Have you seen UP? Isn't this a little sad for a children's movie?

It’s an emotional movie to be sure. But I think it’s more hopeful and optimistic than depressing and sad. Carl and Ellie had a really wonderful life together, and the movie is about Carl realizing that the life they had was the adventure he promised her. It’s about him realizing that life goes on, and there is still more to do. Ellie’s death is not the point of the movie. Carl’s life is.

I think in many ways it is more on an adult movie than a kid’s. In trying to please both constituencies, it lost some of its focus. I found the first part about the marriage the most affecting.

No, I didn’t think it was sad. The kids in the theater seemed happy. Grave of the Fireflies, now, is the most depressing children’s movie imaginable.

Grave of the Fireflies is a children’s movie like Family Guy is a children’s TV show.

Haven’t seen it yet, we planned on watching it today with our son…

It is soul-crushingly sad.

It’s sad, but it’s got Kevin in it :D

I wouldn’t contend that all childrens fair need to be relentlessly happy.

There’s value in experiencing all emotions – even for children.

looks rather uninteresting
Like most , if not all, Disney movies

This is reminding me of Coraline. We were going to watch it with our young son, but decided to watch it beforehand. We were shocked at how scary it was, and were glad we pre-screened it. My son is too young to really realize whats going on if there’s major emotional back story, but I would not shield him from something like that. I recall watching Radio Flyer when I was little, and it having a big impact.

I don’t think the movie was for kids beyond the animation.

I went to the theatre with my children to see this movie and my daughter was sobbing in the beginning and the end. She is a bit sensitive about death right now because of some deaths in the family. If I knew I may have not taken her to see it right now. Besides that I think the idea of the movie is a great one… It is not the things we own in life that represent the experiences.. The experience is really the only thing we can own.

It was a really touching movie. But it would have been much sadder had the old man just clung to his house and never done anything, and then died. The example the movie sets for us is pretty positive—reaching out beyond himself, taking some pretty good risks, loving again. I think its main themes: loss, abandonment, greed, would pretty much go over the heads of most children who watch it.

My kids loved it. I loved it. As @cprevite says not all movies need to be relentlessly happy. This one had a sad beginning but a great balance with lots of funny moments and a great ending.
I really want Dug the dog.

It needs to be sad in the beginning to set the story. I thought I was gonna cry in the theatre but I understood how they kind of had to have it that sad to get the point across. In the end I wante to cry in joy because it was so darn cute :)

I agree with @MrItty.. it’s sad at the beginning but it really is a story of hope and friendship. It’s not just a kid’s movie even if it is animated. It’s a wonderful film with a great message for anyone. I loved every second of it and highly recommend it to anyone. Even those with kids.

@casheroo cash’ll love it

Just saw this question. I am loading it into my DVR now.

Awww..it is sad. I’m ⅔’s through.

@MacBean Actually, it is intended to be a childrens’ movie. Studio Ghibli released it as a double feature with My Neighbor Totoro. It did badly, due to the soul-crushing aspect you mentioned.

I think it is sadder for the adults than for the children. The loss of Ellie is worse for adults than for children because we have experience with relationships. Carl and Ellie had the perfect relationship, which we all hope for, and it ended with one of them being alone, which many of us fear. Children, for the most part, can’t relate to that.

Bambi’s mom or Simba’s dad dying are things they can grasp enough to upset them. They fear their own mom or dad dying and many also have an incredible love of animals.

@wildpotato: I read about that. I hope they showed Totoro second, to cheer the kids up so they wouldn’t all want to go home and slit their wrists.

Please note that Grave of the Fireflies is one of my favorite films of all time. I realize it sounds like I’m badmouthing it. I’m really not.

I saw it with an adult friend of mine, and she cried. Yes, it is sad. I don’t think most kids get the melancholy of it though. For them everyone over the age of 12 is a “grown up” and old age is thousands of years from now. Even high school is several centuries away. So I wouldn’t mind my kid watching it, though it did seem pretty deep for a children’s movie.

I don’t understand why everyone’s debating whether it’s a “kids’ movie” or “adults’ movie”. Why does there have to be a distinction? It’s just a good movie, regardless of age. In the truest tradition of Disney. Walt himself said that he didn’t try to talk down to kids or make movies that one or the other would enjoy only. “Adults are just kids grown up anyway”.

There was a part in it that made me more sad than Ellie’s death. That, I know, is going to happen sooner or later in real life. It’s the shot of the young couple in the doctor’s office. So sad.

Fantastic movie. I was waiting for when Carl would let go of certain things, even though I know every trope in this genre, and I cried anyway. It was very well-executed.

Pixar films have that core heartbreak and sadness as part of the mise en scene. Remember Finding Nemo?

Disney movies have this running theme of absent parents and sadness, even if the ending is somewhat happy. I think kids like them because they don’t necessarily pick up on all the emotional things, especially if they don’t have a great understanding of death to begin with.

So I watched UP with my wife and daughter last night. She’s seven (the daughter not the wife).

At the end my wife said, “Wasnt that a little sad for a child?” My daughter then says, “That was my favorite movie ever!”

So there ya go.

Aww! A little emo girl in training! XD

It has been less than two weeks, but we have watched Up about 500 times. My son loves it. He calls the movie “Mussel” (for Russel). And asks to watch it all the friggin’ time. I limit it to twice a day, before nap and before bed…but he gets extremely into the fleeing scene, a little too worked up lol

KEVIN, KEVIN, KEVIN! :3

I think this movie is a bit deep compared to other Disney movies, but
I don’t think children realize the sadness , to me it seems to go right over their heads. They get caught up in the funny and adventurous moments of the movie, not the sad and depressing parts.
I bet if you ask any little kid if they’ve seen this move, who their favorite character is they would say Dug or Kevin (the funny characters).