Are there any prince movies for kids?

Anyone who knows about kids’ movies knows how popular princess movies are, especially Disney princesses. My child is six and absolutely loves them too. My child also loves princes and kings, but I’m having a hard time finding anything that features a character as easily beloved as Elsa or Moana for example. Even worse, a lot of the times male characters are just antagonists or at least stand in the way of the princess. I’d love to see a movie with a young prince who isn’t evil or dumb (as a joke) that kids can relate to. I think it also be cool if there was singing or magic or anything mystical. My kid kind of likes Shrek but I was hoping to find one about a human prince. The protagonist in the movie The Lorax is a young boy on a good mission, and we like that movie too, but we’re just looking for something bigger. I’m not looking for a movie that’s primarily fighting, a little is okay, but I’d really prefer if the main focus was some honorable endeavor. Am I just missing the prince movies, or are they all about princesses instead?

match,
@match@pawb.social avatar

The Cat Returns, and then Howl’s Moving Castle when he’s a little older

sfcl33t,

Car returns is fantastic

match,
@match@pawb.social avatar

watching The Cat Returns before seeing Whisper of the Heart is mind-blowing

sfcl33t,

I’ve never seen Whisper and tonight is movie night for us !!

sfcl33t,

So we watched it, and I had no idea what to expect. It was really awesome. My head cannon is that The Cat Returns is a polished version of her book. Thanks for the recommendation!!

match,
@match@pawb.social avatar

yeah!! I’m glad you liked it!!

morphballganon, (edited )

Had to scroll too far to find Ghibli recs.

I don’t know if either of those are good recs for OP’s question. Both have female protagonists. The Baron and Howl both are mysterious and have agendas; they’re not really role models. Spirited Away also falls in this category.

Ponyo and Castle in the Sky have admirable male protagonists, though they are not royalty (the girls in those stories are royalty).

Princess Mononoke has a protagonist who is a prince, but it’s not really a kid movie. The stuff with demons and head-severing might be too disturbing.

Tales from Earthsea and Ocean Waves are just straight-up bad movies.

Porco Rosso is cool but he also smokes, not the best influence. Same with the main character in The Wind Rises.

The Secret World of Arrietty, The Tale of the Princess Kaguya and My Neighbor Totoro are all predominantly female casts. There are male father figures but they’re not really role models, for one reason or another. The dad in Totoro is decent when he’s involved, but spends too much time working.

When Marnie Was There and Kiki’s Delivery Service are also predominantly female casts, no memorable male role models.

Nausicaa has some good guys but they’re more like set pieces than characters.

Whisper of the Heart and From Up On Poppy Hill are more slice-of-life, no real nobility or heroics.

Grave of the Fireflies is definitely not a kid movie.

fbmac,
@fbmac@lemmy.fbmac.net avatar

closest I can think of are Alladin and the lion king

Syd,

Purple rain is probably the most famous, but they composed a crazy amount of soundtracks too.

BallsInTheShredder,

The fresh prince of Bel aire was my favorite as a kid

Schnaftator,
@Schnaftator@lemmy.sdf.org avatar

Spaceballs! The protagonist turns out to be an honest to God prince.

MisterFeeny,

Not a movie, rather a show, and also not complete yet, but The Dragon Prince on Netflix is pretty good. The titular prince is a dragon, but there are human princes as well, with one becoming a king actually pretty early on. And King Ezran absolutely tries to bring people together peacefully and with honorable intentions, though there is some action/fighting as well. Caveat, while it is a kids show, it might be thematically better for kids a bit older than 6, as some of the themes can be a bit dark for a kids show, but I'd just recommend you watch a couple eps yourself before showing it to the kiddo and decide for yourself if it's appropriate.

Also, someone else mentioned Avatar: The Last Airbender in this thread, which is also excellent, and if you happen to be familiar with that show, it has a lot of similiarities and it's some of the same writers and directors of that show.

Duchess,
@Duchess@yiffit.net avatar

god i love dragon prince, never talks down and handles some very big issues.

Xariphon,

Also isn't Callum voiced by the guy who was Sokka?

skullgiver,
@skullgiver@popplesburger.hilciferous.nl avatar

Yes, and producer Aaron Ehasz was also a producer on the original Avatar. There are various references to ATLA throughout the show.

Xariphon,

Oh yes, my wife and I catch a bunch of those shout-outs.

NakedGardenGnome,

Not a prince, but with a male protagonist, and overall very awesome story: Avatar the last Airbender

ADHDefy,
@ADHDefy@kbin.social avatar

Zuko's a prince! He's not an awesome role model, but he's an outstanding character and there are some great lessons to be learned from watching him over the course of the whole series.

Akuchimoya,

Well, I mean, the obsessively and angrily chasing Aang party definitely shouldn’t be emulated, but he’s got a very good character growth arc.

  • He learns his worth as a person (and as a prince) doesn’t come from his abusive father, but intrinsically from his own self.
  • He gains the insight and humility to admit he was wrong and seek forgiveness from the people he wronged
  • He learns to empathize with other people, and that he is his strongest when he releases (and is no longer clouded by) his anger and fights for good.
  • He learns to appreciate the people who love him (Iroh) instead of chasing after someone who doesn’t (his father).

The world would be a better place of everyone could learn the lessons that Zuko learned.

skullgiver,
@skullgiver@popplesburger.hilciferous.nl avatar

Zuko is a great role model for kids watching the entire show (just not for the initial episodes). He’s an abused kid with rage issues that learns from his mistakes and admits his wrongdoings.

I think the only kid in the show that didn’t learn from their mistakes was Azula, the batshit insane 14 year old. I believe the writers originally wanted her to have a retribution arc but couldn’t get it done in the time they had.

rurutheguru,

Seconded! There are so many valuable lessons in this show. There are also many role models to connect with, for both boys and girls alike.

For those who have watched and rewatched the only 3 seasons, please check out the comics, which are a continuation of the story and ties up many loose ends from the show.

(There is technically prince Zuko, and his story has one of the best redemption arcs in children shows)

ThisIsNecessary,

The Prince of Egypt

rurutheguru,

A bit too biblical for my tastes, haha.

Adalast,

Ahem… “Prince Ali, fabulous he Ali Ababwa Genuflect, show some respect Down on one knee Now, try your best to stay calm Brush up your Sunday salaam Then come and meet his spectacular coterie Prince Ali, mighty is he Ali Ababwa Strong as ten regular men, definitely! He faced the galloping hordes A hundred bad guys with swords Who sent those goons to their lords Why, Prince Ali”

Lol, Aladin is technically a “Prince” movie. For that matter, The Lion King is as well. I’m sure I could think of more, but I’m tired and should have been subsumed by slumber hours ago.

Tamilas,
  • Hercules
  • Aladdin
  • Jungle book
  • How to train your dragon
  • Sword in the stone
  • Robin hood
  • Emperor’s new groove
  • Lion king
  • Treasure planet (not a prince but hes pretty cool!)
  • Peter Pan (Also Hook - not animated but awesome)
  • Tarzan
  • Shrek

Princess films do dominate but the male characters can be highlighted too,

  • Prince phillip in sleeping beauty is pretty cool and defeats a dragon
  • Kristoph from Frozen is funny and smart, resourceful etc.
  • Flynn from Tangled is decent, eventually
Pm_me_tits,

Titan A.E. When the kiddo gets a bit older too!!

ook_the_librarian,

Flynn has no redeeming qualities. He just confessed to a teenager.

I do like that movie though. The mother in Tangled is actually a good way to teach kids some important lessons about abusive relationships without being super dark. She demonstrates over-defensiveness, love-bombing, gaslighting, etc.

It was a way to teach my kids about how you can lie even though every word you say is true. If you listen to the mother, pretty much everything she says is technically true, but in almost every line she has, she is being deceptive.

Tamilas,

Flynn has no redeeming qualities. He just confessed to a teenager

Haha, yeah fair enough. Maybe I was just won over by his hair… which is really saying something, given the movie.

Agreed, the mother is an excellent villain all round.

XbSuper,

Isn’t he supposed to be like 18 himself?

morphballganon,

Peter Pan’s pretty racist, I’d leave that one out.

rurutheguru,

Because of the red indian scenes right? Are there more occurences or just that part (“why does the red man say how”)?

OceanSoap,

Definitely don’t leave it out, use it as a teaching moment instead. Blinding kids to racism doesn’t help them become good people. Talking through those moment with them is what does.

Etienne_Dahu,

Coming to America, the adult jokes flew right over my head when I was a kid but I really enjoyed the story.

rurutheguru,

Within the first 5 minutes of the film: visibly naked concubines serving the prince. concubine emerges from under the water“The royal penis is now clean”, implying she washed his royal jewels or sucked him off underwater.

Yeah, disagreeing on this one. Not suitable for kids AT ALL… I was 9 when I first saw it. None of the adult jokes or scenes flew over my head.

jpreston2005,

Treasure Planet is DELIGHTFUL

rurutheguru,

Very underrated film!

Smokeydope,
@Smokeydope@lemmy.world avatar

The princess bride is actually a pretty good kids movie for boys that might be up their alley

rurutheguru,

I came here to post this. It’s a brilliantly funny and fantastical film. Definitely focuses on the prince’s journey more than the princess’.

Kolanaki,
@Kolanaki@yiffit.net avatar

Would The Lion King (original animated) count? The main character is technically a prince.

Thavron,
@Thavron@lemmy.ca avatar

Not for long though. He got promoted after an unfortunate waterbuffalo incident.

Kolanaki,
@Kolanaki@yiffit.net avatar

I don’t think it really counts until he has his ascension to the throne after having a cool fight in a rain storm with his uncle.

DragonTypeWyvern,

No, inheritance law is clear, they’re on a clear male-only primogeniture system with no election from the peers, Simba was king as soon as his father died, The King is Dead, Long Live the King and such.

Scar was just a pretender to the throne.

treetop,

But Simba voluntarily went into exile, de facto abdicating the throne to the next heir, which was Scar.

No pretending, Scar had a legitimate claim!

DragonTypeWyvern,

A fair point, if Simba had reached maturity, but as a child King, we must assume that Simba was in regency and decisions vis a vis abdication would have to be approved by the regent in good faith.

I do not know whether Mufasa had declared a regent to supercede the typical rules that would place Scar in the position, but I think even if you take his manipulations as regent approval we can assume that Scar’s behavior at the least was not in good faith and, IIRC, his assumption of the throne was based on the lie that Simba was dead, not that he abdicated.

whitelaw,

Isn’t Simba’s daughter, Kiara, in line to the throne?

DragonTypeWyvern,

Clearly the experience with Scar prompted some succession reform!

morphballganon,

Kubo and the Two Strings

The Book of Life

ElderWendigo,

The Road to El Dorado doesn’t have princes exactly and they’re not exactly on an honorable quest at first, but I think it still fits the bill in a weird way.

bionicjoey,

Atlantis also weirdly fits

HeyThisIsntTheYMCA,
@HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world avatar

I want to rationalize this. Mulan is a Disney princess because Disney princesses is a franchise, not that all Disney princesses are princesses. Atlantis was an animated Disney movie. I’ll allow it.

Big Hero 6?

RizzRustbolt,

I’ll rationalize even further.

Lilo & Stich is a princess movie where Stitch is the princess.

cartography_cat,

I’ll add in a recommendation for Steven Universe, though it’s a show, not a movie. Interesting plot, great character development, no character-is-dumb tropes. Soundtrack is very cute, lots of original songs. It has a heavy focus on personal growth & relationships that is super refreshing for a kid’s show. It’s technically sci-fi, but of the flavor that feels very magic-y.

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