This film is not for young children

Rating: 3/10 (25 November 2006)

To me, this film seems like it came together in 10 marketing meetings. All of the songs are of "an older generation" - if you're 40 you'll recognize them all. Making you want to buy a recycled sound track. By getting all the big names together they assure a big opening weekend too.
I took a 5 and 7 year old and of course they loved it. The animation was SPECTACULAR. And Robin Williams (in his many roles) was very funny. And the "overt" story is good - be yourself, you don't have to fit in to be happy, don't give up when things get tough.
But the entire sub-text is that finding a mate is the most important thing in life. Plus, the sexual innuendo was WAY to strong for me to feel comfortable with my young kids. Since when did Prince became acceptable for children? I love Prince, but I'm a 40 year old father of 2. The themes are just to "adult." I do think that if my kids were 11 or so, I wouldn't be writing this. But I use the comments on IMDb to help determine what movies might be OK for my kids before I take them. In this case it was spur of the moment and I didn't do my usual research. I admit that I tend to be overprotective when it comes to my kids and mass media. But if this review keeps someone from taking a 7 year old girl - then it's worth the time.
And I don't even have time to get into the silly ending (with the real humans) that entirely simplifies what would be a complex debate. And the stereotypical portrait of Hispanics that gets painted.