I've watched The Princess Bride an embarrassing number of times. At this point, I'm not just watching the movie. I'm reciting almost all of the dialogue along with it.
So, when my eight- and six-year-olds had a sick day recently, it seemed like the perfect time for us to watch this fun throwback movie together. Even though I have seen it more times than I can count, I discovered five things I hadn't noticed or expected when I watched my favorite movie with my kids. The last one blew my mind, so make sure you read to the end.
1. The movie’s name doesn’t exactly sell it to boys
I was ready for a little pushback on the title when I suggested it to my kids. After all, even Fred Savage’s character skeptically asks, "Got any sports in it?" For my boys, it was, "Is this movie for girls?"
I don’t believe in teaching kids that there are “girl movies” and “boy movies,” but that wasn’t the approach I needed to take here. So, as a savvy boy mom, I found the “sports.” I showed the boys a clip of the fencing scene between Inigo and the Man in Black, and they were hooked.
2. Kids’ movies don’t have blood in them
I’d never think of The Princess Bride as a bloody film, but it was eye-opening how my kids reacted to what blood there was. The first instance of blood is after Westley fights the Rodents of Unusual Size (ROUSs) in the Fire Swamp. He emerges with a bloody shoulder, which made my kids anxious. To downplay the damage, I told them it looked worse than it was, and he would be okay. Later, when the Albino cleaned Westley’s shoulder in the pit of despair, you can see the fake blood washing off. I grabbed the opportunity to point that out and ease my kids' anxiety.
The second instance, the one that I was a bit worried about, was in the duel between Inigo and Count Rugen. Rugen pricks Inigo with his sword and throws a dagger into Inigo's stomach, and he starts bleeding heavily. Again, I had to reassure my kids by repeating that Inigo was going to be ok.
My kids weren’t traumatized, but their reactions to blood drove home that they’ve been sheltered from it for much of their childhood. And that's not a bad thing.
3. ROUSs are still terrifying to kids
The ROUSs are the terrifying giant rodent creatures that attack Westley and Buttercup in the Fire Swamp. They’re meant to be scary, but this movie is almost 40 years old now. The effects haven't aged well.
I was hoping that my kids, who are used to more advanced special effects, would see how fake they looked and not find them scary. But kids have active imaginations, and mine still found these rodents frightening. Even after I told my kids that it was just a person in a suit and not really a giant rat at all, they were still a bit unsettled. It took a little while for that effect to wear off.
4. Your kids will quote the most unfortunate line out of context
No, my kids did not tell anyone to “prepare to die.”
But "shut up" is verboten in our house. So of course, my kids were delighted when the grandfather told his grandson, "Yes, you're very smart. Shut up."
The grandfather didn’t say "shut up" with any malice, and my kids thought it was hilarious. Of course, I later found out that my six-year-old repeated that line to a kid at school without saying that he was quoting a movie. It was a good lesson to me as a parent to address things that come up in what your kids are watching that are against your values. And to reiterate that you don't want to see those words or behaviors from them.
5. The movie takes place at Christmastime
Talk about mind-blowing. I don’t know how I never noticed it before in all the times I’ve watched The Princess Bride. Maybe it was something about seeing it with fresh eyes since my kids were watching it for the first time.
The Princess Bride takes place at Christmas! Not the story within the story, but the interaction between the kid and his grandfather. In the boy's room, there’s a Santa decoration hanging from the wall. And when you can see out his bedroom window, there’s snow-covered ground and Christmas lights on his neighbor's house.
So, does that make The Princess Bride a Christmas movie? If Bruce Willis fans get Die Hard, I’m claiming this one. I’ll be watching it every December.
One of the joys of being a parent is getting to see the world through your children’s eyes, and it’s no different when revisiting your favorite movies. It’s a good idea to reevaluate the film's content from a kid's perspective to make sure it’s appropriate for your kids. But at the end of the day, watching them fall in love for the first time with something that you’ve loved for so long is a real gift. Ready to watch it with your kids? You can catch this classic on Disney+.