To list all the hit live action kids movies from my childhood would take days. To make the same list based on today’s, I’d be here the same amount of time trying to figure out just one. What happened to the spirit of childhood in movies? They didn’t have to be blockbusters, all they had to be was entertaining. Tin Tin and Hugo are beautiful, but do they compare to the value of Blank Check or The Mighty Ducks series? I don’t think so.
We’re leaving Harry Potter and Twilight out of this due to the fact that it’s a lot of older folks who experience fandomania for those movies. So with those out, in the last year or so you have Judy Moody, Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Spy Kids 4. Okay, the fourth wasn’t needed, but Judy Moody? That would’ve been so big in 1994. It was bright, had a chaotic plot line and starred a girl who looked like any average kid. She wasn’t over sexualized, she didn’t swear, she was just a kid. But it didn’t do that hot at the box office. Diary, however… that did well, so it’s a wonder more movies like that aren’t coming out.
What’s to blame? Have kids done away with the “immature” ways of ages 3-12? Do they go from diapers to downloading and Facebook now? It’s a shame. Parents shouldn’t have to force their kids to enjoy those kinds of movies, they should just want to. And Hollywood should take the “grown up” situations out of the movies and take them back to the basics like Diary did: underdog, jokes, and a bad guy to overcome.
Parents should tell their kids to tone down the iProducts and get into more kid friendly things like memorable movies. Generations should be able to look back and spout out lines like “You play ball like a girl” and “Can I keep you?” at the drop of a hat. In 20 years when today’s kids only have apps to talk about, those conversations will be very dismal. So, Hollywood, there’s not a lack of children in the world to entertain — do your job and do it right. Make movies that capture the innocence and imagination of youth, and save the current state of childhood.
