Toy Story 2 Censored Scene (1 Viewer)

[BarryR]

What’s Up Doc Rated G.

Yes, and everyone was good with that! But not for much longer, which I find a sad journey for the rating.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

What i find ridiculous is twofold--tons of movies are G in spirit, but have maybe a smidgen of cussing or innuendo to push into PG or PG13. And such inconsequential additions somehow make it more worthy of teen or adult viewing!

The other thing is nowadays the nebulous "thematic" or "action" PG labeling can cover everything from a hint of controversy or a kitten tumbling off a sofa. I mean, c'mon! No wonder the G rating has been eviscerated, and not having any real substance anymore.

In 1968 at the dawn of ratings, the musical Oliver! got a G rating without a thought. Yet now it'd no doubt be a PG13 since it runs the gamut of violence, smoking, "thematic elements" and Lord knows what else. Yet it's perfectly suitable for all ages, albeit with the deftly handled elements described. And just think--Kubrick's 2001 still retains its G rating--one of the most sophisticated, thought provoking movies ever made, yet today if given a chance it'd be slapped with a PG for some crazy reason. Apes hitting each other?

This may all sound like a bunch of hooha to discuss, but I think it's a legitimate topic the way perceptions can be unfairly distorted for essentially marketing purposes, and not actual content.

The main reason "G" died was because it became so closely attached to movies for little kids.

Once G became uncool, studios tried to avoid it. They'd toss some gratuitous PG element into the movies just to ensure they'd not get stuck with G.

Disney was popular enough to cope with it but even they eventually gave up the ghost and embraced PG for their animated fare...

 

[BarryR]

Exactly. I just don't like the distortion of the original intent, and the need for gratuitous content magically making it cool. I also think the MPAA has been culpable in rating animated movies (such as Frozen) PG that would've been G a decade ago. Nonetheless, I'm rather glad Toy Story 4 managed a G, so all is not lost.

 

[Jeffrey D]

What’s Up Doc Rated G.

It wouldn’t surprise me if this film gets a PG or TV14 modification in the future, due to a look given to a woman by a man, or a line of dialog that someone now finds objectionable. Sad.

 

[ahollis]

It wouldn’t surprise me if this film gets a PG or TV14 modification in the future, due to a look given to a woman by a man, or a line of dialog that someone now finds objectionable. Sad.

It can’t get a modification unless Warner Brothers resubmits for a rating. Something I feel will never happen.

 

[MatthewA]

Disney was popular enough to cope with it but even they eventually gave up the ghost and embraced PG for their animated fare...

Quite literally "gave up the ghost" since their first PG animated film was The Black Cauldron. That movie was made in direct reaction to those who felt they'd gotten too namby-pamby over the years. They also gave up Mickey Rooney to The Care Bears Movie which cost less and made more money. Meanwhile, the Disney-branded animated films after that up until 2000's Dinosaur were all rated G and made more money.

During the "What Would Walt Do" years that overlapped with Hanna-Barbera's virtual monopoly on Saturday morning and a period of almost total dormancy for animation at Warner Bros., Ralph Bakshi was pushing the envelope in animated content with Fritz The Cat, Coonskin, Heavy Traffic, and American Pop, the latter of which was released by Columbia in 1981. That was the same year as it and the Canadian Heavy Metal got Rated R, the last year before Coca-Cola, who was more concerned about Pepsi getting free publicity in their movies, purchased it, and the same year Disney released The Fox and the Hound with only a G rating since the original book was an "everybody dies" affair. Even toned down from the source material — the same could be argued about Bambi despite his mother's fate — Fox still jumped higher than Cauldron financially, yet only the former ever got a US theatrical reissue despite the latter having to wait until 1998 — Katzenberg, who was largely responsible for its final state, was now gone — for a video release.*

Also in the 1990s, Touchstone got in a tizzy over a James Caan movie called The Program, which had scenes shot at Duke University in Durham, NC. Apparently, some teenagers died copying something they saw in the movie, so they cut the scene and never restored it. That had no bearing on the MPAA rating.

*While Oliver and Company got a reissue before its video debut, Fox and the Hound did not.