Mild Peril in Ice Age

Monday, April 14th, 2008 | Miscellaneous

Ice Age is rated PG for “mild peril.”

Hmm. What would you call it if you had to run away from a ferocious saber-toothed tiger while desperately clutching your screaming infant to your chest, and your spouse remained behind in the village to help fend off a pack of the viscious beasts? At the end of the day, maybe you’d sit back and say, “Man, I’m glad that peril was so mild today. I couldn’t have taken intense peril.”

So parents, just keep in mind if you want to watch Ice Age with your kids, there’s some mild peril in it. The adorable baby’s mom drowns. The animals crash into a wall of ice. There’s a fight between a woolly mammoth and a rhinoceros. Nothing major.

And what were the Official Movie Rater people thinking while they sat around the long, shiny mahogany table in the boardroom and made their executive rating decision about Ice Age? I’m trying to imagine the conversation.

“Well, it was pretty family friendly.”

“Some crude humor, but nobody cares about that anymore.”

“There was that one time when the saber-tooth almost ate the baby… do you think that might be a little scary for kids?”

“Yeah, let’s just say there’s some mild violence in it.”

“It’s not really violence, is it? It’s more like… peril.”

“Peril? Nice one, dude. Can’t tell you’re an intern. Let’s rate Ice Age PG for mild peril. Ha!”

And with that, I am now going to finish this entry up and turn in to watch some scenes of mild peril and great adventure as four brave creatures, separated by nature but bound together by the ties of mutual dislike, traverse across a prehistoric tundra in search of the land of milk and honey, warmth and sunshine.