Family movies are just wholesome, innocent, politics-free entertainment, right?
However, one genre of films that seems ripe for a closer look is the family movie.
Ostensibly made for children, they are nevertheless made by adults, with adult concerns and agendas.
What do you think?
Do you agree or disagree?
Frozen
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Whats it about?Its the heart-warming tale of sisterly love overcoming all.
By making yourself lonely, you make others lonely too.
Whats it really about?Teaching children how to deal with death.
Whats it really about?Despite the resurrection,E.T.is not a particularly religious film.
Instead, its about returning to the womb and refusing to accept impending adulthood.
The mother-ship which abandons E.T.
and which he yearns to get back to is the womb in this case.
Hes forced to leave home and exist in the big, bad world except he refuses to.
Beauty & The Beast
Whats it about?Girl meets Beast.
Whats it really about?The dangers of isolationism and rejecting a multi-cultural society.
They dont want her because shes a Taikini.
She led attack dogs to the village.
The Incredibles
Whats it about?Once the toast of the world, super-powered heroes are now outlawed.
The two then work together to bridge the human-dragon divide and free the dragons from the real threat.
Toothless is a fearless soldier on the dragons side.
Hes then incapacitated by enemy action, and unable to fight anymore.
Its an animated version of several Paralympian stories.
Its Sarahs rejection of her baby brother/rejection of children that leads Jareth to steal him and take him away.
The rest of the film could be seen as a metaphor for growing up.
Coraline
Whats it about?A little girl feels alone in a new house and neglected by her parents.
However, they harbour a dark secret which may prove dangerous for Coraline.
Befriending the metal alien, Hogarth must also keep his new friend safe from the US military.
Whats it really about?The Iron Giantsets out the case for the anti-gun movement in the US.
Whats it really about?Just possibly, its an anti-government interference piece.
Eventually they are defeated when the ants realise their strength in numbers.
Whats it really about?Charlies ascension to heaven.
Whats it really about?The breakdown of the 1960s family.
While the film may be set in the 1900s, it was made and released in the 60s.
Whats it really about?Another film with numerous subtexts assigned to it.
There is a religious subtext and a holocaust subtext, as well as the abandonment issues one.
But another interesting subtext whichToy Story 3pushes is adapt or be discarded.
Those stuck in the past have no hope.
So learn those new skills, and get yourself a new job… Dorothy and her friends are the nascent United States and its ideals of progress.
Whats it really about?Treasure childhood while you have it.
The Little Mermaid
Whats it about?Ariel the mermaid longs to be part of the human world.
Whats it really about?The entire film is basically telling you to rebel against your parents.
Its been hotly disputed, but remains a significant theory.
But the automaton holds the key to a mystery involving a mysterious toymaker.
See also:why Mrs Doubtfire mattered.
Aladdin
Whats it about?Charming street rat Aladdins skills are used to steal from a fabled treasure cave.
However, he is trapped down there, where he discovers a magical lamp complete with trapped Robin Williams.
Whats it really about?Class warfare.
They pick cockney flower girl Eliza, and sing and dance their way through a classic.
Whats it really about?My Fair Ladyis actually an ode to gay love.
