Humans panic when they see the yetis, which leads to a destructive/tense chase through a village. A plane crashes (smoke, fire); later, it falls over a cliff and is lost from view (wreckage is later found). Other crashes/smashings. Characters jump/fall from great heights; they're scared but unharmed. Characters use dart guns that fire sedatives. Characters sometimes scream at each other in fright. Migo's mom is dead (happened long ago). A flashback story (accompanied by a slightly creepy song) shows cruelty/weapons use based on hate and fear. An eagle snatches a goat. Confrontation with an angry bear (quickly turns funny); one character is caught in a bear trap. One character gets sick, which worries the others.
Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.
Encourages curiosity, innovation, taking educated risks, and questioning the rules/the way things have always been done, if the old ways don't make sense or can't be explained. Traditions are valuable and should be respected, but don't follow them blindly. Promotes value of integrity, being true to your ideals, open communication. Listening to and learning from those who are different from you is far more productive than reacting with fear or disgust to "the other." The truth can be complicated and scary, but it's better than living a lie. Friends, family, and community are invaluable.
Positive Role Models
a lot
Migo is brave, open-minded; he values his friends and community and wants to prove himself to them. He makes a poor decision at one point but sees his error and helps set things right. Meechee is curious, adventurous, intelligent; she's constantly asking questions/looking for knowledge, wants to learn everything she can about the world. Percy is caught up in the race for ratings and fame but is reminded of what's really important: friendship, discovery, integrity. The Stonekeeper has good intentions, but he uses them to keep his people living in ignorance and fear for most of the movie.
Educational Value
a little
Offers lessons about importance of curiosity, asking questions, learning from those who are different from you. Also a few miscellaneous animal facts from Percy's show.
Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Smallfoot is a charming animated musical adventure about a group of yetis who prove the existence of humans. Starring the voices of Channing Tatum, Zendaya, Common, James Corden, and more, the movie is age-appropriate for younger viewers but does have a lot of physical/slapstick comedy (including many falls from great heights, all of which are survived) and a couple of cases in which dart guns with sedatives are shot. A plane crashes, and a flashback story shows cruelty/weapons use based on hate and fear. People and yetis also show fear and are pursued -- sometimes with tension/peril and destruction of property -- but no one is seriously hurt. Two characters flirt a little bit, a minor character has a drink at a bar, and there's infrequent use of words like "crap," "stupid," and "sucks." The movie strongly promotes the ideas of appreciating traditions but questioning the status quo, thinking outside the box, staying true to your ideals, and giving those unlike you a chance -- in other words, curiosity, communication, and integrity. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails.
How Did The Official Common Sense Review Completely Miss The Mark?
Listen, I love most Disney films. I'm no super-conservative "worldly movie hater." I love silly cartoons. I was excited to watch a new movie with my 3 year old son, so I bought this on iTunes. The beginning of the movie establishes that there is a tribe of Yetis with one mantra -- you must follow a group of rules written on stones...or else be banished. (obvious parallel to the 10 Commandments)
They then detail the rules on the stones...and every rule is completely silly and over-the-top. (They are clearly commenting on religion in general) The leader of the Yetis tries to discredit anyone who questions the rules and banishes if they don't agree to stop the questioning. How did Common Sense overlook this?
As a side note, the songs are pretty terrible. But here's the main problem...the overall message of this movie isn't even hidden or gently implied in the slightest. They come right out at the beginning and let you know; Religion is bad, stupid, ridiculous...and it hampers a productive society. Everyone should break free from the constraints of religion in the name of progress and truth. Oof. How did you miss this Common Sense Media? It was truly...umm....common sense.
Very positive religious message from a Christian perspective
This movie has a strong positive and thought-provoking message, which is in harmony with a Christian religious perspective from a number of angles:
- the main character challenges and breaks through religious authoritarianism. The religious powers and laws are put in place to protect ordinary people from persecution by outsiders. This seems to be a parallel to Jesus’ relationship with the Pharisees.
- the main human character sacrifices himself, taking the place of one of the yetis and suffering to save him.
- this act of self-sacrifice enables the walls to be broken down between people who had previously been enemies with one another - it brings peace.
Other reviewers seem to have found in this movie an anti-religious message. While the message of the movie is pro-change and pro-disruption, it could not be said to be anti-Christian. In fact this would be a very good movie to show to teenagers to introduce them to the message or story of Jesus Christ.
Also the songs are only so-so. It’s no Trolls on that front.
What's the Story?
SMALLFOOT is an animated musical adventure that takes place high in the Himalayan mountains, where a community of yetis lives according to rules literally set into ancient stones. Migo (voiced by Channing Tatum) is prepared to follow in his father Dorgle's (Danny DeVito) footsteps as the yeti who hurls himself across a chasm every morning to ring a gong so that the "glowing snail in the sky" can wake up. But then he sees an airplane crash and comes face to face with a creature he thought was purely mythical: a "smallfoot" (human). When Migo tells his village about his discovery, the sage Stonekeeper (Common) insists that Migo is lying and exiles him. Later, Migo teams up with Meechee (Zendaya), the Stonekeeper's skeptical daughter, and a small band of smallfoot believers who also question the stones. Migo goes beneath the clouds that surround the yetis' mountaintop home and finally sees the human village in the valley underneath. There he crosses paths with Percy (James Corden), a wildlife reality show host so desperate for ratings that he's willing to ask his producer to dress up as a yeti for an episode. As Percy and Migo get to know each other (not verbally, because humans hear yeti speech as growling, and yetis hear human speech as gobbledygook), they realize they have more to fear from ignorance than from each other.
This star-studded animated adventure is a charming mix of positive messages, physical comedy, and a few catchy songs, all of which are sure to please young moviegoers. By switching up the Bigfoot legend to focus on yetis who are skeptical about humans, Smallfoot shows how dangerous it is to ignore reality, even for seemingly well-intentioned reasons. Tatum's voice is enthusiastic and upbeat, and Migo's earnest personality will appeal to both kids and adults. The father-son dynamic between Migo and Dorgle is tender and sweet, and -- although there's a bit of more complex backstory to the yetis' stone-based laws and the history of their community -- most of the plot is straightforward enough for even early elementary-schoolers to follow.
The movie's most entertaining sequences rely on old-school, laugh-out-loud sight gags and jokes. Migo and Percy can't communicate with words, but they grow to see each other not as harmful predators but as partners -- and even protective friends. Several of the songs are cute, but Zendaya's "Wonderful Life" is the most memorable. And Migo and Meechee's romance is sweet without being the central theme of the movie. While this isn't the kind of emotional, adult-skewing animated epic that's going to make grown-ups cry, it's a lot like Trolls: zippy and fun, with great messages.
Why does Brenda tell Percy that he's lost his integrity? What does "integrity" mean? Does Percy turn things around over the course of the movie? How?
What does it mean to be curious? Is Meechee curious? How do you know? How did she learn the things that she wanted to know? How do you learn new things?
The Stonekeeper argues that there can be such a thing as "good lies." Do you agree? Why or why not? Why is it problematic to push down your questions, as the yetis are often encouraged to do?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by
suggesting a diversity update.
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
By Sandie Angulo Chen
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based on child development research. How do we rate?
