Not suitable under 3; parental guidance to 6 (violence, scary scenes, themes)
This topic contains:
Children under 3 | Not suitable due to violence, themes and scary scenes. |
Children aged 3–6 | Parental guidance recommended due to violence, themes and scary scenes. |
Children aged 7 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: | Cats in the Museum |
Classification: | G |
Consumer advice lines: | Very mild themes and violence, some scenes may scare very young children |
Length: | 79 minutes |
This review of the movie contains the following information:
Washed overboard from the ship that had been his home, Vincent (voice of Roman Kurtsyn) finds himself on a deserted island, in the remains of an old mansion, where he happily lives until the combined forces of a freak storm and a strange accident result in the destruction of the house and his near death. Saved from the sea by a mouse named Maurice (voice of Diomid Vinogradov), who allows him to hide inside a floating harpsichord, the pair soon become fast friends. The harpsichord is plucked from the ocean by a passing ship and delivered to the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg where the pair encounter an elite team of cats, honoured with the task of guarding the museum’s artistic treasures from every type of threat and danger. Vincent, desperate to belong to a family and find his place in the world, wants this new group to think highly of him but at the same time doesn’t want to ruin his friendship with Maurice whom the museum cats want to eat. Vincent walks a fine line between concealing his friend from the other cats and attempting to join them in protecting the many treasures. A task made even more difficult by the fact that mice, and Maurice is no exception, like nothing more than to taste magnificent artwork. With the imminent delivery of the Mona Lisa, Maurice is ecstatically looking forward to sampling something that no other mouse has sunk their teeth into. But between the shenanigans of a crazy ghost, the demands of being part of a protective squadron and the attention of a seductive feline called Cleopatra (voice of Polina Gagarina), Vincent struggles to get his priorities straight and must do the unexpected to help save the painting from a greater threat than he had ever imagined.
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.
Separation from family; Animalistic nature; Betrayal; Sexist stereotypes and the danger of looking outward to find value that should come from within.
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.
The following products are displayed or used in this movie:
There are some sexual references in this movie, including:
There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:
There is some coarse language in this movie, including:
Cats in the Museum is an animated adventure with a dialogue and plot that adults and older children may struggle to sit through but that younger children are likely to enjoy.
The main message from this movie is that finding your place, your family and where you belong is important but that this shouldn’t be accomplished by risking your integrity or denying who you truly 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 believing in themselves and knowing their own value. There are subtle, stereotypical, undercurrents in a number of Cleopatra’s comments, where she makes generalisations about “boys being weird” when Vincent has to leave suddenly. She calls him “her hero”, implying a sense of helplessness, and demonstrates insecurity when he has to leave again, asking herself: “What is wrong with me?” Though subtle, these unfortunate messages, especially for any young girls taking them on board, would imply that she needs saving; that her value is found outside of herself; and that if someone had to rush away it is a reflection on her rather than the circumstances.
Tip: Leave out the first A, An or The
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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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