I think Bluth is sort of right. I mean, I managed to watch some dark movies like The Land Before Time as a kid any I was just fine, besides the fact that the death of Littlefoot's mother tore me apart. However, it all depends on the child themselves. A five year old could watch something intense without any problem, while a nine year old is peeing their pants. Plus, some things maybe too dark, like in A Christmas Carol. With some of that imagery, especially the Ghost of Christmas Present turning into a skeleton, I was thinking WHAT THE HELL! So I think it all depends on the child. I mean, the only thing from an animated movie that still scares me is Mr. Hyde from The Pagemaster.

It definitely helps, but I still hear a lot of people say they're traumatized by stuff like NIMH, The Black Cauldron, etc. And yes, some kids just scare more easily or by different things. I did love Bluth movies growing up but most of them FREAKED me out still.

I know when I first saw Toy Story, I was about 5, and Sid's toys scared the heck out of me. I still sometimes have bad dreams about them.

Well, it depends on the child, but yeah, adding scary things just for the sake of putting them scared or traumatizing them also isn't the answer.

I think he's definitely correct in that kids can handle more than most adults give them credit for, but I don't think that's a license to throw ANYTHING at them and expect a happy ending to instantly make it better.

That's like saying a kid can handle any wound as long as you give them ice cream afterwards. It might work for smaller cuts and bruises, but if you slash them in the heart, ice cream ain't gonna fix it.

Depends on the child.

A wise man once said: fairy tales don't teach kids that dragons exist, they already know that. Fairy tales teach them that dragons can be defeated. Kids are going to find out anywhere that there is evil in the world, things to be scared of and the best thing a parent and a teacher can do is preparing them to face them. Animated movies can help with that. Watching scary monsters and dangerous situations overloaded and defeated teach the kids that they can defeat the obstacoles of life. However, they must also learn that sometimes losing is inevitable that none all of us can do it. That is why it is important to learn about the pain of loss and how to handle it. Kids may cry when they watch Mufasa die but they also learn through the movie how to handle the loss of a dear one and how to rise up from it. This is what is lost in animated movies and series today: parents are too protective of their children. I remember watching the Nutcracker and a mother told her son "don't worry, if there's something scary just close your eyes and don't watch it". I'm not a mother and maybe I shouldn't say this but I think that was wrong. Raise your children in a bubble away from any trouble and they'll grow up too weak and soft, unable to confront with the rest of the world. I'm not suggesting we should arm them as soon as they can grab a weapon, just that I was raised with these movies and they helped me a lot. My grandpas died when I was very little and watching cartoon characters handle the loss of their parents helped me a lot.