Kung Fu Panda

My 2 1/2 year old went to see it (not my choice-but whatever). She took my hand and covered her eyes over the scary bits and liked the rest.

If he scares easily, you might want to wait because the "bad guy" character is pretty scary. My 4yo daughter watched it and didn't have a problem, but she is bold as brass. LOL!

The movie is almost ALL FIGHTING. Yes, its in cartoon form, but it as all kung fu. I have 3,4 & 6 y/o. We went to see it. I don't think there is any great message to be found in the movie - at least not a lesson you can learn elsewhere. My kids prefer happy, feel good, movies. The only thing we took away from this movie was a lot of karate moves.

For years I've depended on the Movie Mom (http://blog.beliefnet.com/moviemom/) to help me decide whether or not movies are appropriate for my kids. She used to be affiliated with Yahoo, now she's with beliefnet, but I haven't noticed any difference in her advice. She always tries to give an idea about whether or not a movie will affect a child and tells what's in a movie that may or may not be disturbing.

I also go to www.commonsensemedia.org. They offer a different type of advice, but when I combine it with movie mome, I usually get a pretty good idea about what to expect from a movie.

Hi E.,
I took my son at 3 1/2 and he loved it. I would definately recommend it. It also helped him get interested in Karate which he loves and that is another coversation. The movie is great!

I think that it depends on your child. My son just turned 5 and when it was in the theater my husband took him and he loved he was 4 at the time. My mom just bought it for them, I have a son who just turned 3 last week and they both love it but they both know that TV is fake and don't get scared of things so it totally depends on your child. If you look at old disney movies like sleeping beauty there are some really scary parts that I think are scarier than Kung fu Panda
C.

Hi E., I think that movie is fine. There are some evil parts, but you will find that in even the tamest of Disney movies. There is alot of adult humor as well. You will both enjoy it. Good Luck

I think that if your son is a little on the rough housing side, then it might be bad. My kids love the movie. They saw it in theatre and have watched in on DVD now and I have no problems with them. They love the movie.

We took are 4.5 year old to see it. He loved it so much we bought it as well. I think it really depends on your 4 year old. If you know he get's scared easily then maybe not. I really agree with the mother who thought Scooby Doo is scarier!

If you suspect he may get scared I would not take him to the theater to view it. My son doesn't like fast action popping up in his face. He can't watch Nemo because of the way the action moves on the screen. It might be better to wait for it to come out on video.

If this is the one that's got an evil snow leopard, I wouldn't take my 4-year-old to see it.

Because snow leopards are pretty rare in the wild, and there are several organizations committed to conserving that species. And I'm not even sure they live in the same neighborhood as pandas.

I'm not sure of all the facts, just that it is kind of disgusting to present an endangered species as some sort of villain.

http://www.defenders.org/wildlife_and_habitat/wildlife/sn...

They don't hassle pandas.

When at all possible, don't endorse false messages.

Like, skip the Bee Movie altogether. :/

Hi E.-

Although I know of kids as young as 4 watching it, I wouldn't personally do it. It is rated "PG" and not "G" for obvious reasons...the violence. My child (a boy) is more sensitive and used to scare easily. I wouldn't have taken him when he was 4. There's a lot of fighting, there's darkness in the story and theme at certain parts. I saw some older kids like 6 closing their eyes at various parts.

At 4, there's no positive benefit to him seeing movies or television programs with a lot of fighting and violence especially since he's on the sensitive and scares easily side. I used to just tell my son that he there will be things in the movie that will scare him and it's not age appropriate and offer alternatives to either go see or rent. I would also let him know that when he's older, he can see it and will enjoy it more.

Best wishes!

We took our four girls (11,8,3 year old twins) to see it and it was fine. There is violence, but what do you expect with a movie called "Kung Fu Panda", nothing goorey, bloody or scarey. I think it is appropriate for children to see, there is a good message behind it. The underdog Panda has a wonderful heart and thus prevails over the evil one. Each one of my girls really enjoyed it. When in doubt watch it first and then you decide if it appropriate for your son. But when you watch it, do it with the mind of a child, and then figure out if it is something he would like to see. We are very cautious of what we let our children see and listen to, for the most part they only listen to Christian music and watch very minimal TV. But this was OK for us to see as a family.

We took our 2 yr old and 4 yr old to see it at the movies and they both enjoyed it. I didn't think it was too scary for them, my biggest concern was my son trying out the kung fu moves on his friends. We don't ever let them watch new movies without us, and we always reassure them while watching something if they seem scared, but he just saw the preview for it and asked to watch it again. He thought it was funny. Every kid is different though, so if your child scares easily you may want to wait. The good thing about those movies is that they almost always have a happy ending.

It might be too scarey if your son is sensitive like you say. My girls were 4 and 5 1/2 when we saw it. While they liked it, I do feel that there were parts of it that were too intense. I also somewhat regret that the movie had so much fighting (action movie-like fighting). They came home with all kinds of new moves if you know what I mean. (What did I expect, it is called Kung FU Panda after all) Here is a website I've been using to help me make these kinds of choices.

http://christiananswers.net/spotlight/home.html

It's Christian based, but I like how they spell out every potential offensive part so that I can decide if the movie is OK for us or not. I find that the reviewer(s) is very fair minded (not out to say all movies are evil). BTW, this website gave Kung Fu Panda a pretty favorable review.

I think Kung Fu Panda is okay to show to a 4 year old. We took our 1 year old daughter to see it and she loved it! She did though, got tired a quarter into the movie and slept, but she loved the action in the movie.

I agree with the other moms, this movie does have a great message behind it and I believe kids should really watch it. :)

E.,

My four year old liked the movie, but did get scared and wanted to leave the theatre at the dark, scary parts. It is a pretyt long segment for their age, but he stuck with it, and he is not the sensitive one, he is my rough-houser who likes to play monster and such. I would wait another year or so, but I am more old'fashioned than most people I know.

P.

I have a 3 1/2 year old. He loves the movie. He too is very sensitive and scares easy. But this movie is not very scary and has a good message.

I just got the movie for my two children ages 5 and 9 and they love it, it is not violent or scary, very funny, cute movie, I think it would be just fine for a 4 year old. Watch it with him. good luck

I haven't seen the movie and was glad you asked the question because I was wondering the same thing, my son is almost 4 and sensitive too. I always pre-view movies before the kids see them, even some G-rated movies have some intense scenes, and I believe Kung Fu Panda is PG.

We took our kids, five year old girl, three year old boy. The violence in the film is all very cartoonish. Scooby Doo is worse.

My son loves Toy Story but leaves the room when the doll-spider comes out from under the bed - it's too scary for him even though he has seen it dozens of times.

My daughter liked the story line, my son the physical humor.

Good luck!

I bought this on Sunday and my son, almost 4 and also sensitive didn't like it and had me turn it off. His friends love it but he did not. I asked him if he wanted to watch it later with his 2 year old sister and he said "no it's too scary for her".
Each kid is different cause we just attended a Kung Fu Panda birthday party for a 3 & 4 years old so who knows. Just thought I'd give you my experience.

My two year old son saw the movie in the theaters. And of course, the day it came out on DVD we had to buy it. He loves it and is not scared. He does his kung fu moves daily! It is funny. We like it too!
Good luck!

My 4 yr old boy and 2 yr old girl saw the movie this summer, and neither seemed to be afraid.

We took our two girls (ages 3 and 6) to see it and they LOVED IT. To the point that they are still talking about it, and we saw it a couple of months ago. My younger daughter gets scared of really odd things sometimes (Hokey Pokey Elmo scares her to death, go figure), but she loved every minute of Kung Fu Panda and keeps asking if we can buy the DVD. So then I will get to watch it EVERY DAY. Can't wait for that.

I'd wait. I didn't allow my daughter to go but three of her little friends went (4,4 and 3 1/2) and none of them liked it for various reasons. Scared, bored, didn't get it. The parent that took them said way inappropriate. But this is coming second hand. There's so many other movies out there that are more age appropriate. Your kids won't miss Kung Fu Panda if they wait a while to see it.

My 2 1/2 year old granddaughter saw the movie and she loved it. She just knows the evil tiger as a bad cat and he needs a timeout.

If you have not seen the movie, you should watch it first if you are not sure about the contents.

But if you don't make a big deal about it, neither will the child.

Hi E.,

Have you seen this movie? My kids do martial arts which is why they were interested in seeing it. Although my kids loved it, 7,7, and 9, boy and girls, I thought it was extremely violent. I do not agree that it was light cartoon scary. I thought it was the most violent movie I've seen in a long time and very scary. The tiger's eyes would light up red and he'd come right at the screen ready to rip apart. The violence was constant. I would not take a young boy who scares easily as you describe. I was surprised my kids were all okay with it. It may be because we were in an outdoor ampitheater and they were with their 6'5 strong grandfather who was a policeman and they think he's superman.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

Watch it B4 you let him & then FFward>> the bad guy.
We thought it very funny - Ian loved it - 4 yr. old but the bad guy intimidated him a little. The animation iz really cool.
Ian only getz afraid of wizard or witch characterz - or if the good guy iz getting a butt whipping.
I have 2 broken keyz on thiz keyboard - I really do know how to zpell. ;)

Hi
I totally agree with you. I would wait a few years (at least). Our kids don't respond well to that stuff either.

We are Christians - so, besides the fact that it has some New Age overtones, which we don't like....we think it is a bit much for a four year old.
Take care!
M

My husband took our 3.5 yo to see it, and was a little disturbed by how violent it was. I haven't seen it, but I trust his opinion and won't be buying the dvd.

I am all for waiting. I figure the worse that can happen is they miss a great movie at the theater that they can watch later at home. No harm done though. I have played it very cautious with movies and even though we are out of the loop on movies and I've had to pass on movie dates and my kids can't talk about the latest and greatest movie ,It's been the best decision because now they have a decerning ear and eye for rudeness and inapproprate behavior. They have good taste in humor. So many of the movies are over the top action and stimulation that kids lose the ability to enjoy something wholesome and simple or maybe a documentery as they get older. So follow your feelings on this and keep it simple for as long as you can and keep rersearching movies before going to see them. Also establishing a relationship about this with your children now will help later. One of " mom knows best" so there is no nagging to go see a movie after mom says no. I talked alot to my children when they were young about my decision making on movies and why. it is a non issue in our house just like t.v viewing. Take care