# How can they make a movie out of "Where the Wild Things Are" and it's rated PG?! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 9, 2009, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-they-make-a-movie-out-of-where-the-wild-things-are-and-its-rated-pg/513154 "2009-10-09T03:30:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-they-make-a-movie-out-of-where-the-wild-things-are-and-its-rated-pg/513154/21 "2009-10-09T13:40:09Z")
I remember reading that the 1996 version of _Emma_, starring Gwyneth Paltrow, actually had the word “damn” dubbed in\* so the movie wouldn’t wind up with a G rating. There’s otherwise nothing in the film that would be at all inappropriate for children, but since there’s also little that would be of any interest to young children the filmmakers apparently wanted to avoid giving the impression that this was a kid’s/family movie. \*In the scene where Harriet Smith is menaced by gypsies, you can hear someone say “Hold her down, damn it!” ---
**Author:** ![SmellMyWort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SmellMyWort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmellMyWort)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-they-make-a-movie-out-of-where-the-wild-things-are-and-its-rated-pg/513154/22 "2009-10-09T14:30:11Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > Are these supposed to be counter-examples? Because, as you may realize, the three films you named are three of the largest piles of shite committed to the screen in recent years. I think they were simply given as examples of full-length movies adapted from short books. > [@mobo85](#): > > The PG rating (originally M, then GP, and finally PG) was actually one of the first ratings in the system. You’re probably confusing it with PG-13, which wasn’t introduced until the mid-1980s. According to [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Movie_ratings#United_States), G and R are the only original 1968 ratings still used today. The other original rating was M, which is **not** automatically equivalent to PG, seeing as movies originally rated M were rerated to either GP or R. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-they-make-a-movie-out-of-where-the-wild-things-are-and-its-rated-pg/513154/23 "2009-10-09T15:12:21Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Yup. just like _The Polar Express_, _How the Grinch Stole Christmas_, and _The Cat in the Hat_. > > What they _should_ do is make a movie out of cereal commercial characters. Cap’n Crunch and the crew of _The Guppy_ leading the battle against Jean LaFoote and the Soggies (that’s kinda sorta the plot to the webcomic _Breakfast of the Gods_, but the link won’t work right now, as the site is down). I’d like to see a movie with the Crest Team beating the Cavity Creeps. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-they-make-a-movie-out-of-where-the-wild-things-are-and-its-rated-pg/513154/24 "2009-10-09T15:33:51Z")
According to [the movie’s entry on IMDB](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0386117/), it got a PG rating for: “mild thematic elements, some adventure action and brief language.” Lamia mentioned _Emma_ dropping in a swear word to avoid a G rating; I seem to recall that the F-bomb in _E.T._ was put in to do the same. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-they-make-a-movie-out-of-where-the-wild-things-are-and-its-rated-pg/513154/25 "2009-10-09T15:52:27Z")
> [@SmellMyWort](#): > > The other original rating was M, which is **not** automatically equivalent to PG, seeing as movies originally rated M were rerated to either GP or R. That doesn’t sound right to me. I’d be curious to know what films were re-rated from M to R. As I remember it, GP was just a straight renaming of M, since M for “mature” had too strong a connotation. Then GP had the opposite problem when people thought it meant “general public” and confused it with G, so it was again renamed PG. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-they-make-a-movie-out-of-where-the-wild-things-are-and-its-rated-pg/513154/26 "2009-10-09T15:58:27Z")
The producers probably wanted a PG rating as a lot of people will not go see a G rated film and PG films outgross G rated films. ET originally got a G rating so they added the line “It was nothing like that penis breath!” to get the PG. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-they-make-a-movie-out-of-where-the-wild-things-are-and-its-rated-pg/513154/27 "2009-10-09T17:19:03Z")
What kind of rating would a movie of Sendak’s “In the Night Kitchen” get? I’m thinking NC-17, because of all the “kiddie porn.” ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-they-make-a-movie-out-of-where-the-wild-things-are-and-its-rated-pg/513154/28 "2009-10-09T17:41:15Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > ET originally got a G rating so they added the line “It was nothing like that penis breath!” to get the PG. Ah, that’s right. Thank you for correcting my mis-remembering. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-they-make-a-movie-out-of-where-the-wild-things-are-and-its-rated-pg/513154/29 "2009-10-09T17:50:50Z")
The one film I could point to in recent years to receive a “G” rating that was not an animated childrens movie is [The Rookie](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0265662/) with Dennis Quaid as the middle aged high-school baseball coach who tries out for the majors and makes it. It’s based on a true story and not oriented toward children. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-they-make-a-movie-out-of-where-the-wild-things-are-and-its-rated-pg/513154/30 "2009-10-09T18:25:08Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > I’d be curious to know what films were re-rated from M to R. [Bonnie & Clyde](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061418/), for one: Approved w/SMA in '67, re-rated M in '69, re-rated R in 2007. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-they-make-a-movie-out-of-where-the-wild-things-are-and-its-rated-pg/513154/31 "2009-10-09T19:08:26Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > [Bonnie & Clyde](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061418/), for one: Approved w/SMA in '67, re-rated M in '69, re-rated R in 2007. _Bonnie & Clyde_ was re-rated in 2007? That’s bizarre. But what would be to the point is what happened in _1970_, when the M classification was discontinued. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-they-make-a-movie-out-of-where-the-wild-things-are-and-its-rated-pg/513154/32 "2009-10-09T19:13:24Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > But what would be to the point is what happened in _1970_, when the M classification was discontinued. Nothing happened. It wasn’t re-rated until the DVD was released; same thing with _A Man Called Horse_. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-they-make-a-movie-out-of-where-the-wild-things-are-and-its-rated-pg/513154/33 "2009-10-09T19:32:17Z")
That’s weird – unless they added new material for the DVD, why would they re-rate an M-rated film higher? There was already an “R” rating in place in the GMRX system, and it had the same meaning then as now. The general trend has been to re-rate films _lower_. I’ve heard many times that **Midnight Cowboy** , rated X when released, would be rated R today. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-they-make-a-movie-out-of-where-the-wild-things-are-and-its-rated-pg/513154/34 "2009-10-09T19:33:51Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > Nothing happened. It wasn’t re-rated until the DVD was released; same thing with _A Man Called Horse_. That’s really weird, I had no idea. I just did a little searching for VHS copies on eBay, and apparently those did not carry an MPAA logo–the dealers list them as “not rated.” ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-they-make-a-movie-out-of-where-the-wild-things-are-and-its-rated-pg/513154/35 "2009-10-09T20:27:15Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > That’s weird – unless they added new material for the DVD, why would they re-rate an M-rated film higher? Apparently in the case of _B&C_, the MPAA felt the level of violence is beyond PG or PG-13. No idea why they’d feel this way now but there you go. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-they-make-a-movie-out-of-where-the-wild-things-are-and-its-rated-pg/513154/36 "2009-10-09T22:45:18Z")
It should be pointed out that Sendak himself was asked whether or not the film might be inappropriate for children. He responded that if someone asked him that, “I would tell them to go to hell. That’s a question I cannot tolerate…if they can’t handle it, go home.” ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-they-make-a-movie-out-of-where-the-wild-things-are-and-its-rated-pg/513154/37 "2009-10-09T23:03:12Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > Apparently in the case of _B&C_, the MPAA felt the level of violence is beyond PG or PG-13. No idea why they’d feel this way now but there you go. Really, no idea? The ending of _[Bonnie and Clyde](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzeYb_StdBU)_ (link goes to YouTube video) is perhaps tame by the standards of a modern crime film, but it’s certainly well beyond typical PG level violence. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Baldy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Gary\_Baldy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Baldy)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-they-make-a-movie-out-of-where-the-wild-things-are-and-its-rated-pg/513154/38 "2009-10-09T23:17:45Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > That’s weird – unless they added new material for the DVD, why would they re-rate an M-rated film higher? There was already an “R” rating in place in the GMRX system, and it had the same meaning then as now. The general trend has been to re-rate films _lower_. I’ve heard many times that **Midnight Cowboy** , rated X when released, would be rated R today. Midnight Cowboy was re-rated R years ago. The IMDB claims it was re-rated in the early 1970s, but I seem to remember it happening in the 1990s. I’ve heard that people have comment that it could be dropped to a PG-13 though. Concerning the OP, Oliver! won the Oscar the year before Midnight Cowboy. So the only G-rated movie to win an Oscar was followed by the only X-rated movie to win the Oscar. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2009, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-they-make-a-movie-out-of-where-the-wild-things-are-and-its-rated-pg/513154/39 "2009-10-10T01:03:37Z")
> [@Gary\_Baldy](#): > > Midnight Cowboy was re-rated R years ago. The IMDB claims it was re-rated in the early 1970s, but I seem to remember it happening in the 1990s. The MPAA website says _Midnight Cowboy_ was edited and re-rated in 1971. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2009, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-they-make-a-movie-out-of-where-the-wild-things-are-and-its-rated-pg/513154/40 "2009-10-10T01:07:06Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > Really, no idea? The ending of _[Bonnie and Clyde](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzeYb_StdBU)_ (link goes to YouTube video) is perhaps tame by the standards of a modern crime film, but it’s certainly well beyond typical PG level violence. I don’t recall ever seeing the movie and the MPAA apparently didn’t think it warranted an R in '69. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-they-make-a-movie-out-of-where-the-wild-things-are-and-its-rated-pg/513154.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-they-make-a-movie-out-of-where-the-wild-things-are-and-its-rated-pg/513154.md?page=3)