My Daughter Noticed The Reference To The Shining In Zootopia 2... Should I Be Concerned?

After missing out on Zootopia 2 during its massive box office run late last year, I wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice when the 2025 animated film hit VOD. About a week ago, my family and I sat down to watch what I heard was a great kids movie with some top-notch references, and I wasn’t let down one bit. However, there was something that caught me by surprise…

Near the end, there was a great callback to one of the best horror movies of all time, The Shining. Before I could point out the reference, my 9-year-old daughter beat me to it. Wait a minute… how does my daughter know enough about this Stephen King adaptation to point out a reference in a kids movie? What’s going on here? Should I be concerned?

I’ve Never Shown Her The Shining, And I Had To Know What Was Going On

Here’s the thing: I’ve never shown my daughter The Shining before, and she can’t access it with the restrictions on her HBO Max subscription, so I need to know what’s going on here. I’m not going to lie, I was a little torn over the parenting dilemma that this brought up. The protective parent in me wanted to figure out the how and why of her knowledge of Stanley Kubrick’s iconic thriller, while the movie fan in me was jumping with joy (just where she couldn’t see me).

I was thrown back by the quickness of her response to the music cue, and even more so when she started talking about the Stanley Hotel (the inspiration for the Overlook). That said, I put two and two together and came to the conclusion that she heard about the movie and the supposedly haunted hotel while watching some video on the Roku Channel.

This brings me to my next point…

At What Age Should I Watch The Shining With Her?

I don’t remember how old I was when I first watched The Shining, but I want to say I was in middle school by the time I got around to it. That said, I’m trying to figure out now if I should show it to my daughter. She’ll be 10 soon, and I want to say she could handle some of the film’s more intense and scarier moments. There are a handful of scenes where covering her eyes might be necessary, but those are few and far between.

There are some other things that might go over her head, but maybe that’d be for the best and something she could pick up on repeated viewings as she gets older. Considering she already knew the movie, some of the backstory that inspired the iconic horror film, and seemed excited, I think this could work.

All of this being said, I’m not going to rush things with The Shining, or any other horror movie for that matter, but my daughter picking up on the reference did make me excited knowing what awaits us down the road.