Twenty years ago, millennials grew up on Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, and Peter Pan, during a time when children's films were made up of either complete families or dead parents with no in-between. Fast forward to 2022, and you might notice that the stories millennials are telling are a complete change of tone. Because for our generation, the real fantasy story is having a complete, happy, healthy family. Millennials have grown up and created an entirely new category of children's movies that are a product of, well, trauma dumping. Because, for us, a happy ending isn't about marrying a prince or living in a castle—it's when parents apologize and fix dysfunctional families. Yup, definitely a fantasy.
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All jokes aside, this new breed of films has been dubbed generational curse-breakers that are enlightening kids as young as four on the importance of healing families. As they say, start 'em young. Peppa Pig's got nothing on Coco's crash course on generational grief. What we would give to grow up in an era where Encanto existed.
It might be too late to erase your own generational trauma (not that we're projecting), but it's never too late to binge-watch these films on Disney+. Heal your inner child with these films, perhaps with some tissues and wine nearby.
Encanto
Will heal: middle child syndrome.
Watch Encanto on Disney+.
Turning Red
Will heal: mommy issues.
Watch Turning Red on Disney+.
Coco
Will heal: generational grief.
Watch Coco on Disney+.
Strange World
Will heal: daddy issues.
Watch Strange World on Disney+.
Tangled
Will heal: gaslighting victims.
Watch Tangled on Disney+.
This story originally appeared on Esquiremag.ph.
* Minor edits have been made by the Candymag.com editors.
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