Father and child sit together smiling while looking at a smart phone.

Want more recommendations for your family?

Sign up for our weekly newsletter for entertainment inspiration

Parents' Guide to

The Gruffalo

By Emily Ashby, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 3+

Favorite book adaptation promotes brains over brawn.

Movie G 2011 40 minutes
The Gruffalo Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

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

Community Reviews

age 4+

Based on 45 parent reviews

age 2+
Good Movie, My 2, 3, and 6 year old liked it, I could see why it could be scary but there is only minor violence, I'd say any kid who can handle mild scariness can handle this.

This title has:

Educational value
Great messages
Too much violence
1 person found this helpful.
age 2+

Beautiful animation of the book for young kids

A true to the book animation aimed at young children. The rhyming is lovely to listen to, and straight from the book. Very calm and delightful as an animation. I’ve read the book to my daughter since she was a baby and she watched this as a toddler and loved it. The gruffalo is a cultural icon in the UK, kids love him!
1 person found this helpful.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (45 ):
Kids say (8 ):

This enchanting adaptation is masterfully animated to reflect the book's original drawings and set to beautifully crafted music. It offers a great opportunity for parents to hit the couch with their kids and take in a truly wonderful story. Based on the award-winning children's book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, the show breathes life into these loved characters and teaches a lesson about not letting size intimidate you. The crafty mouse uses his smarts to escape the larger and more powerful animals, who fall for his tricks out of unfounded fear.

There are some perilous scenes when the mouse envisions his own death at the hands of the animals, but other than that, The Gruffalo is perfectly suited -- and very entertaining -- for kids of all ages.

Movie Details

Inclusion information powered by

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

See how we rate