spoken for

Over the last month or so, I’ve purchased two brand-new DVDs: Curious George and Cars. I next to never buy new DVDs - I buy “previewed” (aka used) because I’m cheap - but I think these two, from the perspective of the mother of a three-year-old, were well worth the extra cost.

About a month ago, a friend said to me that she had bought Curious George for her girls. I know these girls already loved George from the books and then the series, so she got them the DVD. That was on Sunday, she’d bought it Saturday and she’d already been subjected to it three times. Monday, she handed it to me and said that her girls, “said Elijah can borrow it if he gives it back next Monday.” So I brought it home and forgot about it until that Thursday. Elijah watched it twice that day and then pretty much once a day after that for a week. Yeah, I know, one shouldn’t let him watch so much tv, but I tell you the truth: Curious George helps me get a shower every day. ;-)

Besides that, I really like this movie. It’s so adorable and all very well put together. Just cute. And very appropriate for a three-year-old, nothing questionable whatsoever. I had never seen Elijah so much into a movie before, that first time he watched it, he hung on their every word and was just really into it, gasping and laughing at all the right parts. I really think this is a great movie - have I said that about a million times yet? Great lessons in there, too, friendship, doing what’s right, etc.

Now, ever since Cars came out in the theaters, we’ve been wanting to take Elijah to his first big screen movie. But we just never found the time, and now it’s out on DVD. I actually just rented it last Friday to try and occupy him while I prepared for Saturday’s fair since it was just going to be the two of us until Sarah got back from martial arts and since Steve was out hunting. The first thing Elijah did, though, was to get his toy cars, tractors, and trucks, and play, not paying much attention to the movie except for exciting parts here and there. But I really enjoyed the movie and when Steve arrived home, we weren’t there, he called and asked where the movie was. He seemed quite disappointed that I had only rented it, so I bought it on my way home.

Cars isn’t quite so appropriate for a three-year-old, however. This one has some of those hidden-put-there-for-adults jokes in it, typical of Disney movies. For instance, I don’t really want Elijah running around saying some of the things, like, “hillbilly hell,” “holy Porsche,” and “sexy hotrod.”

Of course, I’m not saying they’re not funny:

Lightning McQueen: Well, you know, racecars don’t need headlights, because the track is always lit.
Dusty Rust-eze: Well, so is my brother, but he still needs headlights!

I just don’t want Elijah saying some of that stuff, ya know.

Also, there are two scenes that I now have to skip through, if I don’t, Elijah totally freaks out. The first is when McQueen gets lost. He’s in his Mack truck at night and the truck falls asleep and he slides out the back and gets lost. And, as you already know, he doesn’t have headlights, so that doesn’t help. He totally freaks. Both McQueen and Elijah.

The second is the tractor tipping scene. You’ve heard of cow tipping, right? In this scene, Mater teaches McQueen to go up to sleeping tractors (of who he says, “tractors is dumb”) and makes noise. They awaken, moo, and fall backwards. To us, it’s hilarious. To Elijah, it’s apparently terrifying. I can only guess that this is because he loves tractors so much. He freaks out when the scene comes around however, I keep finding his unattended tractors tipped back just like those in the movie. Earlier today he was crying about it so I said don’t listen to it and put his hands over his ears (I was cleaning up a mess at the time and Steve couldn’t find the remote to skip the scene) so he stood there with his hands over his ears and his eyes shut, in a room different from where the tv is, yelling, “don’t listen! Don’t listen to it! Don’t listen!” Poor kid. I assume in time he’ll get over this just like he got over the scenes he hated in the Veggie Tales Jonah movie (Jonah in the whale, the singing angels freaked him out, and then the wildly driving bus).

Overall I think it’s a great movie, though, and I’m glad I bought it. Like Curious George, it’s a great lesson about friendship and helping one another out.