Parents need to know that there is little to offend or scare in this fluffy film that harks back to the low-concept, unadorned, and mild children's comedies of the '60s and '70s. There's a lot of cartoonish violence and the firing of a rifle-type tranquilizer dart. Sensitive kids might be concerned that Dunston, the orangutan, will be killed but the gun-wielding animal control specialist, but he's not a very threatening figure. The words "hell" and "holy s--t" are each used once and stand out as unnecessary swearing. There are a few depictions of hot-to-trot older women that are executed with the utmost silliness -- mistaking the ape for her handsome masseuse, a woman is turned on by some tushy-slapping -- the randy behavior will go over the heads of young kids.

Families can talk about animal rights or simply the idea of training animals to do our bidding or entertain. Parents with younger children may simply want to discuss the similarities between humans and apes and the emotions that Dunston displays -- missing his brother, bonding with the young boy, and turning against his jewel thief owner.