This has been a fantastic summer for kid movies. My son and I have enjoyed both Monsters University and Turbo, but Disney’s Planes has been the movie we’ve been waiting for. (We’ll probably watch Despicable Me 2 when it comes to on-demand.)
Originally planned for a straight to DVD release, Planes finally opens in theaters today. If you have young kids, this is the movie for you. My son adored it and my husband and I were both so happy to watch a movie that was obviously intended for young children. Yes, it was a simple film and yes, it stuck closely to its Cars counterpart movie, but my son could have cared less.
Honestly, the little ones get the shaft when it comes to movies and I can kind of understand. Studios want to make the most bang for the buck so they need to appeal to the masses. So that means that every G or PG movie that I might take my preschooler to is going to have bathroom humor and use words and phrases like “Stupid”, “Shut up” or worse.
If you have older kids who aren’t really digging on airplanes, then this might not be the movie for you. BUT if you have little ones or an older child that loves anything about flying, you need to get to the theater as fast as possible.
The story line is familiar. Underdog wants to win a race that he’s not quite cut out for. (Turbo anyone?) But children can identify with it and that’s important. Plus, the message is one that kids need to hear over and over. If you have a dream, you should go for it. In this film, Crop duster Dusty (voiced by Dane Cook) wants to be a racer and engages the help of an old fighter pilot, a mechanic fork-lift and a fuel truck to help him. One problem – he’s afraid of heights. There’s a “bad guy” – Ripslinger, but he’s not scary, just rude and not very nice – and many other entertaining planes to get to know. El Chupacabra, the comic relief, was my favorite!
My husband pointed out that there wasn’t much character development, at least compared to some of the other animated flicks we’ve seen. You don’t grow to love Skipper (the old fighter pilot) like you do Doc Hudson in Cars. But again, the kids don’t care.
Potentially Scary Scenes
There are two scenes that have the potential to frighten a young child (although my son sort of glazed right over them.) One involved Dusty going under water during a storm and the other is an old war fight scene with brief shooting and explosions.
My two year old daughter would not have been able to sit still through this film, but I think any child over three would enjoy it. We will definitely be buying this when it’s out on Blu-Ray. My son has already asked when that will be.
Planes, produced by DisneyToons, is rated PG and has a run time of 92 minutes.
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Paper Airplane Tutorial
Looking for something fun to do with the kids before you see the film? Download this awesome tutorial that details how to make paper airplanes of all the Planes characters.
Disclosure: I was not compensated for this review, but was provided three tickets to an advanced screening.
Melissa {momcomm} says
So glad to hear that! We’re planning on going this weekend. We’ve been eagerly awaiting this movie since we saw the first preview over a year ago!
Catherine says
That’s an interesting take. I always hesitate to take my daughter to “kids” movies because they are often times filled with poppy humor, rudeness and things that I’m not even sure I’ll be happy with her seeing when she is a bit older. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Aaron Hall says
I as a pilot was excited to be able to take my kids to see this movie, but this movie was just awful. It’s clear that Disney thinks it can make any more and it will be “good enough” for kids.
This movie should be PG-13. They sexualized airplanes worse than they did with “Cars”.
They showcase elites attitudes and stereotypes to the point that it should be considered racist. Where is that outcry?
The morals and values in this movie are all over the place. So we teach our kids that are obese and out of shape that they can do anything they want, like run a marathon after eating two packs of Oreo cookies? I think the whole “underdog” story is played out and old. We could see Rudy, Miracle, and countless other movies that do this same.
This film is rubbish. I’m embarrassed that I gave Disney my money to see a film that was hyped up and didn’t deliver at all. It’s tanking in the reviews, which I normally do not put much stock in, but seeing those poor reviews justifies my dislike of the movie, but the real justification is my daughter didn’t like it. She Loves “Cars”.
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