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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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To think Disney Pixar's new film Onward is going to cause all kinds of problems...

105 replies

CornishPasties · 25/02/2020 09:25

From what I can see the general concept is that 2 brothers get to bring their father back to life for 24 hours to spend one last day together.

Now granted I have not lost a parent but I have taught several children who have gone through this horrid experience. The advice given is always to make it clear that death is final and that the person cannot come back no matter how much the child wishes it.

So surely the plot for this film is at best not well thought out and at worst it could give false hope that seeing their parent again might be a possibility?

Aibu or am I massively over thinking this?

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CornishPasties · 25/02/2020 09:51

I can’t imagine overthinking a kids’ movie this much. My head would explode!

I dont recommended it, when you really think about some of the films you'll begin to wonder why on earth people think them suitable for children. Grin It's an interesting rabbit hole.

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Hobbesmanc · 25/02/2020 09:52

Haha- just read the review- I didn't have any awareness of the film. But it does state that the boy protagonists are actually blue skinned elves......and its set in a fantasy realm of unicorns and centaurs.

OhCaptain · 25/02/2020 09:53

Oh, I can imagine so I refuse to 😂

Happy to hum along and be wilfully ignorant!

OhCaptain · 25/02/2020 09:53

In all seriousness though it could be a Lion King “he lives in you” moment!

Brefugee · 25/02/2020 09:55

@sarahjconnor - thanks i came here to say that. It was infuriating!

trixiebelden77 · 25/02/2020 09:55

I imagine the plot will deal with this and the end result will be accepting the father is dead.

mummumumumumumumumumum · 25/02/2020 09:56

I was warned about letting my adopted daughter see Finding Dory as she goes to find her family. My DD made no connection at all with that theme ans she is quite a sensitive little thing. They don't watch things in the same way as adults do!

sarahjconnor · 25/02/2020 09:59

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

RoryGillmoresEvilTwin · 25/02/2020 09:59

This is one film we won't be going to see. Far too painful for my ds. It's hard enough that his dd isn't here without turning it into entertainment and reminding him what he doesn't have.
Just the trailer for the film left him subdued recently.

Morgan12 · 25/02/2020 10:01

Sid in Toy Story is absolutely not abused and neglected.

His sister is totally fine. They have a nice house and lots of toys etc. Get took to Pizza Planet just like Andy.

He is just a wee prick.

sarahjconnor · 25/02/2020 10:01

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

WhenYouveAFirstInEnglish · 25/02/2020 10:05

Overthinking it I think. Part of the Disney success is that it taps into kids most secret wishes, and allows them to explore it safely. It may be a bittersweet film for some.

Plus I’m sure it will have a message at the end about how when people are gone they really are gone.....

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CornishPasties · 25/02/2020 10:05

Far too painful for my ds

Im sorry to hear that. Hopefully its not immensely popular and it doesnt stick around or become as big as frozen so its not in his face so much. Sad

I really do think tho however unreasonable I'm being that there must be lots of better plots for a film than bringing back a loved one for 24 hours.

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DesLynamsMoustache · 25/02/2020 10:06

Jack Frost!

Nearlyalmost50 · 25/02/2020 10:08

For most children it won't be an issue, but I can see how for a child recently bereaved or fearing bereavement, it's all a bit odd. The feeling that you want someone back after they died just for one day, one hour, one minute is a very real feeling. It's a horrible sense of longing that is hard to shift. It does seem odd to then flesh that out into a whole story for kids. I don't see it at all the same as stories about the underworld or where the princess is sleeping.

I don't think it shouldn't have been made at all- but obviously if you have a child for whom this is a sensitive topic right now, I would swerve it.

OhCaptain · 25/02/2020 10:08

He is just a wee prick

LOL!

Part of the Disney success is that it taps into kids most secret wishes, and allows them to explore it safely. It may be a bittersweet film for some.

I think this is a good point and I agree with it.

Also agree that kids for the most part don't watch things the way we do!

@sarahjconnor what's wrong with Big??

slashlover · 25/02/2020 10:10

Have you never seen Up? Almost every adult I know was traumatised by the first ten minutes while the kids were fine. It's like watching Shrek as an adult means you get to enjoy completely different jokes.

slashlover · 25/02/2020 10:11

what's wrong with Big??

It's implied that they sleep together and he's actually still a 12 year old boy, just in a man's body.

OhCaptain · 25/02/2020 10:13

OMG that never even dawned on me when I watched it and I haven't watched it in years! Jesus!

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CornishPasties · 25/02/2020 10:14

The feeling that you want someone back after they died just for one day, one hour, one minute is a very real feeling. It's a horrible sense of longing that is hard to shift. It does seem odd to then flesh that out into a whole story for kids.

This is put so much better than how I could explain it. Its a very real feeling for adults who know its never going to happen.

However for Disney aged children it seems odd to make a film which offers just that. Im hoping as others have said that it ends with a messge about death being final but it still seems such an odd concept for an entire film to be based upon.

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fairlyplump · 25/02/2020 10:14

Is it snowing, there are a lot of snowflakes out there

Kuponut · 25/02/2020 10:16

It's one I think I'll avoid for DD2 in particular who gets very upset at death at the moment (she brought home Greyfriars Bobby as a school reading book recently and was in floods of tears).

Inside Out was superb for getting DD1, who struggles with handling her emotions (well she's nearly 8 and it's ALL THE. WORST. THING. EVER.) to discuss things - so I'm not anti-Pixar, but I'm selective in it.

DD2 is also now really rather worried, after seeing it on the news, about the "Macaroni Virus" incidentally.

MorrisZapp · 25/02/2020 10:16

I saw the trailer for this and my very first thought was horror that some kids who had lost a parent might gain false hope from the premise.

The absolute worst values I ever saw in a kids film though were in the unspeakably bad Home Alone 4, where Kevin's dad has left for another woman. The kids manage to vanquish the other woman in a battle of good versus evil, and the dad comes home to a hero's welcome.

My jaw dropped.

Dollywilde · 25/02/2020 10:17

I really think adults overthink this. I remember back in the 90s my sister and I had a VHS of The Parent Trap (Lindsay Lohan version Grin) which we were obsessed with and when my cousins came to stay my mum banned us from watching it because it might make my cousins think their divorced parents might get back together...

OhCaptain · 25/02/2020 10:18

The thing is though it could be great for kids to explore that longing in a safe environment, especially if they bring it to a good conclusion.

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