We were very excited to see the latest Disney great, Frankenweenie, in the movie theaters and could not wait to enjoy it with our friends. Luckily I had already been reading up on the amazing animation and characters behind this movie since a few of my blogging buddies were lucky enough to attend the Frankenweenie preview in Hollywood (see FormulaMom's experience and reviews here). So I knew that we'd love this movie!
For The Love Of Science
Surprisingly, though, I was more excited about the promotion of science through this film. Science is one of those subjects that I just loved in school. Maybe it was because my grandma was a teacher and loved getting me the science kits for Christmas and birthdays? Or maybe it's because science is such a broad topic and just about anything can be thought about scientifically?
A few days before seeing the movie I wanted to share my love of science with my son. He's getting to the age where he loves to do experiments with me and I thought that creating a Frankenweenie experiment of our own would help him get excited for the upcoming film too. So we learned how to inflate a balloon with science. You can see the full tutorial in my guest post on FormulaMom here.
Prepared and Ready To Go!
Do you see that gleam of excitement in his eyes? He absolultely LOVED it! Wait... you didn't go check out that experiment? Go now! I spent the next few days explaining to my son what the movie was about and how he might feel during the film. Now he's 3 1/2. This movie is geared towards older kids so I thought that a run down of the film was important before we went to the event.
Dealing with death and dying (no... I didn't just give away a surprise from the movie... this is Frankenweenie, right?) can be hard at any age. And it can be especially hard with a well liked pet such as Sparky. Since we lost our dog, Jetta, last year I knew that this movie might hit close to home and wanted my son to know that he could ask questions if he had them and he could leave if he didn't feel comfortable watching the movie.
But he was ready to go and couldn't wait to see Frankenweenie so off we went!
Once we got into the theater, cozied up into our comfy seats, started munching on popcorn, and put on our 3-D glasses, we were ready for this movie!
A Mom's Take on this Science Experiment
After a little glitch with our 3-D experiment, we were on our way to learning about the story of Victor Frankenstein and his dog Sparky in their creepy little town of New Holland. Within the first few minutes of the movie I easily fell in love with Victor's dog. He was the definition of man's best friend and I loved seeing the bond he had with his owner.
I absolutely loved the fact that this movie was filled with inspiration from science. The spark of excitement felt by the children as they started to think about their science experiments. And even the emotions felt by the students when their science teacher was let go because of the "small-minded" townspeople who didn't appreciate science. The fact that their science teacher was gone didn't stop these kids from moving on and experimenting!
And once Victor realizes that bringing back Sparky from the dead wasn't the best idea, the idea of science becoming good and bad depending on the scientist behind the experiment emerged. Teaching our children that their actions have consequences and that even if they really want something, sometimes it isn't the best, is important.
This movie touched on a lot of themes. Experiments. Life and death. Love. The bond between human and animal. But most importantly it sparked something in my child's imagination. He woke up the next day and asked if we could work on more science experiments. He wanted to learn more and wanted to create things of his own. And he's only 3 1/2!
While I wouldn't recommend this movie for kids under the age of 8 due to some of the scarrier scenes with a few of the other pets who were brought back to life, I do think that his is a wonderful film for kids and adults alike! It's definitely inspired me to become more active with my kids in teaching them about all aspects of science and I love that.
And no Disney film is complete without a little comedic relief. I leave you with this clip of one of my favorite characters, Mr. Whiskers. He's also a favorite of my daughters too! She absolutely loved that "kitty" was in almost every scene. Enjoy!
Frankenweenie opens in theaters on October 5th!
To learn more about the New Holland residents (and their pets!), check out the Frankenweenie website and connect with Frankenweenie on Facebook!
Disclaimer: I received tickets to see Frankenweenie in theaters for review purposes only. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.
3 comment(s) with love:
Loved the movie. And I am glad to hear E is so into science projects! Loving science will serve him well in his life!
I haven't seen the movie but I love that they promote education through the movie with the science experiments. Learning can be so much fun and what better way to motivate kids!
So glad you and your family liked the movie. Now I'm ready to see it again, this time with my family.
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