Story
Dusty (voice of Dane Cook) has flown thousands of miles as a crop duster but hasn’t seen anything of the world. He decides to enter the Wings around the World competition, but everyone laughs at him. Ripslinger (voice of Roger Craig Smith) is a three-times champion and has no intention of letting a mere crop duster beat him.
At first Dusty doesn’t qualify for the race, but one of the planes is disqualified. This means Dusty can enter. With the help of former WWII fighter plane Skipper (voice of Stacy Keach) and his friends Dottie (Teri Hatcher) and Chug (Brad Garrett), Dusty gets ready for the great competition. This involves many dangers, but at least Dusty gets to see the world.
Themes
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.
Content that may disturb children
Under 5
In addition to the violent scenes mentioned above, Planes has some scenes that could scare or disturb children under five years. For example:
- Dottie (a car) has a fit and falls over onto her side.
- Dusty goes to visit Skipper the WWII fighter plane. Skipper is large and scary and very unfriendly at first.
- Dusty is landing on a runway and nearly gets crushed by a jet plane.
- Dusty has to fly through bad weather and storms and between icebergs.
- Bulldog, the British plane, has engine failure and nearly crashes to the ground. Dusty comes to the rescue.
- Dusty flies through a tunnel because he’s afraid of heights. He scrapes along the wall and nearly crashes into an approaching train.
- Dusty loses his antenna in one of the attacks and is low on fuel. Large American planes fly above him and order him to board a nearby warship.
- Dusty has to fly through a very bad storm. Because he’s flying low he crashes into a huge wave and sinks to the bottom of the ocean. He is rescued but is badly damaged.
From 5-8
Children in this age group could also be scared by some of the scenes mentioned above.
From 8-13
Children in this age group are unlikely to be disturbed by anything in this movie.
Over 13
Nothing of concern
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
Planes has a lot of name-calling that children might copy.
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.