Not suitable under 8; parental guidance to 9 (themes, scary scenes)
This topic contains:
Children under 8 | Not suitable due to scary scenes and supernatural themes. |
Children aged 8–9 | Parental guidance recommended due to scary scenes and themes. |
Children aged 10 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: | The Canterville Ghost |
Classification: | PG |
Consumer advice lines: | Mild supernatural themes and animated violence, some scenes may scare young children |
Length: | 88 minutes |
This review of the movie contains the following information:
Set in Victorian England, Hiram Otis (voice of David Harewood) moves his family – wife Lucretia (Meera Syal), teenage daughter Virginia (Emily Carey) and twin sons Kent (Bennett Miller) and Louis (Jakey Schiff) – from the US to the English countryside. They move into ‘Canterville Chase’, an old manor house, despite being warned that the house is haunted. After all, the family do not believe in ghosts. However, when the ghost of Sir Simon de Canterville (Stephen Fry) relentlessly taunts them, they have to admit that he exists. Not to be outdone, they exchange friendly banter with him and the boys tease him mercilessly.
Virginia, however, takes pity on Sir Simon, who has been haunting Canterville Chase for 300 years since his wife died. It was rumoured that he had killed her but in fact, it was an accident. Sir Simon can only be free if Virginia will accompany him to the Angel of Death. She does so, not realising that this will cause her own death. Virginia, however, returns to life and marries Henry, the Duke of Cheshire (Freddie Highmore).
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.
The Supernatural; Death and Dying; Legends.
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.
There are some sexual references in this movie, including:
There is some use of substances in this movie, including:
There is some coarse language in this movie, including:
The Canterville Ghost is an animated version of the comedic Oscar Wilde short story about life and death, tragedy and the wrongly accused. This latest version has a stellar voice cast and is quite entertaining. However, many scenes are likely to frighten younger children and it is, therefore, not suitable for children under 8 and more suited to older children, from ages 10 and up.
The main messages from this movie are that love is stronger than death or life; and to make the most out of life as it trickles by so quickly.
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
Children and Media Australia (CMA) is a registered business name of the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM).
CMA provides reviews, research and advocacy to help children thrive in a digital world.
ACCM is national, not-for-profit and reliant on community support. You can help.
ABN: 16 005 214 531