Parents' Guide to

The Adventures of Petey and Friends

By Barbara Shulgasser-Parker, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 5+

Repetitive Planes wannabe is dull and dreadful.

Movie NR 2014 72 minutes
The Adventures of Petey and Friends Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

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

  • The Adventures of Petey and Friends Movie: Scene #1
  • The Adventures of Petey and Friends Movie: Scene #2
  • The Adventures of Petey and Friends Movie: Scene #3

Community Reviews

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age 7+

Based on 4 parent reviews

LucasOliveira322
LucasOliveira322 Adult
May 14, 2021
age 18+

I Love This Petey & Friends' Adventures Movie!

I Give 5 Stars!

This title has:

Great messages
Great role models
Too much violence
Too much sex
Too much swearing
Too much consumerism
Too much drinking/drugs/smoking
Evan V.
Evan V. Parent
February 19, 2018
age 4+

Senseless, Awful, Inapprpriate

Perhaps the worst “kids” cartoon I’ve ever seen. The animation is poor, the plot is non-existent, the writing is awful, and the messages are convoluted and mostly inappropriate for younger kids. The animation is dull and unrealistic so only smaller kids would enjoy it, but the “plot” is inapprpriate for younger audiences. The main character, “Petey,” is arrogant, selfish, and unwilling to learn, change, or get help from others. The helicopter, Kylie, has a “crush” on Petey which the other planes tease her about, but she “believes” in Petey despite his lack of respect for her or anyone else. The other planes are unwilling to help and openly express their disgust for Petey, which Petey openly returns. Then “rumors” spread that Petey killed his flight buddy, Drake, when Petey changes their flight plan and ran he and Drake right into a storm. Then there’s a 3 minute montage from Kylie’s POV of all the “good” times she’s had with Petey after Petey goes missing when he disobeys orders and goes by himself to search for Drake. Then, in the end, despite all the poor choices and continued arrogance, Petey is presented as the hero! It’s inexplicable. The film is bad. Awful, terrible, bad. The dialogue is unbearable it’s so poorly written. It’s even completely illogical at times as the planes try to convince each other that either Petey or Larry is the best plane. Arguments are settled via contests, or competition, rather than cooperation and teamwork. Avoid this movie at all costs!
See all 4 parent reviews

What's the Story?

In THE ADVENTURES OF PETEY AND FRIENDS, Drake, a jet carrying top-secret cargo, crashes in the desert near a local air force base. The downed plane's hotshot partner, Petey, finds the base and instantly rubs the planes there the wrong way with his irritating arrogance and snobbery. "I'm so great," he likes to say. "I'm the best. Larry," he tells another plane, "you're nothing to me." Headquarters assigns the base to recover the lost secret cargo. Petey wants to accomplish the mission, but the base's commanding Control Tower forces him to compete with Larry, another quick plane, for the assignment. Petey loses. Storms complicate matters and eventually all the base's aircraft team up to help bring the box back and save an injured Petey.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (4):
Kids say (2):

The one-note plot barely makes sense. The dialogue is dubbed by English-speaking actors intoning hilariously robotic, non-idiomatic English, using constant, seemingly inadvertent repetition as a substitute for making characters' actions comprehensible. Kiley tells both Petey and his rival Larry that they are each "the best in our base." Grown-ups may think this sounds a little like a parody of a bad translation from Chinese. "He is not even a member of our base," a senior plane cautions when speaking of Petey. "But we can make him a member of us," Kiley replies to him. "General, you're great! You are so great!" And then, "Petey, you are great! I know you can surely make it!" And, "Our base is awarded a first-class award!" The script goes on and on obliviously in that vein. Perhaps this is best suited to preschoolers who are used to the kind of repetition, which helps them learn language. Everyone else should steer clear.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about how confusing this movie is. What could the filmmakers have done to improve the plot and dialogue?

  • One character calls at least three planes "the best" flyers of all the planes on the base. Do you think the filmmakers made a mistake, or do you think the character was meant to be a liar?

  • The movie suggests that when planes work together as a team they do better. What do you like to do as part of a team?

Movie Details

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