Appealing to all ages

[gbhunt]

Hi, I was just musing over the recommended ages for characters in middle-grade books, versus YA etc etc. And I started wondering how it is that a movie like Frozen (with a protag who is old enough to fall in love and get married)—not to mention so many of the classics—can be so appealing to my 3 year old step grand daughter. And it seems to me (and you probably all know this already, so apologies for sounding dense), but it seems to me that in the Disney movies, a lot of the characters grow from being babies (who will appeal to everyone) into older characters who then embark on their own adventures. Unless they're animals, toys, or robots.

So there is a big difference between writing books for certain audiences, versus writing screenplays. Does anyone have thoughts on this?

 

[CageSage]

Fairy-tale styled stories are different. They use the power of babe-to dream-come-true, include characters of all ages, usually only one baddie (but not too terribly scary, unlike their origins), and show that the child can grow and learn and despite the problems that appear, turn their life into a story of a princess (or prince).
These days, I think it's only the movies that benefit from that style, and usually the 'wedding' issue doesn't involve the bearing of children, or sharing a bedroom (let alone a bed).
It's about the child's dream of becoming.

Well, that's what I think.

 

[Hannah F]

Also the concept itself is pretty timeless. FROZEN's main characters are almost adult, but, being cartoons, they could be any age of dressed-up child with one not being able to control her power and the other trying to save her. (Precisely the concept I'm using for my next YA!). FROZEN merchandise includes wigs and dresses for precisely that purpose. And they had a cute, appeal-to-younger-children snowman sidekick. Also, of course, the songs definitely sold that movie. It will be interesting to see if the adult performers in the London stage show have the same appeal to the younger audience.

Family movies that use real actors, need child actors (or Paddington Bear) to appeal to the younger children.

 

[CageSage]

I wonder if the stories are designed to enhance the romance of growing up to become an adult with the lure of freedoms that adults seem to have? Making it look good to kids - but I ask: is this a lie about what they're heading toward?

 

[gbhunt]

I wonder if the stories are designed to enhance the romance of growing up to become an adult with the lure of freedoms that adults seem to have? Making it look good to kids - but I ask: is this a lie about what they're heading toward?

Yes, that makes sense.