What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that this animated movie includes a fair amount of cartoon violence. Characters are crushed, blown up, flattened, banged, burned, and bounced -- all in good, Chuck-Jones-influenced fun. Animal protagonists steal food from each other and from unsympathetic humans. When a raccoon steals a bear's winter stash of food, the bear threatens retaliation and the raccoon fools other "foragers" into stealing food from humans to repay the bear and save himself. A human exterminator brings traps and brutal gizmos (his truck is adorned by a man slamming a bunny with a hammer). This exterminator suffers physical abuses (zapped by his own traps). Younger kids will laugh at the obvious stuff and won't get the edgier humor aimed at older audiences, so this is one that several age groups can enjoy together.
- Families can talk about the film's satire of life in the suburbs. They could also talk about the lesson RJ and his friends learn: that supporting each other as a family is more important than their individual desires. They could also use the film and its soundtrack to talk to kids about the greater impact of our actions.