Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls Parent Guide

After reviewing Dumb And Dumber, I received an anonymous letter from a 16-year-old fan of Jim Carrey. Impressed that a reader this age would take the time to voice an opinion, I carefully read the remarks describing the movie as being a “relief from reality.” It was reassuring that the writer of this letter realized that this was “just a movie,” but I’m still convinced that younger children may make value judgements based on films like this.

Now Carrey is back in his second Ace Ventura movie, and you may wonder why a PG-13 movie was crafted into a weekly Ace Ventura Saturday morning cartoon. The answer to that question is easy—entertainment execs know that Carrey will attract even the youngest of children with his crazy antics, and the more people you can get in the seats, the more money you make.

Parents, don’t conclude that this film is family fare because it has a Saturday morning cartoon named after it. You may not want your children watching Ace shove his arm down a man’s throat in a black magic tribal initiation (the film takes place in Africa). Or Ace having a spitting fight with some natives leaving them covered in mucus. Or Ace masturbating in his hut, after being enticed by a native woman wanting to learn more about sex. Or a scene implying bestiality with a man and a gorilla. Or Ace delivering a baby by pounding on the pregnant woman’s stomach and shooting the newborn across the room.

After eating their cold cereal with Ace every week, many young children will be cracking piggy banks to see Ace in the movies. My 16-year-old reader says, “Those who do not find this form of comedy funny can just do all the fans of the movie a favor and not bother seeing it.” I agree completely that viewing decisions need to be left with the parents, but many children will still fall victim to the entertainment industry’s money-first ethics.

About author

Rod Gustafson

Rod Gustafson has worked in various media industries since 1977. He founded Parent Previews in 1993, and today continues to write and broadcast the reviews in newspapers, on radio and (of course) on the Internet. His efforts also include writing and researching media in all its forms and observing how it effects society and culture. He and his wife Donna have four children.