Three Movies for Family Night

A question people often ask is, “What do you see?” Those who are intuitive want to know if they see the same beings as me. Others who aren’t intuitive want to know what the beings of other realms look like.

Most just want to believe.

Here are three movies children and families can watch to see artistic depictions of beings in the Fae realm. Did those artists know what they drew? I don’t know. From my time on the convention circuit, I know a lot of artists. Many draw Fae beings, real Fae beings, and don’t know it. Many are intuitive, drawing the beings who come to them. Most don’t announce their intuition.

The Spiderwick Chronicles

This is an excellent family film about a family who moves into a relative’s home. They find a book in the attic, a field guide to fantastic creatures written by Arthur Spiderwick. The book enables them to discover the magical creatures roaming around the property. With that discovery comes those who want to take the book for themselves.

The depictions in this movie are very close to the depictions in the actual Spiderwick books. They are very close to real-life, too. Goblins, hobgoblins, ogres, brownies, and boggarts, all look very similar to these versions.

If you’re really interested in what Fae look like, check out Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You. It’s filled with an encyclopedia of artistic representations and lore about the Fae.

You might say, “But that’s a children’s book.”

Most Fae depictions are in children’s books because the majority of adults don’t believe in or see the Fae. Children do.

Spirited Away & Princess Mononoke

Okay, four movies…

Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke are films by Japanese creator Hayao Miyazaki. His entire collection of works are beautifully crafted. The stories are excellent. Princess Mononoke is a little darker with a PG-13 rating, but most Miyazaki fans share them with their children. That decision is up to you.

Each depicts spirits in different locations. Spirited Away is more of an urban location, a resort filled with supernatural beings. Princess Mononoke involves natural spirits.

These movies don’t depict how I necessarily perceive the Fae world. What they do depict is the magic of supernatural beings. There are forest gods who can transform, spirits hungry due to their greed, dust sprites wandering your home, dragons, blobs of energetic goo, conscious animals, and other beings.

There are other planes of existence one can visit.

These movies help keep your conscious imagination alive. Give them a watch. I’m sure you’ll enjoy the stories and the beautiful, intricate artwork.

Epic

Epic is a story where Mary doesn’t believe her father’s tales of unseen people in the forest. While he works on his inventions to see them, she is magically taken to their realm. In this realm, tiny races of intelligent beings live alongside nature. She finds herself in the middle of a battle to protect the queen of the Leafmen.

This story keeps the magic of the invisible realms alive. There are Fae beings in our forests. Some are very tiny, the size of insects like the beings in Epic. Others are enormous gods compared to our small, frail forms.

I find it funny the enemies are called Boggans in Epic. I’ve always wondered if that’s a play on Boggart, the transformation of a Brownie into a vicious being.

If you’re looking for a movie night with family friendly stories about the invisible worlds, give those movies a try. Let me know what you thought on social media.