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Parents' Guide to

Mr. Peabody & Sherman

By S. Jhoanna Robledo, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 6+

Punny time-travel adventure with lots of comic peril.

Movie PG 2014 92 minutes
Mr. Peabody & Sherman Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

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age 7+

Based on 27 parent reviews

the kittymeows
the kittymeows Adult
June 13, 2023
age 5+

meow

PUNS. AMAZING. And great way to teach History. Just don't bother about Penny, coz' she's nicer at the end. Cute doggie too. And the puns...unexpected. Too Great. This is The Best (and Only) time travel movie I've watched.

This title has:

Educational value
Great messages
Great role models
Lake L.
Lake L. Adult
February 17, 2023
age 18+

Promotes Child Abuse

I grew up watching the original Peabody Cartoons on Rocky & Bullwinkle. Here it seems that they've ruined the character. The movie teaches kids to lie and to disobey their parents, and also has horrible messages about Adoption. The social worker in the film is Incredibly Abusive as well, and violently grabs Sherman in several scenes. By far the worst message this film offers is the fact you can justify things like biting people if you stand up for yourself, which is just terrible. You'd be better off with Lilo & Stitch, as it portrays Orphaned Life and Social Workers in a much more positive light.

This title has:

Too much violence
Too much swearing
See all 27 parent reviews

What's the Story?

MR. PEABODY & SHERMAN follows the exploits of genius talking dog Mr. Peabody (Ty Burrell), a titan of industry, inventor, musician and scientist whose greatest accomplishments are raising his 7-year-old adopted son -- Sherman (Max Charles) -- and creating a time machine he calls the WABAC. After Sherman gets into a school fight with his bullying classmate Penny (Ariel Winter), Mr. Peabody invites her family over to patch things over, and the kids end up using the WABAC. The unsupervised and unscheduled time travel leads to disastrous and hilarious results that only Mr. Peabody can fix.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (27 ):
Kids say (57 ):

Mr. Peabody & Sherman is an uneven production of highly entertaining visuals and semi-educational historical tidbits mixed with so-bad-they're-occasionally-funny puns and physical comedy. There are jokes (and all the puns) obviously aimed at parents, and sight gags clearly targeted at the kids. But not all of the characters are easy to root for or even like. Penny (voiced by Modern Family star Winter) is a highly unlikable character for most of the movie, during which she's petulant, bullying, and selfish -- demanding to do risky and dangerous deeds. Eventually she redeems herself, but she's too much of a mean girl for little kids to understand.

The father-son angle, however, is quite sweet. Mr. Peabody may be a genius dog that can master everything from cooking to rocket science to all forms of music, but parenting is the one thing he can't just learn out of a book. The various ways that Mr. Peabody and Sherman protect, defend, and teach each other is a good lesson in what's important about parent-child relationships (trust, communication, unconditional love). Baby boomer-aged adults will enjoy revisiting their childhood with this adaptation, but even those completely unfamiliar with the source material will find the story amusing if not remarkable.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about why talking animals are so popular in family movies. How is this one different than other animated movies featuring dogs and kids?

  • Discuss the various historical figures Sherman, Penny, and Mr. Peabody encounter. Which people or events do you want to learn more about after seeing the movie?

  • What do you think about Penny's behavior? Is she a good role model for how to act toward a classmate? How does she change throughout the movie?

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