Firstly, this is a great anecdote and a great article. I'm not sure if you saw my review, but I absolutely loved The Wild Robot.

Secondly, to comment on the issue you raise here, as a cineaste, perhaps I'm not the best person to comment. I appreciate all genres, styles, periods of cinema history, etc. However, I'm definitely into romantic comedies a lot more than my wife. She prefers sci-fi, action films, fantasy, gangster films, etc. In fact, she probably likes them more than I do.

And God help anyone who says to her that sci-fi is for blokes. That sound you can hear is her fury, as well as that of my mother, my best friend, my sister, and several other women I know who take great issue with such assertions. In fact, I'll just step out of the way... :)