Children’s animated movies

So I’m a bit concerned as a father and a Christian I don’t want to be harsh toward my son and crush him so I’m inquiring as to what I need to do. My 6 year old son really likes watching a certain currently trending animated kids show Called Encanto. From what I see it’s a female dominated show. Where the characters worship this magic candle given to the “Guella” and the candle builds this enchanted house and community . All the men appear foolish or unintelligent. All the main characters are female except the estranged uncle “Bruno”
Who is keeper of the magic and we don’t talk about Bruno. I was ok with my son watching it a couple times but now I’m a bit weirded out cause he wants to sleep to the soundtrack of the show and that is all he wants to watch whenever the tv turns on with little interest in faith based animated shows like superbook. My Wife encourages the show and says it’s her favorite despite my opposition. Am I missing the bigger picture here. If anyone is familiar with he show is there any way I can draw parallels to the story from Christianity like you can the Chronicles of Narnia or Lord of The Rings? I’m failing to see any parallels and in Encanto I’m seeing nothing but female dominance, magic worship. Is there a bigger story to the show that I’m missing which can be based on scripture? And being my son is into this stuff. Do I encourage it or give him a Christian storied alternative that may be hiding out there that can give him a positive and strong male character as well. I’m afraid too much of this female dominated kids shows might effect how he develops mentally as a male as well. Thoughts? I’m I worrying too much?

I've seen the movie Encanto. I found the movie to give political statements (about border crossings) rather rhan religious. In any case, Disney movies tend to have an element of magic (the genie/lamp in Aladdin, sea witch in Little Mermaid, the dying rose in Beauty and the Beast, etc.) and I find Encanto no different in that regard with the candle. The candle is like the dying rose. As Encanto is a Disney movie with all Latino characters, and Latinos tend to be Catholics, I found the candle could have some connection to Catholicism (Catholic cathedrals are sometimes lit up by candles). Like many Disney movies since the beginning (Snow White, Cinderella, Little Mermaid, Pocahontas, Mulan, etc.), the movies tend to be more geared for young girls.

Thankyou. This is why I asked. I’m probably just being to worried and over protective and didn’t want to hurt him by denying him the show . It Just threw me off the other night when he wanted the soundtrack playing and then watching the show kinda made me question spiritually if something odd might be happening. You are correct, nothing out of the ordinary compared to any of the other Disney shows through history beyond improved graphics filming and sound. I’m sure I have some sensitivities that made some elements of the film seem worse than it really is and God is helping me work on those. Thankyou

No, you are right to be concerned. Children are impressionable. You need to pray that the hold of the show will be broken and the Lord show you a better alternative.

most children get obssessed with Disney movies at some point in their lives, I know one girl who hasnt grown out of it yet and shes 18. She's a christian and her mum was worried about one tiny aspect of the Beauty and the Beast movie or was it Cinderella that she heard someone ELSE talk about in some social media which isnt even true.

Tends to be more popular with girls (because of more princess characters) while the DC comics and Marvel animated movies franchise is more geared for boys (because of the superhero element)

What you do is watch the movies WITH your children...any that sre rated PG means PARENTAL GUIDANCE meaning you are there with your children to either turn it off or answer any questions they might have.

just because a movie has a lot of female characters doesnt mean a boy cant watch it. They might learn something, I wonder if maybe you wouldnt 'let' your son read Little Women or books featuring girls because its too...girly! Some families are like that they actually only have daughters. Not every family has an equal number of boys and girls.

I remember one cousin being super obssessed with Frozen for a while and with a high school friend back in the day it was Aladdin and the Lion King. (both of which featured boys/male characters as the heroes)

Blame the super catchy songs.

I havent seen Encanto myself but if theres a catchy song from it then it would probably be popular with children.

I recall the Lord of the rings and the Hobbit hardly had any female characters, which I think was annoying for girl readers/viewers but it didnt mean they couldnt enjoy the story for what it was..a fantasy adventure.
I also remember the Smurfs only had ONE female character...smurfette. Actually I didnt much like it cos of the evil cat lol.
Thomas the Tank engine didnt have many female trains lol. I think layer on in the series more came along, I remember Annue and Clarabel were the carriages.

So well it works both ways doesnt it?

There is probably not much Godly stuff on TV .....that is just the way of the world....and everything in that environment that the world has to offer is geared to influence a child....and they are masters at it.

My kids never watched cartoons or animated shows with the exception of a some selected Disney movies....nor did they do any gaming....

Of coarse they don't talk to me to this day .................I'm kidding ....they have thanked me several times for not succumbing to what would be tantamount to an easy babysitter.... but the worldly entertainment directed at kids was bad 20 years ago... and it hasn't gotten any better.

Th
Thankyou for your Insight into the male/female thing .I think I’m coming up against a cultural shift and it’s making me uncomfortable to say the least. I had these same things rise in me when I watched another Disney movie called (brave) I know my son would be well to see both boys and girls in the primary character of story (IN THEIR CONTEXT)where a male and female complement each other and are part of a larger story entered in together. Older shows leaned a bit heavy on the helpless princess being rescued by the dashing prince. However I feel lately the movies take it a bit too far the other way and the women cast in the story lose what has been perceived as traditional feminity as given to them by God in Genesis as they instead take on the role of what was traditional masculine strength. This problem is probably a failure of my perception in the culture I was raised in. I will absolutely own that failure if I’m not seeing clearly. from what I learned as a man raised in a household of men in Western US rural culture. The idea was, You just don’t stand by and let women do the hard work as you the man look on and do nothing. It feels emasculating to allow that to happen for me. I feel these shows are encouraging emasculated and effeminate behavior in men as being accepted and encouraged in society to allow them to go passive and let strong men resign their strength and fall into resignation and become the bumbling moronic characters these shows portray as men. In the past there was always male and female being included in the larger story. Now I’m finding that to not be so much. I was raised in the culture that shows the handsome American Cowboy riding in and sweeping the young Lady off into a whirlwind romance and adventure stuff) (John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara) (Wyatt Earp and Josephine) type culture is where I’m coming from here. It is difficult for me to see shows which cast women as the strength physically while men take a more effeminate role in the story. For me that feels emasculating and I’m not wanting to subject my son to that even though culture today seems to want to point us that way. I feel like I’m giving my son two very different cultural messages for him as a boy growing into a man. I’m very traditional in relationship. men offer their physical strength and women offer a beauty as I have believed this to have been true since Genesis as was Gods design. So to me these shows that have potential to influence my son in the opposite are becoming a perceived threat. Now weather that’s just my Fallen broken self in the culture I was raised or there is something deeper spiritually going on here that is what I’m trying to decipher and invite God into largely. I’ve got two cultures potentially trying to pull my son in two very different directions and I’m caught trying to play defense. This is why I mentioned the male/female thing in my original post. I know that culture and Christianity do not always line up so I’m needing to take the Christian path not so much the cultural path. Ive been inviting God into it because I don’t know what to do.

Hello Tstumf I called my sister to get her input on this as I knew she would have some insightful things to share, so most of what follows is from her. The first point she made was that this is something that needs to be worked out between you and your wife, and that if any of these discussions have taken place in front of your son, he is aware that his mother is the weak link in the chain, so to speak, in his advancing his agenda of getting what he wants to watch and/or listen to. This is not a matter of you being being the man and so she must listen to and accede to your wishes in the matter, no! It would be true for either party disagreeing with any choice of content for your son... both should agree to what is allowed, and either should accede to the other if they disapprove of what is being allowed. You and your wife should absolutely be making the decisions as to what he can and cannot watch, and there are is a multitude of options available to children today, though not all are on television. Does your son have access to a device he can watch things on, where you again have control over the content? Do either you or your wife spend time reading to him?

PS~ My sister raised four children of her own (all adults now), and regularly looks after her 5.5 year old grand daughter, as well as looking after her six y/o grand nephew about 1/12th of the year, as well as volunteering in a day care part time, as well as one-on-one tutoring a child from her community. The six year old was being allowed to watch all manner of age inappropriate stuff on youtube, which my sister immediately put a stop to while he was in her care. Her grand daughter loves to read and being read to, and will sit still for up to 400 pages being read to her at a time. Their favorite is Magic Tree House. Yes, there is a magical tree house, but, the main thrust of the stories involves history, and my five y/o grand niece can tell you all about George Washington and the civil war, knows who William Shakespeare is, and that Queen Elizabeth's I's teeth were black. LOL. She knows a whole lot more than that, too.

My own thoughts on the matter is that the more your son is exposed to (within reason of course, and age-appropriate), the more well rounded he will be as he matures. Both you and your wife need to agree with what is allowed, and present a united front.

I agree. Unfortunately there are a lot of movies now, animated included and intended to influence impressionable minds, that are political propaganda.

It's a shame. Yet, that's how the powers behind manipulating any given society orchestrate the future. By programming peoples minds to accept the narrative already plotted for them to accept and enter into.

I'd like to see a Republican in Congress sponsor a bill to rescind all laws that pertain to prosecuting illegal immigration. And why not? When those laws are ignored and rescinded as a matter of policy under the Democrat controlled Congress now. And are ignored by the man in our White House, who invites and even gives inducements for illegal entry into our country. Enabling unlawful entry, illegal occupation, and rewarding it!
Let's just do away with the laws since they're done away with already.

Conservative American's should form a caravan and invade Mexico and central and south America. Let's trade places! lol Right! Mexico's immigration laws are a matter of their national constitution.
And they prosecute!
America could learn a lot from Mexico.

Thankyou Magenta. I appreciate your input and taking the time to seek your sisters input. This has really been an ongoing struggle on and off for a few years. I work year round 9hour days 5 days a week. My wife gets summers off from her work and they spend much of the summers together otherwise he is in school or daycare. He has had pretty much free access to whatever is on Hulu, Amazon prime, roku while at home unfortunately with a tablet with little supervision . He also gets use of some non age appropriate games . I don’t know what happens when I’m not around but I’ve told him no on several shows when I catch him. I think it’s a matter of he gets sneaky and if he sees my wife preoccupied he will watch whatever he wants up to a certain extent. It’s our failure as parents without a doubt because we as a couple have never been able to get into agreement on what is appropriate. The conversation may happen. maybe we kinda agree but I’m wondering if it’s agreement to disagree because nothing seems to change and she doesn’t seem to mind him watching R rated movies and murder shows. I put my foot down with Yellowstone. She was going to let him watch it. I won’t watch it anymore either cause its been a temptation for lust so I avoid it. He is learned to play the “but mom said” “but dad said” thing really well unfortunately. There will be some more discussion soon. I feel our disagreements are getting swept under the rug of agreement to disagree then it’s back to business as usual so nothing changes. Thankyou again for the response.

@tstumf you are welcome, and thank you for your response. I wonder if there are any parental controls on your son's device? There really ought to be, and it is a little more than a little disturbing that your wife sees no wisdom in this. Youtube and even Netflix allows for parental controls. Without such, your son could be exposed to things that many adults would not even want to see. My grand nephew had unfettered access to youtube with his mother's consent, but thankfully, following my sister's intervention after looking after the boy while his mom and dad were on holiday, the mom made better choices for her son when a discussion ensued about it between her and my sister. My sister did not initiate the conversation with our niece, but she was very clear with our grand nephew that he was only allowed to watch what she said was okay. He adjusted to that very well, and liked what she provided for him (he is your son's age). Kids just want to watch something. There are also plenty of podcasts that children can listen to if they like hearing stories without the moving pictures.

I am not usually one to give advice, preferring to make suggestions instead. I think I will make an exception here, because the mental health of your beloved son is at stake. Your wife seems unwilling to listen to you. Perhaps she would listen to a professional counsellor on the matter? Whether you can go as a couple, or simply enlist the help of friends and family, or provide reading material on the matter, in some way, shape or form, your wife needs to be made aware of the fact that her son should not be allowed to watch whatever happens to come before his eyes on a device that has no parental controls on it, nor should he be playing video games that are not age appropriate for him. We were brought up in an era where silly cartoons and cowboys and Indians proliferated, and married couples on popular shows slept in separate beds. Things really have changed since then but shows like that are still available to watch. I do not have a television myself, but I understand that MeTV shows many of those types of things in syndication.

I do wish you the best, and success in navigating this

Thankyou for your time and suggestions I will look into it

I think that if you feel disturbed by the movie or music, you should pray about it. It could be the Spirit telling you to keep this film away from your child.
I grew up with Disney movies but lately I have been feeling odd about them. If I had children, I don't think I would want them to watch such films. We know that magic is evil according the the Word. We should have no part in it. It's not easy because so many movies, books, and forms of entertainment involve magic, especially those for kids.
God bless you and your family.

My daughter grew up on Disney movies too. I used to live just outside of Orlando and we both have been to Walt Disney World many times. I bought many Disney outfits for her little girl way back when. Years ago, I named my two dogs Lilo and Stitch. Sadly, they're gone now. Our favorite Disney animated movie is Pocahontas. Loved the sound track too.

Let me show you something rather disturbing, but it's something all Christian parents should be aware of.

I'm not sure whether you can call this "Safe For Work" or not. Literally you are just going to see "kids' movie" clips. With sexual subliminal messages in them, but this stuff is literally in the actual kids' movies.

DOG = GOD. Any significance?

WICKED
MICKED

Did you watch the video? Especially the clips FROM ACTUAL DISNEY MOVIES?

The Luciferian film "Fight Club" alluded to exactly what Disney did in his films. Splicing in sexual imagery in order to corrupt children. In "Fight Club" Brad Pitt's Satanic character, representing the global elites/Luciferians and with the all-seeing eye burned on his hand, works as a projectionist in a movie theater and for fun splices porno clips into the kids' movies.

Good analysis. Yes, Disney has a particular formula that is appealing to young girls.

if its a culture thing then I dont know if theres a modern equivalent of 'western' for children

It would probably be CARS (also a Disney film)
Theres the Bone graphic novels
Lucky Luke was an old series.

of course cowboys and indians is a construct that was told from the cowboys point of view.
Disney did do Pocahontas of course.

I dont have anything against learning about other cultures in the US whether they are Latino, African American, or WASP. There is a lack of Asian representation in American childrens stories I can tell you Ive probably read most of them. lol

Its good to learn about other cultures but just as important to recognise and value your own, so its a legitimate concern.

I complained to the National Library the other week as I thought they were sending us TOO many american books. I wanted more NZ content. I think the number of Chinese NZ books I could count on one hand.

when Disney did Moana a lot of Pacific Island children liked seeing their culture reflected in the cartoon.
I havent seen the live action of Mulan, but the cartoon I thought was quite good on Chinese culture, espeically the things about ancestors and traditons...and yes, girls are treated very differently to boys in that culture. But you know it still had Eddie Murphy be the voice of the wise cracking dragon of course! Cos its also has to appeal to american audiences.