Celebrating the top turtles in film for World Turtle Day!
Today is World Turtle Day and this week marks National Conservation Week, so we've put together a list of films featuring shell-ebrity turtles that have risen to fame. All of these family-friendly films are rated either U, PG, or 12, and we’ve included the ratings info, so you can choose what’s right for you.
contains mild threat
Finding Nemo is an animated children's drama following the journey of a young clown fish who is caught in a net and taken to live in an aquarium in Sydney before plotting his escape home.
Threat
Scenes of mild threat include meeting a shark with lots of sharp teeth, encountering an angler fish who tries to eat a character, and getting lost in a swarm of jellyfish. One fish also finds himself in danger when he tries to escape from a rotating fan and from a large trawler fishing net.
There is very mild bad language ('butt'). There is also one implied, but unspoken, use of 'shit' when a fish in an aquarium says that they are 'swimming in our own...' and another fish tells him to 'Shhhh’.
There is also a sad scene near the beginning of the film when one character realises that all of his young family have been taken away by a shark.
A Turtle's Tale - Sammy's Adventures
contains mild threat
A Turtle's Tale - Sammy's Adventures is an animated film about a turtle called Sammy and his adventures roaming the open seas of the world.
Threat
There are occasional scenes of mild threat when baby turtles get picked up by seaguls or captured in giant fishing nets, but all are unharmed and the sequences having quickly reassuring positive outcomes. In one scene, turtles are chased by sharks who snap at them, but again none of the turtles are harmed.
There is a very mild sex reference when a female turtle tells a male turtle, 'I know what mating is. That is so not happening.’
mild threat
The Red Turtle is an animated fantasy film in which a man shipwrecked on a deserted tropical island encounters a giant turtle with a red shell.
Threat
Moments of mild threat include a man struggling to remain afloat in a stormy sea, a man attempting to swim through a very narrow passage in the wall of an underwater cave, and characters threatened by a fast-approaching tsunami.
Other issues include brief mild injury detail (the sight of blood on a woman's leg).
contains mild martial arts action
Kung Fu Panda is an animated comedy about a cheerful, overweight Panda, who is chosen to train in martial arts in order to battle a feared Snow Leopard fighter.
Violence
There are scenes of mild martial arts action violence in which characters perform over-exaggerated kung fu moves, which include occasional kicks, punches and blows to the head, as well sight of one character putting his hand around another's neck. None of the action sequences are particularly intense, and all the violence is heavily stylised with no sight of injury.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Out Of The Shadows
moderate action violence
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Out Of The Shadows is a fantasy action sequel about a group of turtles who team up with a reporter and a vigilante to save their city from alien invasion.
Violence
There is moderate action violence with martial arts kicks and blows, as well brief focus on the twirling of a large blade and a hockey stick blow to a character's crotch area. The emphasis is on action and fantasy and there is a lack of bloody detail.
There is use of mild bad language (eg 'son of a bitch', 'ass', 'shit').
This work contains flashing images which may affect viewers who are susceptible to photosensitive epilepsy.
