Not suitable under 8; parental guidance to 9 (violence and scary scenes)
This topic contains:
Children under 8 | Not suitable due to violence and scary scenes. |
Children aged 8–9 | Parental guidance recommended due to violence and scary scenes. |
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: | Jungle Book, The (2016) |
Classification: | PG |
Consumer advice lines: | Mild threat and violence, some scenes may scare young children |
Length: | 106 minutes |
This review of the movie contains the following information:
The Jungle Book is a film based on the short stories by Rudyard Kipling, as well as the Disney animated classic by the same title. It features a mixture of live action and CGI. The movie follows Mowgli (Neel Sethi), an orphan boy who is raised in the jungle by a pack of animals. Although most of the animals treat Mowgli as one of their own, a tiger named Shere Khan (Idris Elba) does not share their view – having been hurt and scarred by humans in the past, Shere wants to seek revenge by destroying Mowgli.
As Shere comes closer to succeeding in hurting the young boy, Bagheera (Ben Kingsley) and Raksha (Lupita Nyong’O) decide that Mowgli must be taken to a human village in order to protect him and ensure his safety. Mowgli sets out on a journey of self-discovery as a result, and attempts to evade Shere Khan’s attacks as he proceeds along the wild path to human civilisation. He meets many other animals along the way- some of them offer help and others who have their own malicious intentions.
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 and friendship; Good versus evil; The animal kingdom; Revenge.
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 violence within the film:
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 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.
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.
The Jungle Book is the latest version of an inspiring story based on the work of Rudyard Kipling. It is a mixture of live action and CGI. The realistic scenes of wild animals chasing Mowgli and fighting each other may be too scary for children under 8 and parental guidance is recommended for the 8 to 9 age group.
The film talks about the strength of family and friendship bonds. However, family is presented as a collection of individuals who want to protect and nurture each other, not necessarily a biological family. Audiences go on an adventure where they must determine, alongside Mowgli, who is worth trusting and who is not. The film demonstrates the consequences of revenge-seeking behaviour, with Shere remaining alone and unhappy at the end of the film.
Tip: Leave out the first A, An or The
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Content is age appropriate for children this age
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