The Lion King, Lilo and Stitch, Aladdin.
Studios CAN make G-rated movies that have nothing to
do with occultism, like Spirit: Stallion of the
Cimarron, Finding Nemo (which was produced by Disney) and the original Babe. But
most studios apparently
prefer to use a G or PG rating to proselytize kids to new age and witchcraft.
Thank you for the warning, AC.
It's so important, and I hope it will awaken others to the dangers of the occult
suggestions in popular "family" films.
From Carolyn Davison:
I am very wary now to purchase any of their videos for my children because of the content
of them, Lion King 2 is quite occultish with the baboon, (his name escapes me), who is a
witch doctor, also Kiara is very wilfull and disobedient towards her parents. When they
talk about "we are one" is this a subtle undertone for one world religion?
In Lion King 1, the good
lions overcame the bad lions. In other words, there is a distinction between
good and evil. (Not a Christian distinction, but at least there are two opposing
forces). But in Lion King 2, the good and the bad lions dialogued to
consensus and became friends. Using conflict resolution strategies, they all
changed their values and became one big happy family. Yes, I believe it was a
conscious attempt to teach children that we are all one and must compromise and
conform to each other.
Mulan is another which is very dodgey, with its ancestor worship and again wilfullness of
a daughter. I haven't seen Tarzan so I cannot comment on it!
Pocahontas, as you said, is pagan and very feminist.
The Prince of Egypt I thought would be a good movie to buy, but how wrong I was, but I
shouldn't have been surprised by the content as the directors are non believers. It does
not portray the biblical story in it's true light. The grace of God was not shown, eg.
in the fact that Miriam went to get Jochabed to look after her son etc. Aaron was not
portrayed in a truthful light! Again the women seemed to be the 'goodies' in it and the
men not so 'goodie'. In our local video store, Joseph was on offer, but after watching The
Prince of Egypt we left well alone!! There is definately an agenda to brainwash our
innocent and vulnerable children.
I have only seen a trailer for a cartoon called Monkey Tales and that appears to be
evolutionary, with one of the monkies asking another "Why do some descend the trees never
to return again?"
Other cartoons portray Christmas as being a time just for giving and sharing (nothing
wrong in that!) but it's when there are lines in them like; "See there is a santa, all you
have to do is have faith," - you have to wonder - what is this telling our children -
Christmas is a time for santa and that's it?
The Miracle Maker is another one which has certain parts in it which are questionable.
The centurion at the foot of the cross says "He was A Son of God," which implies there is
more than one Son of God - is this another ploy from the world council of churches? It
isn't surprising though because one of the advisors was Sir John Habgood, a controversial
archbishop in the church of England in the 1980s.
I didn't know that Carolyn.
Thanks for pointing it out.
Unfortunately I have to say that we do own most of the videos aforementioned! I'm
beginning to wonder whether to buy anymore secular videos because they all seem to have
the same underlying agenda (occultism, paganism, feminism, atheism etc.). Let us be
discerning in what our children watch.
Yes!
"As you
have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted
and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught,
abounding in it with thanksgiving. Beware
lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the
tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and
not according to Christ."
Colossians
2:6-9
From Chris
to Annonoymous
(below):
My husband and I are Christian with 3 young children, we struggle everyday with what
are children should read and watch, we love them so dearly and love nothing more then
seeing the joy and smiles on their faces when they watch these 'fun, sweet, positive,
loving' shows!!
It takes us way to long, I am sorry to say, for us to put our feet down and say no to
things that are wrong, we ask ourselves how we can be quicker and more accurate in our
discernment, why it took so long to notice something, etc., Many times we realize my
husband and I have made IDOLS of our childhoods and our nostalgia of the past, we
stubornly say, 'our children will have the same beautiful childhood we had', we don't want
to deny them any of the culture trapping of their times regardless of the fact that they
are now deeply entrenched in so much evil.
If all the food and drink on earth where laced to some extent with poison except apple
juice and saltines - well our choice better be - to only drink apple juice and eat
saltines - end of discussion - bottom line. We are all 'tired' as annonyomous said, and
saddened that our children having nothing fun, that it has all been tampered with to such
an extent by the enemy. The only thing I can do is keep in mind on what happened to Lot's
wife when she turned her head back for that one moment to look back at the city!!
Thank you, Chris, for your wise reminder.
Anonymous:
I am a God fearing woman who has three children and I am certainly not a fan of Harry
Potter simply because I feel it does contain too much darkness and reference to evil.
But I will have to say after reviewing your views on such movies as Shrek and even though
I didn't get as far as any Disney movies you may have referenced in your
website....sometimes we get so caught up in analyzing every little thing about every
children's movie that we find ourselves interpreting into it what we want to in order to
serve the purpose of being on a campaign to destroy every bit of fun and joy a child seems
to have in this already dark world.
I have taught my children the Love of God and the Word of God. I review movies just as I
did Shrek and even though there are a couple of comments in there that could have been
left out (making it attractive to adults as well as children) all in all Shrek is a
wonderfully delightful movie. It is fun and is a sweet story that teaches us that it
doesn't matter what we look like on the outside, it's what we have on the inside that
counts. I believe that some people such as yourself may be looking so hard for the
negative in everything around you that you miss the goodness in things.
I respect your opinion just as I hope you respect mine. I am so exhausted by the public
taking away the very few things in life our children have left to give them joy and
laughter. May God bless and be with you.
The "joy and laughter" stirred by Hollywood
and today's sentertainment industry is a shallow and seductive substitute for a far deeper
and purer joy God wants to give us. What's worse, it stirs a craving for more of the
world's thrills -- one that will never be satisfied. Not even the nice sentiments about
oneness and kindness can compensate for the unbiblical suggestions behind the fun images.
Please consider the warnings in
Harry Potter and the Power of
Suggestion and Twelve reasons not to see
Harry Potter movies. They apply to Disney movies as well.
From Charlene: Concerning
CONTACT and The Art of Manipulating Minds
I first saw this movie way before I knew anything about education
issues. What stood out to me, was of course, the "minister" who slept with Ellie
on the first date (the end justifies the means; and situational ethics; "when in
Rome....")
But the crowning blow came at the end, and this hit me right
between the eyes..... she tells the kids gathered around her at the end.... to "Keep
searching for YOUR OWN answers." This is preaching in-your-face rebellion! ! !
This clearly tells the youngsters who watch this movie that
"Whatever you come up with on your own is ok." and "Your parent's values
are being imposed on you AGAINST YOUR WILL".
I pointed this out to my family when we watched this, and it took
a little bit of explaining before they got it, but they got it. That's the problem with so
much Sci-Fi stuff nowadays... I like Sci-Fi, but THAT part of it is completely uncalled
for.
I can't remember the last time I enjoyed a good sci-fi flick
without having to stomach this.
From
Robin:
I have always been happy that my boys enjoy Legos, what a
great toy, and never thought to even investigate any new item that they put
out, we even ended up on the mailing list and now receive numerous
catalogs.
One day I noticed them role playing with their beloved "bionicles"
which I thought to be harmless robots, and heard them saying things
that sounded just like they were playing with Pokemon (or close enough.)
I immediately asked them (while my skin was crawling) where they were
getting all those wild ideas from. "It's right here in the book, Mom!" Come
to find out, these Bionicles have quite a story to tell, all spelled out in the
Lego magazine in a comic strip format, which my boys had been devouring
for weeks.
I was upset to find that I was so careless, I not only let
that junk into my home, but encouraged it without even checking it out.
The story speaks of "..The Great Spirit Mata Nui descended
from the skies like a burning star." "He walked the world and marveled at
its beauty and watched over all living things." But he was followed
by "..his brother, The Dark Spirit Makuta. Makuta coveted this world and all that his
brother had." The "Dark Spirit" cast a spell that made "Mata Nui" fall
asleep, now this world (sometimes referred to as an island) is in "Darkness"
and in need of rescue. That is where the Bionicles come in, the have been
sent by the "Great Beings" to save the world. And of course, these
"mighty heroes" are to be equipped with "six Kanohi Masks of Power." "Each
mask grants the wearer new power and wisdom."
The "Great Mask" list:
Miru - The great Mask of Levitation (to float and glide on
air)
Hau - The Great Mask of Shielding
Kakama - The Great Mask of Speed
Kaukau - The Great Mask of Water (to breath under water)
Pakari - The Great Mask of Strength
Akaku - The Great Mask of X-Ray Vision
Sound familiar?
More masks are being added to this story, and I have not had
enough time to research any further. Just annoyed that I didn't
see it coming. My boys could make better use of their time.
What really gets me is that these "Bionicles" do not even
require much effort to assemble - Lego is promoting new age role playing
along with "dumbing down" what used to be an educational toy! (Now they also have a Harry Potter line!)
Warning to Parents: Do not rely on the past reputation of
any toy company, check them out!
Information quoted from "Bionicle, Part 2 of 3, Trapped by
the Rahi!" July 2001, Lego/Technic
Thank you, Robin. I really appreciate all this
information and am sure it will help others.
Nancy Baetz:
We
have had a strange week here, but just in the sense that we are being
bombarded more than usual. My daughter had a Sunday school party for
memorizing the 10 commandments, and the teacher was planning on showing the
girls "Tarzan!" (This was a reward?) I told her my daughter wasn't
allowed to watch it, so she backed down. I am planning on giving her your
review.
We have had some bad experiences with
Disney.....when my daughter was less than a year old, we were at a gathering
with many other Christians, and the kids were watching "Beauty and the
Beast." I hadn't seen it but caught some of it, and was not happy with
the content. Then, an older boy, maybe 5 years old, started trying to give our
daughter a kiss, just like the one in the movie. We are talking a passionate
kiss.....need I say more? I was pretty upset.
Then we had an experience in Church,
where the children's church worker was real imaginative, and was showing
Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast during the childrens church hour! The
superintendent was not at all concerned and since they refused to address the
issue, we left the church. We should have made an issue out of it, but that's
hindsight I suppose. Well I didn't mean to go on and on......Thanks again for
your ministry!
From Chris Stewart: My
second grader attends a local Christian school. For "movie
time", they planned to screen Tarzan, the animated movie.
Although I have not seen it, I had a glimpse of it from a free version
of a computer video game. The character almost exclusively moves in
sensual ways and is very scantily dressed. My objections were
countered with "but it's TARZAN; of course he wears only a loin
cloth...". But, if a man (un)dressed like a male erotic
dancer were to come to my door and ask permission to entertain my 7
y/o daughter by jumping, crouching, and running in front of her for an hour
and a half, does anyone think I would say yes?
I appreciate your movie review. It
is quite deep and I'm certain quite valid. I guess in this
case, I'm not that profound. All I cans see from my perspective
is that it desensitizes children to lewdness, nudeness and lasciviousness.
From Joseph
Stovall: Firstly, I would like to say that I have read some of your articles about
film/animation and in many ways I do agree with much of what you are saying.
I came to your web site through www.jesus-is-lord.com.
But as an inspiring 24 year-old filmmaker, I think that some of the articles are a tad bit harsh. Not harsh from the Christian perspective, but in the intentions of the company who created the film.
Firstly I didn't like "Pocahontas" for many reasons, most which
were not mentioned here. I did agree of her age and such things. But I also look for
films to take "artistic" liberties with such things that may offend
the public. However, I myself am with you and against that in this historical
representation. But I guess I feel that Pocahontas does not push paganism or any other multi-god belief. It tells a story and it is true that many of the
tribes did worship multiple gods. It's used as a backdrop not as a statement
against Christianity.
And one problem with many of the men that first came over to America and
Africa is that they were truly not Christians; they were just men who hid behind the belief. They were "luke warm" Christians as we say. I'm
sure if you saw many of the men who went into Africa and America at the time as they
were raping and killing off the population "for GOD", you would not
be
stating that they were so "Christian." Even you must agree that
many people
claim to be saved, but are truly not. They only say it because "everyone
else" is doing it.
The same goes for "Prince of Egypt". I personally did have a major
problem with Aaron, and almost blurted it out in the theater! J However again we
know that the Egyptians did worship multi-gods. These are backdrop things. I do not feel as though the movie put down our GOD in Heaven, but lifted him
up. The only major problem that I had with the film was when GOD's snake ate
the multi-god snake; it was done in the back ground instead of the
foreground.
As for "Tarzan", I had to agree with Chris Stewart when he said
that he would not want an 18 year-old man dressed only in loincloth to dance in
front of his daughter so to speak. But again, what do you expect from Tarzan? It wasn't like Tarzan ever dawned a three-piece suit.
I also don't see how Tarzan pushes the issue of evolution. It's just an
abandoned baby raised by apes, almost the exact story as "The Jungle
Book." I guess my main point is this. A movie is just that. People must teach their
children the difference between reality and fantasy. Movies, books, and
television all push fantasy. But they also push a fantasy based off of
reality. But it is up to the parent not only to screen the shows that the
children see but to also talk them through to make sure the child has an
understanding on what happened in the story. My problem comes in when
people believe that the screenwriter is "trying" to push paganism
or any
other belief.
I think if there needs to be a fight, it needs to be against shows like
"Dawson's Creek" that tells teenagers that it is okay to have
premarital
sex. Or to push up against "Jerry Springer" and the whole talk show
community. There are many shows that could be easily targeted and truly show
how the devil is at work in our world and changing the way people think.
Take for instance "free sex." Who says that it is free? Firstly if
a child comes into the world, the young parents are in a major monitory situation.
Secondly, there is the disease problem. And thirdly there is the Spiritual Bond that people get from sexual relations, which should only be shared with
your spouse. Finally and most importantly the Bible warns against it! And
you have many shows from Fox's new "Opposite Sex", to Soap Operas
that
convince people that it is okay.
I guess to make it plain. If I were to film a movie in Africa with a certain tribe, I would research their history and beliefs and use them when I tell
my story. It adds background to the characters and depth to the scene. Even in the Bible we are constantly reminded that others do believe other things.
>From the Christian perspective this is wrong in the aspect of people
worshiping other gods. But from a filmmaker's perspective, you are merely telling a story. So to remove "Ra" from the Prince of Egypt is the
equivalent of removing the pyramids. And we must remember that the Egyptians did believe in their gods and they did mock those who believed in our GOD.
So I do not believe that some of these movies were pushing against
Christianity, but using other religions as their appropriate backdrop.
Also I would like to add this. When cartoons first came out they were not
intended for children. Even today companies like Disney place in "hidden
jokes" for parents, so that they too can "enjoy" the film.
Animation is written mostly by men, therefore you will mostly get off color jokes and major things that show women as sex objects. Like in "Toy Story"
when Bo Peep states "How about I get someone else to watch the sheep
tonight?"
And when it comes to Anime. There is no true Anime for children. Japan views
cartoons totally differently than in America. And their view of Christianity
many times is very warped, as they have bonded it with many of their own beliefs. So my advice for all parents Christian or not is to stay away from
Anime.
Also something to add to the Pokemon/Digimon discussion. How many
people would like for their children to sit around and watch traditional "cock fights"? Not too many I would assume. Both of these cartoons
push that, in fact that's all that they are. You find an animal and train it to fight against another animal. Isn't that the essence behind "cock
fights"
and the dogfights that still go on today?
I have enjoyed your site and expect to come back to read some of your other
articles. But I would like to bring some of these ideas to light as well. If I am totally off in my thinking, please email me and tell me how I can
better myself. I'm doing my best not to go against GOD by what I'm saying, but to clarify some of the filmmaker's reasonings. Thank you for reading and
have a great day!
From Berit: Thank you, Joseph, for your thoughtful
comments. And thank you for confirming my concerns about Anime. I so
appreciate you sensitivity and insights. But let me try to explain a few
points.
I write about Disney movies and Anime instead
of "Dawson's Creek" or Jerry Springer because Christian
parents have asked me to do so. They wanted help in evaluating the influence
of popular entertainment on the faith of their children. No one has asked me
consider Dawson Creek or Springer, probably because they are so
obviously immoral and contrary to Biblical values.
You suggested that "Pocahontas does not push paganism or
any other multi-god belief. It tells a story and it is true that many of the tribes did worship multiple
gods. It's used as a backdrop not as a statement against Christianity. And one problem with many of the men that first came over to America and
Africa is that they were truly not Christians...."
I agree with those statements, but I have been
focusing on a more subtle factor: the unstated suggestions that influence
children through images and context (or backdrop). When children see idealized
versions (including living out the negatives) of an earth-centered culture, they
are likely to develop a positive view toward popular spiritual alternatives --
the kinds God tells us to shun. This is especially true when the
positive views of paganism are contrasted with the negative images of visitors
from the Christianized Europe.
As you pointed out, such men had little to do with
Biblical Christianity. But children don't know that. (See Cultural Christianity)
Nor do they know that America's early settlers included wonderful Christians who
demonstrated God's love both to Native Americans and to His creation.
It has been said that "a picture is worth a
thousand words." Many children, who are just are just beginning to form
their understanding of history, leave the theatre with a distorted and
politically correct impression of America's historical
roots.
From
Dina Jones: I was given the the Winnie-the-Pooh Sing A-Long video.
It is a video about Pooh finding his own song. Each character in the hundred acre
wood share their songs. In the end, Pooh finds that the song was inside himself all
along. This goes along with the current world paradigm.
The best song is the Kangaroo Hop. The animation for Tiger's
bouncing song moves extremely quickly with words flashing and screens changing in seconds.
The worst song was Owl's song, which said that we should try something new and it's starts
by suggesting to look into a crystal ball to find something new to do. (I am sorry
that I forgot the exact words and my VCR is now broken.)
My family harassed me for censoring a Winnie-the-Pooh video, but I
think kids (especially my three year old) remember these messages. Do I want her to
look to the Bible for answers to her questions or have her look inside herself?
Thank you for your insights, Dina. This is so helpful!
From Michele: My sister is
here visiting from Chicago, and we took her to Universal Studios, California. We walked
into a LOT of the gift shops there, and you
wouldn't believe all the pagan gifts, books, etc.
they all sell! There was wizard stuff, Buddha statues, books on casting spells, ankh
necklaces, etc. Not ONE of those shops had anything remotely Christian in nature (or
Islamic or Jewish for that matter!). You aren't exaggerating how our whole American
culture is really shifting away from Christianity. What was supposed to be a fun day, for me was a very sad one.
From
Diana: I've written a response to your article about Pokémon about two weeks
ago, and you posted my response on your website.... I'd like to add a short
comment of my own after reading the article about Pocahontas (the page on which it is
located only appeared in plain text, just thought you might want to know), and I frankly I
was a bit taken aback by the fact that even an renowned cartoon-making company such as
Disney joined the conspiracy to change American history to their own benefit!
I mean, if Pocahontas was actually baptised by the Christians,
instead of that John becoming, ehm, a polytheist, that sounds like historical
falsification to me. The same is going on with that new movie that's in theaters now,
U-751. It wasn't the Americans who obtained and cracked that code, but the English!
Although I still do not believe in God in a Christian way or agree with that particular
religion, I do not agree with people who alter history to fit their perception or just for
the money, even if they change it for the benefit of popular beliefs. That is just so
totally wrong!
I agree, Diana!
From
Robin Hollingshead: After years of boycotting Disney, we finally decided to no
longer deprive our poor children of the
wonderful experience to be had at Disney land.
In September we
visited the park, I had not been there for about eight years and it seemed very different
to me. I was very spiritually oppressed for
the three days we were there, my enjoyment was almost purely nostalgic.
Caught up in the
excitement of the first day there, we took our boys through the haunted house based on the
idea that we had to see and ride everything. Boy, did that darken the day for all of us,
my childhood memories of that ride were not based on a Christian perspective.
I was upset with myself for suggesting the ride, our boys were upset about the
experience and even questioned us as to why we would take them
into such a place.
We talked about
how so much of the world is ungodly, and how we needed pray for wisdom and discernment and
for the hearts of all those involved with Disney and the entire entertainment industry
which has such a massive influence on children (and adults.)
I know that I am
not the only one who sees Disney in a different way today, there were many other things
there that bothered me, too many to mention. However, I would like your opinion on one
thing that really roused my curiosity. In a
few of the gift shops where they sold T-shirts, the one that caught my eye was a plain
shirt with a Mickey Mouse head on it which would not be unusual, except this one had a black and
silver yin-yang symbol which made up the entire round head and of course attached to it
were the two black round ears.
I have not
studied the background of this symbol, but generally avoid it. Is it just me or is that
strange, is Disney trying to make a maybe not so subtle statement, or is this symbol truly
as harmless as many believe?
Thank you, Robin, for sharing our concerns. If
you go to our page on symbols, you will find the
Yin Yang with a definition at the end of the list.
You may also want to go to our Articles
index, scroll to movies, then click on Pocahontas and Lion King. Both deal
with the politically correct ideology promoted by Disney.
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