When was the last time you even saw a G rated movie come to box office? I’m not saying you had to pay to see it, I’m just wondering when was the last time one even existed. What is the cause?
My guess is that there are enough jokes for the parents that are meant to fly right over the heads of the kids to make a G impossible.
The conventional wisdom in the movie industry seems to be that a G-rated film will be limited in its appeal, to families with small children. Most “kids’ movies” that make it to theaters are developed to make sure that they’ll appeal to older kids, and adults, as well, which usually means content that drives a PG.
Even Disney, the home of family entertainment, has been going for PG ratings for its tentpole movies for several years.
ISTM that if a character is depicted smoking a cigarette, it gets a PG rating now.
At least, that’s the impression I get from the TV ratings, where old, general-release movies are given a ‘more mature’ rating that they had 40 or 50 years ago.
Realistically, probably the issue is that making a feature 3D animated film is a pretty big and technologically advanced affair. You’re not going to get those guys to make a Strawberry Shortcakes movie. They’re going to talk themselves into something with a reasonable plot and some adult jokes, regardless of what market forces might demand.
Looks like the most recent one of any note was THE PEANUTS MOVIE – made on a budget of $99 million, grossed $246 million (most of that domestic).
It seems to be kind of random, and probably depends more on who they’re marketing for vs. the actual content.
I mean, why is “Planes” PG, and “Cars” G? Or even weirder, why is “Finding Nemo” G, and “Finding Dory” PG?
“Finding Nemo” came out in 2003, when the studios were more willing to have a G rating on a family film.
Which is contrary to the ostensible purpose. G is a General Audiences rating, which means it should be for everyone (potentially), including kids and adults, such that the adults feel comfortable that the kids aren’t going to be asking them any interesting questions later on. By that standard, a few jokes that pass the kids by entirely but briefly entertain the parents should be fine, especially if you assume the kids will be watching the film alone.
That fell victim to what I’ll call the Censor’s Dilemma: If you know enough to censor something, you know enough to pick out all of the hidden moments you think ought to be censored. This leads to you turning interesting shades of purple at things the people you’re supposed to be protecting have no idea are interesting in the slightest, leading to them doing research, and then the world ends in fire and flame. Point being, G films got so controlled that only the lightest and fuzziest of kids shows qualify, which is the kiss of death to any movie which wants a large audience. PG-13 is pretty much the minimum rating for profitability, and kids films try hard to pull at least a PG so they’re not ghettoized completely.
Goodness knows, nothing like that would have went in the Code Era, when adults weren’t ready for adult themes and had to be protected from them at all costs.
I haven’t bothered to check, but are any of those recent Christian-themed films like God’s Not Dead or Miracles from Heaven rated G?
Nope. Both PG, God Snot Dead for “thematic material, brief violence and an accident scene”, Miracles from Heaving for “thematic material, including accident and medical images”. Gotta draw in the marks with some tasty gore, I imagine.
God’s Not Dead 2: Dead and Deader was PG as well, for “thematic elements”, which really makes me wonder: Was the pay-off large enough to ensure a PG rating, or was it too small to avoid one? Oh well, I’m sure God’s not Dead 3: Dead Harder will get the beloved G rating.
Heaven is for Real was also PG.
Your typo made me laugh! 
I got this image of God with a runny nose!
See what I said about jokes that slip right past some people?
Not well known , but to rate movies you have to be a parent.
Gavin Stone appears to be PG if my 5 seconds of google fu is correct.
The Eagle Huntress, released four days before the Peanuts Movie, is also rated G.
I didn’t hear about it, either.
so was The Secret Life of Pets, released in July
“The Straight Story” was rated G, but that was several years ago.
(Two phrases I never thought I would see on the same title card:
“Walt Disney Pictures Presents”
and
“A film by David Lynch”)
Here’s Box Office Mojo’s list of top grossing G-rated movies. Click on the header to see the ranking’s for other ratings.
I choose the 10th film in each category for comparison. (Unadjusted* domestic gross and number of films since 2010 in the top 10.):
G Aladdin $217,350,219 2
PG Inside Out $356,461,711 6
PG-13 The Hunger Games: Catching Fire $424,668,047 6
R Saving Private Ryan $216,540,909 3
Glancing over the lists in general shows that the G category is maybe slightly healthier than the R category for recent films but well behind PG and way behind PG-13.
Deadpool and American Sniper may help revive the R category. I don’t see anything changing the prospects of the G category.
Not dead, not dying dying. And immensely better than NC-17.
- Unadjusted for inflation is good here. It puts more recent films at the top of the list.
Box Office Mojo and IMDB both list Secret Life of Pets as PG.