The Chubbchubbs

This topic contains:

• details about The Chubbchubbs’s classification and consumer advice lines
• a review of The Chubbchubbs completed by Young Media Australia (YMA) on 17 August 2002.

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC) and the associated consumer advice lines.

YMA review

This review of the movie The Chubbchubbs contains the following information:

• a synopsis of the story
• use of violence and material that may scare children
• overall comments.

A synopsis of the story

Animated short film set in a bar on a desolated planet somewhere. The main character is a sad misfit who is thrown out of the bar, thereby discovering that the ‘Chubbchubbs’ are coming. A huge army of threatening creatures emerges from a mushroom cloud and approaches the bar. The misfit tries to warn the other occupants of the bar but is ignored and thrown out again. He tries to save some cute fluffy animals from the approaching army, but when they come face to face, it is revealed that the cute fluffy animals are in fact the feared Chubbchubbs. The teeth of the Chubbchubbs become sharp rotating incisors as they turn on and destroy the invading army, apparently eating them. The last scene shows the misfit singing on stage with the Chubbchubbs as his backing singers. When the audience fails to applaud, they bare their teeth again, causing the audience to break into uneasy applause.

Use of violence and material that may scare children

This is a very violent short film, although much is done in a slapstick cartoon manner with little apparent consequences:

• the singer in the opening scenes, is in consecutive scenes, electrocuted, slammed behind a door and landed on by the lead character
• the mushroom cloud and invading army appear to be very threatening, particularly in combination with the intense fear reaction of the main character
• the transformation of the cute fluffy creatures into savage beasts would be very frightening to a young child
• the attack of the Chubbchubbs on the army is vicious and while there is no violence actually seen, the sound effects indicate a crunching of bones followed by one of the Chubbchubbs burping
• one of the army screams ‘Mummy’ as he slides off a cliff after being pushed by a Chubbchubb.

Overall comments

This film may appeal to older children, adolescents and some adults due to its black humour, slapstick comedy and unexpected twist as the cute creatures transform into monsters. However, very young children could easily be frightened by these images and I would not recommend that they see this film. Some children aged 5—7 may also be frightened by this film and parental guidance is recommended.