Story

Themes

Nothing of concern

Violence

Planes has some violence. For example:

• Dottie hits Dusty with her spanners.
• A movie of the 10 worst plane crashes shows two planes crashing to the ground.
• Ripslinger is an aggressive plane, who wants to win at all costs. He smashes a plane’s ‘sky pod’ and sends his mates to attack Dusty on two occasions.
• Skipper remembers a battle when he was a squadron leader, which the movie shows as a flashback. Against Skipper’s judgement, the squadron attacks an enemy ship but is fired on. Skipper is the only plane to survive, and the others are shot down in flames.
• Ripslinger and his mates fly above Dusty and try to push him to the ground. Skipper comes to the rescue and chases after Ripslinger.

Sexual references

Planes has some sexual references. For example:

• El Chupacabra, a Mexican plane, falls in love with Rochelle, a French Canadian pink plane. There is a lot of flirting and innuendo.
• Ishani, the Indian female plane, is attracted to Dusty.

Alcohol, drugs and other substances

Planes shows some use of substances. For example, planes talk about a ‘go-go punch’, which makes you fly faster but blurs your vision. One of the planes is found with go-go punch in its fuel tank and is disqualified.

Nudity and sexual activity

None of concern

Product placement

There is no product placement of concern in Planes, but merchandise associated with the movie is being marketed to children.

Coarse language

There is a lot of name calling that children may imitate such as:

• punk
• moron
• losers
• knucklehead
• idiot

Ideas to discuss with your children

Planes is an animated movie that is likely to appeal to children. It’s a follow up to Cars and is really the same story, but with planes instead of cars.

Children under five years and some slightly older children might find some of the scenes too scary, so we don’t recommend the movie for children under 5 years. We also recommend parental guidance for children aged 5-8 years. And it’s worth noting that the aerobatics in the movie might cause motion sickness for some children, particularly in the 3D version.

The main message from this movie is to follow your dreams and not to worry about what others say you can’t do.

Values in this movie that you could reinforce with your children include courage, determination and the importance of helping others, even if it sets you back.

This movie could also give you the chance to talk with your children about real-life issues and questions. For example:

• Skipper is seen as a hero but the truth is far from this. Should Skipper have covered up for his mistakes?
• Being a winner at all costs might bring fame, but you lose all your friends.