Film and Faith, for Families

Christian Themes in Kids' Movies

This short tool is for starting discussions with friends about kids’ movies. This could range from a casual discussion to actually watching movies together and having spiritual discussions afterwards. Christians often become distracted by “offensive” elements and miss the deeper meaning. We want to be able to push past those and show how a movie about dragon magic (witchcraft!) has a fall, redemption, renewal structure. I also want to clarify that I don’t think these stories were designed with Christian themes. Some may have been, but that’s not the point. I’m primarily claiming that these are powerful illustrations of biblical ideas.

All the movies in this list have pretty safe content for adults and kids. They’re great for family watching, especially kids above 5 or so. Even though I’m drawing attention to more sober themes of these movies, all of them are entertaining and fun. Some of these might not be as easy to have “discussion” with children, but you could at least point out some of the themes to them. The discussion questions would be better with the parents of the children or adults who have already seen the movie.

For each film:

1. I’ll offer a brief summary to give a feel for the movie’s content.

2. I’ll spell out its relevance to Christianity.

3. I’ll offer a handful of discussion questions that could be used both in ordinary conversation or after a viewing. Crucially, the discussion questions do not necessarily assume that the audience already understands the Christian themes mentioned. In some cases, they’re designed to draw them out.

SPOILER ALERTS GALORE!

Iron Giant (1999)

Summary Youngster Hogarth Hughes lives in coastal Rockwell, Maine with his single mother in the late 1950s. A massive crash landing has the community on edge. Hogarth discovers that the crash was caused by a 50+ ft robot. During this first encounter, Hogarth rescues the Giant from an accidental electrocution. The two develop a friendship akin to a boy and his dog. Meanwhile, a federal agent concerned about Russian technology investigates the crash landing. The movie climaxes with a showdown between the American military and the Iron Giant.

Christian Themes The Giant has several overt Christ-like aspects: (i) he comes from heaven (space) but with ultimately unknown origins; (ii) he becomes a protective father figure for the fatherless Hogarth; (iii) he’s viewed as a threat because his power is not understood.

The most overt Christ-like aspect comes at the very end. The military shoots a nuclear weapon at the Giant, but this endangers the entire town of Rockwell, including those who launched it. The Giant realizes he can save everyone if he flies away from the town. He launches high up into earth’s atmosphere and collides fatally with the rocket, sacrificing his life for the town. After a short epilogue in Rockwell, the viewer sees the Iron Giant’s pieces reassembling in an Arctic desert––a resurrection from death.

Discussion Questions

1. Evaluate this claim: The Giant’s sacrifice is like Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross and his re-assembly at the end is a resurrection.

2. No analogy is perfect. What are some ways that the Giant is not like Jesus?

3. Evaluate the following. Firing the nuclear weapon is a metaphor for human sin: it harms us and those we love.

4. The Giant surrenders his life for the town. Was that the right thing to do? Why or why not?

5. Why do you think we’re so moved by self-sacrifice but also so unwilling to do it?

Tangled (2010)

Summary Rapunzel is captured as an infant by a witch who knows that her hair has healing powers, allowing the witch to enjoy eternal youth. Rapunzel never leaves her home (a tower) because the witch has persuaded her that she is her mother and that the outside world is dangerous. Rapunzel wants to explore the world, especially after noticing that every year on her birthday hundreds of floating lanterns dot the sky. When a handsome rogue Flynn Rider stumbles upon Rapunzel’s tower, they form an unlikely friendship as he takes her to see the lanterns.

Christian Themes In the climactic scene, the witch stabs Rider fatally and plans to lock up Rapunzel forever to maintain her own youth. Rapunzel promises to go with her if the witch permits her to heal Rider. As Rapunzel draws near to heal Rider, he takes a shard of broken mirror and cuts Rapunzel’s hair off, removing its magical power. This kills the witch, but it also means that Rider cannot be healed. He dies soon after. He sacrificed his life to free Rapunzel from the witch’s control. As Rapunzel weeps over him, the healing power is transmitted through her tears and Rider raises from the dead. The movie concludes with the wedding of the savior and saved (Rev. 19:6-8).

Discussion Questions

1. Evaluate this claim: Rider sacrificed his life to save Rapunzel from slavery to Gothel, just like Jesus sacrificed his life to save us from slavery to sin (cf. Romans 6:16). Like Jesus, Rider raises from the dead after the bonds of slavery are broken.

2. Compare and Contrast Rider and the witch Gothel, especially regarding their cynicism. [They both start cynically attempting to manipulate Rapunzel for some personal benefit. Rider changes, Gothel remains the same.]

3. The dangerous thugs sing I’ve Got a Dream in the “dive” bar, The Snuggly Duckling. The message is that even rough-looking characters have dreams and that there is a wide variety of good dreams and futures. What moral/prudential limits are there on one’s dreams? Compare this to Gothel’s “dream” of staying young at all costs.

Raya and the Last Dragon (2021)

Summary In the distant past, Kumandra was a peaceful abundant land of harmony between humans and dragons. Dangerous chaos monsters, the Druun, emerge, turning people into stone. The dragon Sisu concentrates her power into a single gemstone that temporarily vanquishes the Druun. When Raya is little, the divided tribes of Kumandra meet. Division and greed lead to the dragon stone breaking into five pieces, releasing the Druun. In the present, Raya revives the dragon Sisu and with her searches for the other pieces of the gemstone to restore Kumandra.

Christian Themes This one does not show sacrificial death in a singular figure as in the others. But this one also has even more persistent Christian features to it.

1. The Fall in Kumandra The story begins with an era of peace and harmony that’s destroyed by human error in tandem with dangerous chaotic forces. Raya (the narrator) even says of the original state, “It was paradise.” The present world of Kumandra is desolate and divided. These story elements represent a fall shape: peace surrendered by sin and a present substandard experience (ideally to be restored).

2. Sacrifice Instead of a single sacrificial episode, sacrifice is a theme in Raya and the Last Dragon. In the prologue, Sisu the dragon sacrificed herself to destroy the Druun in the prologue (we later learn it was Sisu and her siblings together). Raya’s father sacrifices his life to save Raya. At the end, each of the Raya’s compatriots sacrifice themselves to reconstitute the gemstone and ultimately reunite Kumandra.

3. New Heaven and New Earth One of the more moving parts of this movie is the imagery of all the people emerging from their stony existence. This is reminiscent of The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, and so, it portrays a general resurrection. Those who have surrendered to stone wake up to the newly unified Kumandra and a land beginning to teem again with vegetation and abundance.

4. The Power of Unity, The Dangers of Distrust Christianity teaches the reconciliation of all peoples under Christ (Gal 3:28, Col 3:11, Eph 2:11ff) and God’s plan for the nations from the beginning (e.g. Gen 12:3). The collective work of the renegade members from each part of Kumandra portrays the united work of the global Christians to bring this message and work of reconciliation to the world. In contrast, the poison of division and distrust give power to the Druun, not unlike the way that Satan is at his core an Accuser.

5. Rescue from Outside Even though Raya’s team plays a significant part in the world’s recovery (as do Christian servants), the dragons play an essential part. This story does not portray humanity as triumphing over its own “demons”, i.e. it does not celebrate secular humanism. There is a tiny “remnant” contributing to the re-uniting of Kumandra and the dragons are essential.

Discussion Questions

1. Sacrifice comes up over and over in this movie. Why do you think we’re so moved by self-sacrifice but also so unwilling to do it?

2. The movie concludes with a corrupted order ending and with a restoration of paradise. What do you think “the end” of our world will look like?

3. This story portrays thoughtful, sacrificial unity among originally divided partners as the solution to the wider division in Kumandra. What are some ways to live this out practically to make this work in our world?

4. Children’s movies often elevate high morals that adults struggle to live out. This could be caused by two different possibilities.

   1. Children’s stories are just idealized and the real world is nothing like that. We teach them to children, but we know better. When we grow up that life involves compromise and moral ambiguity.

   2. These movies portray values that our deeply embedded in our culture and in human nature. Adults don’t live according to these values because we’ve lost our way. We don’t live the way we should.

Which of (a) and (b) do you believe explains this phenomenon? Why? Is there a third possibility?

Bonus: Inside Out (2015)

[The Christian themes are less overt, and those themes that are present play a smaller role in the actual plot.]

Summary The story follows preteen Riley Andersen’s move from Minnesota to California. While we know some of what’s happening with Riley in the outside world, much of the drama transpires inside Riley’s mind with color-coded personified emotions: Joy, Sadness, Anger, Disgust, and Fear. Joy has been the dominant emotion for Riley and the move to California sets off an inner struggle with the other emotions, especially Sadness.

Christian Themes At one point, Joy and Bing-Bong (Riley’s imaginary friend) get stuck in the abyss-like “memory dump.” While Joy and Bing Bong attempt to escape in his magic wagon, they fail because it’s too heavy. During the last attempt, Bing Bong secretly jumps out of the wagon to lighten the load and allow Joy to escape. Bing Bong sacrifices his life to save Joy and ultimately Riley; indeed, Bing Bong explicitly commands Joy to “Go save Riley!” as he fades into oblivion.

Discussion Questions

1. Bing Bong surrenders his life for Riley. Was that the right thing to do? Why or why not?

2. Why do you think we’re so moved by self-sacrifice but also so unwilling to do it?

3. Joy discovers that a good, full life requires Sadness too. Evaluate this moral of the story. Does it also imply that a good, full life also requires suffering? Why or why not?