, scary ones! :eek: ) I’m of a mind to take her to this film, but Sophie does not like scenarios where animals are in danger, being killed, etc. (For example, during Fantastic Four she was worried about the Dalmation in the fire truck - “Oh, no! The puppy! The puppy is going in the river! The puppy is going to die!” Of course, she figures that the people will be OK. Or maybe she’s just a sociopath. ) I know there are some scenes of animal violence, but the manner of presentation matters as well.
Anyway, anybody here see this film yet? Are there lots of scenes with sick or dead birds, or penguins being eaten by seals?
I am seeing the movie on Sunday, and I’ll let you know.
I’ve read that any penguin fatalities are handled off screen, and ‘discretely.’ I’ve also read that the narration goes overboard sometimes. For example, when a penguin chick freezes to death, the narration says the mother’s ‘Pain is unbearable.’
Yes and no. There are not lots of death scenes, but there are a few, including the frozen chick scene, a raptor who takes a chick, and another scene with a hungry leopard seal who gets his prey.
It also might be a bit long for a three year old.
I saw the movie two weeks ago. A family was sitting behind us and their toddler burst into loud sobs when the baby penguin froze to death and the parent kept nudging it to “wake up.” YMMV
I saw it a couple of weeks ago. It did have some scenes that might be too upsetting for a youngster, depending on how closely they follow the narration. There are a couple of segments where it is made clear (via narration) that penguins are going to die (one who starts on the march too late, wandering alone and one who is clearly going to freeze to death). Some of the eggs freeze and crack open and the parents’ confusion and sadness is heartbreaking. Then there are the scenes mentioned above, the poor frozen baby penguin being the worst - not just the death of the baby but, again, the anguish of the mother (plus she tries to steal another penguin’s baby and that was a pretty intense scene).
I don’t have children and don’t know about kiddos that young, but my 60-year old mother sobbed her way through the movie and I teared up a couple of times.
With that said, it was a gorgeous documentary and had some truly heartwarming and humorous scenes that made me glad I’d seen it.
I saw *The March of the Penguins * today. Your daughter might be OK if you talk to her ahead of time about some of the bad things that happen in this movie. If she’s not caught by surprise by the events on the screen, she might not be too upset. The scenes of death and loss, of which there are about four, are designed for an emotional impact. They are not visceral or gory. The loss of an egg, and the separate deaths of a male, and female, and a chick, are all set up to be mega-tear-jerker scenes in The March of the Penguins. I remember my son running out of the room in tears when the parent dinosaurs were killed in The Land Before Time. If he’s known ahead of timewhat was gong to happen, he might not have become so upset.
On the other hand, the movie is filled with wonderful scenes, including many of way-too-cute penguin chicks. Many of the scenes are funny, and many are just fascinating.
Your call!
“Are we gonna see March of the Penguins?”
“Probably not, Sophie. The movie has some really sad parts.”
“No it’s not! Why you say that?”
“Because, Sophie, one of the babies gets sick and possibly dies.”
“No it doesn’t! Babies don’t get sick! Babies don’t die!” picture an increasing level of agitation on her part, from calmness to tears in about 1.7 seconds.
Given your discussion with your daughter, I’d definately wait until she’s older to let her see this movie. The scenes in question are designed to be heart-wrenching. She’s sounds too young for them now. Rent or buy the DVD of *Winged Migration * instead!
PS The scenes of penguins mating are kind of cheesy, in that French film kind of way!
The scene where the shoggoth eats the penguins, and then the camera crew, is pretty intense, so I would reccomend waiting until the kid is at least five before letting them see this movie.
Every kid remembers the Willy and the Wonka Factory boat ride through eye surgery.
Every kid remembers Bambi’s mother.
Every kid remembers Old Yeller.
Only Texan kids remember the Alamo… (…nevermind that bit)
Certainly these were movies that made us well up and cause some glorious public disturbances in the middle of a movie–but are you sure that wasn’t healthy? And don’t you love the movies that did that to you?
) I’m of a mind to take her to this film, but Sophie does not like scenarios where animals are in danger, being killed, etc. (For example, during Fantastic Four she was worried about the Dalmation in the fire truck - “Oh, no! The puppy! The puppy is going in the river! The puppy is going to die!” Of course, she figures that the people will be OK. Or maybe she’s just a sociopath.