Random Kids' Movies That Proved Surprisingly Controversial (15 items)

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  (#9) Zootopia

  • Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman, Idris Elba, Jenny Slate, Nate Torrence, Bonnie Hunt, Don Lake, Tommy Chong, J. K. Simmons, Octavia Spencer, Alan Tudyk, Shakira

  Disney's Zootopia is the story of a bunny police officer and a fox con artist who team up to investigate a series of animal disappearances in their city. The movie uses this narrative to offer a cutesy lesson about racism, with the main characters learning not to buy into stereotypes about each other.

  It's a nice message, but some people felt Zootopia also ended up suggesting stereotypes can be accurate. Critics like Matt Zoller Seitz pointed out that the fox character is sly, the sloths are slow, and the bunnies reproduce rapidly. 

  According to these naysayers, the movie's good intentions are undone by this, and children may have walked away with an unintentionally negative message. 
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  (#4) The Adventures of Milo and Otis

  • Dudley Moore, Shigeru Tsuyugushi

  A lot of people grew up loving The Adventures of Milo and Otis, a 1986 movie about a dog and kitten duo who embark on a perilous river journey. However, once fans hear some of the alleged behind-the-scenes details, they tend to like it a lot less.

  It has long been rumored that the lives of at least 20 cats were lost during the making of the film. The felines were allegedly put in hazardous situations and were even tossed into a river. Another scene involving a pug and a bear was reportedly filmed with insufficient safety precautions.

  American Humane attempted to verify these claims but was unable to do so. 
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  (#14) Kung Fu Panda

  • Angelina Jolie, Lucy Liu, Dustin Hoffman, Jack Black, Seth Rogen, Jackie Chan, David Cross, Ian McShane, Michael Clarke Duncan, Laura Kightlinger, Wayne Knight, Emily Robison, Kyle Gass, James Hong, Dan Fogler, John Stevenson, Randall Duk Kim, Kent Osborne, Mark Osborne, Jason Reed, Tanya Haden, Stephen Kearin, Melissa Cobb, Riley Osborne, Jeremy Shipp, Stephanie Harvey

  Kung Fu Panda generated no controversy whatsoever in America. However, it was a completely different story in China. A Chinese performance artist named Zhao Bandi sued DreamWorks, the company that released the movie, arguing the comical depiction of the main character was insulting to his country's national symbol. He also disliked that Po, the panda's on-screen father, is a duck.

  Zhao's call for a Kung Fu Panda boycott got enough traction that the film's release in China was briefly delayed. Despite this, the lawsuit went nowhere. 
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  (#5) Cars 2

  • Owen Wilson, Michael Caine, Vanessa Redgrave, Eddie Izzard, Larry the Cable Guy, Jason Isaacs, Emily Mortimer, Bruce Campbell, John Turturro, Cheech Marin, Lewis Hamilton, Jeff Gordon, Joe Mantegna, Tony Shalhoub, Bonnie Hunt, John Lasseter, Katherine Helmond, Franco Nero, Jeff Garlin, John Ratzenberger, Jenifer Lewis, Richard Kind, Edie McClurg, Paul Dooley, Thomas Kretschmann, Jess Harnell, Darrell Waltrip, Brent Musburger, Sig Hansen, Colleen Villard, Peter Jacobson, Brad Lewis, Stanley Townsend, Michael Wallis, David Hobbs, Guido Quaroni, Velibor Topić, Junichi Kajioka, Teresa Gallagher, Lloyd Sherr, Memo Rojas, Michel Michelis, Barbara Kottmeier, John Mainieri, Patrick Walker, Sonoko Konishi, Daniel Okeefe

  Cars 2 takes Pixar's beloved talking autos and injects them into a wildly different kind of plot. Protagonist Lightning McQueen trades in the racetrack for the world of international espionage, complete with all of the dangers associated with that field. 

  Some parents felt the movie was too violent, especially considering the tame G rating. They especially objected to a scene in which a car is tortured for information. 
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  (#8) Where the Wild Things Are

  • Mark Ruffalo, Forest Whitaker, James Gandolfini, Catherine O'Hara, Chris Cooper, Catherine Keener, Spike Jonze, Lauren Ambrose, Paul Dano, Max Records, Ryan Corr, Angus Sampson, Michael Berry Jr., Steve Mouzakis, Mark McCracken, Brian La Rosa, Alice Parkinson, Sonny Gerasimowicz, Nick Farnell, Kalia Prescott, Joshua Jay, John Leary, Pepita Emmerichs, Madeleine Greaves, Garon Michael, Joshua Evans, Vincent Crowley, Tess Grimshaw Lloyd, James Epinfaniou, Sam Longley, Nathan Veal, Lucas Haynes, Max Pfeifer

  Controversy over Spike Jonze's screen adaptation of Maurice Sendak's children's book Where the Wild Things Are began before general audiences ever saw it. Kids in preview screenings allegedly fled in terror because the movie was too dark and scary.

  Warner Bros. went into panic mode, as the film cost a hefty $75 million to produce. The studio brought in a new writer to lighten up the script, then had Jonze embark upon extensive re-shoots. 

  Ironically, the amended version was still deemed too sad and scary for young viewers, with many parents publicly expressing their displeasure. 
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  (#7) Beauty and the Beast

  • Emma Watson, Dan Stevens, Luke Evans, Kevin Kline and Josh Gad with the voices of Ewan McGregor, Stanley Tucci, Ian McKellen, Emma Thompson

  Bill Condon, the director of Disney's live-action Beauty and the Beast remake, sat for an interview with Attitude magazine in which he teased "a nice, exclusively gay moment" at the end of his film. In the process, he kickstarted a controversy.

  The owners of the Henagar Drive-In Theatre in Alabama heard about this interview and promptly canceled all screenings of Beauty and the Beast, citing their Christian values as the reason for their objection. The scene in question is arguably inconsequential; it amounts to an incredibly brief shot of LeFou dancing with another man. The movie went on to earn more than $500 million domestically at the box office. 

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