Frozen was the last movie our family of four got excited for, along with the rest of the world. This summer though, with the release of Planes: Fire and Rescue, we were able to once again get excited for a new movie. For us this was a perfect movie as our son loves all things planes, trains and cars and this movie put it all together in one action packed, lesson filled movie.
Although our son (currently four years old) is more into the characters from Cars, we bought the Planes: Fire and Rescue book in preparation for the movie and in hopes of peeking his interest in Dusty and friends. We have learned that it is often a good idea to take time to teach our kids the story of the movie before actually heading into the movie. This seems to lessen the number of questions we are asked while in the theater and also helps in those intense moments, lessening the fear.
After a month of reading the book and watching the original Planes movie, he decided that he did want to go see Dusty. By the time we got to the theater he was pumped and asking all sorts of questions about Dusty’s new movie.
From a four-year-old’s perspective the movie was amazing. He was so impressed with the firefighting crew of Blade and Windlifter as they fought fires together. Throw in a train, a firetruck or two and the good old hero Dusty and our son was mesmerized by the movie.
Our seven year old daughter however wasn’t as impressed. We read the book with her as well to prepare her for the movie as she tends to cry through every movie we go to. Telling us that she preferred the original story because she didn’t like the fires that were a part of the sequel, she was also able to tell us the lesson from the movie–that Dusty needed to listen to orders and not be as selfish. She also had a lot of questions about real fires and how they are fought by firefighters making the movie a great learning experience as well.
I find these types of movies fascinating myself as I love seeing how the creators take everyday vehicles and bring them to life. Hidden lessons throughout the movie made it good from a parent point of view as well. Even though all these lessons are subtle, it was clear from conversations with our daughter that kids still picked them up. This was another added bonus to the movie which I found important. As a parent, I felt the movie was well worth our money and time.
From our son who was fascinated by the characters, to our daughter who learned about fires, I felt that it was a good family movie. Disney did a nice job reaching all levels of kids and adults as well with this new movie Planes: Fire and Rescue.
The MFL Blog Family would like to welcome new blogger, Jennifer!