UglyDolls

A notch more intense than parents might expect: multiple scenes in which characters fall or are thrown from great heights and fall down dark, scary holes. UglyDolls are frequently threatened with being "recycled"; in one harrowing scene, they're thrown into recycling chute, almost shredded by sharp metal teeth of loud, red, glowing monster machine. Dolls battle in hand-to-hand combat. Dolls go up against potentially scary robot dog (which grabs one, carries him away, possibly to his doom), a big vacuum (which sucks one doll up), and a looming robot baby. Many characters are kidnapped and transported in big sacks through threatening tunnel.

Ugly Dog is interested in female dolls and says things like "Feel the energy between us?" At one point, he whips out a table and some sparkling wine and invites a female doll to join him.

Infrequent use of words including "butt," "oh ehm gosh," "oh my doll," "imbecile," "sycophant," and hurtful phrases like "you shouldn't even exist" and "get lost."

At one point, a male character whips out a bottle of sparkling wine as a romantic gesture to a female character.

Parents need to know that UglyDolls is about a group of plushy toys who learn they're worthy of love despite their unconventional looks. While that core message is undeniably positive, other messages weaken its impact, including catchy songs that tell listeners they're unworthy if they're "ugly" and that it's important to follow conventional beauty standards if you want others to like you. Adults are likely to understand that these lyrics aren't intended to be taken at face value, but that's much less certain for kids. Happily, other songs have more positive messages -- including "your differences make you special." And characters demonstrate perseverance and teamwork in pursuing their goals. There's a bit more scary stuff and violence than parents might expect, including hand-to-hand combat (no blood or injuries); several scenes in which characters fall or are pushed from great heights or down dark, scary holes; and a very frightening bit in which dolls are threatened with being "recycled" and are almost shredded by a big, loud, monster-like machine with sharp metal teeth. There's no sex or romance, but a male character offers his crush a bottle of sparkling wine and asks whether she can feel the "energy" between them. A few characters are stereotyped as "mean girls"; they do the bad guy's dirty work and talk in a clichéd way about boys, hairstyles, and makeup. Other characters are more sympathetic, including a doll who's dreaming of having a child to love her and a girl who's been trying to appear perfect and learns that she's lovable even if she's not. Kelly Clarkson and Nick Jonas co-star.

To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails.