Do all kids movies have to be in 3D?

Last week, I sounded like an old man in my blog, complaining about lower back pain and my inability to play video games and digest fried chicken.

And this week, I’m going to stick with that ‘get-off-my-lawn’ mentality by asking a very simple question: Why is every movie for kids now being shown in 3D?

A couple of years ago, the 3D craze re-entered our society and there are no signs of it going away anytime soon. Last weekend we took our kids to see Madagascar 3, but we had to find the one theatre in Ottawa that wasn’t continuously showing the movie in 3D. I have several issues with the recent explosion of 3D kids’ movies. For starters, tickets for a 3D movie are usually an extra $3.50 per person. And a family of four could really use that extra $14 to buy a regular soft drink (no refills) at the concession stand.

I’m also blown away by the lack of actual 3D content in these movies. Every 20 minutes they might have a needless scene with a fireworks show or somebody blowing petals off a flower — simply to justify the 3D aspect of the movie. But it’s extremely rare to find a kids’ movie where actual 3D scenes are an integral part of the plot.

One of the other big hurdles to 3D movies for kids are the one-size-fits all glasses. If they made smaller glasses for the kids, that would help things immensely. But as it stands right now, if you walked into a theatre with your four-year-old, she would be wearing the same glasses as the NFL lineman sitting four rows ahead of you.

When we took Lily to her first 3D movie, she ended up getting really upset that the glasses were too big for her, so she took them off halfway through the movie. And when she was stuck watching a blurry screen, she announced in a very loud voice, “Hey, the movie is broken!”

It’s also wise to pick up an extra pair of glasses for yourself if possible, because there is a good chance that your young child will get popcorn grease on the lenses of theirs and start to complain.

Now don’t get me wrong — there are a couple of benefits to wearing 3D glasses in a kids’ movie. For instance, nobody can see you crying when you get emotional during scenes of Up or Toy Story 3.

And it also allows you to discreetly fall asleep during long and pointless musical scores.

But on the whole, I really think 3D movies for kids are pointless and needlessly expensive.

What do you think of the recent 3D craze? Do your kids enjoy them?