Riverdance: The Animated Adventure

My family absolutely loves this movie! We watched it 3 times this weekend. I have 4 kids, 2 boys and 2 girls between 6yrs and 12yrs. I lost my husband, their father, last year. Talk about a cathartic experience for all of us to watch this gorgeously made, poignantly observed tale about grief and love and allowing your community to help you heal. Most of all, it's not a heavy "message" film. Netflix delicately wrapped the soul around great humor to make it more relatable to my younger ones while also captivating my older ones. There's a story line for girls, a story line for boys, and an adorable story line about little tadpoles for the little ones all cleverly woven together. The bad guy is just bad enough and the humanity of each character is well expressed. We're half Irish, too, so to see the landscapes I grew up around and hearing the various Irish accents (yes we have many) was wonderful. I have to laugh at some online who say the narrator has a fake Irish accent -- it's John Kavanagh one of our most famous Irish actors! And yes, Pierce Brosnan is Irish, too! Clearly the filmmakers did their homework. I also like some of the other accents , that they weren't all Irish, because it's very true to the stage show (which I've also seen multiple times) in incorporating different cultures like Russian, Spanish and North American. One of the best scenes in the stage show is when the dancers visit NYC and have a hilarious tap-off and deer named Penny and Benny capture that spirit and are the 2 middle kids' favorite characters. Both the show and film express how we're all, many countries and cultures, connected through dance. This film will offer so much to so many who let it. And I must say my oldest boy is a tough critic, but when I saw him tear up then burst out laughing, I knew they hooked him. Everyone in the house has been emulating the Riverdance (it's great exercise!) and quoting their favorite lines. Seriously I hope this is a St Patrick's Day classic that everyone watches every year -- we'd be a kinder planet if that happened! Bravo Netflix! p.s. When can we buy those sheep? Omg we all want those sheep!

Really sad. A young child already feeling like an outcast from society is alone when unexpectedly finding his dead grandpa. While trying to recover, he’s made fun of by nature animals, him almost drowning in a river is portrayed as funny and a fellow human, who’s his friend, tells him it’s no big deal. Then he’s told it’s his fault for allowing evil into the land and manipulated into not asking for help. Finally, he befriends a mystical creature who is led to his death bc of this young boy. This puts way too much guilt and pressure on a young grieving boy and impresses the idea that he’s not allowed to grieve but has to get back to carrying on traditions and weighty responsibility of making sure evil and death are kept out of the land (the next day!). If your kids have just experienced a loss, I highly discourage watching this. It has a lot of beautiful imagery, a wonderful take on Irish culture and some cute parts. Unfortunately they only serve as a lure for a much darker message- get over it and get on with it, there’s more important things than your grief. Horrible horrible message.