If, like every other parent since the VCR was invented, has resorted to parking your offspring in front of a Disney cartoon now and then, don’t feel bad. According to Deadline Hollywood, British anthropologist and author Desmond Morris says that’s not a bad thing — as long as you watch it with them:
“… as far as feature films are concerned, they’re wonderful. Apart from the story, there’s also the musical impact and the visual impact … It’s wrong to use the TV screen as a substitute for interaction with the parent. The point is that if a parent sits down with a child, that’s different from just dumping a child in front of the TV screen.”
As any parent knows, sitting through “The Little Mermaid” for the 900th time is a lot easier for kids than grown-ups, but you don’t want to be a bad parent, do you — say, like almost every parent in every Disney movie ever made?
By the way, the article at the other end of that link uses “Cinderella” as an illustration, but if there’s a worse movie to show little girls than “Cinderella,” I haven’t seen it. Stick with “Mulan,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “Aladdin” or something else instead. Or do what I do – show your daughter “Jaws.”
