Two by Two: Overboard!

image for Two by Two: Overboard!

Short takes

Not suitable under 5; parental guidance to 8 (themes, violence, scary scenes)

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This topic contains:

  • overall comments and recommendations
  • details of classification and consumer advice lines for Two by Two: Overboard!
  • a review of Two by Two: Overboard! completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 6 April 2021.

Overall comments and recommendations

Children under 5 Not suitable due to violence, themes, and scary scenes.
Children aged 5–8 Parental guidance recommended due to violence, themes and scary scenes.
Children over the age of 8 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: Two by Two: Overboard!
Classification: PG
Consumer advice lines: Mild themes
Length: 89 minutes

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

A synopsis of the story

A great flood fills the world with water and an animal settlement, sailing on an ark in search of land, begins to run out of food. Unlikely pals Leah and Finny demonstrate that carnivores and herbivores can not only get along, they can become best friends as well. When the pair accidentally fall overboard, they try to get back to the ark but a violent storm pulls them apart. While Leah washes up on a distant island, Finny finds a ‘Nestrian’ community full of creatures just like himself who have built a safe colony under the sea to protect themselves from predators. When Leah is captured and the ark arrives on the island, Finny tries to convince Patch, the Nestrian leader, to release Leah and help the others but, fearful of the destruction outsiders could bring, his request is refused. When a fiery volcano threatens to destroy the island and everything in its path the animals must set their differences aside and work together to help each other in order to save themselves.

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.

Children/animals being separated from parents; Natural disasters; Mistrust of those who are different from you.

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:

  • A lot of slapstick violence throughout the film – numerous characters fall, trip, bang into or collapse on each other.
  • A hungry lion threatens to kill a Nestrian and put him on the menu.
  • Leah and Finny crash their flying machine into the cafeteria and upset everyone’s food.
  • A Dove is hit, nearly ingested, electrocuted, beaten, chased by a shark, squashed and burned.
  • An explosion in the crow’s nest and a fire leads parents to think that their kids are dead.
  • Two Nestrian guards try to capture Leah, she attacks back but eventually they catch her.
  • Animals are bound together and made to walk the plank.
  • Guards are knocked unconscious and their clothes stolen.
  • A raging volcano destroys the island and the Nestrian underwater community and threatens the animals on the ark.

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:

  • There is a chase scene under the sea where Finny is pursued by creatures wearing evil looking masks that look like gigantic teeth. The creatures turn out to be friendly but the scene is intense and Finny is so terrified that he knocks himself unconscious while trying to escape.
  • A volcano erupts over an island destroying a Nestrian settlement and everything in its path. As the characters desperately work together to try to rebuild the ark, the Nestrians flee, and fiery rocks destroy the island community, causing horror and chaos. A Nestrian child screams in terror as its world erupts in flames. The scene is very loud, dramatic and intense and could be very upsetting to some young viewers.

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:

  • Finny and Leah are flung overboard and find themselves adrift in a raging sea. Even though they pretend not to be, they are both scared, and worse, their parents have no idea that they are missing until the storm worsens and a freak accident sets the crow’s nest (where Finny and Leah are supposed to be) on fire. As the parents try desperately to rescue the kids, they are relieved to find only the remains of charred dummies but are horrified to realise the kids are gone.
  • Patch dies a slow death while Finny tries to help but he soon comes to realise that his efforts were in vain. The camera really focuses on the corpse and the scene lets the loss come full force before Patch is revived. This scene may be a bit dark and disturbing for some children.

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 on the younger end of this age bracket may also be upset by some of the above-mentioned scenes.

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 of concern.

Product placement

  • None noted.

Sexual references

  • None noted.

Nudity and sexual activity

There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:

  • Finny plucks the fur off his stomach exposing a bare patch and quickly smooths the area around it in order to cover his skin.
  • Two flamingos look at each other flirtatiously and almost kiss.

Use of substances

There is some use of substances in this movie, including:

  • A monkey makes mocktails in a makeshift Tiki bar for some of the animals.

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

  • No coarse language was noted in the film but there is repeated use of the word “butt”, one use of “stupid” and a character is told to “Clam it.”

In a nutshell

Two by Two: Overboard! is an animated adventure based very loosely around the story of Noah’s Ark and is a sequel to the 2015 film, Two by Two. The characters, dialogue and bright animation are all aimed at a younger audience but many of the dramatic scenes and underlying themes are too intense for this age group. Therefore, the film is not suitable for children under 5 and parental guidance is recommended to 8.

The main messages from this movie are that people can change and that truces are possible; that we are all connected; and when disaster strikes, we must all work together in order to survive.

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

  • Empathy
  • Ingenuity
  • Teamwork
  • Helpfulness
  • Resourcefulness
  • Compassion and understanding.

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

  • Sneaking off, defying your parents or doing things you know will get you into trouble.
  • Ignoring the facts and refusing to listen to reason.
  • Looking out only for yourself and ignoring the needs of others.
  • Being ruled by fear and forgetting your own ethical code.