Parents' Guide to

Smallfoot

By Sandie Angulo Chen, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 6+

Fun, feel-good animated musical offers positive messages.

Movie PG 2018 96 minutes
Smallfoot Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

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

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age 6+

Based on 59 parent reviews

mcoates04
mcoates04 Adult
January 19, 2021
age 2+

How Did The Official Common Sense Review Completely Miss The Mark?

Listen, I love most Disney films. I'm no super-conservative "worldly movie hater." I love silly cartoons. I was excited to watch a new movie with my 3 year old son, so I bought this on iTunes. The beginning of the movie establishes that there is a tribe of Yetis with one mantra -- you must follow a group of rules written on stones...or else be banished. (obvious parallel to the 10 Commandments) They then detail the rules on the stones...and every rule is completely silly and over-the-top. (They are clearly commenting on religion in general) The leader of the Yetis tries to discredit anyone who questions the rules and banishes if they don't agree to stop the questioning. How did Common Sense overlook this? As a side note, the songs are pretty terrible. But here's the main problem...the overall message of this movie isn't even hidden or gently implied in the slightest. They come right out at the beginning and let you know; Religion is bad, stupid, ridiculous...and it hampers a productive society. Everyone should break free from the constraints of religion in the name of progress and truth. Oof. How did you miss this Common Sense Media? It was truly...umm....common sense.
Revdpickersgill
Revdpickersgill Adult
September 20, 2019
age 4+

Very positive religious message from a Christian perspective

This movie has a strong positive and thought-provoking message, which is in harmony with a Christian religious perspective from a number of angles: - the main character challenges and breaks through religious authoritarianism. The religious powers and laws are put in place to protect ordinary people from persecution by outsiders. This seems to be a parallel to Jesus’ relationship with the Pharisees. - the main human character sacrifices himself, taking the place of one of the yetis and suffering to save him. - this act of self-sacrifice enables the walls to be broken down between people who had previously been enemies with one another - it brings peace. Other reviewers seem to have found in this movie an anti-religious message. While the message of the movie is pro-change and pro-disruption, it could not be said to be anti-Christian. In fact this would be a very good movie to show to teenagers to introduce them to the message or story of Jesus Christ. Also the songs are only so-so. It’s no Trolls on that front.
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What's the Story?

SMALLFOOT is an animated musical adventure that takes place high in the Himalayan mountains, where a community of yetis lives according to rules literally set into ancient stones. Migo (voiced by Channing Tatum) is prepared to follow in his father Dorgle's (Danny DeVito) footsteps as the yeti who hurls himself across a chasm every morning to ring a gong so that the "glowing snail in the sky" can wake up. But then he sees an airplane crash and comes face to face with a creature he thought was purely mythical: a "smallfoot" (human). When Migo tells his village about his discovery, the sage Stonekeeper (Common) insists that Migo is lying and exiles him. Later, Migo teams up with Meechee (Zendaya), the Stonekeeper's skeptical daughter, and a small band of smallfoot believers who also question the stones. Migo goes beneath the clouds that surround the yetis' mountaintop home and finally sees the human village in the valley underneath. There he crosses paths with Percy (James Corden), a wildlife reality show host so desperate for ratings that he's willing to ask his producer to dress up as a yeti for an episode. As Percy and Migo get to know each other (not verbally, because humans hear yeti speech as growling, and yetis hear human speech as gobbledygook), they realize they have more to fear from ignorance than from each other.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (59 ):
Kids say (35 ):

This star-studded animated adventure is a charming mix of positive messages, physical comedy, and a few catchy songs, all of which are sure to please young moviegoers. By switching up the Bigfoot legend to focus on yetis who are skeptical about humans, Smallfoot shows how dangerous it is to ignore reality, even for seemingly well-intentioned reasons. Tatum's voice is enthusiastic and upbeat, and Migo's earnest personality will appeal to both kids and adults. The father-son dynamic between Migo and Dorgle is tender and sweet, and -- although there's a bit of more complex backstory to the yetis' stone-based laws and the history of their community -- most of the plot is straightforward enough for even early elementary-schoolers to follow.

The movie's most entertaining sequences rely on old-school, laugh-out-loud sight gags and jokes. Migo and Percy can't communicate with words, but they grow to see each other not as harmful predators but as partners -- and even protective friends. Several of the songs are cute, but Zendaya's "Wonderful Life" is the most memorable. And Migo and Meechee's romance is sweet without being the central theme of the movie. While this isn't the kind of emotional, adult-skewing animated epic that's going to make grown-ups cry, it's a lot like Trolls: zippy and fun, with great messages.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about whether any parts of Smallfoot were scary. If so, why? How much scary stuff can young kids handle?

  • Why does Brenda tell Percy that he's lost his integrity? What does "integrity" mean? Does Percy turn things around over the course of the movie? How?

  • What does it mean to be curious? Is Meechee curious? How do you know? How did she learn the things that she wanted to know? How do you learn new things?

  • The Stonekeeper argues that there can be such a thing as "good lies." Do you agree? Why or why not? Why is it problematic to push down your questions, as the yetis are often encouraged to do?

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