#cocomelon

I never swear in any videos or any of my music! That’s cause in the past, my parents would be like “who are you watching 🤨🤨🤨” if they heard anyone swearing on a video I was watching, so I make sure no kids get in trouble now that I’m older and making the videos myself.

That’s to say, I’m aware of my audience and glad to have them! A lot of YTers are disappointed to have a widely minor audience but I think it’s better that kids, tweens and teens are watching stuff like mine rather than brain-rotting like Cocomelon (etc). (I’m an animation student and one day want to make shows that are actually good for kids’ brains). But that’s me getting off topic.

But don’t miss the point.

The Emperor’s New Groove was good because it was fresh, it had a simple and universal truth as it’s main point, and it wasn’t afraid to be new, stylistically, as long as it maintained that main point. Just like any good piece of communication.

But nobody knew it was good, and it underperformed at the box office. Even adults of the time would not have said “that movie was better than or as good as The Lion King.” Yet it endures and has a huge reputation. Why?

Because kids watched it. Kids grew up with it. And I don’t know bout you, but when I was a kid, I wasn’t thinking “this is a good movie” or “this is a bad movie.” I was just taking in the movie. I took in The Lion King and The Emperor’s New Groove alike, and they are in the same “everyone has seen this, it’s a cultural moment, everyone knows it’s good” category in my brain as an adult.

This is my point: do not just sit your kids down in front of a TV and put on anything. You are creating their “canon of what’s good and acceptable” by sitting them down in front of it.

Almost anything will keep their attention if it’s coming out of the box of glowing light and color and motion. But not everything deserves their attention.

The Emperor’s New Groove deserves their attention. But is it worthier of that attention than The Lion King? No. No, it’s not. Not by any measure.

Don’t just turn on Minions 6 and let them be occupied with that for an hour and a half. Don’t just take them to see Shrek 5 because it’ll keep them busy. Don’t turn on Wish because you know your daughter likes Singing Princess Movies.

There is now such a thing as a bad Singing Princess Movie. (There always was, they were fewer.) But if you turn on The Little Mermaid, and then turn on Wish right after it—your kid is learning to blend the two flavors and lose their ability to discern between what’s good and what’s bad. Because they’re trying to build that ability by what you show them. There’s a trust and a faith that they have that anything you put in front of them is a good movie because it’s in front of them, at first. Don’t waste or tarnish that trust.

By the way, you’re still susceptible to this. You’re on Instagram and Facebook and TikTok. You can watch a reel telling you watermelon is bad for you, then a reel where someone does a 30-second comedy sketch, then a reel where you see a recipe, then a reel where someone rages against the government, then a reel where someone’s making you laugh again, then a reel that’s criticizing a human being—and you are no longer making “good” or “bad” judgements. You’re just making “it kept my attention” judgements. Newsflash, anything in the light-up-sound-and-color-cube can keep your attention. Doesn’t mean it’s worthy of it.

@fanoffandoms23 for u