Disney Movies for Girls and Boys

[PrincessKiara]

I will hopefully become an aunt in the not-too-distant future, and the idea of having nieces and nephews got me thinking of Disney movies and genders.. Namely, would I buy the child the same Disney films regardless of gender? Or would I consider the childs gender before deciding which films to get them?

In my opinion, there is no reason why (for example) a boy wouldn`t like The Little Mermaid, or a girl dislike Hercules.
I see Pixar`s Cars as a film clearly made with small boys in mind - otherwise I feel Disney movies appeal to both genders (and all ages) in equal measure... yet I catch myself doubting if I would/should get a future nephew films like Snow White or Tangled, simply because they`re marketed as "girls" movies, despite this not being the case. Yes, a girl/woman is the main character, but by that logic, all movies with male main characters (which makes up the main group of Disney films) should be "boys" movies and thus be less interesting/appealing to girls.

I grew up with films like Bambi, Beauty and the Beast, The Fox and the Hound, Aladdin, etc. etc. And I loved them all, regardless of how few female characters were featured. I enjoyed Wreck-It-Ralph and Big Hero 6 and see no real reason why my potential niece would not, similarly to "princess movies" like Frozen or Princess and the Frog - a boy might just as well enjoy them as much as any girl.

A co-worker of mine has a young son, and when he was 8 or 9, he wanted to go see a Tinkerbell movie at the cinema, but was worried what the boys in his class would say/think if they found out. This makes me really sad. Entertainment for children should not be divided into blue and pink, any child should be free to enjoy any film without the label of it being for "girls only" or "boys only."

So when you think of the animated Disney films, are there any ones you feel are geared more towards a certain gender?

[Carl]

Obviously some films are geared toward one gender over the other, but I see no reason why a child shouldn't be shown something that was meant for the other gender.

In my childhood experience, there was myself, my older sister, and my younger brother, all very close in age. As such my parents and grandparents picked up most Disney films and showed them to us all. As a unit, we had our favorites (Mulan, Hercules, Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Aladdin) and we sort of varied as to which ones we preferred on an individual level. For the most part, all three of us enjoyed most Disney films, though. My brother and I have liked a fair few princess movies and my sister has liked quite a few of the more boy-targeted films. So... I don't really think it matters in any way, honestly. Show the kid(/s) whichever Disney movies you want.

Heck my 8 year old cousin absolutely adores Frozen and doesn't care what people think of that. He also loves Toy Story and Treasure Planet and so on and so forth.