I am going to take my daughter to the movies (possibly!) tonight and was wondering if you have seen either Rango (with Johnny Depp) or Mars Needs Moms (with Seth Green) and which one would you recommend for a 3.5 year old? Her favorite movies right now is Stuart Little but she also loves Ponyo and Happy Feet. I figured Mars Needs Moms may be better because it's 20 minutes SHORTER but I WANT to see Rango so that is why I was thinking that one.
What would you recommend?
We're also going to dinner and may be getting her hair trimmed! I'm excited :)
A little background - she usually watches 1/2 hour shows at home (Little Bear, Franklin) but does like longer movies (ones I mentioned above) but she also is very interested in the actual theater (lobby especially). My mom took her to see Yogi Bear a few months ago and they stayed about half way through it and she wanted to go home to play at her house (which I get because her house is fun!). I think she's much more ready to sit through a movie...
Ended up taking her to see Mars for Moms and she and I both enjoyed it. It was animated in the same fashion as Polar Express so it did look more like a movie than a cartoon. The overall idea was very cute and she did not get upset or scared at any part. I do recommend this for a younger child.
I've not seen either one - but I've heard from others that Rango and Mars needs moms are both rated incorrectly - but I haven't seen either one so I can't personally say.
At 3.5 years old - my kids weren't in a theater - PERIOD - they couldn't sit that long for a full length movie. They didn't get to into a theater that wasn't a party until they were 8.
I did not read what everyone else has said but last week I took my 3.5 daughter to see Mars needs Moms. We picked that one because of her 2 older brothers (7 & 5) but she really did like it too. I thought it was a cute movie. There is one head Alien lady that may be a little scarey if she isnt use to that kinda thing but the rest is ok I think. I never saw the other movie so I dont know about that one:)
have fun!!
What about Gnomeo & Juliet? It's rated G and it looks kind of cute for younger kids.
I took my 8 yr. old and 3.5 yr. old to see Rango. It was horrible for them. I enjoyed some of it myself, but the movie was totally over my littlest ones head, and my older asked questions about it for days. It is crass, dark, and scary at times. Don't waste your $ on Rango with one that small.
A film more appropriate for ehr age would be better.
Rango is not rated very highly and my newpaper even warned the parents about the language. Personally I don't want my kids running around yelling "What the hell".
The MArs movie just looks stupid to me.
There will be something better for her to enjoy.
Hope she had fun at the mall
In my opinion, Rango probably should have been rated PG-13. That or we need to come up with a better rating system, because it is not appropriate for children. Swearing nonstop, adult references, smoking and blowing the smoke in another animal's face... I took my 8 year for his birthday and was ticked. All the ads made this sound like a great family movie. My local newspaper reviews said this is such a fantastic movie, it is sure to be the top runner for next year's Oscar. No, it's not. I wish I would have looked at rottentomatoes.com first, since they state right in the byline that it is not for children. To be honest with you, I was bored out of my mind and almost fell asleep a couple times.
I agree with some other posts that Mars Needs Moms may be too scary at 3 1/2. I would check to see if your theater still has showings of Gnomeo and Juliet. My husband and son saw it and said it was hilarious.
I took my 3.5 and 5.5 year olds to see Rango. I was not happy. (I was visiting my sister and she wanted to see it with her kids, so I went along reluctantly)
The movie said swear words (or what i consider swear words) that I did not want my children hearing. One of them being damn and now my 3 year old is going around saying the word sometimes, not sure if that is related to the movie. At one point in the movie someone said son of a b..... but didn't actually say the b word out right, but faded away as they were falling or something.
The movie talked about prostates and lesbians. Neither of which I wanted to subject my young ones to.
I tell everyone I know, that if they have young kids not to go to the movie.
Can't say anything about the Mars one, because I haven't seen it.
My daughter just turned 4 and I have found that the movies rated PG are a little too mature for her and don't hold her attention. We just stick with G movies.
i saw rango and it was waaaaay more violent than i expected. its a cool movie for adults and older kids, but not the little ones at all.
I just took my daughter to see Rango and it was terrible! She was not interested in it at all and to be honest I think is was for an older group of viewers. I haven't seen Mars needs Moms so I'm not help with that choice but I sure wouldn't take her to Rango.
Enjoy your outing!
We took our kids (3yo boy and 6 yo girl) to see Rango a few weeks ago on a trip. I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND IT. I didn't even realize it was PG13. They enjoyed it, but I did not like the language or the inuendos... I try really hard not to use negative language in our house and this movie was full of it.
We haven't seen Mars needs Moms, they are interested and it looks cute, but I am afraid it will be similar.
at that age, my kids were happy as clams in the movie theater, until the snacks ran out. Then they got antsy. She may not make it through.
Rango was scary in parts, there's a big nasty snake. You may like it more than she would, but it's cute I guess. My husband took the kids to Mars Needs Moms so I don't know much about that but he did report that my 6 yo DD cried twice.
My husband and 13yr old son loved Rango - that alone would tell me that a 3.5yr old would NOT enjoy it and it would probably be pretty inappropriate for her. And although I haven't seen Mars Needs Moms, I just can't imagine why they would make a movie about moms being kidnapped by aliens (as if our kids need to add THAT to their list of concerns) and then use that weird, life-like-but-totally-creepy animation style (like they did in Polar Express, which I hated for that exact reason). We have no plans to see MNM in this household. Just creepy looking and stupid sounding. I like your idea of skipping this round of movies and doing the Merry Go Round - more appropriate movies will be out soon enough with summer around the corner!
of the two - I would recommend rango. more whimsical and colorful.
Based on the previews of mars needs mom - could be a little scary for her. I also t hink about the audience in attendance. You will get the 6 - 8 yo set in mars needs mom based on the animation, story line, etc. and they would be less forgiving of a younger child's antics (if there were any - like seat switching, whispering about "why is that happening?" why did they take the mom, etc. )
Regardless of which you choose, have so much fun!! Yea Movie Night!
i have heard the same things as these ladies are saying about rango - not for small kids. we will probably redbox it one night after he goes to bed, when it comes out.
just wanted to offer an alternative idea - what about the movie hop? (if it's even out yet?) my 4 year old is dying to see that. he's younger than your daughter, but it might be more on her level than rango. my son cracks up every time you say the words "poop jellybeans" lol.
What I do is go to Rottentomatoes.com before we take our 3 year old to any movie. It give you the full rating plus peoples opinon. Great site!!
For example....This is what they say about Rango:
It may not be as charming as it thinks it is -- and it certainly isn't for kids -- but Rango is a smart, giddily creative burst of beautifully animated entertainment.
And the full rating:
Rated: PG – for rude humor, language, action and smoking
I will say that you need to read up on the movie choices and do NOT go to any movie based on what the ratings say. I have seen many PG movies that should have been PG13 and many PG13 movies that should have been R rated. The movie industry downgrades most movies to sell more tickets. The ONLY way to know if a movie is appropriate is to go to this site (I use it all the time) www.kidsinmind.com
you can look up Any movie and see a complete breakdown of the film, it even gives you the violence, profanity and sexual content (with 10 being the worst). Many many times I had seen a commercial and thought 'oh we should take the kids to that movie' I do a search at the above website and decide No Way !! We will rent G rated movies from RedBox instead.
My kids thought Rango was awful actually - so I wouldn't recommend it. I never heard of the Mars one. My kids also love Ponyo - I would highly recommend going on Amazon.com and ordering all of Hayao Miyazaki's films - my kids have a huge collection - they are superior to the garbage our country puts out - animated yet so entertaining they will never tire of watching them.
I saw Mars Needs Moms and I don't think it is a movie that would keep the interest of a 3.5 year old. It may even scare her.
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Rango in my opinion is not really a kids movie...both of mine didn't understand it and one fell asleep. It has a lot of dry humor and really was terrible.
