Not recommended under 6; parental guidance recommended 6-10 due to themes, violence and scary scenes
This topic contains:
Children under 6 | Not recommended due to violence and scary scenes |
Children aged 6 to 10 | Parental guidance recommended due to themes, violence and scary scenes. |
Children aged 10 and over | OK for this age group |
This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.
Name of movie: | Book of Life, The |
Classification: | PG |
Consumer advice lines: | Mild themes and animated violence |
Length: | 95 minutes |
This review of the movie contains the following information:
Three children live in the Mexican town of San Angel. Manolo (voiced by Diego Luna), Maria (Zoe Saldana) and Joaquin (Channing Tatum) are best friends and spend their days play fighting with each other. But pressure from their families forces the three children onto different paths. Maria is sent to Europe, Joaquin joins the army and Manolo becomes a bull fighter like his father.
Many years later, when the children have grown up, Maria returns to town. Both Manolo and Joaquin love Maria and want to marry her. They both try to win her hand in marriage and the spirits Xibalba and La Muerte decide to bet on who will win. But just as Maria is about to make her choice the evil Xibalba interferes. Manolo is sent to the Land of the Remembered and he must confront his fears and learn to be himself if he ever wants to see Maria again.
Children and adolescents may react adversely at different ages to themes of crime, suicide, drug and alcohol dependence, death, serious illness, family breakdown, death or separation from a parent, animal distress or cruelty to animals, children as victims, natural disasters and racism. Occasionally reviews may also signal themes that some parents may simply wish to know about.
Day of the Dead: death of a parent; death of a loved one; family breakdown; the supernatural; bull fighting
Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.
Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.
There is some violence in this movie including:
Children under five are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations.
In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children under the age of five, including the following:
Children aged five to eight will also be frightened by scary visual images and will also be disturbed by depictions of the death of a parent, a child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.
Children in this age group may also be scared or disturbed by the above mentioned scenes
Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened.
Some children may be scared or disturbed by some of the above mentioned scenes but there is mostly nothing of concern
Children over the age of thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic physical harm or threats, molestation or sexual assault and / or threats from aliens or the occult.
Nothing of concern
None of concern
There are some sexual references in this movie, including:
There is some sexual activity in this movie, including:
There is some use of substances in this movie, including:
There is some coarse language that young children may imitate, including:
The Book of Life is an enjoyable animated film about the Mexican holiday Day of the Dead. It is ideal for children aged 10 and over and is a great chance for children to learn more about the beliefs and celebrations of another culture. Maria is also an excellent role model for young girls as she is brave, smart and stands up for herself.
Because of the themes, the scary elements and the violence in this film, it is not recommended for children under 6 and parental guidance is recommended for the 6 to 10 age group.
The main messages from this movie are
Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:
This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children the importance of not solving conflicts with violence.
Tip: Leave out the first A, An or The
Selecting an age will provide a list of movies with content suitable for this age group. Children may also enjoy movies selected via a lower age.
Content is age appropriate for children this age
Some content may not be appropriate for children this age. Parental guidance recommended
Content is not age appropriate for children this age
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