The REAL Reason Disney Hasn’t Made a G-Rated Film Since 2019

A few decades (or even a few years) ago, everything produced by Disney were G-rated movies.

G-Ratings

G-rated is defined by the MPA (Motion Picture Association) as being appropriate for a general audience. It was established in 1968 as a guide to moviegoers, allowing the public to know what to expect from certain films.

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For almost all of time, a G-rated movie was a given to almost any Disney animation such as Peter Pan (1953), Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Sleeping Beauty (1959), Toy Story (1995), The Lion King (1994), and more.

It’s not unusual to look at the Disney movie library on Disney+ and note that nearly all of its movies for its first 90 years are rated safe for a general audience (including movies that Disney has since labeled as problematic).

However, there has not been a Disney G-rated movie since Toy Story 4 in 2019. Shocked? We were.

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The Vanishing G-Rated Movies

But is this because Disney is creating more objectionable content, or have the standards and ratings changed? This year, all of Disney’s (and Pixar’s) films have received a PG (Parental Guidance suggested) rating. This includes Elemental (2023), Wish (2023), and The Little Mermaid (2023).

According to FilmRatings.com, there are zero G-rated feature-length theatrically-released films from ANY major studio this year: The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023) and Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie (2023) also received PG-ratings.

But why?

Part of it is the perception that G-rated movies are too kiddy and boring to appeal to parents. A G-rating used to just mean it wasn’t offensive when it came to sex, violence, and language. But over time, it now means “kids-only”.

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Since PG films warn parents that “some material” may not be suitable for young children, it also implies some material may interest the parents.

Shrek and The Incredibles

Some people have cited this trend as beginning with Shrek in 2001. It was a family-friendly film with enough “adult jokes” to warrant a PG rating but still vanilla enough to appeal to kids and families.

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Similarly, people have also cited The Incredibles (2004).

“John loved it and wanted Brad to be at the studio,” Writer/director Lee Unkrich said, referring to longtime Pixar boss John Lasseter. “So, we made The Incredibles. But I think all of us understood from day one that that was not going to be a G-rated film, because it was going to have so much intense action and explosions, and the kinds of things we hadn’t had in a Pixar film up to that point.”

“Everyone just held hands and said, ‘Alright, we’re gonna have the first PG-rated Pixar film.’ Of course, it was huge and popular, and it didn’t seem to matter that it wasn’t rated G.”

Unkrich also said, “A Disney executive, who I’d rather not name, said, ‘Well, PG is the new G.’ That was a phrase I subsequently heard a lot. There was a point of transition where people just accepted that PG (replaced G). I don’t think parents, except maybe (those with) little kids, looked at a PG rating and gave it a second thought. I think they just thought, ‘If it’s not R, then it’s OK for my kids.”

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So why hasn’t Disney made a G-film lately? It seems to be a bit of a mixed-bag answer. They don’t need to, and they don’t want to.

And moviegoers don’t seem to mind. It seems audiences not only expect PG but prefer it.