"A Christmas Carol" May Be Too Dark For Family Fun - Comments

I saw it in IMAX 3D, which deffinently made me jump a few times, but there were three, four, and five year olds who were in the theater too, and every time something popped up, the would jump and scream a little, and then start laughing. I don't think it was that scary.

I think Tim Burton once said that adults [or non-children] have a very different idea of what scares children than the children themselves do. I haven't seen the movie, but I recently watched both Twilight and Nightmare Before Christmas with my 8 and 9 year old siblings. There were parts in both I was uncomfortable with them watching (eg the kidnapping of the easter bunny and the decpitation of the enemy vampires, of Nightmare... and Twilight respectively), which didn't seem to phase them at all however still make me squirm after watching them over and over.

I would say that it's better to over-rate it that under-rate it.
I think it was enough for a PG-13 rating. But maybe I'm just a little overly sensitive about decaying bodies and macabre scenery.

It's a ghost story, it's suposed to be scary. The story has been sugar coated so many times, people seem to have forgotten that. And, it may have been too much for a PG movie, but not enough for PG 13 one.

@BenjaminBarker Is it up to movies to show children things in life are dark? Why don't we just show them murder photos then? Or videos of shootings?

A Chrismas Carol was never intended for children, if you've ever read the book you'll know why. It's a classic -ahem- [b]ghost[/b] story. Last time I checked ghosts were supposed to be dark and scary. The book even starts off with "Marley was dead to begin with" indicating that it's filled with some morbid and dark situations. Over the years A Christmas Carol was shaped into a more cute, and cuddly tale. If you've ever watched interviews with the director of this movie he mentioned that he tried to make the film more like the book. Take a look back at some of the PG movies that are out now, some of them are more violent or scary then this. Remeber the Dementors in the Potter movies? To me those were pretty scary. I think the film was given an appropriate rating, and it gives kids a nice lesson to leave the theatre with.

I still want to see it, but my Dad was mad they were making another movie, hes loves the original, SO funny!

Ok umm...did anyone take a look at the picture..and then his face?I dont know,i might be a little immature..i know im a little immature,but really?Hahaha im just saying.

Depends on the maturity level/age.

I forgot how dark of a story it is, it's been awhile since I've read the book. Probably one of the most demented Christmas movies ever created haaah but yes there were a few children that were rather upset. Like when Marley's jaw broke ... a little boy starting crying.

I personally thought it to be the closest adaptation to the original story I've seen, despite it's dark features. I thought the rating was fine, kids need to learn that not all things in life are brilliant, it would decrease the amount of moaners in later life.

@laughatlife & Dru
I know what you mean. I feel like the only reason I understood it is because I'm in my school's production of the play &I've heard a lot of those lines over and over and over, not just because of the musical but because I read a children's version when I was younger (granted memory serves correct.)

&I sort of take back what I said about not liking it. I didn't love it, but I did really like that this version was -- apparently -- a lot closer to the book -- the language, Present's dying/decaying (though I agree, they could've taken out the laughter. :|) Scrooge's maid, all that made it better when you consider the book. But if they wanted to do that, they shouldn't have made it a kid's film.

&for God's sake. Why do they feel the need to model Fred after Colin Firth? That seriously made me sick; sorry everyone else.

My niece -- she's three -- saw a commercial for it &went to my sister &said, "Mommy, that might be scary for children." :tehe:
I saw this the day it came out for my birthday & 1. I was disappointed & 2. you're right. I really don't think kids should see this; or, I guess it would depend on the age. But whatever. Either way, I wasn't thrilled with it.

I went and saw it Friday....and the first thing I thought was, "Is this really a Children's Christmas movie? More like something from Tim Burton!"

@laughatlife

I'm 22 years old and I even had trouble understanding some of the language in the movie. Like, I got the gist but sometimes it was like "wtf are you saying".

IT'S ANIMATED!!!!!!!!! THEY REALLY NEED TO FIGURE OUT WHAT THEY'RE AIMED AUDIENCE IS IF THEY WANT TO DO A FILM LIKE THAT AND NOT THINK KIDS UNDER TWELVE WILL WANT TO SEE IT!!!!!!! THAT'S SICK!

I saw this with my little brother and our cousins. It really shouldn't be rated PG. Not when you see 8 year olds covering their eyes at those parts that you mentioned. Too scary for PG in my opinion. They also made the mistake of having the characters talk in a language kids would definitely not understand. Yes, it is true that they have to speak like that because of the setting and time period, but I'm pretty sure most PG viewers wouldn't understand the dialogue. It's very boring when you don't understand anything and when it's too scary to watch!

I saw it and thought it was a bit much for a disney movie,you know what I mean?
And I thought it was very boring too.. I lost interest fast..

I want to see it... So far the trailers just tell me it's about an elderly man getting thrown through the air countless times.

We took an 11 year old boy with ADHD to see it. He gets really bad nightmares. The people at the theatre said that Disney asked theatre staff to warn viewers before they went in that it was unsuitable for children under twelve. But, of course, they wait to tell you until after you've paid and they're ripping your tickets. At the part where the teeth fly out of the ghost's head, he literally jumped out of his seat and threw his popcorn all over everyone. But overall, I liked the movie. It was just a little less kid-friendly than I'd expected.