G-rated films

Cafe Society
1

What ever happened to G-rated films? I don’t have kids, so I don’t really pay that much attention; but my perception is that even kids’ movies tend to be rated PG.

When I was a kid there were a lot of G movies’ some of which I saw at the cinema, and others that I watched on TV. Some that come to mind are Mary Poppins, The Swiss Family Robinson, Treasure Island, Lt. Robin Crusoe, USN, Darby O’Gill and the Little People, The Nutty Professor (or was it Flubber? The one with Fred McMurray.)…

Is it all just marketing? Or has the MPAA become more conservative? Or have ‘family films’ become more raunchy, what with fart jokes and bathroom humour and all? Remember the scene in Darby O’Gill where the Banshee appears? Pretty scary, when you’re little. Would that earn a PG rating today? Would a film get a PG rating if it depicts someone smoking a cigarette or a pipe? That would point to the MPAA becoming more conservative.

Now, I generally prefer films where people speak realistically; ‘harsh language’ and all. I’m not going to pay $100 (or however much a single cinema ticket costs nowadays) to see a ‘family film’. I’ll catch them on TV if I’m not doing anything better. That might indicate that the ratings system is all about marketing – They know that people like me will not see a G film, so they go for PG or PG-13.

But I’ve also noticed a lot of bathroom humour. Nothing wrong with that, I guess; after all, kids think fart jokes are funny. But they do get tiresome.

What are some examples of a ‘good story’ that’s an enjoyable film for the whole family?

2

I think you’d still find some of them.

But I think that most of them have headed for the ‘Straight to DVD’ world. So the kids don’t drag the parents to the theaters for the pictures and can watch them endlessly.

Though I am a man who suffered all the way through ‘Pooh’s Heffalump Movie’ two weekends ago. Urgh.

3

Movie ratings history

All your examples are pre-ratings:
•Mary Poppins, 1964
•Swiss Family Robinson, 1960
•Treasure Island, 1950
•Lt. Robin Crusoe, USN, 1966
•Darby O’Gill and the Little People, 1959
•The Nutty Professor (Jerry Lewis), 1963
•The Absent Minded Professor (MacMurry, AKA Flubber), 1961

4

Keep something in mind: when the current letter rating system was first created, the codes didn’t have quite the same meanings they have today. And just as importantly, they didn’t have the same IMPLICATIONS they have today.

Let’s look at two of Stanley Kubrick’s most acclaimed films. “2001: A Space Odyssey” was NOT a kiddie film by any means, but when it was released, it was rated G, which meant there was nothing in it deemed too offensive for kids to see.
Meanwhile, “A Clockwork Orange,” which was not a porn flick by any means, was rated X. That meant only that, because of its violence and its rape scene, it was inappropriate for anyone under 17.

Get the idea? In the late 60’s and early 70’s, “Rated G” did not necessarily mean that a film was aimed at kids, and “Rated X” did not imply that a film was pornographic.

Bu the mid-70’s, that had changed. That’s partly because the porn industry EMBRACED the rating of “X” and plastered it all over their ads. As a result, “X” became synonymous with porn. Hence, many theaters refused, as a matter of policy, to show films withan “X” rating, and mainstream newspapers generally refused to carry ads for “X” rated movies. And serious, non-porn filmmakers who wanted to deal with sex or violence in graphic ways found that they had only two choices: cut some of the most graphic scenes in an effort to get an “R” rating, or show their movies only in small, “arthouse” theaters.

Filmmakers discovered that a “G” rating could be almost as bad as an “X” rating. “G” came to be equated with wholesome, Disney-style kiddie flicks, which meant that teenagers simply weren’t interested in seeing anything rated G." Indeed, George Lucas says that when he first showed “Star Wars” to the MPAA, they rated it “G,” and he begged for a GP (now PG) rating instead. Even though there was nothing terribly offensive in “Star Wars,” Lucas knew that the rating would ruin his chances of reaching his target audience.

It would be nice if we still had a system in which “G” and “X” were informational codes only, and had no moral implications… but it’s way too late for that, I’m afraid.

The new rating of NC-17 was supposed to help, but it doesn’t seem to have worked at all.

5

Many early movies were re-submitted for ratings after 1968. IMDB lists all of the above as rated “G” except Lt. Robin Crusoe and The Nutty Professor (unrated) and Treasure Island (PG, with a G-rated edited version.) Other pre-'68 movies with G ratings include Gone with the Wind, The Wizard of Oz (both 1939), The Ten Commandments (1956) and The Sound of Music (1965).

There’s quite a stigma against the “G” rating in much the same way the X and NC-17 are (incorrectly) perceived as mindless pornography. Nearly all producers will “spice up” their films with a little violence or swearing to get a PG instead. The only exception appears to be animated films – in fact, you’d be hard-pressed to find a successful animated movie that was rated PG or higher. (Until recently, that is…the success of Shrek and Shark Tale seem to be bucking the trend.) Live-action G-rated movies are extremely rare and all of them die a death at the box office.

The rating standards have also changed quite a bit – for example, The Ten Commandments contains a couple murder scenes which would almost certainly earn the film a PG rating today.

6

This link contains the start of a list of 1437 titles that the IMDB says the MPAA has given a “G” rating to over the years.

Some of them are obviously old, pre-ratings movies that the MPAA must have rated for a re-release of some sort.

I wish I could see this list sorted by release date and/or the IMDB User Rating, but I don’t know if that’s possible (maybe for users with an “IMDBPro” account?). Does anybody know of a list of all the movies originally released in the last 10 years that were given a “G” by the MPAA?

7

This MPAA web site sorts ratings in alphabetical order. You can put in a year and highlight the “G” rating box, or just highlight “G” to get a list of every G-rated film starting from 2005 and going backwards (obviously, this takes more time).

8

This is something of a continuing myth. Someone did some research on this, and found that it was generally not true. Mainstream newspapers, even in smaller markets, carried ads for non-porn X-rated movies like Midnight Cowboy, Last Summer, The Damned, A Clockwork Orange, and Last Tango in Paris.

The GP rating was changed to PG in 1970. Star Wars was made in 1976.

As to the OP, yes, once upon a time G-rated movies were made for adults, not just children. Here are some of the G-rated movies from 1969:

The Battle of Britain
The Boys of Paul Street *
Goodbye Mr. Chips *
Hamlet
Hello, Dolly! ** ***
Krakatoa, East of Java *
The Mad Woman of Chaillot
Marooned ***
Oh! What a Lovely War
On a Clear Day You Can See Forever *
The Out-of-Towners
Ring of Bright Water
Sweet Charity *
True Grit ***

  • Academy Award nominee
    ** Academy Award nominee for Best Picture
    *** Academy Award winner

Here are the G-rated theatrical features from 2004:

Pooh’s Heffalump Movie
The Cat Returns
The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill (documentary)
Aliens of The Deep (documentary)
The Polar Express
Grand Champion
Bratz
The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
Blizzard
Deep Blue (documentary)
Heidi
Clifford’s Really Big Movie
The Adventures of Ociee Nash

9

Japan is the answer to this question, somehow. It has animated filmmakers like Miyazaki who makes G-rated films that even an old scalawag like me can enjoy (Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro), and it has adult animated films that are, well, nastier than American XXX films in content … they oughtta have a Z rating. I like those two.

In short, Japan 2, U.S. 0.

10

Pixar is as good as Ghibli in making movies that, although G-rated ('cept for The Incredibles), can be enjoyed by adults (Spirited Away was actually rated PG, btw). Apart from Ghibli, Japan’s G-rated fare isn’t particularly better than what America produces. Doraemon and Anpanman would actually probably fall far short of most Disney movies.

11

I’m all grown up, but I do watch children’s movies. There are a few out there that are substantial enough for adults.

Lilo and Stitch was surprisingly good. I wasn’t expecting much, but it was on TV and I didn’t have anything else to do, so I watched it, and I liked it. Monsters Inc. was okay, too–it had a few weak spots, but overall it was entertaining. Shrek is another movies that’s good for adults and kids–even my mom liked Shrek. Toy Story, Chicken Run, Finding Nemo, A Bug’s Life, Ice Age. I haven’t seen The Incredibles yet, but everyone I know who’s seen it has loved it.

Lots of Disney movies have really scary bits–I think too scary for small children. And a lot of them start with the mother dying. What’s up with that? Did Walt have some issues with his mother?

Spirited Away is one of my all-time favorite movies. Too bad we don’t have more movies like that.

A Bratz movie? :eek:

ME

12

It was so much an obvious attempt to get money out of parents’ pockets buy getting their kids to buy it for them, it went straight to video!

(Although Fox released Bratz the Movie: Starrin’ & Stylin’, isn’t this the slogan of Walt Disney Home Video?)

13

1999 had two G-rated films by a couple of unexpected directors. The Straight Story by David Lynch and The Winslow Boy by David Mamet. Both great films.

14

Are you sure it wasn’t Protitots go to Paris? :smiley:

I think this could be a new candidate for the “Most Disturbing Movies” thread.

15

I also think filmmakers and studios have realied that kids can handle more than a “G” rating without becoming “corrupted”. Look at Harry Potter. Those movies are kind of intense, but our kids today can handle them.

What would have happened if the first Harry Potter movie came out in 1950?

16

The current fundamentalist protest times 100 or so.