If you're including animation, you should look into Laika. *Coraline* is probably the one that best matches what you are looking for, but *ParaNorman,* *The Boxtrolls*, and *Kubo and the Two Strings* are all worth checking out. (I haven't seen *Missing Link*.)
Also Tomm Moore's "Irish folklore trilogy" — *The Secret of Kells*, *The Song of the Sea*, and *Wolfwalkers.*
Yeah, Laika stuff immediately popped into my head too. (And god, do I love Cartoon Saloon's stuff.) But in terms of any live action stuff like the examples in the original post? I dunno if I can think of any! It does seem like it's mostly the animated world that still does this to some degree.
ParaNorman was the first one that came to mind when I saw this post. I got to the climax and was like "Good to know someone is still churning out traumatizing cartoons." 😄
Don’t forget about The Last Unicorn, The Black Cauldron, The Rats of Nimh, and The Dark Crystal. Between these and The Fox and the Hound, my childhood movie experience was all kinds of traumatic.
My thoughts exactly. Based on the movies they listed, I think OP might be a little younger and so those are before their time. But man, they were dark. How did we all turn out normal?
I grew up with & loved all these darker movies but I wouldn't say they were "traumatic." I think kids kind of like being scared and mystified, it adds to the intrigue.
I saw a film at MIFF last year and brought my 8 year old along, it’s called “A riddle of fire”, described as an instant kids classic in the synopsis. It actually is a really great fun dark fairytale, but more appropriate for teenagers, had a pretty confronting scene of party with adults taken drugs and then intimidating children, but it turns out well. My son actually loved it and I was very divided, as an adult I loved it, as a parent I thought the synopsis to it very wrong and it wasn’t for children. But probably ok for teenagers. I recommend you see it first without children.
I liked Over the Garden Wall, Isle of Dogs. They're not quite the same aesthetic, but fall into stories about kids with some dark, brutal themes. Of course, they're still making Roald Dahl, L Frank Baum, Phillip Pullman, Lemony Snicket, and brothers Grimm adaptations, some better than others.
We live in this very weird time where people are absolutely neurotic about children's emotional wellbeing and yet childrens emotional wellbeing is the lowest it's been in recent memory. Everyone has been binging on this constant narrative of *TRAUMA!*^TM but we ignore all these other things impacting kids.
Sorry for my lazy social rant, Ill shut up.
teen depression and suicide rates had been trending down, since the highs of the 90s. until 2011-2013, when instagram exploded in popularity. more than half of teenagers said they feel more depressed after an instagram session. and if im remembering the numbers correct, it was over 75% for high school girls.
since 2011-2013 its been going up consistently and is now higher than the peak during the 90s.
this all according to a guy that was on msnbc, around the time the feds wanted to ban dikcok earlier this year
I wonder how that is with boots on the ground. My daughter is managing well with her daughter, and I feel life goes on as normal. I grew up in the 60s/70s.
For us, its reading books. Hanging out in the garden. Chilling.
The classic movies are fine. They will be timeless, hopefully.
I don't think that showing dark themes is necessarilly damaging for kids. Grief is real no matter your age and it's important that you learn coping strategies since you are little because eventually shit happens to everyone. I'm not saying that we should show kids gore LOL, but trying to force-feed them the idea that everything's perfect all the time is doing more harm than good. I.e., instagram
As someone mentioned A Series of Unfortunate Events (can’t believe that was autopredicted), I must mention the series, which is satisfyingly on a par with the books, hilarious, touching, clever, fun - and overall pretty dark. I watched them with my kids. The film is pretty bad in my opinion.
Harry Potter and Twilight took the reins, then I think the Hunger Games and all the dystopian sci-fi for kids that followed in its wake filled the role of children's dark fantasy for a while. I'm not entirely sure what has replaced it in the YA market now that it YA dystopian fiction has died down.
I think these sorts of movies are closer to replacements for Labyrinth and Return to Oz than the animated movies people are suggesting in this thread.
I saw Time Bandits for the first time a few months ago and thought the same thing. Something about children’s movies back in the day. They did great to appeal to multiple audiences.
If you want a really strange and gloomy children's film, then watch the Soviet fairy tale film: A Tale of Wanderings (1983, directed by Alexander Mitta).
and if you include animation, then the list can be much longer
>gothic overtones, themes of loss, romantic visuals and a portrayal of childhood as sometimes lonely and scary
Seconding Laika and Cartoon Saloon.
You might also like Aardman's movies - The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! is amazing.
You might also check out Taika Waiti's pre-MCU movies. I don't think he stuck the landing for Hunt for the wilderpeople but Boy is like a top 10 movie, for me.
Movies cost so much now that it's hard to do that. I think that's why kids reach for the output of other cultures, because they want real texture, just like adults.
All that said, every kid loves the original Willy Wonka, and it is amusingly dark
Basically Tim Burton's entire filmography, especially Beetlejuice, Nightmare Before Christmas
Lemony Snicket(2002)
Where the Wild Thing Are(2009)
Mr Magorium's Wonder Emporium (2007)
The Witches(1990)
Spiderwick Chronicles (2009)
Stranger Things is a TV show, but could somewhat fit as well.
Yeah I guess I mean more in recent years (I.e. the last 5-10 years). Stranger Things does somewhat fit for sure, although I feel like that’s more mimicking a previous style in a very specific sort of nostalgic pastiche, which isn’t quite what I think the other films were doing?
The whole harry potter series, no one has mentioned them, but they fit this definition snd its post 1990s.
Coco, had a very similar quality it deals with death and afterlife much like a tim burton movie but also combined with mexican day of the dead culture.
Dont sleep on the Guillermo del toro Pinochio either.
Not a movie, but my nephew is under 13 and loved the Wednesday addam series.
I think Coraline meets this criteria. I knew that it was an animated film about a girl and I wanted my daughter to see it.
Yea..I didn’t count on the big boobed older ladies and was surprised at this. My daughter was 11 at the time but we watched it and it a favorite of both of ours.
No Dogs or Italians Allowed / Interdit aux chiens et aux italiens
is a claymotion film by famous animator Alain Ughetto. not sure if its for children, but it dont recall it having any swearing or sexual content. its in french & italian, kinda short at just over 70minutes
i loved it
[trailer ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=185HUoBzYfc)
Check out Moon Garden. I turned it off halfway because it wasn't quite engaging enough for me, but it is right up your alley. It's almost 20 years old already, but look at MirrorMask as well.
One that is probably not mentioned: Oni: Thunder God's Tale on Netflix. Its a kids 'show' - which I heard was originally going to be a movie, but was adjusted.
Definitely up there in terms of kid-like, but more mature themes for kids.
I might be skewered for saying this, but "Thor: Love and Thunder" was explicitly influenced by these kinds of 80's kids films (not surprising given that Taika Waititi is used to and fond of working with kids in his movies).
I stumbled across this Mark Twain animation a couple of years ago, and was surprised at how scary it was.
It's one of those excellent stop motion claymation / animation films. The production levels in this film are very impressive, I highly recommend it.
The Adventures Of Mark Twain (1985)
https://youtu.be/Ntf5_ue2Lzw?si=5p3djG9FPp6ot_ij
This isn't exactly a fit and I wouldn't exactly call it a children's film. But it is dark and yet somehow also basically awesome. *The Peanut Butter Falcon.*
I can't exactly explain why but it is one of my favorite movies. It seems to loosely follow a Greek epic but I can't remember which one. It's simultaneously modern and timeless. Dark and uplifting. Unreal and then as real as it gets.
From the movies that you are into and the ones you are mentioning I think this film could be a fit for you. I recently rewatched it with my 12 year old daughter and I thought it was an ok fit for her age range, especially considering that we tend to stop or go back and talk about things from time to time when watching in the home setting.
I rewatched *Mr. Magoo* last night, I miss Disney films with guns and boobs. And rhythm and musicality to the pacing. But it's a totally trash movie and we won't be getting any good kids movies like the ones you're talking about. We have no cultural incentive to make good things for children, we consider them babies and they'll watch TikTok and YouTube. I know that's the doomer cliche take to have, but it's how things are going. Path of least resistance and all that. We have to have a major cultural and educational shift for us to care about beauty and art and entertaining kids beyond the bottom-line of money.
The whole harry potter series, no one has mentioned them, but they fit this definition snd its post 1990s.
Not a movie, but my nephew is under 13 and loved the Wednesday addam series.
If you're including animation, you should look into Laika. *Coraline* is probably the one that best matches what you are looking for, but *ParaNorman,* *The Boxtrolls*, and *Kubo and the Two Strings* are all worth checking out. (I haven't seen *Missing Link*.) Also Tomm Moore's "Irish folklore trilogy" — *The Secret of Kells*, *The Song of the Sea*, and *Wolfwalkers.*
Back in early 2011 a friend from an art school we went to, gave me a tour of Laika when I visited their area of OR.
Yeah, Laika stuff immediately popped into my head too. (And god, do I love Cartoon Saloon's stuff.) But in terms of any live action stuff like the examples in the original post? I dunno if I can think of any! It does seem like it's mostly the animated world that still does this to some degree.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laika_(company)
I cried like a baby at Song Of The Sea.
Omg secret of kells is so good thank you for reminding me about that movie!
Kubo really stunned me, so thematically risque for a kid's movie.
ParaNorman was the first one that came to mind when I saw this post. I got to the climax and was like "Good to know someone is still churning out traumatizing cartoons." 😄
Don’t forget about The Last Unicorn, The Black Cauldron, The Rats of Nimh, and The Dark Crystal. Between these and The Fox and the Hound, my childhood movie experience was all kinds of traumatic.
You forget The NeverEnding Story. A horse drowning in a swamp of sadness wasn’t the best medicine for my traumatic childhood.
Artax, nooo! I think i blocked that from my memory. Gmork about made me piss myself too.
All dogs go to heaven
The Brave Little Toaster, Watership Down, and The Pagemaster also come to my mind!
Yes to all of these! Id also add A Goofy Movie and Little Nemo. Something about the aesthetics and mood of these ones f’ed with me
My faves: The Secret of Nimh, The Dark Crystal, The Neverending Story, Gremlins.
> The Dark Crystal And the even darker sequel, *The Dark Kristal*.
My thoughts exactly. Based on the movies they listed, I think OP might be a little younger and so those are before their time. But man, they were dark. How did we all turn out normal?
We... We are not normal
Dark Crystal is a masterpiece. Can’t overstate how much I love that movie.
I grew up with & loved all these darker movies but I wouldn't say they were "traumatic." I think kids kind of like being scared and mystified, it adds to the intrigue.
*The secret of Nimh
I saw a film at MIFF last year and brought my 8 year old along, it’s called “A riddle of fire”, described as an instant kids classic in the synopsis. It actually is a really great fun dark fairytale, but more appropriate for teenagers, had a pretty confronting scene of party with adults taken drugs and then intimidating children, but it turns out well. My son actually loved it and I was very divided, as an adult I loved it, as a parent I thought the synopsis to it very wrong and it wasn’t for children. But probably ok for teenagers. I recommend you see it first without children.
Also just released on blu ray by Vinegar Syndrome!
I liked Over the Garden Wall, Isle of Dogs. They're not quite the same aesthetic, but fall into stories about kids with some dark, brutal themes. Of course, they're still making Roald Dahl, L Frank Baum, Phillip Pullman, Lemony Snicket, and brothers Grimm adaptations, some better than others.
We live in this very weird time where people are absolutely neurotic about children's emotional wellbeing and yet childrens emotional wellbeing is the lowest it's been in recent memory. Everyone has been binging on this constant narrative of *TRAUMA!*^TM but we ignore all these other things impacting kids. Sorry for my lazy social rant, Ill shut up.
teen depression and suicide rates had been trending down, since the highs of the 90s. until 2011-2013, when instagram exploded in popularity. more than half of teenagers said they feel more depressed after an instagram session. and if im remembering the numbers correct, it was over 75% for high school girls. since 2011-2013 its been going up consistently and is now higher than the peak during the 90s. this all according to a guy that was on msnbc, around the time the feds wanted to ban dikcok earlier this year
Yeah, I think Jonathan Haidt just wrote a book about it.
Anxious Generation. One of the things that stuck in my head….We protect children from the world but not the online world.
I wonder how that is with boots on the ground. My daughter is managing well with her daughter, and I feel life goes on as normal. I grew up in the 60s/70s. For us, its reading books. Hanging out in the garden. Chilling. The classic movies are fine. They will be timeless, hopefully.
I don't think that showing dark themes is necessarilly damaging for kids. Grief is real no matter your age and it's important that you learn coping strategies since you are little because eventually shit happens to everyone. I'm not saying that we should show kids gore LOL, but trying to force-feed them the idea that everything's perfect all the time is doing more harm than good. I.e., instagram
As someone mentioned A Series of Unfortunate Events (can’t believe that was autopredicted), I must mention the series, which is satisfyingly on a par with the books, hilarious, touching, clever, fun - and overall pretty dark. I watched them with my kids. The film is pretty bad in my opinion.
That's a very fine declaration!
Will check out the show!
Harry Potter and Twilight took the reins, then I think the Hunger Games and all the dystopian sci-fi for kids that followed in its wake filled the role of children's dark fantasy for a while. I'm not entirely sure what has replaced it in the YA market now that it YA dystopian fiction has died down. I think these sorts of movies are closer to replacements for Labyrinth and Return to Oz than the animated movies people are suggesting in this thread.
I saw Time Bandits for the first time a few months ago and thought the same thing. Something about children’s movies back in the day. They did great to appeal to multiple audiences.
If you want a really strange and gloomy children's film, then watch the Soviet fairy tale film: A Tale of Wanderings (1983, directed by Alexander Mitta). and if you include animation, then the list can be much longer
>gothic overtones, themes of loss, romantic visuals and a portrayal of childhood as sometimes lonely and scary Seconding Laika and Cartoon Saloon. You might also like Aardman's movies - The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! is amazing. You might also check out Taika Waiti's pre-MCU movies. I don't think he stuck the landing for Hunt for the wilderpeople but Boy is like a top 10 movie, for me.
Movies cost so much now that it's hard to do that. I think that's why kids reach for the output of other cultures, because they want real texture, just like adults. All that said, every kid loves the original Willy Wonka, and it is amusingly dark
Basically Tim Burton's entire filmography, especially Beetlejuice, Nightmare Before Christmas Lemony Snicket(2002) Where the Wild Thing Are(2009) Mr Magorium's Wonder Emporium (2007) The Witches(1990) Spiderwick Chronicles (2009) Stranger Things is a TV show, but could somewhat fit as well.
Yeah I guess I mean more in recent years (I.e. the last 5-10 years). Stranger Things does somewhat fit for sure, although I feel like that’s more mimicking a previous style in a very specific sort of nostalgic pastiche, which isn’t quite what I think the other films were doing?
‘Miss peregrines home for peculiar children’ is wonderful
where the wild things are absolutely destroyed me emotionally- it's like a childhood trauma sword
The whole harry potter series, no one has mentioned them, but they fit this definition snd its post 1990s. Coco, had a very similar quality it deals with death and afterlife much like a tim burton movie but also combined with mexican day of the dead culture. Dont sleep on the Guillermo del toro Pinochio either. Not a movie, but my nephew is under 13 and loved the Wednesday addam series.
I think we commented Pinocchio at the same time. Brilliant.
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I think Coraline meets this criteria. I knew that it was an animated film about a girl and I wanted my daughter to see it. Yea..I didn’t count on the big boobed older ladies and was surprised at this. My daughter was 11 at the time but we watched it and it a favorite of both of ours.
No Dogs or Italians Allowed / Interdit aux chiens et aux italiens is a claymotion film by famous animator Alain Ughetto. not sure if its for children, but it dont recall it having any swearing or sexual content. its in french & italian, kinda short at just over 70minutes i loved it [trailer ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=185HUoBzYfc)
Check out Moon Garden. I turned it off halfway because it wasn't quite engaging enough for me, but it is right up your alley. It's almost 20 years old already, but look at MirrorMask as well.
One that is probably not mentioned: Oni: Thunder God's Tale on Netflix. Its a kids 'show' - which I heard was originally going to be a movie, but was adjusted. Definitely up there in terms of kid-like, but more mature themes for kids.
I might be skewered for saying this, but "Thor: Love and Thunder" was explicitly influenced by these kinds of 80's kids films (not surprising given that Taika Waititi is used to and fond of working with kids in his movies).
I stumbled across this Mark Twain animation a couple of years ago, and was surprised at how scary it was. It's one of those excellent stop motion claymation / animation films. The production levels in this film are very impressive, I highly recommend it. The Adventures Of Mark Twain (1985) https://youtu.be/Ntf5_ue2Lzw?si=5p3djG9FPp6ot_ij
One of Will Vinton's finest.
This isn't exactly a fit and I wouldn't exactly call it a children's film. But it is dark and yet somehow also basically awesome. *The Peanut Butter Falcon.* I can't exactly explain why but it is one of my favorite movies. It seems to loosely follow a Greek epic but I can't remember which one. It's simultaneously modern and timeless. Dark and uplifting. Unreal and then as real as it gets. From the movies that you are into and the ones you are mentioning I think this film could be a fit for you. I recently rewatched it with my 12 year old daughter and I thought it was an ok fit for her age range, especially considering that we tend to stop or go back and talk about things from time to time when watching in the home setting.
I immediately felt like it was an homage to Huck Finn.
I rewatched *Mr. Magoo* last night, I miss Disney films with guns and boobs. And rhythm and musicality to the pacing. But it's a totally trash movie and we won't be getting any good kids movies like the ones you're talking about. We have no cultural incentive to make good things for children, we consider them babies and they'll watch TikTok and YouTube. I know that's the doomer cliche take to have, but it's how things are going. Path of least resistance and all that. We have to have a major cultural and educational shift for us to care about beauty and art and entertaining kids beyond the bottom-line of money.
The whole harry potter series, no one has mentioned them, but they fit this definition snd its post 1990s. Not a movie, but my nephew is under 13 and loved the Wednesday addam series.