What Is The Age Rating For Lightyear? Parents Guide
To Infinity- and Beyond! Before he was a toy falling with style, Buzz Lightyear was the star of a movie that young Andy watched. And Lightyear is that movie. Is Lightyear as kid-friendly and safe as the Toy Story movies? What is the age rating for Lightyear? This parents guide will help you decide if kids in your household can see the Buzz Lightyear origin story.
Table of Contents
About Lightyear
A sci-fi action-adventure and the definitive origin story of Buzz Lightyear, the hero who inspired the toy, “Lightyear” follows the legendary Space Ranger after he’s marooned on a hostile planet 4.2 million light-years from Earth alongside his commander and their crew.
As Buzz tries to find a way back home through space and time, he’s joined by a group of ambitious recruits and his charming robot companion cat, Sox.
Complicating matters and threatening the mission is the arrival of Zurg, an imposing presence with an army of ruthless robots and a mysterious agenda.
Watch the Lightyear trailer.
Read the best movie quotes from Lightyear.
Get the free Lightyear activity pack and coloring sheets here.
What Is The Age Rating For Lightyear? Parents Guide
To clear things up: this Buzz Lightyear is NOT a toy.
He’s the movie character that the ‘Toy Story’ Buzz is based upon. That’s right: Pixar is going a bit meta with this one.
This parents guide for Lightyear will help you decide if your family can handle the gore, violence, language, sex, romance, and nudity. We’ll also give Lightyear age rating and recommendations.
Language In Lightyear
Pixar skates clean through this one!
There’s no concerning language in this movie, so you won’t have to worry about putting the “earmuffs” on your littles.
Age Rating For Lightyear: Is It Safe For Kids When It Comes To Sex, Romance, and Nudity?
Lightyear has no sex or nudity in it- which, obviously, is on-brand for a Disney Pixar movie.
But what about that kiss you’ve heard so much about?
There is a romance and marriage between two women that plays out largely off-screen with one shared peck of a kiss on-screen.
If you have heard about this and worried that Pixar was becoming overly sexual: we assure you that the kiss is a blink and you’d miss it moment. It is sweet and appropriate.
Is Lightyear Ok For Kids: Mature Topics
Lightyear doesn’t show characters smoking, drinking, or engaging in concerning behaviors.
There is one main character’s death that, in the ways only Pixar can, may make you shed a tear. It’s not a traumatic death, but there is a death in the storyline that does have an emotional impact.
Lightyear plays heavily on an “end of the world as we know it” theme that could be concerning to some children.
Buzz’s mission goes horribly wrong and the entire movie is based on trying to correct that mistake over and over again.
If your child is a deep thinker, this might bring up some concerns and questions after the movie.
Violence and Gore: Is Lightyear Too Scary For Kids Under 8?
We were a little surprised by how intense some moments were in Lightyear.
While the gore is minimal (think robots getting their parts blown apart) there was some cartoon violence.
Buzz gets plenty of use from his arm space laser and other weapons and there are some moments of peril for many characters, including a child.
Hand-to-hand combat, explosions, and laser guns are used throughout the movie.
Lightyear Age Rating: What Ages Can Really Watch This One?
Lightyear is rated PG for action and peril.
As always, you know your kids best!
We think most kids could handle watching Lightyear and come away entertained. They’ll also probably fall in love with Sox the cat!
But the movie is over 1 hour and 30 minutes long- and frankly felt even longer- so younger kids may have a problem staying engaged with this one.
We think kids 4 and up are likely to enjoy Lightyear, with the ones under this age possibly needing extra snacks to keep them in their seats.
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Patty Holliday is a parent movie reviewer, writer, and podcaster living in the Washington, DC area. Her goal is to bridge the gap between casual fandom and picky critic with parent movie and television reviews. As a lifelong fangirl and pop culture connoisseur, she’s been creating online since 2009. You can find her work at No-Guilt Disney.com, No-Guilt Fangirl.com, No-Guilt Life, and as host of the top-rated No-Guilt Disney Podcast.
Broken face Sox ” Terminator ” looks can scare bit children, especially when the character is so sweet from the beginning.
The reason this movie is rated PG is because Disney hijacked a children’s movie to make a political statement. Shame on you Disney! You can make all the political statements you want, but it is reprehensible to use use a children’s movie to do that.
Curious- what political statement do you think they are making?