Random Kids' Movies That Proved Surprisingly Controversial (15 items)

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  (#1) Peter Rabbit

  • Domhnall Gleeson, Rose Byrne, Sam Neill, James Corden, Daisy Ridley, Margot Robbie, Elizabeth Debicki, Sia

  Peter Rabbit (2018) is based on the beloved Beatrix Potter children's book series. Early on in the film, we learn that Peter's human nemesis, Mr. McGregor (Domhnall Gleeson), is severely allergic to blackberries. In one scene, Peter attacks McGregor with blackberries, forcing them down his throat and causing him to have a severe reaction. 

  In real life, if someone with such an allergy ate berries, the results could be tragic. A number of health organizations, including Kids With Food Allergies, condemned the movie for making light of a serious issue, and parents of children with allergies organized a boycott.

  Sony Pictures and the filmmakers eventually released a joint statement apologizing for the scene. 
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  (#2) Show Dogs

  • Will Arnett, Natasha Lyonne, Ludacris, Stanley Tucci, Shaquille O'Neal, Gabriel Iglesias, Alan Cumming, Oliver Tompsett, Andy Beckwith

  Show Dogs is a family comedy about a Rottweiler police dog forced to go undercover at a dog show. The movie mines laughs from his fish-out-of-water situation and is filled with canine-related jokes. The National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) took exception to the movie due to some scenes in which the dog has his privates inspected against his will. This is a normal part of dog shows, but the character is told to go to his "Zen place" and learn to be okay with the unwanted touching.

  The NCOSE and other groups noted this advice is uncomfortably similar to what child victims often hear. They argued kids might walk away with the idea that it's okay for a stranger to touch them inappropriately.

  Global Road, the distributor of Show Dogs, responded to the controversy by chopping the scene out and immediately shipping new prints to theaters. 
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  (#3) The Lego Batman Movie

  • Will Arnett, Zach Galifianakis, Michael Cera, Rosario Dawson, Ralph Fiennes, Jenny Slate, Hector Elizondo, Mariah Carey, Eddie Izzard, Seth Green, Jemaine Clement, Billy Dee Williams, Riki Lindhome, Conan O'Brien, Jason Mantzoukas, Zoe Kravitz, Kate Micucci, Channing Tatum, Ellie Kemper, Jonah Hill, Adam DeVine

  The Lego Batman Movie offers a fresh spin on the Dark Knight story, albeit one in which he - and everything else in Gotham City - is composed of plastic building bricks. Some conservative viewers believed the story is less about Batman and more about exposing children to LGBTQ+ values.

  In the film, Robin is adopted by Bruce Wayne and partners with his alter ego, Batman. Detractors felt Robin's comments about his "two dads" was an attempt to force "pro-gay-adoption propaganda" onto impressionable children.

  Conservative critics also thought they saw suggestive overtones in the love/hate relationship between Batman and the Joker.

   
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  (#4) The Adventures of Milo and Otis

  • Dudley Moore, Shigeru Tsuyugushi

  A lot of people grew up loving The Adventures of Milo and Otis, a 1986 movie about a dog and kitten duo who embark on a perilous river journey. However, once fans hear some of the alleged behind-the-scenes details, they tend to like it a lot less.

  It has long been rumored that the lives of at least 20 cats were lost during the making of the film. The felines were allegedly put in hazardous situations and were even tossed into a river. Another scene involving a pug and a bear was reportedly filmed with insufficient safety precautions.

  American Humane attempted to verify these claims but was unable to do so. 
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  (#5) Cars 2

  • Owen Wilson, Michael Caine, Vanessa Redgrave, Eddie Izzard, Larry the Cable Guy, Jason Isaacs, Emily Mortimer, Bruce Campbell, John Turturro, Cheech Marin, Lewis Hamilton, Jeff Gordon, Joe Mantegna, Tony Shalhoub, Bonnie Hunt, John Lasseter, Katherine Helmond, Franco Nero, Jeff Garlin, John Ratzenberger, Jenifer Lewis, Richard Kind, Edie McClurg, Paul Dooley, Thomas Kretschmann, Jess Harnell, Darrell Waltrip, Brent Musburger, Sig Hansen, Colleen Villard, Peter Jacobson, Brad Lewis, Stanley Townsend, Michael Wallis, David Hobbs, Guido Quaroni, Velibor Topić, Junichi Kajioka, Teresa Gallagher, Lloyd Sherr, Memo Rojas, Michel Michelis, Barbara Kottmeier, John Mainieri, Patrick Walker, Sonoko Konishi, Daniel Okeefe

  Cars 2 takes Pixar's beloved talking autos and injects them into a wildly different kind of plot. Protagonist Lightning McQueen trades in the racetrack for the world of international espionage, complete with all of the dangers associated with that field. 

  Some parents felt the movie was too violent, especially considering the tame G rating. They especially objected to a scene in which a car is tortured for information. 
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  (#6) Frozen

  • Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Alan Tudyk, Ciarán Hinds, Jonathan Groff, Josh Gad, Edie McClurg, Maurice LaMarche, Santino Fontana, Robert Pine, Chris Williams, Stephen J. Anderson, Spencer Lacey Ganus, Eva Bella, Livvy Stubenrauch, Maia Wilson

  Disney thought it had a great way to draw families into theaters to see the 2017 Pixar movie Coco. The studio showed Olaf's Frozen Adventure, a short film based on its mega-blockbuster Frozen, before the main feature. That plan backfired spectacularly.

  Olaf's Frozen Adventure was originally intended to be a TV special, meaning it's a full 21 minutes long. Considering Coco is already 105 minutes and many theaters show at least 20 minutes of previews, the entire experience ran nearly 2.5 hours.

  Parents complained it was too long and said their kids grew antsy. Disney responded to the uproar by removing the short after two weeks of play. 
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  (#7) Beauty and the Beast

  • Emma Watson, Dan Stevens, Luke Evans, Kevin Kline and Josh Gad with the voices of Ewan McGregor, Stanley Tucci, Ian McKellen, Emma Thompson

  Bill Condon, the director of Disney's live-action Beauty and the Beast remake, sat for an interview with Attitude magazine in which he teased "a nice, exclusively gay moment" at the end of his film. In the process, he kickstarted a controversy.

  The owners of the Henagar Drive-In Theatre in Alabama heard about this interview and promptly canceled all screenings of Beauty and the Beast, citing their Christian values as the reason for their objection. The scene in question is arguably inconsequential; it amounts to an incredibly brief shot of LeFou dancing with another man. The movie went on to earn more than $500 million domestically at the box office. 
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  (#8) Where the Wild Things Are

  • Mark Ruffalo, Forest Whitaker, James Gandolfini, Catherine O'Hara, Chris Cooper, Catherine Keener, Spike Jonze, Lauren Ambrose, Paul Dano, Max Records, Ryan Corr, Angus Sampson, Michael Berry Jr., Steve Mouzakis, Mark McCracken, Brian La Rosa, Alice Parkinson, Sonny Gerasimowicz, Nick Farnell, Kalia Prescott, Joshua Jay, John Leary, Pepita Emmerichs, Madeleine Greaves, Garon Michael, Joshua Evans, Vincent Crowley, Tess Grimshaw Lloyd, James Epinfaniou, Sam Longley, Nathan Veal, Lucas Haynes, Max Pfeifer

  Controversy over Spike Jonze's screen adaptation of Maurice Sendak's children's book Where the Wild Things Are began before general audiences ever saw it. Kids in preview screenings allegedly fled in terror because the movie was too dark and scary.

  Warner Bros. went into panic mode, as the film cost a hefty $75 million to produce. The studio brought in a new writer to lighten up the script, then had Jonze embark upon extensive re-shoots. 

  Ironically, the amended version was still deemed too sad and scary for young viewers, with many parents publicly expressing their displeasure. 
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  (#9) Zootopia

  • Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman, Idris Elba, Jenny Slate, Nate Torrence, Bonnie Hunt, Don Lake, Tommy Chong, J. K. Simmons, Octavia Spencer, Alan Tudyk, Shakira

  Disney's Zootopia is the story of a bunny police officer and a fox con artist who team up to investigate a series of animal disappearances in their city. The movie uses this narrative to offer a cutesy lesson about racism, with the main characters learning not to buy into stereotypes about each other.

  It's a nice message, but some people felt Zootopia also ended up suggesting stereotypes can be accurate. Critics like Matt Zoller Seitz pointed out that the fox character is sly, the sloths are slow, and the bunnies reproduce rapidly. 

  According to these naysayers, the movie's good intentions are undone by this, and children may have walked away with an unintentionally negative message. 
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  (#10) 'A Dog's Purpose' Allegedly Mistreated An Animal

  A Dog's Purpose is the story of a dog who is reincarnated many times and comes under the care of a variety of owners. Right before the film's release, a monumental PR disaster struck. TMZ published a leaked video that appears to show a frightened dog being forced into turbulent water against its will. The clip ends with crew members racing to pull the animal out after it goes under.

  People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals immediately called for a boycott of A Dog's Purpose and encouraged moviegoers to picket outside theaters showing the film. 

  An independent investigation followed, after which American Humane announced the video misconstrued what happened on-set, and no animals were harmed during the making of the film. 
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  (#11) The Lion King

  • Whoopi Goldberg, Jeremy Irons, Matthew Broderick, James Earl Jones, Rowan Atkinson, Cheech Marin, Nathan Lane, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Frank Welker, Jim Cummings, Robert Guillaume, Moira Kelly, Ernie Sabella, Philip Proctor, Madge Sinclair, Brian Tochi, Jason Weaver, Catherine Cavadini, Niketa Calame, Daamen J. Krall, David McCharen, Mary Linda Phillips, Judi M. Durand, David Randolph, Zoe Leader, Evan Saucedo

  The Lion King made it through its 1994 theatrical release without controversy. Once it hit home video, where viewers could pause or rewind to closely examine the images, a major firestorm hit. A few eagle-eyed viewers claimed flying dust particles spell out the word "SEX" when Simba flops down on a cliff. Some were amused, while others believed it was a subliminal message encouraging children to engage in promiscuous behavior.

  Disney's animation team insisted the particles were a great big in-joke and that they really spell "SFX," a common abbreviation for "special effects." 
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  (#12) Home Alone

  • Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, John Candy, Catherine O'Hara, Lionel Barrymore, Daniel Stern, Hope Davis, John Heard, Kieran Culkin, Kristin Minter, Roberts Blossom, Ralph Foody, Bill Erwin, Gerry Becker, Mike Maronna, Gerry Bamman, Billie Bird, Larry Hankin, Peter Siragusa, Devin Ratray, Angela Goethals, Ken Hudson Campbell, Matt Doherty, Hillary Wolf, Paula Newsome, Jim Ortlieb, Senta Moses, Alan Wilder, Ann Whitney, Anna Slotky, Larry Nazimek, Monica Devereux, Dan Charles Zukoski, Diana Rein, Clarke Devereux, Mark Beltzman, Ray Toler, Jedidiah Cohen, Jeffrey Wiseman, Michael Guido, Terrie Snell, Dianne B. Shaw, Victor Cole, Jim Ryan, Linda Wylie, Porscha Radcliffe, Sandra Macat, Peter Pantaleo, Luciano Saber, Michael Hansen, Tracy J. Connor, Robert Okrzesik, Richard J. Firfer, Brittany Radcliffe, Jean-Claude Sciore, Kate Johnson, Leo Perion, John Hardy, Frank Cernugel, Edward Bruzan, Virginia Smith, Lynn Mansbach, Eddie Korosa, Vince Waidzulis

  In Home Alone 2, young Kevin McAllister (Macaulay Culkin) is on his own in New York City, pursued by the same pair of bumbling thieves he encountered in the original film. While that doesn't sound controversial on the surface, some people worried children might imitate the traps he sets to foil the bad guys. 

  A group called Mothers Against Child Endangerment disliked how Home Alone 2 upped the ante on the traps. They said the filmmakers were "guilty of gross negligence" for making it seem appealing for kids to play with dangerous devices.

  The fact that all these things are played for laughs bothered the group further. 
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  (#13) Pocahontas

  • Mel Gibson, Christian Bale, Billy Connolly, Linda Hunt, Frank Welker, David Ogden Stiers, Jim Cummings, John Kassir, Russell Means, Irene Bedard, Danny Mann, Gordon Tootoosis, Judy Kuhn, Joe Baker, Michelle St. John, Stephen Snow Owl Bunch, James Apaumut Fall, Lesa Wakwashbosha Green, Rebecca Hawkins, Ginny Ah'Chantooni Frazier, Gayle Melassa Pope, Richard A. Bercot

  When Disney released Pocahontas in 1995, they were proud to offer a film with a Native American protagonist voiced by a Native American actress. Unfortunately, Native Americans were not impressed with what they saw. The movie was roundly criticized for distorting history and inventing a fictitious romance between the title character and Captain John Smith. Pocahontas was only about 10 or 11 when she first met Smith, not the young adult portrayed in the film.

  Furthermore, the narrative seems to suggest the Natives were foolish for not trusting the colonists, who were, for the most part, good people sans Governor Ratcliffe. This suggests colonization issues were caused by mutual misunderstanding more than the strategic exploitation of a massive indigenous population. 

  Given that Native Americans have long been underrepresented in film, they understandably felt the movie should have been more historically accurate.
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  (#14) Kung Fu Panda

  • Angelina Jolie, Lucy Liu, Dustin Hoffman, Jack Black, Seth Rogen, Jackie Chan, David Cross, Ian McShane, Michael Clarke Duncan, Laura Kightlinger, Wayne Knight, Emily Robison, Kyle Gass, James Hong, Dan Fogler, John Stevenson, Randall Duk Kim, Kent Osborne, Mark Osborne, Jason Reed, Tanya Haden, Stephen Kearin, Melissa Cobb, Riley Osborne, Jeremy Shipp, Stephanie Harvey

  Kung Fu Panda generated no controversy whatsoever in America. However, it was a completely different story in China. A Chinese performance artist named Zhao Bandi sued DreamWorks, the company that released the movie, arguing the comical depiction of the main character was insulting to his country's national symbol. He also disliked that Po, the panda's on-screen father, is a duck.

  Zhao's call for a Kung Fu Panda boycott got enough traction that the film's release in China was briefly delayed. Despite this, the lawsuit went nowhere. 

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