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Mark your calendars for June 19, as “Toy Story 5” gears up for its theatrical release, marking a notable shift in the franchise’s history. This installment will be the first in the “Toy Story” series (excluding the distinct “Lightyear” spinoff) to receive a PG rating from the Motion Picture Association. Unlike its predecessors, which all carried the G rating, this film is slated for a slightly older audience due to “some thematic elements and rude humor.”
Disney/Pixar
Though we haven’t yet had the chance to preview the film, there’s speculation surrounding what constitutes this “rude humor.” A likely culprit is the introduction of a new character, Smarty Pants, voiced by Conan O’Brien. This character is humorously depicted as a potty-training toy resembling a roll of toilet paper. Regarding the “thematic elements,” a term frequently used to encompass a wide range of content, it’s expected this film will follow the previous ones in delivering scenes that might evoke fear in young viewers or draw a tear from adults. However, it’s hard to imagine anything more emotionally charged than the incinerator scene in “Toy Story 3,” which despite its G rating, remains one of Pixar’s most heart-wrenching moments.
The PG rating for “Toy Story 5” underscores a broader trend we’ve been observing: the decline of the G rating for feature-length family films. “Toy Story 4,” released in 2019, was the last G-rated blockbuster to grace theaters. Since then, the G rating has primarily been reserved for short films, non-narrative documentaries, and content aimed at very young audiences, such as “Paw Patrol” and “Gabby’s Dollhouse.” In today’s cinematic landscape, any narrative that delves into intense drama, no matter how brief, is likely to be tagged with a PG for its “thematic elements” or “mild action”—a stark contrast to past practices.
Reflecting on the evolution of film ratings, when the MPA rating system was introduced in 1968, the G rating encompassed a broader spectrum, even including adult-themed films such as “Planet of the Apes,” “2001: A Space Odyssey,” and the war epic “Battle of Britain.” Over time, G became synonymous with family and children’s movies, though this did not necessarily mean these films were devoid of intense themes. Disney’s G-rated films from the 1990s often tackled heavier subject matter than many of today’s PG-rated family films. A prime example is “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” a G-rated tale addressing themes of lust and genocide.
The advent of “Shrek,” which secured a PG rating due to its language and adult humor, set a precedent in the early 2000s, gradually making the PG rating the standard for animated family films. Studios began to incorporate mild content specifically to secure a PG rating. Pixar, which received its first PG rating for “The Incredibles” in 2004, was among the last to consistently earn G ratings for its features. Even with “Toy Story 3” in 2010, director Lee Unkrich expressed genuine surprise at its G rating, indicative of the shifting criteria in film classification.
The G rating’s demise is partially Toy Story 3’s fault
Disney/Pixar
When the MPA rating system began in 1968, the G rating was way looser than it would eventually become: intense adult-oriented films like “Planet of the Apes,” “2001: A Space Odyssey,” and even the violent war epic “Battle of Britain” got the “general audiences” rating within its first year. Eventually, G became synonymous with kids and family movies, which isn’t the same as saying such movies lacked intensity. G-rated Disney films from the ’90s were often more violent or “adult” than the PG-rated ones of the current decade — look at “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” a G-rated movie about lust and genocide, for the most extreme example.
The success of “Shrek,” which earned its PG for language and adult humor, started to normalize the PG rating for animated family films in the 2000s, to the point that fairly tame films might add a line or two just to get a PG. Pixar, which got its first PG for 2004’s “The Incredibles,” was seemingly the last studio to regularly get G ratings for its films — even when, in the case of 2010’s “Toy Story 3,” director Lee Unkrich was genuinely shocked that his film got that rating.
A lot of parents were also shocked. Former MPA head Joan Graves got enough complaints that she openly regretted giving “Toy Story 3” a G rating just months after its release. Since then, every original Pixar film has gotten a PG, with the G only applied for certain sequels to previously G-rated films. Now with “Toy Story 5,” even those legacy G ratings may be a thing of the past.