Advertisement

Children's films with grown-up issues

Lord Voldemort isn't the first person to command children's nightmares.

July 13, 2011 at 11:58AM
"Coraline"
"Coraline" (Margaret Andrews/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Here's a look back at 10 "family-friendly" films that had us dabbing or covering our eyes:

"The Wizard of Oz" (1939): Flying. Monkeys.

"Dumbo" (1941): Flying elephant takes tainted peanut from ringmaster Timothy Leary and goes on a bad acid trip starring pink peers on parade.

"Old Yeller" (1957): Boy meets dog. Boy hates dog. Boy loves dog. Boy shoots dog.

"Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" (1968): Stupid kids ignore advice about not taking candy from strangers and wind up in the clutches of the Child Catcher.

"Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" (1971): The Candyman takes guests down a chocolate river and through a psychedelic tunnel while reciting freak-out poetry. Cue Grateful Dead music.

"Benji the Hunted" (1987): Cuddly dog howls for his master when he befriends orphaned cougar cubs whose mother was shot by a hunter, quite possibly the same one who wiped out Bambi's mom.

"Who Framed Roger Rabbit" (1988): Judge Doom makes Freddie Krueger look like Fred Rogers when he reveals himself as a bug-eyed villain with a voice almost as frightening as Fran Drescher's.

Advertisement
Advertisement

"The Lion King" (1994)" Simba takes on serious daddy issues when Mufasa dies -- and he thinks it's his fault. Jungle shrink on vacation.

"Coraline" (2009): Other Mother turns into a spiderwoman who's a lot less friendly than film's better known webslinger.

"Toy Story 3" (2010): Gang holds plastic hands and prepares to meet a fiery fate after being dumped into a furnace. Saved at last minute by Pixar executives who realize that killing off characters would prevent lucrative "Toy Story 4."

about the writer

about the writer

Neal Justin

Critic / Reporter

Neal Justin is the pop-culture critic, covering how Minnesotans spend their entertainment time. He also reviews stand-up comedy. Justin previously served as TV and music critic for the paper. He is the co-founder of JCamp, a non-profit program for high-school journalists, and works on many fronts to further diversity in newsrooms.

See Moreicon

More from Minnesota Star Tribune

See More
In this photo taken Monday, March 6, 2017, in San Francisco, released confidential files by The University of California of a sexual misconduct case, like this one against UC Santa Cruz Latin Studies professor Hector Perla is shown. Perla was accused of raping a student during a wine-tasting outing in June 2015. Some of the files are so heavily redacted that on many pages no words are visible. Perla is one of 113 UC employees found to have violated the system's sexual misconduct policies in rece

We respect the desire of some tipsters to remain anonymous, and have put in place ways to contact reporters and editors to ensure the communication will be private and secure.

card image
Advertisement
Advertisement

To leave a comment, .

Advertisement