Product: Born Free [VHS] (1966)
Rating: 5.0
Truly heartwarming entertainment for all the family
I bought a couple VHS copies of "Born Free" for myself and for my nephews last Christmas, thinking "that would be a nice, clean movie for kids to have", and I was not disappointed. You are instantly struck by the innocence of this movie. As another reviewer on this page wrote, I too cried more watching it as an adult and my husband and I remarked that we were really moved by it. Joy Adamson (played by Virginia McKenna) making her tearful speech about Elsa's right to be free struck us to the heart, that scene alone is enough to make this movie a classic.Since seeing it again I have bought more as gifts for kids and for people who have grandkids. It is the favorite of our 17 month old, we always watch with him and skip the two very brief shooting scenes and the scene where Elsa kills the warthog, mind you these scenes are not graphic at all and they are very brief but he still put two and two together and cried. He was also upset by the cubs knocking over stuff and spilling the milk at first, but he quickly came to understand that that was okay. He loves this movie so much and begs all the time to see it. After seeing it the first time, we found him with his stuffed toys gathered around him "feeding" them from his bottle, like Joy and the lion cubs.Due to the movie being made in the 60's, there is the one pitfall of the movie, the fact that the white characters have black African servants. The main black character is loved by all viewers of the movie, but still, the black employees are clearly in servitude and this jumps out at you; this element obviously has to be explained to kids but the movie is true to its time in history and of value to children despite this, and perhaps also because of this historical lesson.Kids of all ages that we've seen watching this, (who have been raised on today's kids' movies that are so full of aggression, violence, sarcasm, etc,) were not at all bored by this innocent movie but instead were instantly captivated by it. All ages of viewers are so uplifted when Elsa gets to be free and be with her own kind. This movie is so uplifting, it's about freedom, the dignity of living creatures, compassion, responsibility, love, and hope. Beautiful scenery and animal footage, plus plenty of lighter moments and laughs. Adults get a little chuckle out of the very polite script, straight from the 1960's, though it is like a breath of fresh air, and of course there's the wonderful theme song which you will find yourself singing in the car and shower. Get out the popcorn and snuggle the whole family on the couch to watch this one.