Story
Yi (voice of Chloe Bennett) and her father have always planned to travel around China together. When Yi’s father unexpectedly dies, Yi busies herself by working every job she can to save money and take the trip to honour her father’s memory. She’s too busy to grieve, and her mother (voice of Michelle Wong) and grandmother (voice of Tsai Chin) worry about her.
Meanwhile, Mr Burnish (Eddie Izzard) of Burnish Industries has spent a lifetime trying to prove the existence of the illusive Himalayan yeti. Burnish and his employees, headed by the evil Dr Zara (voice of Sarah Paulson), find a yeti but it escapes days before the public reveal. Yi discovers the injured yeti hiding on her rooftop and realises that it’s in trouble.
Yi names the yeti Everest and vows to help him find his way home. She sets off with her reluctant cousins, Peng (voice of Albert Tsai) and Jin (voice of Tenzing Norgay Trainor), on an epic journey across China to help Everest (voice of Joseph Izzo) find his family. Along the way they all learn powerful lessons about love and life and the incredible difference just one person can make.
Themes
Death of a parent; family alienation; failure to deal with grief; cruelty to endangered species; animal distress
Violence
There is some violence in Abominable. For example:
- Men from Burnish Industries repeatedly try to shoot tranquilizer darts at Everest.
- Yi, Peng and Jin are hit by giant blueberries that shoot off bushes and explode on impact like juicy bombs.
- Everest punches Peng.
- Everest, Yi and Pen cling to a giant dandelion puff as they float through a mountainous region. Burnish Industries staff use drones to try to shoot them down.
- Jin is repeatedly poked in the chest with a pole.
- Mr Burnish repeatedly smacks rare and endangered snakes on the head.
- Yaks trample on men.
- Burnish Industries staff chase Everest and the children in an armoured car, which crashes and flips over.
- Dr Zara crashes her car into Everest, pinning him against the side of a mountain. This triggers an avalanche, which pushes the car off the mountain. Yi thinks Everest has been killed until he appears behind her.
Sexual references
Abominable has some sexual references. For example:
- There are a couple of references to Jin’s numerous girlfriends.
- Peng does an ‘arm around his back, kissing pose’, pretending to be Jin making out with one of the girlfriends.
Alcohol, drugs and other substances
None noted.
Nudity and sexual activity
None noted.
Product placement
Abominable has one scene in which the vain and image-focused Jin talks about how many likes he has on social media platforms. Other than this, no product placement is noted in this movie. But you should be aware that some cinemas sell promotional merchandise like popcorn and drink containers featuring characters and images from the movie.
Coarse language
None noted.
Ideas to discuss with your children
Abominable is an action-packed, animated adventure with powerful messages about life, loss and home. It’s suitable for families, but some scenes might scare or disturb very young children.
These are the main messages from this movie:
- Help others.
- Follow your dreams.
- Love your family.
- Realise that when you set your mind to something anything is possible.
Values in this movie that you could reinforce with your children include persistence, creativity, determination, courage, kindness and compassion for others.
This movie could also give you the chance to talk with your children about real-life issues like:
- using animals for human pleasure or gain and not thinking about what’s best for the animals
- thinking about why species become extinct
- lying to your parents or leaving home without telling anyone where you’re going
- refusing to grieve the loss of a loved one and shutting out other family members.