Showing an innocent child who turns into an inhuman monster who kills children is very impactful as well, and showing Anakin’s childhood and his life in slavery is important to understand his character.
(Almost) Every child is innocent. Showing that Anakin was a good kid means nothing. I’m sure Jeffrey Dahmer was a “good kid”. What actually matters is seeing that Anakin was a good man.
Exactly. When you go from TPM to AotC, there’s a disconnect because little Ani and grown up Anakin don’t really register as the same character. TPM is trying to show Anakin at his most noble before he starts to go Dark, but it doesn’t really feel like it counts because he’s 9.