Let me start out by saying in no uncertain terms that I love the Toy Story movies!! Just so we’re clear.
I enjoyed them in the theater back in the day. And I recently screened a DVD at home for my two- and four-year old boys with great success for family movie night. My big boy tends to scare easily so that’s saying something. Even the great minds at Common Sense Media agree that four is not too young.
Ok great. You get it. I love these movies.
But.
But. A double feature? For little kids four and under? You can’t pay for them as separate movies, only as a package deal (LAME!). WTF?!
But. Enormous 3D glasses? For little kids? Not so much.
These are not improvements.
Milo was ready to leave before the first movie was over (and this was a movie he’s seen before and liked). Lucky for all of us in the theater he was pretty good-natured about it. We cut our losses and left at intermission.
We returned the next day, just me and Holden, to watch the sequel. But because many of the children were leaving for their own attention-span-related reasons, we easily found seats.
I was relatively optimistic because the story and characters were fresh in our minds and we didn’t have the baggage of a two-year old. This time, Holden tried to leave before it was over (too scary!!!) but I negotiated that he watch the rest of the movie from my lap. During the aforementioned flip-out (“Mommy, mommy please can we leave!!!”), his 3D glasses fell to the floor never to be recovered.
My husband says we can look forward to many many 3D movies in our future, but I’ll warn all the parents out there that you’re better off buying Toy Story 1 and Toy Story 2 for your home collection.
For the price of a family of four heading to the 3D show (about $53 in our area!!), you can watch these gems over and over and over in your own sweet time (with bathroom breaks! and rewind!) with the candy popcorn at home. The 3D is no improvement for kids this age range.
Little ones in need of a fun outing? Skip it.
Older kids? Parents who love Pixar? Enjoy!
I’m confused by your grumpiness. I don’t think you get to complain about the double feature aspect as it’s just not an appropriate activity for your under 5-year-olds. Are you grumpy at the promoters for Holden wanting to leave a movie that’s too scary for him?
We almost did the same thing for the movie Up. Luckily, the gal selling tickets warned us not to bother with the 3-D glasses version (including the ticket surcharge) for the kids because they’d end up not wearing them and then wouldn’t be able to watch the movie. William, who is 4, did not make it past the first scary scene and was ushered out by daddy never to return. Spencer watched the whole thing from mom’s lap unphased by anything scary. We vowed no more movies until they are much older unless we preview it first. Which is why I may end up seeing the Curious George 2 movie twice this fall!
Sorry if I’m unclear. I think Toy Story is awesome for 4 year olds and just fine for younger kids (something categorically untrue about MOST movies) but a double feature is stupid for that age range. Also 3D is wasted on these same wee ones.
Oh, and with my cheapness, $53 is entirely too much money to spend for my family of four on such a gamble as this.
My kids are only 2, so age-appropriate movies are really few and far between. We were hopeful for this one, but not only is the double-feature prohibitively LONG and expensive, but the nature of having to show them back-to-back made for some crappy showtimes. 11AM? Are you kidding? Have them sitting in the movie theater during lunchtime and into nap? 3:30? Questionable to be able to get there on time, post-nap. 7:30? Bedtime.
Not that my nap schedule is Disney’s problem, but it was a bummer not to be able to take advantage of a toddler-friendly movie in the theater.
I’m with your husband on 3D movies will become more and more mainstream. It’s useless for small kids (not just toddlers). My kids are 7 and 5 and I think they might still a bit young to handle holding their 3D glass for the whole show. Plus I think it’s a rip off! When we watched UP movie, there weren’t that many scenes that make it worth the extra $5 per ticket for 3D.
These days they will put any movies on 3D to make extra money. Parents will have to see if it’s worth the extra money. Needless to say, I’m not a big fan of 3D movie, yet.
I’ve always wondered how old kids are before they can actually sit through an entire movie– and enjoy it!