As a very young child, I was terrified by Roadrunner/Wiley Coyote cartoons. So much violence! Over time it sunk in that the characters always peeled their violently flattened selves up off the ground, puffed themselves out into three dimensions again, and off they went to the next round of mischief. It took a long time for me to move from my childish terror to the point where I saw the humor in those types of scenes. Many years later, I enjoyed watching "The Mask" with my son, who in middle school was a serious Jim Carey fan.

This seems related--my older brother went through an existential crisis when the Disney animal character Old Yeller died. I think it was especially hard on him because it resonated with the fact that a stray dog he'd adopted and loved had recently wandered onto a busy street and...you get the sad ending. The death onscreen brought all his feelings for his lost pet to the surface for him.

I think this subject--the effect of drama on kids--points to the fact that it's good for parents to watch TV and movies with their kids and to talk with them about the content. Drama was seen in ancient times as a tool for healing through catharsis.

I know that watching TV and movies with my son was one way of staying connected with what was really going on with him. A side benefit is that he became interested enough in drama to take part in numerous stage plays.

"Something Wicked This Way Comes" used to scare the snot out of me, and yet I kept watching it.

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

Every single one of those movies terrified me as a kid. ESPECIALLY "Return to Oz"... electro-therapy! the Wheelies! The which with the many heads, and the corridor they're placed in! Jack-the-Pumpkin Head! The fact that Oz is dilapidated! I mean, for a small child... GAH!

I'd also have to put the 1985 "Alice in Wonderland" mini-series in there as well. I couldn't sleep thinking the Jaberwok might come through any mirror in my house.

He forgot to put "The Dark Crystal" in their too... It should have just been called "The DAAAAAARK PUPPET Movie".

Return to OZ... man that was scary.

"Dorothy Gaaaaaale!!!!"

I still wet a little when I think of that head.

Easy, the old Alice in Wonderland cartoon from Disney. Never again will I trust Walrus'.

"The Angry Red Planet" Now that's a movie I haven't thought about in a long time."Forbidden Planet" was another one like that. Mostly just mood more than action but fascinating as a kid. But the all time mama for me was this category of Non-SciFi kids flicks would have to be the 1954 Czech version of Hansel and Gretel. It was
stop -motion puppetoon animation with the Opera by Humperdink as the film score. Man the whole cannibal witch thing gave me the willies and I actually ran out of the theater crying! I was a really young kid then and I didn't care. Couldn't get that witch out of my dreams for months.

Off that list, I only saw Willy Wonka and the *one scene* from Neverending Story where the kid's horse sinks into quicksand and dies. I sobbed and BEGGED my friend's mom to turn it off, but she just laughed at me. Wow. I will probably never forget that.

Willy Wonka was also scary. I just did not like him, or that movie.

The first Land Before Time movie where Littlefoot's mother dies was also pretty traumatizing. It took me a while to get over that.

Also, Bambi anyone? No one I know likes that movie.