Lost Tiger, The

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Not suitable under 6; parental guidance to 9 (violence, scary scenes, themes)

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This topic contains:

  • overall comments and recommendations
  • details of classification and consumer advice lines for Lost Tiger, The
  • a review of Lost Tiger, The completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 4 March 2025.

Overall comments and recommendations

Children under 6 Not suitable due to violence, scary scenes and themes.
Children aged 6–9 Parental guidance recommended due to violence, scary scenes and themes.
Children aged 10 and over Ok for this age group.

About the movie

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: Lost Tiger, The
Classification: G
Consumer advice lines: Very mild themes and animated violence
Length: 82 minutes

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

A synopsis of the story

After being found abandoned as a baby with only a mysterious crystal necklace as a clue to his heritage, young Teo (Thomas Weatherall) is adopted into a family of energetic, wrestling kangaroos. Despite how much he loves his kangaroo family, Teo has always felt like he doesn’t belong – he doesn’t even know what animal he is! However, Teo’s life completely changes after he experiences mysterious visions, calling him home. With the help of a timid platypus named Plato (Rhys Darby), Teo embarks on a journey to the lost island, his true home, where he finds out about his thylacine heritage and his culture. Can he save his country from those who want to take from it, and discover who he is, before it’s too late?

Themesinfo

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.

Family; Complex family relationships; Self-discovery; Colonisation; Death of a parent; Cultural Separation.

Use of violenceinfo

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:

  • In several scenes throughout the film, multiple characters are shown fighting in a scripted manner, similar to wrestling.
  • A young character is thrown off stage and injures their ankle.
  • A character is brushed off and treated as lesser for being a cleaner.
  • Teo overhears his parents arguing in raised voices about him.
  • An elder character throws her shoe at misbehaving child characters, knocking them out of a tree.
  • Teo and his mother argue using raised voices in several scenes.
  • Teo’s mother holds him by the arm and tries to drag him away, back to their old life, but he yells at her to stop and that he has found his true home.
  • Several characters are shown physically fighting each other to protect their land.
  • Characters restrain Teo and muzzle him, tying him up and throwing him to the ground.
  • Two characters physically fight over an object, until one character loses her footing and is accidentally shoved backwards off the edge of a cliff, falling to her death into the ocean below.
  • A large crack opens in the earth and a character falls, hanging on precariously to the edge. Teo attempts to help her up, but she refuses his hand and falls to her death.
  • A car with characters inside falls into a crack in the earth, insinuating their death.
  • A character verbally berates other characters in several scenes, including telling a character that if he doesn’t do as she wants, he can go back to being “stinky and friendless”.
  • A character drives very dangerously in an attempt to shake Teo off, while yelling, “fat chance, you little dumb-dumb lost tiger!”
  • A character is racist toward the thylacine characters, speaking in an over exaggerated and slow voice. When realising that they can understand her, she is surprised that they can “speak well”.

Material that may scare or disturb children

Under fiveinfo

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:

  • In several scenes, a character has visions that are accompanied by a sudden, loud swell of music, flashing lights and sounds of hyperventilating.
  • Teo puts his necklace in a slot in some rocks, leading to a very loud cracking sound, accompanied by loud music, as the earth crumbles around him.
  • When Teo and another character are in the forest, it is dark and creepy, with ominous music and scary noises.
  • Scary, hooded creatures with cult-like appearance march up to a character, cackling evilly and leading him away into the darkness of the forest.

Aged five to eightinfo

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:

  • A child character falls into a crack in the earth but is saved at the last moment.
  • Teo watches his biological mother get pushed to her death in a vision of the past. He falls to his knees and breaks down crying.
  • Teo’s kangaroo mother finds his bed empty and is visibly distressed, and the family decide to go and look for him.
  • A character almost falls off the edge of a cliff, screaming that, “I’m gonna die!”, before Teo pulls him back up.
  • In several scenes, the ground crumbles beneath the feet of characters and they are forced to run for their lives.

Aged eight to thirteeninfo

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:

  • Some children in this age group may be sensitive to the heavy themes of colonisation, as well as stealing sacred items and land from First Nations cultures.

Thirteen and overinfo

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 further noted.

Product placement

  • None noted.

Sexual references

  • None noted.

Nudity and sexual activity

  • None noted.

Use of substances

  • None noted.

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

  • Shut him up!
  • Bull caca
  • Oh my god!
  • Poo
  • Buttocks
  • When referring to himself, a character states that this is the “stupidest thing I’ve ever done”.

In a nutshell

The Lost Tiger is a funny, heartwarming story of self-discovery. As the first Australian animated feature film to be directed by an Indigenous Australian woman, The Lost Tiger is full of culture, heart, and distinctly Australian comedy. This film is great for a family watch; however, due to some violence, scary scenes and themes, it is best suited for children aged 10 and over, with parental guidance for ages 6 to 9, particularly for more sensitive children.

The main messages from this movie are that just being yourself is good enough; and that we need to take care of each other and the land around us because we are all connected.

Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:

  • Belonging
  • Community
  • Respect for your community and land
  • The importance of conservation.

This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children attitudes and behaviours, and their real-life consequences, such as:

  • In the film, we see Plato lie to Teo about who he is to use him for his own gain. Why is it not okay to deceive people in this way? What do you think Plato could have done instead?
  • We see that Teo’s adoptive mum is reluctant to allow him to make connections to his biological family and culture. Parents may want to discuss with their children the different relationships Teo has with his adoptive and biological family, and the value of each.
  • At the end of the film, it emphasises that we are all connected – regardless of where we come from. What is one way you can think of that we are all connected? How can we demonstrate that respect for each other in real life?
  • This film contains an allegory of the colonisation and disrespect that First Nations Australians have experienced and continue to experience. While younger children may not pick up on this, parents may want to discuss this history with their children.
  • Aboriginal culture plays a large role in this movie, as Teo reconnects with his roots. Parents may want to discuss the importance of culture and country to First Nations Australians.