By Renee Schonfeld , based on child development research. How do we rate?
Warm, funny animated bird tale with some peril.
Parents need to know that Yellowbird is a French movie released in the U.S. that is voiced by American actors. Its beautifully animated, simple story of an obstacle-filled bird migration is both comic and suspenseful. Several scenes find the flock in danger as they fly over the continents, with both missteps…
Some perilous cartoon moments and suspense, with several narrow escapes, falls,
Some name-calling and exaggerated silly threats: "liar," "numbsku
Sex, Romance & Nudity Not present Products & Purchases Not present Drinking, Drugs & Smoking Not presentPromotes working together for the common good, the value of family despite minor
Positive Role ModelsStrong family bonds within the flock; parents are concerned, responsible, and lo
Educational ValueIdentifies some geographical locations and their characteristics (Holland and it
Some perilous cartoon moments and suspense, with several narrow escapes, falls, bonks on the head, and one bird death. Two ferocious and wild cats chase, charge, and attack birds. Members of the flock are tossed around in a street sweeper, air currents, and stormy weather and huddle together, shivering in an icy terrain. A hunter shoots at birds with his rifle. Airplanes ("iron birds") seem menacing to the birds in several sequences. (Spoiler alert: Early in the film, the flock leader breaks his wing, falls, and dies after a longish "deathbed" scene. His family grieves.)
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Some name-calling and exaggerated silly threats: "liar," "numbskull," "shut your beak," "your skinny behind," "crappus," "I'll rip off your feathers."
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Promotes working together for the common good, the value of family despite minor disagreements, calling upon courage and resourcefulness during challenging times. Cautions against lying and manipulating truth to one's advantage.
Strong family bonds within the flock; parents are concerned, responsible, and loving toward their offspring. Yellowbird initially manipulates the truth for selfish purposes but learns lessons about honesty and integrity. He has very little self-confidence at the start, but his courage and self-esteem emerge from his deeds and willingness to risk his own life to save the others. The family flock includes birds of various colors; a ladybug mentor has an African-American dialect.
Identifies some geographical locations and their characteristics (Holland and its windmills, the Mediterranean Sea, Africa).
Parents need to know that Yellowbird is a French movie released in the U.S. that is voiced by American actors. Its beautifully animated, simple story of an obstacle-filled bird migration is both comic and suspenseful. Several scenes find the flock in danger as they fly over the continents, with both missteps and threats making things often very difficult and sometimes very funny. There is some name-calling. Cartoon action and suspense include: chases, a hunter with a rifle, airplanes that appear menacing, getting lost, falls, and a fight for survival in cold weather. There is one sad death early in the movie. The hero learns important lessons about honesty, the nature of family, admitting mistakes, and doing the right thing. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails.
Yellowbird
Official trailer
Based on 3 parent reviews
February 24, 2019This movie just wasn’t funny - my kids barely laughed. I also had serious concerns about the storyline: The yellow bird sees the father bird dying and is given a last message to give to it survivors. Only the yellow bird doesn’t pass on the dying message and instead makes up a lie that he is supposed to lead the family on its migration. He puts the family in terrible danger throughout the movie and when they are finally almost dead at the north pole, and have been repeatedly lied to throughout the movie, yellowbird supposedly “redeems” himself by getting the birds into the back of an airplane that “miraculously” just happens to fly to Africa. At the end, they pass off his dishonesty (that almost kills them on a dozen occasions), as “part of any family. ” The message is that it’s okay to lie and endanger other’s lives for your own selfish benefit. It’s likely to be lost on kids but the significant lying and disrespect of other’s wellbeing was troublesome for me. Also common sense media missed it in its review and ratings above but there’s also a big scene that glorifies drug culture when the male birds go out one evening (when they need to relax) for “the good air” & get *high* off of the high altitude air. They even use the word “high” and one character tells another that “you’re not gonna fly straight tomorrow. ” It’s pretty shocking.
