Not recommended under 7; Parental guidance 7-9 (Scary and upsetting themes and scenes)
This topic contains:
Children under 7 | Not recommended due to scary and upsetting scenes and themes. May also be too long for children in this age group |
Children aged 7-9 | Parental guidance recommended due to scary and upsetting scenes and themes |
Children 9 and over | Recommended 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: | Good Dinosaur, The |
Classification: | PG |
Length: | 101 minutes |
This review of the movie contains the following information:
Arlo the Apatosaurus (voiced by Raymond Ochoa) lives on a farm with his mother (Frances McDormand), father (Jeffrey Wright) and two siblings(Marcus Scribner and Maleah Nipay-Padilla). One day the young dinosaur falls into the river and is washed far away from his home and family. All alone, Arlo becomes friends with a human child named Spot (Jack Bright). Spot teaches Arlo how to survive in the wild and how to overcome his fears. Together, Spot and Arlo must overcome many dangerous obstacles in order to return Arlo to his family before winter.
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.
Death of a parent; separation from family; animal distress; children as victims; natural disasters (flooding and storms)
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 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.
Younger children in this age group may be scared by some of the above-mentioned scenes.
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 found in the film but there is likely to be associated merchandise marketed to children
Nothing of concern
Nothing of concern
Arlo and Spot eat some fermented fruit, end up hallucinating and wake with headaches
There is some mild and modified coarse language in this movie, including:
The Good Dinosaur is a beautifully animated film about Arlo, a young dinosaur learning to overcome his fears. There are a number of upsetting and scary scenes and themes which include the death of, and separation from, family members. There are also scary predatory creatures which threaten the main characters. The settings make the film seem very real and, at 101 minutes, the film is also rather long for very young children. The film is therefore not recommended for children under 7 and parental guidance is recommended for children between the ages of 7 and 9.
The main messages from this movie are the importance of “doing something bigger than yourself” and that “sometimes you have to go through your fear to see the beauty on the other side”.
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 helping the family out around the house and contributing to household chores.
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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