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There’s no shame in enjoying animated movies when you get older!
Animated films are often primarily associated with childhood, but as you grow older, cartoons can take on a new dimension when you revisit them.
Even though a film may appear on the surface to be a fairy tale with humorous characters, many animated films explore themes just beneath that surface, such as grief and loss, aging, loneliness, fear, and family problems.
What you take away from an animated film naturally depends on the individual, but if you would like to watch a film with children that they are guaranteed to enjoy as well, here are three suggestions that you yourself will also appreciate spending time on.
The movies are chosen by the editorial, considering personal preferences and our experiences watching them with young ones.
Up
In the animated film Up, we meet Carl Fredricksen from the very beginning, a man who dreams of experiencing great adventures. We also witness him meeting his future wife, Ellie, and through a montage we gain insight into both the great highs and the equally great lows of their life together.
The story truly takes off after Ellie has passed away. Carl now lives alone but ends up embarking on an extraordinarily imaginative adventure together with the young scout Russell.
You are quickly introduced to heavier themes such as grief and loss, but as the plot unfolds, the story develops additional layers—especially when Carl comes face to face with a person who turns out to be very different from what he had imagined.
Inside Out
The premise of Inside Out is that we are inside the mind of the girl Riley. From a control panel, her actions are governed by five emotions—Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust, and Sadness—and there is no doubt that, at first, Joy dominates the show.
However, as Riley goes through several major changes in her life, the other emotions begin to play a larger role, and Joy must fight a desperate battle to ensure that Riley remains the happy girl she has always been.
It may sound a little far-fetched, but the personification of emotions is highly entertaining and works astonishingly well—and you should not feel embarrassed if you shed a tear or three along the way.
Coco
The film is inspired by the Mexican holiday Day of the Dead, and we follow the boy Miguel, who dreams of becoming a great musician.
One day, he gets his hands on a very special guitar that makes him invisible to the living but allows him to interact with his deceased family members. Soon, Miguel is thrown into an adventure of epic proportions, during which he also discovers that his family’s history may not be quite what it seems.
Simply dealing with a subject like death can be overwhelming, but Coco succeeds in making this otherwise difficult concept both tangible and, above all, entertaining. At the same time, the film presents the dilemmas that can arise when one uncovers a truth one is not sure should be revealed.
And you can be absolutely certain that the film’s songs will move into your head for an indefinite period of time!
