Good Boy!

This topic contains:

• overall comments and recommendations
• details about Good Boy's classification and consumer advice lines
• a review of Good Boy! completed by Young Media Australia (YMA) on 9 November 2003.

Overall comments and recommendations

This is a very ‘cute’ movie that can be enjoyed by both children and adults. The dogs steal the show; they are very clever and the animated mouths are very well done. Hubble is also very funny.

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 Good Boy! contains the following information:

• a synopsis of the story
• use of violence
• material that may scare children
• sexual references
• nudity and sexual activity
• use of substances
• coarse language
• the movie's message

A synopsis of the story

Canard 3942 is sent from Home Star, the planet where all dogs originate, to the Earth to check on how Earth dogs are faring in their quest to dominate human beings. 3942 growls and snarls at all the dogs and people he meets until he is captured by the dog catcher and put into a pound.

Meanwhile Owen, a young lad whose family is always on the move, has been waiting for three months to own a dog. Under a deal with his Mum, Owen’s been walking the neighbourhood dogs daily to prove that he can be responsible and look after a pet. At the end of the three months Mum is a bit reluctant to keep her end of the bargain as the family is just about to move house again and she wants Owen to wait till then. Owen’s parents make a living out of buying old houses, renovating them and selling them, consequently Owen has difficulty making friends. His Mum finally agrees to go the dog pound to get a dog for Owen. Owen chooses 3942 because he is in danger of being put down as he is aggressive to prospective buyers. He calls him Hubble and it isn’t long before Owen realises Hubble is no ordinary dog.

One night Hubble receives a message from Home Star and he returns to his space ship to communicate with his leaders. Owen follows him there and inadvertently gets zapped by the radio beams. Owen is now able to communicate with Hubble and all the other neighbourhood dogs. He learns of Hubble’s mission and his need to report back to the Great Dane that unfortunately Earth dogs have become submissive and are actually kept by humans as pets. This could be disastrous for all dogs as it might mean a global recall to Home Star. Owen and Hubble set out to retrain the Earth dogs to be more in control and have some dignity before the Great Dane’s official arrival.

Use of violence

Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.

Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.

There is a little violence in this movie, mostly done for comic effect and including the following scenes:

• 3942 sets the dogs that Owen is walking into a gallop that pulls Owen over onto the ground
• Dogs growl at mean boys and chase them all over the neighbourhood
• Hubble leaps to catch a ball and crash lands into a lake injuring his paw
• Bullies fall through a window hurting themselves
• Dogs bite one of the bullies on the bottom

Other violence that is not comic and might scare children includes:

• 3942 leaps on Owen when he’s down on the ground and snarls at him
• 3942 growling and snarling at other dogs and people
• Mean boys throw stones at Hubble
• Bullies fight with Owen
• Bullies steal Hubble and are about to shave him before they’re caught.

Material that may scare children

Under eight

Children under eight are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations, the death of a parent or child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.

Children in this age group could be scared by the above violent scenes as well as the following incidents:

• 3942 crash landing on Earth in a space ship
• 3942 howls weirdly
• Owen follows Hubble in the middle of the night with a torch through a dark forest while scary music plays
• the signal which emits from Earth to Home Star
• a sonic boom sounds when the space ship enters Earth’s atmosphere
• bullies trap Hubble and other dogs in a shed and let off a gas canister
• The Great Dane is a large intimidating dog
• The Great Dane’s bodyguard is a hairless dog who’s quite vicious
• The Earth dogs are all recalled and have to leave Earth

Over the age of eight

Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened

Children over the age of thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic physical harm or threats, molestation or sexual assault and / or threats from aliens or the occult.

There is nothing in this movie that would scare children over the age of eight.

Sexual references

There are no sexual references.

Nudity and sexual activity

There is no nudity or sexual activity.

Use of substances

There is no use of substances, however the dogs are affected by the gas that’s let off in the shed and they appear drunk.

Coarse language

There is a little coarse language in this movie including the following:

• fart. Shep (the dog) is always doing this
• Owen tells the boys they “have no balls”.
• One of the dogs sniffs another’s butt.

The movie's message

The take home message is the importance of a good home and how it inspires great loyalty. Hubble says a home ‘is not where you are but who you’re with’.

Values parents may wish to encourage include:

• the importance of friendship and how friends look after each other
• loyalty
• the need for stability
• bullying is foolish.

Values parents may wish to discourage include:

• name calling
• nastiness
• bullying.