Since becoming a parent, one thing that continues to bewilder me is the line of demarcation between movies Rated G and movies Rated PG. For example, the movie Finding Nemo is Rated G despite the opening scene alluding to Nemo’s mother along with many of her eggs being killed. Later on in the movie, we have a shark chase as well as Nemo pretending to play dead. Honestly, when you see a movie like this it at least gives you pause before bringing your three year old to see a movie Rated PG. Honestly, based upon the Rated G baseline set by Finding Nemo, you are led to believe a PG movie would include war and famine.
Thankfully, none of these were issues with the movie Sing.
When I bring my son to a movie, I typically have one eye on the movie and one eye on him. I can assure you he had no emotional reactions to anything in Sing like he had to those aforementioned death scenes in Finding Nemo. Overall, I had no issue taking him to see the movie, and we would watch it again. If you are looking for issues, they are as follows:
- Some scenes of stealing – there is an ape gang and the protagonist uses long extension cords to steal power from nearby businesses
- Animals crying – one was afraid of auditioning and one had a breakup with her boyfriend
- Bears threatening to harm a mouse and almost eating him
- There is a flood and a building collapse with the threat of animals drowning (they don’t)
- A minor jail break
There are some other potential issues that you will see elsewhere that aren’t real issues unless you think your toddler saying “Holy Moly!” One characters false eye keeps popping out, but it is funny. There are parents that are tough/domineering with their children, but that’s really just life. There are animals that dress up in speedos and leotards. If they were on people, it may be sexual in nature, but on the animated animals, it was amusing.
Overall, it was a funny movie with enough in it to keep the parents entertained. There was a wide spectrum of songs from Katy Perry to Elton John to Frank Sinatra. There were a number of moments with the mother pig that gave you an extra chuckle or two. Speaking of the mother, she created an ingenious way to care for her kids while she was auditioning that is going to make you go home and try to figure out how to put all of your child’s toys to good use.
Mainly, this was a really good movie to bring your toddler to see. The over-riding themes of the movie were to: (1) never give up on your dreams; (2) it takes hard work to accomplish your goals; and (3) overcoming your fears is a worthwhile endeavor. These are all things you want to instill in your children.
One interesting side note is since we saw the movie, my son has become re-focused in his love of music. He is now much more prone to play his piano or pick up his guitar at home and sing a song.
In the end, I am happy we saw the movie as a family. I hope that you get the time to go out and see this movie as a family as well.