The Movies

Just follow your heart, and keep smiling. - Kiki’s Delivery Service

When Mini-Chaos turned 2yo, we started to let him watch movies. One of my desires while we get to pick what he watches is to help him watch good movies. I've gone back and watched movies I have found memories of from my childhood, shaken my head, and moved on. Maybe he can go back and watch movies and think, "yeah, my childhood movies were great!"
So far the movies he's watched are: Ponyo, Totoro, Toy Story, Cars, and Rio. His favorite movie is Totoro - just loves it. Who wouldn't? The story about two kids moving to the country and how they perceive the world through their imagination.

One of things I've been struck by watching these movies that has made me love Studio Ghibli even more is the fact that Ghibli movies star characters and stories (though fantastical) that are completely relatable to a 2yo. He knows what it's like to be a little kid, and play, and have kid-friendships, and love to find acorns on the ground, and chase animals, and enjoy boats, and all the stuff that characters of the Ghibli movies do.
The other movies? They are movies about adult characters with adult issues and adult relationships and love interests. They characters might be toys, and cars, and birds, but they are adult cars, and adult toys, and adult birds with adult fights and adult relationships.
As I look forward to the next movies he is going to get to watch as he gets older I'm so excited about Laputa, Kiki's, Cat Returns, and then eventually Nausicaä, Porco Rosso, Mononoke, Spirited Away, Howls.  Stories about kids who are kids, doing kid things with kid interests and kid relationships.
Yes, yes, he'll definitely get to watch the Pixar and Disney catalogues too - but I'm not sure he'll like them as much. We'll see.