Wizard of Oz now rated PG

[Dacey]

Because...the MPAA had nothing better to do, apparently?

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/8655 ... tml?pg=all

[Vernadyn]

One could write a book on the numerous imponderables of the US rating system, and I suspect someone has. Ever since they started listing reasons for the ratings, my favorite frequently used one is "for thematic elements." Can't get much more vague than that. My favorite unique one is for Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, "for a smoking caterpillar."

One older G-rated film that I think deserves a PG more than Wizard of Oz is Planet of the Apes. 2001: A Space Odyssey is another contender.

[EricJ]

It could be that the board simply felt “The Wizard of Oz” is scarier in 3-D. The wicked witch in your face might be something board members worried would startle the little ones.

Umm, yeah. That, and the fact that she openly threatens Dorothy with death several times (when you can't even say "kill" on US kids' TV).

As for being "The end of the G rating?", that would be somebody having a slow news day.
G's taken a marketing hit, but most of the Pixar movies--Monsters Inc., Monsters U, Cars 1&2, even Nemo with the attack at the beginning that scared half the little kids out of the theater--still proudly bear a G, except for The Incredibles having a nasty villain and henchmen with guns.
It was looser and more mainstream in the Apes/2001 60's, when G only meant a movie that wasn't GP, which was for mild horror films or adult romances.

[droosan]

[Bill1978]

I think this is a result of Toy Story 3. There were a lot of complaints about the G rating for that to numerous classification boards around the world. And everything I have read has the board admitting they got that one wrong and that perhaps it is better to err on the side of caution. Which means really that unless it's fluffy bunnies jumping through daffodils, I imagine not many theatrical movies will be given a G. In fact, it's getting even harder to get an adult movie that is PG. As a person who needs to be mindful of a toddler, that may be sitting through a DVD, I have began to notice than many many comedies are now sitting at MA or even an M.

I remember reading once that G rating was a kiss of death for a movie in appealing to adults. These days it seems the same applies to PG.

I'm surprised though that Wizard of Oz was reclassified. I thought I read somewhere that once a movie was classified, if it got re-released into cinemas it was up to the studio for if they wanted to re-submit it for classification. I think I read this around the time Gone With the Wind went back into the cinemas in the late 90s. In theory apparently that movie should be M today, but the studio decided it would reach more people by keeping the original rating (G????) and so didn't re-submit it. But they could do that because no new scenes were added, new scenes = resubmit. That's why in Australia when Beauty And The Beast was released as a special edition it's rating went from the 90s G rating to the 00s rating of G with the disclaimer Some Scenes may frighten very young children.

I recently saw Juno and had to laugh when I saw its rating and warning. M for Teenage Pregnancy Themes. that was it. Nothing at all about the coarse language. LOL

[Ben]

Haha, Droo...but technically, her house lands accidentally on the first person she "meets", and they don't then set out to kill again: it's only the Witch's broomstick that they are after, her death is another accident (call it collateral damage)!

What might have been cool was if they'd put the Jitterbug scenes back in to offer something like a special edition for the 3D version: the new rating otherwise makes no sense, especially as without the newly added D this is then the good old same G rated film we've all already seen and own...

[ohmahaaha]

Good grief!! Soon they'll be rating "The Three Stooges" R for the violence. As with most things in America, this is getting out of hand.

[Scar]

I wonder if the MPAA would re-rate Return to Oz PG13 since unlike The Wizard of Oz, that film is actually terrifying, even for some adults.