The Movie Blog



'John Carter': A Lesson in Creativity

By: Tara McNamara on March 15, 2012 at 10:02AM Comments (3)

Like many adults, my mind isn’t the imagination highway it once was. Too much life experience, reality and socialization has limited my brain to rule out the notion that Max Steel may time travel to 3030 to fight an underwater giraffe army off the coast of Arizona. But that’s part of the beauty of being a child – creativity runs like a two-year-old’s nose in winter.

As kids get older, however, they start to lose the imaginative spark – especially as TV and video games take over. It’s rare that you hear adults talk about how watching "Fantasy Island" or playing Asteroids changed their life. On the other hand, films and books that really tap into the imagination when kids are young, like Star Wars and Edgar Rice Burroughs’ John Carter of Mars novel series, inspire meaningful innovation once those kids grow up. Perhaps John Carter, with its creatures that look like they came from a 6th grader’s doodles (and I mean that as a compliment) rather than a frightening Super 8 or Cowboys vs. Aliens type of extraterrestrial, will lead today’s teenagers to tap into their creativity and become tomorrow’s innovators.
 
In addition to John Carter, here are three other imaginative films for families:
 
Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax. Theodore Geisel’s creativity was limitless.  The Lorax delivers a serious message to children, presented in a vibrant, silly and magical style. Families thneed to see The Lorax.
 
 
 
 
 
Journey 2: The Mysterious Island. Through the works of Jules Verne and other literary greats, two families find themselves working together to escape an island where traditionally big creatures are small and small creatures are big. The 3D is used to make the movie more thrilling and fun.
 
 
 
 
The Secret World of Arrietty. It’s not the creatures that are small in Arrietty, it’s the people. The film presents a world in which "Borrowers" are the size of insects but have to survive in our human-size world. Imagination and beauty come together in an animated movie that can truly be called "art."
 
 
 
To see what kids think about John Carter and other movies, go to www.KidsPickFlicks.com , where all kids are movie critics.  

Tags: John Carter

Categories: Family Films

Comments (3)Leave a Comment

  • Mar 15th 2012 3:02PM

    angeladee1  said...

    yes its based off of a book written in the 1800's. For someone to have the imagination to dream of that back then was amazing.

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  • Mar 15th 2012 1:52PM

    That_Guy_Who_Loves-Movies  said...

    It's based off of a book if I remember correctly.

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  • Mar 15th 2012 10:59AM

    renall  said...

    good movie but its still just a better version of The Princess of Mar which was released in 2009 . Seems like no one makes a original movie anymore.

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