Kids movies for adults?

This weekend purely by chance I saw the two kids/family movies of the holiday season, those of course being (for those of you living in a shoe) The Incredibles and The Polar Express. Previously I had also seen Shark Tale, also a kids movie that has come out a few weeks prior to this pair. Let me start by saying I enjoyed all of them very much, I think they were creative, funny, fast paced and original. With that I was a little surprised with the adult content in an increasing number of children’s movies. Shark Tale was liberally scattered with adult themes throughout and even the Incredibles had a possible cheating spouse and an albeit brief marital encounter. Now I am all for adults enjoying taking their children to the movie and enjoying it just as much. I still remember when my parents took me to see arguably one of Disney’s most successful plurism movie, Aladdin. I do believe my father laughed more than my sister and I (and for anyone who knows my father, that is quite a feat). All of that was done without the themes of sex and gratuitous violence. Now far be it from me to sound like a prude, in fact I love a good movie with gratuitous sex and violence (with a strong leaning for the former), but could this be a reason why children are growing up or at least acting out adult themes earlier and earlier? Is it any surprise when kids watch Power Rangers and then spend the next 2 hours hitting and kicking each other. We act out what we see on TV and in the movies. So although we think movie studios feel they need to bring in the sure ingredients of success (little skin action please, and a dash of explosion) a good movie can be successful without. The Polar Express is a perfect example. There must have been 200+ kids in the IMAX 3-D theater where I saw that movie, and they laughed and screamed and had as much fun as the same number in the Incredibles. So do you bring your children to see those movies? Absolutely! They are both outstanding movies. But be prepared on the way home to answer a question or two as to why the father was close to another woman, not mom.