Not recommended under 8, PG to 12 (Violence, scary scenes)
This topic contains:
Children under 8 | Not recommended due to violence and scary scenes |
Children 8 - 12 | Parental guidance recommended due to violence |
Children 13 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: | Fantastic Mr Fox |
Classification: | PG |
Consumer advice lines: | Mild crude language and animated violence. |
Length: | 87 minutes |
This review of the movie contains the following information:
?Mr. Fox (voice of George Clooney) was once a highly successful professional thief who loved stealing chickens from unsuspecting farmers. While trapped with his wife and facing certain death Mr. Fox learns that he is going to be a father and promises Mrs. Fox (Meryl Streep) that if they survive he will find another line of work. Twelve fox years later he is working as a newspaper columnist, living in an underground cave with his wife and son Ash (Jason Schwartzman) and dreaming of bigger and better things.
Deciding to take a risk he purchases a tree house and moves his family to one of the more dangerous suburbs for foxes, located directly opposite property owned by three of the most violent men in the country: Boggis (Robin Hurlstone) a chicken farmer, Bunce (Hugo Guinness) who has a goose and duck smokehouse and Bean (Michael Gambon) who has a cider factory. Mr. Fox cannot help himself and, with the assistance of a trusty accomplice, sets out to do one final job stealing chickens from Boggis’ farm. The success of that mission entices him to try Bunce’s smokehouse and finally Bean’s storage cellar. When the farmers unite to kill Mr. Fox and his family the entire animal population is driven underground in an effort to stay alive.
After days without food or water Mr. Fox hatches a plan which he hopes will save them all. He does not count on the cunning of the humans or on Ash’s attempt to prove himself which ends with his cousin Kristofferson (Eric Chase Anderson) being taken hostage. He is about to hand himself over when his family is threatened by a rat working for the humans. Following a violent struggle and the rat’s death Mr. Fox realizes the value of all life, including his own, and unites all the animals in a last ditch effort to save themselves, rescue Kristofferson and outwit the farmers.
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.
Crime, jealousy, animals versus people
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 and scary visual images, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children under 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 group may also be disturbed by some of 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.
?Most children in this age group are unlikely to be frightened by anything in this film.
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:
None of concern.
There is some use of substances in this movie, including:
There is some coarse language in this movie, including:
Fantastic Mr Fox is a stop motion animation based on the book by Roald Dahl. It offers a slightly different experience when compared to other contemporary films, its colours are less vivid and striking but this gives it a more authentic feel. It is not film for younger children but older ones may enjoy it, especially fans of the book or author.
The main messages from this movie are that it is OK to be different and that everyone has different talents and abilities. The trick is to find them, to believe in yourself and to use them to your best advantage.
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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