Reply #69: Exactly!

[wickerwoman]

The essence of good storytelling is putting the hero (or group of heroes) in mortal danger. If the stakes aren't life and death, the story is boring as hell.

Pretty much every great story ever told has some elements that might be frightening to children. People (and children are people) like to be a little scared. That's what they like about stories in the first place and what maintains their interest in them.

Forcing your child to watch nothing but "Happy the Hugging Hippo" until he is 13 and can get into real movies without you is forcing him or her to miss out on a huge part of our cultural heritage.