My youngest daughter, now 7, loved
The Witches, which we just saw a couple of months ago, and also
Coraline, which we saw this last year. I did give her fair warning, though, about the parts she might find creepy and we talked it through beforehand. My older two kids saw
Black Stallion when they were maybe 8 and 10 (?) and loved it. The older two also loved
Arriety when we saw it in the theater - they would have been 7 and 9 then. (They haven't seen
Where the Wild Things Are because I don't like it.
)
Anyway, that's all to say, I think kids are different, and on a family by family, kid by kid basis, we just have to gauge what our own kids can and can't handle - and take other parents' recommendations with a grain of salt.