comment #1

MilkMan says ...

What I want to know is whether or not it's okay to take my daughter to see this movie. She's 16 months old and wtahces Monsters Inc. in its entirety every night before going to sleep. She has never been to a movie before. Should I make Wall-E her first movie-going experience? Does anybody have any opinions based on their own child-rearing experiences? Is she too young? Do you think she'll be scared?

comment #2

York "Budd" Durden says ...

I don't know about scared (and it's nothing personal), but at that age, isn't she likely to annoy the rest of us with toddler bits of business?

comment #3

BurmaShave says ...

MilkMan I was waiting for that question to turn irreverent.

comment #4

Alan Cerny says ...

Depends on your kid, I guess. I took my 1 year old to TOY STORY 2 and she was silent throughout the whole thing. She loved it. But my kid's an anomaly. She loves movies pretty much like her dad does.

My mom told me they took me to see THE WILD BUNCH, of all movies, when I was a baby and I was absolutely silent through the entire movie, and they never had any problems taking me when I was a kid. I'm a movie freak, though.

comment #5

LexG says ...

Kids under 5 don't need to be anywhere near a movie theater.

I seriously doubt they have ANY idea what's going on. When someone comes into a theater with a kid, during ANY movie, I immediately get up and change seats.

So, yeah, if I was sitting there and came in with a little kid, I'd probably think you were a rude, thoughtless prick.

comment #6

BurmaShave says ...

KIDS OWN YOUR ASS. BE A GOD NOT A MAN LEX

comment #7

Alan Cerny says ...

Yeah, you're an idiot.

comment #8

LexG says ...

BurmaShave consistently KNOWS, so mad props.

Still, even though it's a kids movie (and thus not worth watching by adults)... 16 mos is too little.

WANTED WILL CRUSH WALL-E.

comment #9

BillRamsey says ...

DDDDDDDDOUUUUUUUUCHEBAG -- Lex G and Yorkie.......

comment #10

Redmond says ...

MilkMan, I have an 18 month old, and you are playing with fire.

I'll never forget the time I went to see Clerks 2 at a 10:30 P.M. show and some guy brought in an infant. The kid wasn't even one but somehow this jackass thought it'd be smooth to bring the baby. Needless to say 10 minutes in the kid starts bawling and the guy has to leave. Which prompted applause from the audience.

comment #11

LexG says ...

Someone brought an infant to GET RICH OR DIE TRYIN'.

Cried for two hours straight. Mom and Dad made no effort to leave or so much as shush the kid.

comment #12

gruver1 says ...

If a child is crying steadily in a movie and the parent doesn't take him out within two or three minutes or less, it's entirely allowable to walk over, stand in the row behind the parent and pour a 32 ounce cup of soda over his or her head. And I'm not just saying this. I took my infant sons to movies two or three or four times, and the minute they'd start with the crying or whining, out we'd go into the lobby. No ifs, ands or buts. But if I had just sat there with them as they cried, just sat there as they ruined the movie experience for everyone else in the theatre, it would have been entirely right and proper if someone had come up and poured a 32-ounce cup of soda on my head. I would look up at the guy, my head soaked with melted ice cubes and Pepsi Cola syrup, and say, "You're right, man...I hear you. I'm an asshole and you pointed this out. Thanks for being straight about it."

comment #13

Richardson says ...

"I don't know about scared (and it's nothing personal), but at that age, isn't she likely to annoy the rest of us with toddler bits of business?"

I personally believe that if you go to see a kids' movie before 8PM (at the earliest), you have no right to complain about toddlers in the crowd. Excessive crying babies are an extreme example, and should always be complained about, but if you're going into a kids' movie at, say, 2PM on a Saturday, at this point in your life you should be fully aware that there will be some rowdy kids there. [Any kid who goes to a movie after 8, I find, is generally well-behaved enough that it doesn't matter.]

when I saw 'Fellowship of the Ring', I got there early, and got a great seat, a single seat with a lot of legroom, right in the middle of the theater. I was so psyched to have the perfect vantage point. A few folks I knew from school walked in, and wound up sitting near me. Then, ten minutes before the movie started, a woman walks in with a baby, and sits right in front of me.

At this point, the theater was so full that I couldn't have gotten another good seat. I warned the guys I knew when they got back from the concession stand, so they decided to move to the opposite side of the theater. But I wanted that seat, and I had a good feeling. I knew that the opening part would be so loud and scary that the baby would cry, and that if she didn't leave quickly, the geeky crowd would turn on her and force her to. To her credit, as soon as the baby started making *any* noise (didn't even really get to crying yet), she left and didn't come back.

comment #14

Richardson says ...

"pour a 32 ounce cup of soda over his or her head"

Like I'd spend $19 on a soda and then dump it out like that.

comment #15

mjn says ...

I was a theater manager back when the first Mission: Impossible movie came out. The auditorium was full and a father with a two year-old was in the back row. When I did a random check of the theater I saw that the child was repeatedly making loud noises. I stood directly behind them for two minutes to see if the parent was going to take any kind of action. After I saw that the father was not going to take any action and the child was not going to shut up. I said to the father "Alright, we get it, you're not going shut your kid up". I asked them to leave, he looked like he was going to deck me. I had offered him two passes to come back later. An usher who knew the guy told me later he ran a karate studio and that he was getting into sometime type of karate stance. He eventually went away with a bunch of bluster.

Jeff, even though I agree with you, be careful with that drink-dumping scheme, the majority of parents do not like to be corrected in public.

comment #16

Terry McCarty says ...

If a child is crying steadily in a movie and the parent doesn't take him out within two or three minutes or less, it's entirely allowable to walk over, stand in the row behind the parent and pour a 32 ounce cup of soda over his or her head. And I'm not just saying this. I took my infant sons to movies two or three or four times, and the minute they'd start with the crying or whining, out we'd go into the lobby. No ifs, ands or buts. But if I had just sat there with them as they cried, just sat there as they ruined the movie experience for everyone else in the theatre, it would have been entirely right and proper if someone had come up and poured a 32-ounce cup of soda on my head. I would look up at the guy, my head soaked with melted ice cubes and Pepsi Cola syrup, and say, "You're right, man...I hear you. I'm an asshole and you pointed this out. Thanks for being straight about it."

In the world we now live in, people may consider that worthy of an assault charge--sad as it is to say.

comment #17

DavidF says ...

My wife recently went to see Sex and the City and some dude came in with a couple of kids (around 8 years old) he was babysitting. He was warned off by some audience members but baffled...he ended up opting for Prince Caspian.

That said, I'm also wondering about Wall*e. My three-year old loves Toy Story and many a Disney movie and has mostly memorized. Last week we took her to Kung Fu Panda for her first movie going experience (I know) and it mostly went well.

I wasn't concerned she'd be scared of Wall*e, just bored....

comment #18

hollyman says ...

I agree with Wells about the silence.

I heard an interview with dir Andrew Stanton talking about the silence of the movie at http://www.hollywoodoutbreak.com/?p=618.

comment #19

chicagodad says ...

My twins are just over 2 months, and they love some of the Pixar movies and some of the Disney classics.

Haven't considered taking them to a theater yet, but probably will in the next few months. Daytime show during the week, definitely. I think they'll do great. By which I mean if they ask questions or say anything it'll be in a quiet voice, not that they'll sit there in total silence.

That said, if they do get loud, I will absolutely not hesitate to leave. It's just the same courtesy I'd like to see from others.

comment #20

Jimmycrackcorn says ...

"What I want to know is whether or not it's okay to take my daughter to see this movie. She's 16 months old and wtahces Monsters Inc. in its entirety every night before going to sleep. She has never been to a movie before. Should I make Wall-E her first movie-going experience? Does anybody have any opinions based on their own child-rearing experiences? Is she too young? Do you think she'll be scared?"

I know you didn't ask us to critique your parenting skills, but I would say that if you show your 16-month-old "Monsters Inc." IN ITS ENTIRETY EVERY NIGHT BEFORE BED, there is something wrong with you. Whether to take your kid to "Wall-E" or not is probably the least of your parenting problems. But compared to the occasional nightmare image in "Monsters Inc.," no, there is nothing particularly "scary" in "Wall-E." Your kid will just be baffled by most of it.

comment #21

MilkMan says ...

Thanks, Jimmycrackcorn. I'm new to this parenting thing, so I'm making so mistakes right now, and judging from your self-righteous tone, it sounds like your parents made a lot of mistakes too. Kids, especially babies, like repetition. The like the same thing to eat, the same books read to them, the same song played over and over again, the same videos played. It's pretty common. It's her nightly ritual, how we wind down after a long day, a day spent, I might add, without one minute of television, so Monsters Inc is a treat. Sounds like your parents gave you a lot of treats, maybe one too many.

comment #22

Alan Cerny says ...

Don't sweat it, MilkMan. My kid's comfort movie when she was littler was THE IRON GIANT. Getting them started with the best requires no apology.

comment #23

chicagodad says ...

Oh, my twins are just over 2 YEARS, not months. Whoops.

comment #24

Redmond says ...

MilkMan, you got a nice system there. Kudos.

comment #25

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