I remembering be taught that kids respond better to watching characters that are slightly older.
I think I can relate to that also as I find it kind of annoying watching characters that are suppose to be my age and find them unrelateable and unrealistic but when I watch older actors in films I think "yeeh thats totally what being XX is like".
You want someone to look up to but isn't a father figure. The cool older brother.
I'm pretty sure you'd be in the minority or were taught wrong.
Look at the films you grew up with and loved when you were 5-8 years old that you still treasure today; chances are for the majority - most of them
starred kids and very young teens.
For a lot of 90s kids, I'm figuring it's...
Sandlot. Home Alone. Mighty Ducks. Casper. Hook. Dunston Checks In. Blank Check. Pagemaster. The Witches. Mrs. Doubtfire. Little Rascals. Heavy Weights. Free Willy. We're Back: A Dinosaur's Story. Honey I Shrunk the Kids. Jingle All The Way. Fly Away Home. First Kid.
And that's only some, this list could go on forever just hand picked the ones that I think most know and remember.
For a lot of 80s kids, I'm figuring it's...
ET. The Goonies. Monster Squad. Karate Kid. The Land Before Time. Harry and the Hendersons. An American Tail. Flight of the Navigator. Something Wicked This Way Comes. The NeverEnding Story. The Wizard.
And there's probably a lot I don't know about (targeted ones that I see more as 'kids' films) - grew up in the 90s.
While there are still some, they seem to be severely lacking when in comparison to the past. The only more "recent" ones that come to mind are 'Real Steel,' 'Earth to Echo,' 'Ender's Game,' and 'Goosebumps.'
For some of the more recent Disney Channel shows, yeah - I can see how that could be the case. That's why another thing I'd love to see come back are kids movies that tackle serious subject issues and aren't afraid of being dark. The ones above I'd say do that, albeit not as much as some of the classics from the 80s and 90s. The only "recent" example is 'Super 8' in how it dealt with the mother's death. 'Pete's Dragon' might be more like that this year. A kid's movie, but tackling very adult subjects (that's what makes a lot of these films excellent when you're a kid and still great as an adult). That's what made a lot of those films I listed above (and some not listed) stand out - they didn't shy away from being real.
You want someone to look up to but isn't a father figure. The cool older brother.
That's why you can easily make the older character, as mentioned before, the cool older brother. Just see 'Wild America' for example -- the
cool older brother. Or 'Real Steel' to the effect had this as well. It could have beyond easily gone in that direction thus because of that it feels more than odd that it doesn't; it reeks of Hollywood being still too timid to make kids movies starring kids for kids (which hopefully BFG, Pete's Dragon, and Jungle Book will change (it says a lot that the strongest and smartest company out there truly started going back in that direction this year)). The whole kids relate to kids angle is why
a lot of blockbuster films always have kids in them (sometimes supporting, sometimes even just random), someone for a kid in the audience to more easily latch onto and relate to as their eyes and ears into the film - Iron Man 3 being a prime example of this.
