Not suitable under 9; parental guidance to 12 (scary scenes)
This topic contains:
Children under 9 | Not suitable due to scary scenes. |
Children aged 9–12 | Parental guidance recommended due to scary scenes. |
Children over the age of 12 | 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: | Earwig and the Witch |
Classification: | PG |
Consumer advice lines: | Mild supernatural themes |
Length: | 83 minutes |
This review of the movie contains the following information:
Set in the lush English countryside, Erica Wig - aka Earwig -is a young girl growing up in an orphanage after being abandoned by her mother, a glamourous red-haired woman with magical witch powers. One day, much to her horror, Earwig is adopted by a very strange, scary and mean-looking couple who have taken her from the orphanage to be a servant in their house. Earwig soon discovers that she has been adopted by a witch and her role is to cook, clean and help with the spells and potions. The witch’s husband, “The Mandrake”, is a tall, hulking creature that transforms into a menacing monster when he is bothered or annoyed. Always optimistic, Earwig decides that she will get the better of the couple and escape, but despite her best efforts the magical house keeps her trapped inside. With the help of Thomas, the little black witch’s cat, Earwig throws herself into learning enough magic to protect herself and cause some mischief.
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.
Orphans; Magic; Supernatural; Horror; Music.
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.
In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes and scary visual images, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged five to eight, including the following:
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.
In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged eight to thirteen, including the following:
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.
The following products are displayed or used in this movie:
There is one mild romantic scene in this movie:
There is some use of substances in this movie, including:
There is some mild coarse language and insults in this movie, including:
Fans of Studio Ghibli may be a little disappointed by Earwig and the Witch. It is the first foray into CGI over hand-drawn animation and it lacks the charm and warmth of earlier Studio Ghibli films. It is a surreal and, at times, sinister movie, which will leave you wondering what it was all about. There are some very scary moments for small children and the premise of an orphan being adopted and held captive in a house to work as a slave is quite disturbing. However, older children may still enjoy the more imaginative elements of this film and its quirky characters.
The main messages from this movie are that sometimes solutions to our problems are unexpected and will take us by surprise; and that even the coldest hearts can be warmed by affection.
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 attitudes and behaviours, and their real-life consequences, such as:
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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