Free Birds parents guide

Free Birds Parent Guide

There are a lot of turkeys in this movie, however the script may be the biggest one.

Overall C+

Thanksgiving is no time to be grateful -- if you are a turkey! Wanting the holiday's choice of cuisine to change in the future, two fowl friends (voices of Woody Harrelson and Owen Wilson) travel to the past hoping to stop the tradition before it begins.

Release date November 1, 2013

Violence C
Sexual Content B
Profanity A-
Substance Use A

Why is Free Birds rated PG? The MPAA rated Free Birds PG for some action/peril and rude humor.

Run Time: 91 minutes

Official Movie Site

Parent Movie Review

If the movie Free Birds is part of your Thanksgiving Day plans, you might want to watch it after you eat dinner. Otherwise you could find yourself ordering fast food instead of enjoying the traditional holiday meal. Why? Because Free Birds is all about rewriting history in favor of political correctness when it comes to dining options.

There are a lot of turkeys in this movie, however the script may be the biggest one. Reggie (voice by Owen Wilson) has been warning his fellow gobblers that they are only being fattened up for someone’s dinner table. But the feather-headed fowl won’t listen. Just as Reggie reissues the alarm, he gets plucked from the flock by the daughter of the US President (voice by Kaitlyn Maher). Luckily, instead of getting stuffed, he is chosen for the traditional pardoning of the turkey ceremony and suddenly finds himself living the life of luxury at the taxpayers’ expense.

Yet his endless evenings of cable TV and truckloads of pizza come to an abrupt halt when he is kidnapped and hauled off to a secret military installation that houses a time machine. His captor, a brawny, action-oriented turkey named Jake (voice by Woody Harrelson), wants Reggie to go back in time with him to the first Thanksgiving and get turkeys off the menu.

Messing with the institution of Thanksgiving dinner is a risky move. And there seems to be plenty of other agenda items written into this script too. Everything from animal rights, negative military stereotypes, female empowerment and a spoof on the latest dance competition movies make it into this film. The story also hints at a presidential mistress, environmental issues of “over-grazing” and some sexual attraction between two muscular male birds. That’s a lot to cover in an animation supposedly aimed at children.

Most kids will likely be drawn to the film’s silly gags, so parents should be aware that the cartoon includes gun use, dynamite and an intentionally set fire meant to drive a some turkeys from the safety of their home. Characters also experience frequent peril and several die off screen. Historical figures also get the rough treatment. Myles Standish (voice by Colm Meany) is portrayed as a savage killing machine and Governor Bradford (voice by Dan Fogler) is shown as a corpulent, selfish leader. And the human Native Americans who inhabited the land get only seconds of screen time.

In the end, Free Birds becomes a flighty tale that seemingly has little to do with dressing or cranberries. Giving a voice to these bird-brained creatures makes for an interesting take on Thanksgiving. And time definitely isn’t the only thing that gets warped in this holiday-inspired story.

Directed by Jimmy Hayward. Starring Woody Harrelson, Owen Wilson, Amy Poehler. Running time: 91 minutes. Theatrical release November 1, 2013. Updated

Free Birds
Rating & Content Info

Why is Free Birds rated PG? Free Birds is rated PG by the MPAA for some action/peril and rude humor.

Violence: A turkey screams when he sees a cooked bird being carved for dinner. A farmer is shown carrying a bird and a hatchet. A character is tossed into a burlap bag and kidnapped. Characters are slapped, punched and threatened. Soldiers fire on characters with flamethrowers. A pack of ferocious dogs, along with men with guns and dynamite, chase a group of turkeys. A character is hit in the eye with a laser beam. Characters blow up building using gunpowder. A character dies in a fire. Flaming pumpkins and cannons are shot at enemies. Characters experience frequent peril.

Sexual Content: The script includes numerous buttock jokes and some sexual innuendo. Two male characters share a moment of supposed sexual attraction. A girl hints a relationship between her father and a female employee. A couple kisses off screen.

Language: The script contains some name-calling and threats.

Alcohol / Drug Use:None noted.

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Free Birds Parents' Guide

Why do only some of the animals get a voice in this movie? How does limiting who can talk change the perspective? What might the dogs have to say about turkeys?

In the film a character points a laser beam into another character’s eye for comedic effect. What are the real dangers of this? Does making the event funny take away from the seriousness of it? With increasing incidents of lasers being pointed at airplane pilots, is this depiction a good idea?

Reggie introduces an alternative food suggestion for Thanksgiving. What animals would be impacted by his choice?

What Thanksgiving traditions do you have? Learn more about how the tradition of eating turkey for Thanksgiving dinner began.

Home Video

The most recent home video release of Free Birds movie is February 4, 2014. Here are some details…

Home Video Notes: Free Birds

Release Date: 4 February 2014

Free Birds releases to home video (Blu-ray/DVD/Ultraviolet Digital Copy) with the following extras:

- Birds Flipping History

- Animating Free Birds: The Main Course

- Winging It: Animators in Action

- Talking Turkey with Composer Dominic Lewis

- Shake A Tail Feather

- Theatrical Trailer

Related home video titles:

Director Jimmy Hayward also worked on Horton Hears a Who, a story about another endangered group hoping for lifesaving help. Birds of a feather flock together to keep from being eaten in the animation Chicken Run. The origins of Turkey Day are explained in A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.

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