It is very important to be careful with the kinds of movies we let our children consume. Many family movies are written by people whose basic morals are limited to virtue signaling and hypocrisy.
Many parents pat themselves in the back for not letting their kids watch movies with "woke indoctrination". Some of them sign petitions on Life Sites News or akin sites whenever Disney makes an attempt to include esoteric religions or pagan mythologies.
However, I am yet to see "conservative" influencers actually attempting to dismantle the real problem with some of this films. Instead of focusing on fake moral panics and anti-woke slop content, they should give to this movies a serious analysis.
This would allow them to find whatever might be erroneous on this films, assess the extent of the damage and permit the viewers to find this questionable messages for themselves. So today, in the Pasture of Knowledge, we will discuss a surprisingly common family movie trope that should be questioned and held accountable.
Any religion is pagan that:
1: Worships multiple gods (polytheism).
2: Worships gods that are not omnipotent or whose omnipotence depends on something else.
3: Worships gods that dwell within nature, or are one with nature.
4: Worships ancestors or items on the natural world (stones, trees, animals)
This gods are weak, and unworthy of worship. This hasn't stopped Hollywood from integrating pagan worldviews in their movies.
After all, paganism is fairly old, and within every single culture, the daughters of paganism can be found.
How can a Movie be Pagan?
There are many ways a movie can be pagan. The easiest way to find pagan movies is to see those that are produced in Japan or India. Since many of this movies are made by pagans, it's to be expected that this beliefs dwell within the films.
Hollywood, too, integrates paganism in their films. The following are some of the different ways in which this happens.
1: Movies were there are many gods; are movies that have polytheism.
2: Movies were there is a divine energy dwelling within all of us, are movies that have pantheism.
3: Movies were one can contact ancestors for guidance, are movies with ancestor worship. Movies were one can pray to stars or stones, are movies with item worship.
Many movies are based on mythology, but the pagan elements are only to be taken seriously where this elements have a significant role into the world and setting of the story.
Case Studies for Pagan Flicks
The following studies provide us with examples as to different ways in which a movie can express pagan beliefs.
Please keep in mind however, that since people in Hollywood are superficial and play with pagan beliefs for fantasy purposes, many of this films have stuff that might not be theologically accurate to the real-life types of paganism that inspired them.
Kung Fu Panda (2008, 2012, 2016)
Kung Fu Panda is a saga of films telling the story of Po, a panda who learns Kung Fu. He is chosen by Oogway, a tortoise, to become the dragon warrior and protect the weak.
As of today (April 2026), the franchise has multiple shows and 4 movies. Today we will only focus on the first 3 films.
Kung Fu Panda starts fairly normal, slowly incrementing the pagan stuff on its world as the franchise progresses.
+ Kung Fu is a Chinese martial art with Buddhist roots. While the movies do not ask the audience to pray to Buddha, they involve other forms of Chinese myths.
Different aspects of Kung Fu have been involved here. For example, Po's companions, the Furious Five, use different techniques of Kung Fu based on the animals they represent. Po himself uses the technique of the bear.
+ Thrice in Kung Fu Panda 2, the taoist symbol Ying-Yang appears on the film. The Ying-Yang represents equilibrium and duality, and is used to represent Po recovering from trauma and achieving inner stability.
On the first film, we see Master Shifu attempting to meditate while reciting "Inner Peace".
+ In Kung Fu Panda 3 we are introduced to Chi. This energy is believed by the Chinese to flow through the universe. It is the principle behind many practices of oriental medicine, like Reiki.
In the movie, Po is told by master Shi Fu that he must learn to master Chi, an energy "that flows through *all* living things".
This energy will be used to fight against Kai, an undead water buffalo who absorbs the Chi of Kung Fu masters and turns them into jade mind-slaves. Kai has defeated Shi Fu's master, Oogway, and is preparing to invade the world.
Po visits a panda village were pandas practice different forms of Chi healing, and attempts to teach them Kung Fu to defend themselves against Kai.
During the final battle, Po attempts to kill Kai, but isn't able to do so. Po forcibly sends himself and Kai to the spirit realm to continue the fight.
At some point Po is overpowered by Kai, but his friends back in earth held their paws up and feed him with their own Chi. Po then becomes super energized, shapes a golden dragon and defeats Kai by obliterating him with Chi.
Reuniting with Oogway, Po is told that the reason he was chosen as the dragon warrior was that pandas (being black and white like the Ying-Yang) had a special ability with Chi and he knew Po could defeat Kai in the Chi wars. Po is given a Ying-Yang shaped spectre and returns as a spiritual master to the living.
In this case, the beliefs that inspired the lore and fantasy of the movies are overt and everyone can see them. It's a common trope in Kung Fu / Karate movies to explore oriental spirituality and new age beliefs.
The Lion King (1994)
The Lion King is a classic animated family movie were we can find some sort of ancestor worship.
Cub Simba learns from his dad, Mufasa, that if he looks up the stars he will receive guidance from the ancestors. And I quote:
"Mufasa: Simba, let me tell you something my father told me. Look at the stars. The great kings of the past look down on us from those stars.
Young Simba: Really?
Mufasa: Yes. So whenever you feel alone, just remember that those kings will always be there to guide you. And so will I."
After Mufasa dies, Simba is exiled from the land of his Pride and lives with a pair of hedonist nihilists: Pumbaa and Timon. Simba tries to forget everything about Mufasa's death; but as he reunites with his pride's hippy witch doctor / guru Rafiki, Simba is able to communicate with his daddy. This spurs Simba to defeat his tyrant uncle Scar.
While the scene can be interpreted as Simba having a dream, there is little doubt that this lions believe their ancestors are stars who can guide them. Thus, this movie has a not-so-subtle presentation of ancestor worship.
The Princess and the Frog (2009)
Released in 2009, this movie is a retell of the classic German tale within a 1920's New Orleans setting.
The Princess and the Frog has two different voodoo practitioners living in opposition to each other.
The first one is the villain, Dr. Facilier. A cartoon voodoo warlock, Facilier makes sells the souls of people to disturbing mask demons. Facilier sings about his occult scams in the song "I've got Friends In the Other Side."
When Facilier is defeated, the demons come to reprise the song, killing the scammer and presumably sending him to hell.
But the second one is portrayed positively. Mama Odie, dressed in a white candomblé suit, helps Tiana realize that her dreams of opening a cafe are empty if she doesn't have someone to share it with. Mama Odie has a pet snake, a charming eccentric personality, and lives on a tree house in the beautiful bayou.
Bonus: What is an Esoteric Religion?
Esoteric religions are those whose doctrines remain hidden or secret. Some of this are also secret societies.
I am also counting here religions that indulge in magic (the using of mysterious forces) like Wicca and Voodoo.
There are many esoteric religions and sometimes their practitioners syncretize the different doctrines. Some examples of esoteric groups involve the Kabbalah, the Ordo Templi Orientis, Freemasonry, Theosophy, Anthroposophy and some Satanic associations.
Case Studies
While many family movies have magic on it, I think only those movies that are connected with real esoterism should be a treat. Thus, the "True Love's Kiss" films with a superficial magic system are not included.
Wish (2023)
Released in 2023, Wish was supposed to be special; it was made to celebrate Disney's 100th year anniversary. This didn't prevent the movie from flopping hard at the box office and being universally hated online.
Despite all this, Wish is still an interesting movie.
Wish portrays a young woman named Asha, who lives in an utopian village named Rosas. Here, on every 18th birthday, King Magnifico grants a wish to his citizens.
However, Asha realizes the King isn't who she thought. She is distraught to find out Magnifico only grants the wishes he deems to be ordered and consistent to the welfare of Rosas. Those wishes he considers unhealthy, he stores them in his castle, away from the people who eventually forget them.
Magnifico is an actual demiurge figure. The demiurge, in the gnostic religion, it's an entity that created the world with malevolence. He captured spirits into the physical world, keeping them from the knowledge and freedom of their ethereal forms. It's therefore relevant that Magnífico created Rosas.
While most demiurge figures are tyrannical, it's noticeable that Magnífico is actually benevolent, kind of like the Christian God.
The girl runs off into the woods and throws a temper tantrum. She wishes upon stars, and they listen: A cutesy, star-shaped entity descends upon her and that's when things become really interesting.
The Star Falls from the Sky like Satan
The star draws itself as a pentagram-shaped symbol.
It recruits Asha while offering her an apple-like thread ball.
The fruit of Eden represents, in some gnostic communities, knowledge that the demiurge wants to hide
It's first action is to teach animals to speak. They all sing that they are all one and that they are all made of stardust. It's almost like the star is freeing the spirits within the animals.
Every time someone shows skepticism towards the star, it touches their nose and they become eager to follow it's desire: to free everyone's wishes from Magnifico. Their mind's eye has been opened.
Notice the goat behind this guy. One of the goat's symbolisms is Baphomet, an hermaphrodite demon associated with satanic religions.
Ironically, the only character to remain unaffected by the star is a youth named Simon. Simon's wish is being held by the King. This is a star of a decidedly Mephistophelean character, for it can't influence those who have no wishes.
The star incites a rebellion against the King. While Magnifico manages to kill it, the entity rises again, helped by the wishes of the people who desire to be free from the King.
In short, Wish is a gnostic fable. While some of its symbology may not be consistent with gnostic doctrine, the essentials stay.
Conclusion
To prevent the harm from this types of films, the following could help:
1: If you don't teach your children to love Jesus, they will never learn to hate the other religions. Make sure, however, that this hatred will not expand to them who worship weak gods.
2: Make sure they *know* their religion well, and love it.
3: Knowledge about what this religions entail is not superfluous. Once they are old enough you should teach them who believes in this doctrines and their refutation.
4: Give them plenty of wholesome entertainment.
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