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6 Kids’ Movies You Didn’t Realize were Inappropriate as a Kid

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Chapel Hill chapter.

We all have those moments when we want to relive our childhood by watching movies we grew up with, only to realize that there are a lot more inappropriate things than we remembered as kids! From jokes about genitalia to pregnancy scares, here are 6 of the most inappropriate kids’ movies:

Shrek (2001)

OMG, Shrek. If you haven’t watched this movie in a few years, please do yourself a favor and watch it now. There are so many inappropriate jokes, from Lord Farquad’s castle being a way to “compensate” for something to puppet school children telling visitors of Duloc to wipe their…face.

Road to El Dorado (2000)

Tulio and Miguel have crazy adventures on the road to El Dorado, the city of gold. But how many of us caught the *ahem* moment between Chel (where was her face? Because it was nowhere near his face)? Or Tulio’s near-curse when he shouts “Holy ship!”?

Grease (1978)

Can we say pregnancy scare? I watched this with my mom when I was about 10, and she was cringing the whole time because she was letting her young daughter watch a movie in which one of the major storylines was a high schooler thinking she was pregnant—and her mother let her watch it, too! There’s also the issue of Sandy changing herself completely for Danny when he doesn’t exactly make an equal effort, as well as a lot of talk about sex and a line about “did she put up a fight?” in the song “Summer Nights.” (Okay, fine, this isn’t exactly a kids’ movie, but a lot of us did watch it as kids.)  

Ratatouille (2007)

Ratatouille has some great jokes in it, for both kids and adults. There are references to “swallowing,” a joke about vegetables being used as…toys, and a moment where Collette thinks Linguini is telling her he has a small penis (she’s very relieved to know he’s talking about Remy, his little friend, rather than his schlong.)  

Cat in the Hat (2003)

Sure, this seems like a fun movie about two kids having adventures with a friendly cat, but as an adult, I side a lot more with the fish! (Speaking of, what kind of parent leaves their two young children home alone with only a fish to babysit?) This strange, anthropomorphic cat just waltzes into their home and starts destroying things, saying their mother won’t mind, and the kids (mostly) just go along with it. Also, like with most of the movies on this list, the Cat tells off-color jokes that flew over my head as a kid!

How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)

What is it with the Dr. Seuss movie adaptations making it onto this list? The Grinch attempts to ruin an entire town’s Christmas, sure, but also the whole town is perfectly okay with him being bullied and exiled just because he looks a little different. Also, Max! The poor puppy was berated and forced to drag a heavy sled all alone just because his owner was too lazy to walk! And, of course, there were some less-than-kid-friendly jokes in the movie, as well.

The fact of the matter is that nearly all of these moments will go right over kids’ heads (I know they flew over mine). So the kids aren’t harmed and the parents being forced to watch kids’ movies get a little comic relief. Re-watching our favorite childhood films as adults gets a lot more interesting. In conclusion, did I use this article as an excuse to watch a bunch of kids’ movies? Absolutely, and it was great.

Tessa Palmer

Chapel Hill

Tessa is a senior English major at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She enjoys crocheting, watching Netflix, and petting fluffy animals.