Mr. Peabody and Sherman

I remember watching “Mr. Peabody and Sherman” cartoons that appeared during the “Rocky and Bullwinkle” show. I don’t remember much of the storyline or history regarding the show, and, therefore, I assumed that because I didn’t remember them, they must not have been impressive. After seeing the movie, I am going to be watching “Mr. Peabody and Sherman” to see what I have missed.

Mr. Peabody, played by Ty Burrell, is a genius dog. The movie begins when he is just a pup waiting to be adopted by a family. Since he doesn’t fetch, roll over, bark, etc., he is the dog always left behind.

When he grows up, he finds a baby named Sherman (Max Charles) and decides to adopt him. Everything in their life is fine until Sherman goes to school. Sherman and Mr. Peabody have traveled through time in a WABAC machine. Because Sherman has seen history first-hand, he is a know-it-all in school. This angers fellow classmate, Penny Peterson (Ariel Winter) who sets out to humiliate Sherman. Sherman and Penny fight, and after Sherman bites Penny, a social worker, Ms. Grunion (Allison Janney) decides that Sherman should not be raised by a dog. Ms. Grunion is determined to remove Sherman from his home.

In an attempt to patch things up with Penny, Sherman shows her his WABAC, and the two of them go time traveling and create a rift in the time-space continuum. Sherman breaks all the rules of time travel and eventually has to confess to Mr. Peabody. Can Mr. Peabody fix everything before it is too late?

Objectionable Content

In one scene, they show a dog waiting to have its butt sniffed. A cow is hooked up to a machine to extract the methane. Mummification is explained (the brain is pulled out through the nose, etc.) A mummy hand is shown, and the arm falls off. Someone makes a comment about a booby trap. After laughing, the comment “You said boobie” is made. A boat is shot out of a sphinx’s backend.

Violence: Penny is a bully. She physically fights with Sherman in the cafeteria. They do not show Sherman biting her, but later we see pictures of the bite marks. There are numerous verbal altercations, along with fights such as the Trojan War and French Revolution. A taser is used.

Spiritual: They travel to ancient Egypt. Numerous Egyptian gods are mentioned and prayed to. Mr. Peabody and Sherman pretend to be Egyptian gods to save Penny. Moses is shown in a basket in the river. When they travel to Greece, Zeus is referenced. Several references are made to Gandhi, who appears to be Sherman’s hero. In one scene, people are chanting “blood, blood.”

Other: Mr. Peabody mixes drinks for his guests. While in Egypt, 7 year old Penny is engaged to the child King Tut. When someone does something wrong, Bill Clinton says “I’ve done worse.” Mr. Peabody hypnotizes some of his guests. Sherman lies and is disobedient on several occasions. “I have to prevent him from touching himself” is said and can be construed to have a double meaning.

Positive morality: Mr. Peabody is a very good dad to Sherman. He lovingly cares for his son.

Overall, “Mr. Peabody and Sherman” is better than I expected. I had very low hopes for enjoying it. While it is not a blockbuster, I enjoyed most of the movie. There was too much potty humor for my liking, however, overall, the movie was entertaining.

I recommend this movie with caution. If your child is easily influenced by potty humor, and you don’t want them to go around repeating things like “You said boobie” or “King Tut’s name rhymes with butt,” then I would avoid this movie. However, the movie is overall suitable for most children.

Violence: Moderate / Profanity: Minor / Sex/Nudity: Mild

See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.

• Positive
• Negative
• Young people