My family took my 4 yr old niece and her 8 year old half brother to see this movie. Definitely not what any of us expected! The first half of the movie was concentrated on the goings-on of WWII, and didn't have too many 'cute' scenes of the Waterhorse. My niece was understandably bored during much of the movie. We thought parts of the movie were way too scary for young children. Very dark and sad movie, as only a few scenes showed the Waterhorse interacting with the boy. Several families w/ young children walked out of the theater, disappointed in this ''kids'' film. This movie is more suitable for older children or adults.