What Tomorrowland Means to a Young Dreamer

[WDIFanBoy]

*Warning: Message may contain spoilers about Tomorrowland*

So I saw Tomorrowland with my Wife last night and I thought the beginning was fantastic! I was on the edge of my seat with watery eyes. It just took me back to my childhood, building crazy things and reading about distant worlds. I remember when I was young I had an idea to build a roller coaster through my house. I even slid down the stairs in my sleeping bag with my brothers to test out the G-forces. Ha! The use of the jetpack reminded me of The Rocketeer (may seem like a long shot, but these are just things that popped into my head). When the boys in Tomorrowland said they were heading to "R&D class" I got shivers. To me, Tomorrowland means hope. Hope that I can accomplish what I want. That I'm on the right track. What a great movie.

Anyway, I was browsing through the IMDB boards and found the following message. I wanted to know what you all thought about it. It seems like such a silly mindset to me, but I'm curious to hear the opinions of other Disney fans.

Original message from IMDB: "Before this movie, my young son had never seen a decapitated head, a person get hit by a car, a beat down with a bat, nor did it ever occur to him that the world could end. Thanks Disney. Those images were not what I expected from the promotion of the flick (maybe the world ending) And this was supposed to be an inspirational movie?"

I don't know about anyone else, but as a former young boy, there is nothing more exciting that battling robots (NOT HUMANS), travelling between worlds, and saving the day! That's what is inspirational to a young boy. We wanted to prove our worth in a battle against pirates, or ghouls, or robots. We wanted to save the princess and the kingdom. It seems that too many parents just WON'T ALLOW THEIR CHILDREN TO DREAM ANYMORE! I can understand protecting your child from seeing the real violence that is happening in the world. But for now, just let them enjoy some action in a movie!

*Sits down and quietly awaits criticism.*

 

[RandomPrincess]

That dad should have done a better job researching what the movie was about before he took his kid. There are many web sites that will let you know what is in a film without spoiling it so you can make a better decision about what to let your kids see. I personally chose not to take my 6 year old after reading a spoiler free breakdown of the types of violence seen in the movie. As for not being aware of the violence they did show the scene of the robots coming into the house in the trailer. Once I saw that I knew I should check out the violence level before my kid saw it. PG means parental guidance.

 

[englanddg]

Before I let my kid play Nintendo, he never knew that you could stomp on turtles and now he won't stop eating dandelions trying to get fireballs.

Gee thanks Obama.

 

[ImagineerDude]

Guess his could won't be shocked in the neat future when he realizes people can get decapitated, hit by cars, and the world is coming to an end.

But really did the guy not watch the ending? It's up to us to change the future, right? And I agree...I absolutely loved the beginning but it went downhill from there. It was still good but I think I just imagined it a lot differently.

 

[SW_matt]

I think I enjoyed the film more because of the fact I'm a WDW fan and loved all the little references to the world (especially the carousel at the very start). The actual film was alright, nothing amazing but I really enjoyed it

 

[216bruce]

That dad should have done a better job researching what the movie was about before he took his kid. There are many web sites that will let you know what is in a film without spoiling it so you can make a better decision about what to let your kids see. I personally chose not to take my 6 year old after reading a spoiler free breakdown of the types of violence seen in the movie. As for not being aware of the violence they did show the scene of the robots coming into the house in the trailer. Once I saw that I knew I should check out the violence level before my kid saw it. PG means parental guidance.

Can you imagine the faux outrage (Covering their keesters for neglectful, overcompensating parenting) that would occur from these folks if they time traveled back to the release of Bambi? "I was shocked and outraged that animals get hunted, tragedy happens and that animals are orphaned!" Good lord, folks....Stop letting society raise your children and take some responsibility.

6 is a little young for this movie...most anything apart from a cartoon really. Kudos to you for checking and not assuming!

 

[NMBC1993]

It's no surprise the father was unaware what content was in the film, he probably just saw the name "Tomorrowland" and though "It's Disney, it's for families". Take it from an ex-media rental store clerk of 8 years, a lot of parents don't pay attention to what they buy or rent for their kids. Most of the time a parent would come in, rent the most R rated thing they could find and say "Oh, my kid wanted it".

One time this 10 year old girl came in with her mother and wanted to rent Step Brothers, the mother asked me about the film and as soon as I told her why it was rated that way she immediately turned to her daughter, slapped her on the shoulder and said "You KNOW you're not allowed to watch stuff like that, why did you tell me it was appropriate for you!?"

 

[Figments Friend]

I will admit, i found some of those items mentioned ( heads flying, gal being run over, etc..) surprising in the context of this film.
They were meant to be surprise elements in the context of the story, but i was not expecting them to be so in my face.

I remember actually being jolted in my seat when Athena was struck on the road.
It just happened so suddenly...but then again, that was the director's intent and it worked.

The film is 'PG' for a reason..that is clear.
I absolutely LOVED 'Tomorrowland'....but could see some parents having issues with some of the content shown.

 

[prberk]

Part of the issue is ratings creep that has happened since "PG-13" was created (solely, I might add, so that Stephen Spielberg and his contemporaries could get a little more graphic in adventure films without getting an "R" rating).

Since then, "PG" has almost been seen like "G" used to be, and very few "G"-rated movies are made except for overly simple children's movies. Even by Disney.

So, that leaves many parents to treat "PG" films like "G" ones. They need to remember that they are NOT "G"-rated ones. They need to remember what the ratings mean:

"G" is meant to be suitable for "General Audiences" (everyone);

"PG" is meant to say to the parents, "Parental Guidance suggested;"

and "PG-13" is meant to be stronger, "Parents strongly cautioned."

People need to remember that.

 

[Figments Friend]

That is indeed true.

A 'G' rating is considered box office suicide for a film ...and has been for some years now...so studios will do anything to avoid having their film being branded as such.
It immediately gets the unwanted perception from the public that the film is nothing more then a 'kiddie flick' , which is something studios try to avoid if at all possible.


I can think of a few times when a family films that would have otherwise been rated a 'G' purposely added one curse word or a quick questionable moment to score the 'PG' rating instead.
It was far more desirable from a marketing/publicity standpoint than the unwanted 'kiddie flick' rating
'E.T.' is a perfect example.
Everyone recalls the scene where Elliot calls his brother '(biologic part) breath!'
That was totally unnecessary for the movie, but it was purposely put in to avoid the 'G' branding and instantly make it 'PG'.

Thus why there are so many 'kids movies' that are actually mostly rated 'PG'.
Look at just about anything that has been released over the last 15-20 years that is directly targeted/marketing to children and chances are it is 'PG'.
Dreamworks. Universal. Sony. Warner Bros....you name it.
The trend started some years ago, but is still going strong today.
'PG' IS the new 'kiddie flick' label it seems....so it is no wonder why some folks forget there are reasons behind the rating and there may well be some questionable stuff included.