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“Differentially Scary Movies” by jefftk
This post has spoilers for My Neighbor Totoro, Frozen, Bambi, and
the Lion King
People at different stages of development enjoy different things in
movies. Some of the best children's movies are able to make things
scary or intense for the adults without being too much for little
kids.
For example, in My Neighbor
Totoro, there's a place where everyone is worried that a small
child may have fallen in the lake. She's gone missing, they find a
sandal floating in the pond, you see people dredging the pond looking
for her, and it's very clear to adults and older kids that the worry
is she has drowned. But to a little kid it's much less obvious: the
actual dialog only says that they found a sandal, and then later that
it's not hers. This gives a very intense and emotional scene for
people who can handle it, without scaring kids too young to pick up on
it.
Similarly, many kids' movies, needs to get the parents out of the way
so the kids can be put in situations of unusual responsibility. Some
are pretty blatant about this (ex: Bambi, The Lion King)
and [...]
---
First published:
February 1st, 2026
Source:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/xM23qaBxugrLsyExf/differentially-scary-movies
---
Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.
---
Images from the article:
Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try Pocket Casts, or another podcast app.
View all episodes
By LessWrongThis post has spoilers for My Neighbor Totoro, Frozen, Bambi, and
the Lion King
People at different stages of development enjoy different things in
movies. Some of the best children's movies are able to make things
scary or intense for the adults without being too much for little
kids.
For example, in My Neighbor
Totoro, there's a place where everyone is worried that a small
child may have fallen in the lake. She's gone missing, they find a
sandal floating in the pond, you see people dredging the pond looking
for her, and it's very clear to adults and older kids that the worry
is she has drowned. But to a little kid it's much less obvious: the
actual dialog only says that they found a sandal, and then later that
it's not hers. This gives a very intense and emotional scene for
people who can handle it, without scaring kids too young to pick up on
it.
Similarly, many kids' movies, needs to get the parents out of the way
so the kids can be put in situations of unusual responsibility. Some
are pretty blatant about this (ex: Bambi, The Lion King)
and [...]
---
First published:
February 1st, 2026
Source:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/xM23qaBxugrLsyExf/differentially-scary-movies
---
Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.
---
Images from the article:
Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try Pocket Casts, or another podcast app.
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