Story
Willy (voiced by Landen Beattie) is 10 years old and the son of two space explorers. Just before the family heads home to Earth at the end of a mission, their spaceship is hit by asteroids. Willy and his parents are separated and escape in different capsules just before the spaceship explodes. Willy’s capsule makes an emergency landing on an unknown planet. Luckily, the capsule is equipped with a smart robot assistant called Buck (Jason Anthony).
While waiting for the arrival of a rescue team, Willy and Buck start exploring the unknown planet and encounter all sorts of alien creatures – some friendly, some not so friendly. And there’s trouble on the horizon as Buck’s battery level starts to run low.
Willy has made some local friends, including Flash, who’s a friendly cross between a dog, caterpillar and pokemon. And Will is determined to last until he’s reunited with his parents, so he can show them that he has what it takes to be a real space explorer.
Themes
Separation from parents; alien creatures
Violence
Astro Kid has some violence. For example:
- There are some unfriendly creatures on Willy’s planet. They include huge, dinosaur-like, rock monsters, which chase Willy, Buck and Flash. They seem to want to eat Willy and Buck.
- The rock monsters injure Flash (no blood is shown), but he recovers.
Sexual references
None noted.
Alcohol, drugs and other substances
None noted.
Nudity and sexual activity
None noted.
Product placement
None noted.
Coarse language
None noted.
Ideas to discuss with your children
Astro Kid is a space exploration story about a courageous little boy who must fend for himself on an alien planet.
This French animation is an entertaining, playful, family-friendly adventure, full of fanciful and creative details, positive role models and messages. Young viewers will benefit from parental guidance through some of the scary and suspenseful scenes. They might also want reassurance that Willy has the resilience and courage to manage on his own until help from Earth arrives.
These are the main messages from Astro Kid:
- In times of need you must have resilience and courage.
- You achieve most with the help of friends.
Values in this movie that you could reinforce with your children include resilience, friendship, teamwork, courage and innovation.
Astro Kid could also give you the chance to talk with your children about the importance of adaptability. For example, Willy manages to survive on the unknown planet because he pays attention to his new surroundings and learns how to deal with the given circumstances.