family friendly vs Kids Movie

[Zeke365]

I want to know the difference between a family friendly movie rating vs kids movie rating cause there seems to be a differnce between the two and I would like to know the difference if it can be explained? (all other ratings can be left out)

[Rusty Claymore]

From an intention standpoint, Kids movies are designed purely to entertain children. Family Friendly intends to put forth various types of content without including material some parents may not want their children exposed to yet, something any family can make a day out of.

Now how they are actually used? Dunno. Seems many times the term "Kids" or "Family Friendly" are slapped on a film in order for people to inadvertently expose their kids to subliminal messages and such (i'm talking about films that suddenly go sesame street about life events from a very specific, yet undeclared, worldview.) Sometimes, it's to discourage participation by people of certain tastes. And again, used to indicate an open attempt to convey a message to young people. ie Veggie Tales would be Family Friendly, and they openly set forward a worldview. I wouldn't classify them as "Kids" because much of their side content can only be understood by adults.

That help? Overall, the rating system is mostly an economic tool now, imho. By the way, what makes you ask?

[Zeke365]

well when I saw the bible game, I saw a family freindly rating which they and separated from as a kids movie rating but alot of kids movie say fun for the whole family so it was kind of hard to distinguish them apart. I hope this answers your question.

[Rusty Claymore]

Aha, when dealing with games or interactive media, "Family Friendly" means it's easy to use. You don't have to manipulate teeny pieces just-so, or memorize scenario specific rules. Settlers of Catan is family friendly, Axis and Allies is not. A "Kids" game is so simple you need to be a kid or have a kid to enjoy it. They usually aren't directly competitive either. Snakes and Ladders would be a kids game (though it always infuriated me) and I would put Sorry! into the family friendly category only because of all the fights we got into over it.

...huh, maybe that's why I'm skeptical of oral apologies.

[MomentOfInertia]

How to Train Your Dragon is a family movie, anything by Pixar is a family movie. They are movies with no content that would be inappropriate for any part of a family.

Kids movies are designed for kids and only kinds. Pooh, MLP*, Blue's Clues .... Spongebob? IDK I don't follow the market that much. ... Anything run during the day by CN, Disney, or Nickelodeon.

*yeah yeah, target audience vs actual audience etc. etc.

---
"fun for the whole family" is marketing speak. May mean Pixar masterpiece, may mean horrible kid's move that the rest of the family will hate forever. ... with catchy songs.

---
A further point: Games and movie are rated separately by different organizations.

[mechana2015]

How to Train Your Dragon is a family movie, anything by Pixar is a family movie. They are movies with no content that would be inappropriate for any part of a family.

Kids movies are designed for kids and only kinds. Pooh, MLP*, Blue's Clues .... Spongebob? IDK I don't follow the market that much. ... Anything run during the day by CN, Disney, or Nickelodeon.

*yeah yeah, target audience vs actual audience etc. etc.

---
"fun for the whole family" is marketing speak. May mean Pixar masterpiece, may mean horrible kid's move that the rest of the family will hate forever. ... with catchy songs.

---
A further point: Games and movie are rated separately by different organizations.

If you go by the original creators comments on MLP:FIM they actually were aiming for a show that could be watched and enjoyed by all family members, targeted more at the girls but still with the other family in mind, so I'd say it's a family show (particularly with the level of discussion it could raise). The surprise then was more that it caught on with a demographic that marketing data says wouldn't normally gravitate to a family show, males aged 16+, who do not have children.

Also spongebob was very popular with college ages at least for a while, and enough of it's humor was something I'd assume would go straight over a lot of kids heads, so at least a family show.

I'd say the best examples of kids only shows are things like blues clues, Barney, Caillou and Arthur. Movie wise it's harder to find a straight up kids only movie because theater movies... tend to aim for family at minimum since you can't (and shouldn't) just sit a 4-10 year old in a theater and got do stuff around the house, so the parents need something to enjoy as well, and your movie tends to make better money if people feel they can take all members of the family, not just one begrudging parent and the 5 year old.

Video games market entirely differently since they rate on actions you perform AND observe, where movies rate on observation only, and video games are a large part designed to be fully operational by single individuals, and not be full family affairs. Some are, like rock band or just dance or Fantasia, or Mario party, but even those are more party games that are family friendly, not family friendly games for the sake of being family friendly.