Common Sense Media Review
Stylish 3-D computer animation, good characters.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 6+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius
Parent and Kid Reviews
Based on 12 parent reviews
Based on 18 kid reviews
Kids say the movie combines humor, creative animation, and positive messages about family and teamwork, making it enjoyable for audiences of all ages. While some critiques mention its immaturity and influences from other works, it remains a nostalgic favorite packed with entertaining characters and science-themed adventures.
- humor and creativity
- positive messages
- family entertainment
- nostalgic favorite
- animated fun
Summarized with AI
Summarized with AI
What's the Story?
When other kids bring toys for show and tell, Jimmy Neutron brings a shrinking ray. The kids at school laugh at him and tease him about being short, except for his friends, Carl (overweight and asthmatic) and Shane (a passionate fan of some action heroes called Ultra Lords). When their parents forbid them to go to a theme park on a school night, Jimmy and his friends sneak out. The next morning, their parents are gone, leaving mysteriously identical notes saying that they've gone to Florida. At first, the kids are thrilled. But after a day of doing everything they are not allowed to do, the kids are scared and lonely. Some slimy green aliens encased in egg-shaped flying capsules kidnap all the kids' parents so they can feed them to a monster shaped like a chicken with three eyes. Jimmy builds rockets to take them all into space, rescues the kids when they are captured and put in the dungeon, frees the parents, and arranges their escape.
Is It Any Good?
Style and substance are well-suited in JIMMY NEUTRON: BOY GENIUS. It's a 3-D computer animated story about a sixth grade whiz kid who can build a satellite communications system out of a toaster and create a robot dog that when told to "play dead" blows itself up and then puts itself back together. Instead of going for the more lifelike textures of the Pixar movies, this has the intentionally stylized feel of a computer game. That fits the story's tone, somewhere between the "Tomorrowland" 1950s ideal of the future and today's world of cell phones and headphones. Jimmy's spaceship and the alien planet owe more to the 1930s film serial Flash Gordon and the 1960s TV show The Jetsons than to contemporary rocket science and astronomy.
The music, too, has songs that will be familiar to parents (the Ramones and the Go-Go's) along with teen dreams (*NSYNC, the Backstreet Boys, and Aaron Carter). The movie drags a bit in the middle, but most kids, especially those age 8-12, will find it fun.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about why kids make fun of one another for being different. Have you ever been teased for being smart?
How does this movie compare with The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron TV show?
If the parents in your family disappeared for a day, which rules would you break?
Movie Details
- In theaters : December 21, 2001
- On DVD or streaming : July 2, 2002
- Cast : Debi Derryberry , Mark DeCarlo , Megan Cavanagh
- Director : John A. Davis
- Inclusion Information : Latino Movie Actor(s)
- Studio : Paramount Pictures
- Genre : Family and Kids
- Topics : Adventures , Friendship , Robots , STEM
- Run time : 82 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- Last updated : October 9, 2025
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