My daughter had never seen Bambi the original. We rented Bambi 2, she was 2 years old and loved it so we rented Bambi 1. She was scared of it. Some of the older classics are indeed very scary for young kids and the sequels seem more geared for the younger set. Later that summer, my daughter named an inflatable moose for our pool "Bambi 2" and still calls it that at 3 years old as do all her cousins. Everyone argues over who gets to sit on "Bambi 2".

I can attest to feeling like these sequels are letdowns in comparison to the originals but I am not the one watching them really, my kids are. My daughter LOVED lady and the tramp, watched it over and over AND over, she watched part 2 and was less than thrilled but still excited that it was the same characters. She just watched Fox and the Hound 2 and danced the whole way through! Thats good entertainment right there!

The sequels have their place for little kids to enjoy, I agree that the relentless pop culture references of Shrek, etc get really tired and the movies are too long for kids! My mother hated the Aristocrats when it came out when I was a kid in the 70's because it wasn't a "classic", but I loved it and it is a classic for me now.

Oh well, Bambi 2 will always be an inflated moose in our family, thank you Walt Disney!

Might I suggest that there are 44 traditionally animated theatrical Disney features from Snow White to Home on the Range, many of which will delight your three-year-old. Most of them are written better (OK maybe not the Aristocats), and ALL of them are animated far better than any of the low-budget, outsourced work on the cheapquels. Then there are the amazing films of Hayao Miyazaki (your kid will LOVE "My Neighbor Totoro" and "Kiki's Delivery Service"), the not-quite-as-good but still serviceable feature work of other animation studios, the Disney shorts, the Warner Bros. shorts . . . There is no need to compromise quality in your child's entertainment, regardless of what age they are.

I'm not an idiot, Narkspud. I have a masters in fine art and both my parents are writers. I was merely relating a funny story about my daughter and she has seen everything from Dumbo to Dora. Thank you for the heads up, I am well aware of all that film has to offer but as I rebutted in a later post, kids like to watch a little fluff every now and then, just like adults. You really did your research there. good job.

There is no question that the classics offer much more in terms of longevity, storytelling and aesthetic eye candy. And yes, I am well aware of the machine that is Disney and commercialism and outsourcing and that there is foreign animation, japanimation.... So there is really no need to tell me I am compromising my child's entertainment. She will grow up to be diverse, smart and tolerant and will be able to tell the difference between the fluff and the meat. Go drop names somewhere else... I will be floating in my pool on Bambi 2 and will still think its funny that its a part of our family banter.