Parent reviews for The Pagemaster

This movie was intended to get kids interested in reading by turning it into dark action film. However, that means it might frighten children under the age of nine. Wait until they're in middle school before exposing them. There is also a tiny bit of alcohol reference. The movie was rated G but should've been PG.

The Pagemaster means well. I personally don't see what is so bad about it. All it wanted to do was to display the joys of being able to read and imagination.

It's about an overly sensitive boy who learns to overcome his fears. But the Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde segment, and the generally suspenseful build up to the "horror" has given my sensitive 7 year old a renewed fear of the dark. Fast-forwarding would have skipped 20 minutes of an 8 minute movie. It did introduce some classic book titles, but not really in a way that makes kids want to read them... more like really brief Cliff notes. The librarian was not "unbalanced" or particularly creepy, just wild-haired like you expect from Christopher Lloyd. The relationship between the dad and the boy was awkward and resolved unrealistically. As much as this is a good idea for a movie, I recommend against watching it. Sorry.