ICE AGE

2002, Twentieth Century Fox
Animated
Rating: PG
Approx. 81 mins.

THE STORY:
It is the Ice Age, and the unlikely pairing of Manny the anti-social woolly mammoth (Ray Romano) and Sid the goofy sloth (John Leguizamo) are thrown together by circumstances. The two find a human baby and set off on a quest to return him to his people. They are soon joined by Diego (Dennis Leary), a saber tooth tiger who promises to lead the others to the humans' encampment. Little do they know, Diego has ulterior motives: he has been ordered by his leader to deliver the baby and mammoth to his tribe.
The three encounter various adventures and dangers along their journey, but the perils they face allow them to develop a deeper appreciation for each other, and form a lasting bond.    

QUESTIONABLE LANGUAGE:

• jerk
• stupid
• shut up

VIOLENCE:

• tiger is impaled by giant icicle-- not shown, but heavily suggested

TEACHING POINTS:

• people need other people 

THE UPSHOT:

The thing I like most about this film is the way it presents the realities of survival driven existence for all of the groups involved. The band of saber tooth tigers may want Manny because they are mean, but they also need him because they are hungry. Manny exposes himself to peril in order to return the baby to his tribe, knowing all the while that the cute baby will grow up to be a threatening predator. The conflict Manny feels is accentuated by the fact that his family was killed by a group of hunters. 

The world of Ice Age is not a fairy tale fantasy land where everyone learns to just get along. It is an eat or be eaten place in which creatures learn to make compromises and accept their realities in order to survive. But the particular strength of Ice Age is that it is neither maudlin, pedantic, nor depressing. It is touching and consistently funny. The saddest scene in the movie, where the story of Manny's family is told, is treated masterfully: wall paintings come to life in a non-verbal, stylized rendering of the hunt. Younger kids may not understand the subtlety, and parents are left with the option of explaining the subtext or of letting things lie.

In short, this movie is genuine, clever and above all funny. Very funny.

4/5

ALADDIN

1992, Disney

Animated

Rating: G

Approx. 90 mins.

THE STORY:

Aladdin (Scott Weinger)is a 'street rat' who gets by scavenging for food in the market and squatting in an abandoned building with his trusty monkey, Abu, at his side. Not too far away is the palace, which houses the sultan's daughter, Princess Jasmine (Linda Larkin). She longs for the freedom of life beyond the palace walls and the strict rules that come with her social station. When she makes an incognito trip to the market-place, Jasmine runs into Aladdin, who is instantly smitten.

Meanwhile, Aladdin is enlisted by the evil Jaffar (Jonathan Freeman), an advisor to the sultan, to enter a mystical cave and retrieve a lantern for him. Aladdin does, risking great peril, but Jaffar double-crosses him and leaves him to die. Abu, however, has snatched the lamp back from an unsuspecting Jaffar, and this proves to be their salvation: Aladdin happens to rub it, and out pops a genie (Robin Williams) ready to grant him 3 wishes. 

With the genie's help, Aladdin returns to the city in the guise of a prince, ready to win the hand of Princess Jasmine, who must find a husband within the next few days. At first Jasmine is unimpressed, but she soon recognizes the 'street rat' she loves, and colludes with Aladdin to bring down Jaffar.

QUESTIONABLE LANGUAGE:

• stupid
• die/ dead
• hate
• shut up 
• dumb
• idiot
• jerk

VIOLENCE: 

• not a lot of actual violence, but the film is rife with references to throat slitting, beheading, dying, etc.

TEACHING POINTS:

• you can't live a lie, you have to be who you are
• meanies never prosper 
• it's important to keep your word and live up to promises made 

THE UPSHOT:

Ah, Disney. What will it take for you to make a movie with a female form I feel comfortable showing my 4 year-old daughter? Jasmine has huge doe eyes, longer than possible hair, curvaceous hips and breasts, and a cinched to barely-thereness midriff which is constantly on display. In short, she is highly sexualized. I felt particularly uncomfortable during the scene in which she acts as Jaffar's servant girl. Am I the only one who had visions of a bikinied Princess Leia enslaved to Jabba the Hut?

As a character, she is clever and strong-willed in the right way. She longs for the freedom to make her own decisions, and to be treated as an individual. But she is happy to keep her decisions within very safe, traditional parameters: ultimately, she wants to be able to choose her own husband, who will eventually succeed her father as sultan while she...? Who knows? She seems to have no aspirations beyond marriage; and, unlike Aladdin, there is no mention of what kind of future she has to look forward to.

I was also surprised at the amount of violence, or rather suggestions of violence both verbally and through the action. There is talk of slitting throats and beheadings and chopping off hands and heart attacks. And the length of the Questionable Language section above speaks for itself.

On the purely positive side, Robin Williams' Genie is hilarious. Though the humour is particularly adult, kids will still easily find things to laugh at. The musical numbers are also clever and catchy. My 4 year-old really enjoyed this. I liked the scenes with Robin Williams.

3/5