Parental guidance under 8 (Scary scenes)
This topic contains:
Children under 8 | Due to some scary scenes, parental guidance is recommended for children under the age of eight. Parents are reminded that children under the age of five can sometimes be disturbed by comic or slapstick violence. |
Children over the age of 8 | Most children over the age of eight could watch this movie with or without parental guidance. |
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: | Ice Age: The Meltdown |
Classification: | PG |
Consumer advice lines: | Mild scenes of menace |
Length: | 90 minutes |
This review of the movie contains the following information:
Manny the mammoth (Ray Romano) and his ‘herd’, Diego the tiger(Dennis Leary) and Sid the Sloth (John Leguizamo) have settled down to a comfortable life in a valley, protecting them from the harsh climes of the Ice Age. The arrival of ‘global warming’ and melting ice, places their valley under direct threat from an impending flood and they, along with the other animals, have three days to evacuate to the relative safety afforded them at the other end of the valley.
During their travels, Manny, Diego and Sid meet Ellie (Queen Latifah), a mammoth who thinks she is a possum, and her two ‘brothers’ Eddie and Crash. At Sid’s insistence, Manny begrudgingly allows Ellie and her brothers to join them in their journey. The group face many dangers along their way, including the vultures above, who are eagerly awaiting their demise, the sinister creatures lurking below the melting ice and the ever-approaching flood. They must also battle with their own fears, with Manny contemplating the possible extinction of his species, Diego combating his fear of water and Sid struggling to find his place and role in the ‘herd’. When at last the flood fills the valley, the newly formed family must join together and use their different strengths to save each other.
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.
Global warming, animals in peril
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, mostly set in a comic context. Parents are reminded that although comic violence may appear benign, and children usually enjoy it, over-exposure to comic violence can lead young children to believe that violence doesn’t really hurt. Violent scenes include:
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 scary scenes in this movie 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 between the ages of eight and thirteen could be concerned by:
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.
Children over the age of thirteen years are unlikely to find any scenes in this movie scary.
None of concern.
None of concern.
None of concern.
There is infrequent and mild coarse language and put-downs in this movie, including:
The main messages from this movie are that you have to let go of your past to have a future and that you must face your fears. It also highlights that a family can be made up of many different types of people (or animals, in this case).
Values parents may wish to encourage include:
This movie could give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children attitudes and behaviours, and their 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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