The Joy In Revisiting Movies Part 2: Adult Jokes For Kids

 

Previously, we talked about why foreshadowing can be a great thing about revisiting movies, especially our childhood movies, but there’s a lot more to revisiting than just catching clues we missed before, this one’s also about revisiting them as we grow up, while the children can giggle at the humour of these films, whether it was slapstick gag or maybe the characters doing or saying something funny, adults might also get a good laugh at them but they could also get a good laugh at some jokes that will fly over the children’s heads, but it’s never done to make the movie inappropriate but just to give the adults something to enjoy so everyone can enjoy the movie. A lot of the movies I watched growing up did have a lot of grown up humour that took me years to understand and now whenever I revisit them, I tend to break into giggles now that I understand them better, and here are some great examples to show that these movies are not just for kids.

 

DreamWorks

DreamWorks seems to be masters at telling adult jokes, probably because they are known for releasing movies with a dark and cynical edge, and when done well they can give you a good laugh. Here are a couple of examples of adult jokes in the movies with the kid fishing on the moon.

Shrek is a great example of adult jokes, since it was meant to be a fairytale parody and a middle finger to Disney, the humour was not quite exactly kid friendly and some were quite dirty. One example would have to be the scene when Shrek and Donkey first arrive at Duloc, and when they see Farquaad’s castle, Shrek jokes by asking if Farquaad is compensating for something and laughs about it, as kids we probably think he’s joking about Farquaad’s height, but as we get older, we realize he hasn’t met him yet and the joke was quite dirty, no wonder Shrek laughed. Plus, there are a couple of times when some words in lyrics are replaced to keep it PG like in the Duloc song or Robin Hood’s song, you’ll have to listen to them to see what I mean. Even Shrek 2 was not hesitant to give some subtle adult humour, the biggest one would have to be, the Knights scene. In a parody of Cops, we see knights arresting Shrek, Donkey and Puss, when one catches Puss, he finds some catnip, which is the equivalent of cops finding drugs. This is the “brief substance reference” that MPAA referred to as one of the reasons the movie was rated PG,  as kids we are completely clueless about drugs, except for prescribed medicine we take when we’re sick, but adults can for sure get a good chuckle out of it. 

Another great example of adults jokes from DreamWorks would have to be the Madagascar series, particularly the first movie, when we get older, we realize that Marty has a potty mouth and two scenes show it. the first time is when Melman gifts Marty a thermometer, but it’s only once the latter puts it in his mouth, does Melman reveal that it was actually a rectal thermometer. Not only does Marty immediately spit it out but he also says, “Mother-“ when reading quotes it adds an f to the word showing he was going to say something naughty when he realized that, but thankfully he spat it out before he could go any further with that. Of course, the most famous naughty joke would be where Marty actually says a swear word by actually using an acronym, when Marty washes up on shore thanks to some dolphins, he and Alex start running towards each other and are so happy but then Alex gets angry and Marty runs off, but not before saying, “Oh Sugar Honey Ice Tea!” I can imagine the adults laughing in the cinema, that is a clever way to swear without actually saying the word, I remember doing research on the movie when I was a teenager and once I realized what the joke meant I was jaw dropped and now that I’m older I just laugh my butt off every time, I am hoping to hear laughter in the cinema when or if I get a chance to see Madagascar 1 on the big screen. Plus, there’s one scene in the movie that used to make me laugh as a kid, and that scene is when Alex gets tranquilized and he has a strange vision with The Candy Man playing before Lady Liberty Gloria knocks him out, the part where he has the same vision but sped up always made me laugh as a kid, now I realize it’s basically the effect of drugs, like what one sees when they smoke or drink or even if they get laughing gas at the dentist, it’s quite trippy, yet the sped up Candy Man scene still gets a good giggle out of me.

 

Disney/Pixar

Pixar was also no stranger to adult jokes, while they’re more lighthearted than DreamWorks, though they do have their share of darkness, they knew exactly what jokes to pull that wouldn’t make the movie inappropriate for kids but something else for the adults to enjoy along with the meaningful storytelling Pixar has to offer.

 

The Toy Story movies were not hesitant to add certain jokes, and my goodness were they funny. A few jokes in the first movie included, Potato Head referring to Slinky as a kiss-ass, by taking his lips out and kissing his own bottom, you could even see Mr. Spell laughing, as a kid I was completely clueless and now I just break into giggles. Or, when Bo asks Woody if she can get someone else to watch the sheep tonight and Woody giggles, as kids we think that’s what she literally meant but now when I see it I go, “Ooh! Naughty, naughty!” oh man I miss being a naïve little girl sometimes, back when sex was out of our heads. One of my favourite jokes in the series would have to be in Toy Story 2, near the end when Buzz tries to talk to Jessie, and he’s very shy, once Jessie uses the car ramp to let Buster out, Buzz is so impressed that his wings pop out, I can imagine the parents just losing it, whenever I watch it I like to say, “Schwing!” it’s so amazing how this moment I didn’t get as a kid makes me laugh now, the only time I probably laughed at that scene as a kid, was probably when that gag was used in the bloopers. I dare you to see the words, “This Space For Rent” on Buzz’s wings and not to laugh.  

 

Finding Nemo also really succeeded in using adult humor effectively which is especially more amazing since it is a movie that has a lesson more for parents rather than children. One of the best jokes in the movie would have to be the scene where the tank got dirty because Nemo jammed the filter, Gurgle, who’s a germaphobe is really disgusted by the whole thing and once Bloat eats some of it and burps on him Gurgle says, “Don’t you people realize we’re swimming in our own…?” but before he can go further with that Peach immediately shushes him, I don’t think I need to say what Gurgle was about to say, it is really funny, heck, whenever I watch it I quote the Sugar Honey Ice Tea joke from Madagascar just because it’s funny.

There are a couple of dirty jokes in The Incredibles as well, this is a small one but it also is quite funny, during the montage where Bob is getting into shape, spending time with the kids and sometimes making out with his wife, there’s a brief bit where he walks by Helen and she has a rather strange look on her face and then in the next shot, Bob makes a surprised expression. It takes growing older to realize that the were doing something that some couples tend to do to each other’s bottoms, oh boy. Plus, when Syndrome captures the family in the jungle, not only is he amazed to see that Mr. Incredible married Elastigirl, but when he sees Violet and Dash, he says that they got busy, I’m sure the parents watching might’ve chuckled quietly at this, knowing that’s what couples can do to start a family, it’s pure gold!

Lion King

Disney’s classic, The Lion King is an emotional and visually appealing movie with classic songs, and characters you can love or love to hate. The movie could also be very funny whether it’s the hyenas or Ed’s laugh or the antics of Timon and Pumbaa, and sometimes it could be dirty, here are two examples. When adult Nala is chasing Pumbaa and he’s stuck, as Timon is trying to push him out, he says, “Why do I always have to save your..?” but before he finishes, he screams, “AHHHHHHHH!” I don’t think I need to say what he was about to say, but let’s just say it was quite dirty. Plus, in the Can You Feel The Love Tonight? scene, after adult Simba and Nala tackle each other, Nala licks Simba on the face and she gives this rather suggestive look, let’s just say, that’s probably how Kiara was made! A good way to add humor to such a heartfelt scene, yet it never loses heart.

 

Others

It can also be quite funny whenever other movies from different companies can make suggestive humour. Take Blue Sky’s underrated movie, Robots. At the beginning, when Herb runs home excited to be a dad, his wife tells him he missed the delivery, but assures him that making the baby’s the fun part, as kids we think she’s talking about literally making the baby since she was holding a box that says, “Build A Baby” but adults know exactly what she really means with the sexy saxophone, knowing this now has me in stitches, but that’s not all. After making their baby son Rodney, the happy couple see this “extra piece,” and Herb tries to confirm if they wanted a boy, and then hammers that unseen extra part, if the audience wasn’t howling with laughter at the previous joke, they were probably in stitches over that one, let’s just hope the kids didn’t ask their parents what was going on!

Another one I could think of would be the Cheaper By The Dozen movies, we all would know it’s about a family of 12 children. The first movie really puts a lot of emphasis on this fact, seeing how the mom, Kate Baker is writing a book about how to raise 12 children, (something Amy Costello of Supernanny fame could’ve used when she desired to have 12 kids but never took responsibility, and made her 3 older kids responsible for their younger siblings), when she’s interviewed by Regis and Kelly they ask her if she had them conventionally, and she said the kids walked out after the 6^th one, even in the beginning where she narrates about how she met Tom and the different kids they had over the years, it’s only when they mention how they had their last 3 kids, they went to a party and had a few too many beers and then they had their son Mike, you even see the couple cuddling together under a blanket, a rather interesting way to show how babies are made, but that’s not it. they mention that Tom got a vasectomy, he ended up passing out upon seeing the scalpel and he missed information that the procedure would become effective in a few weeks, which resulted in them having twins, going from 10 to 12 kids, I saw  this movie when I was younger and those parts slipped out of my mind because I was too young and naïve to know about how babies are made, I didn’t even hit womanhood until a few years later (a part of me imagines if my mom saw me watching that part, (along with that time she took me to see Shrek The Third and Donkey asks Puss how it does happen), she just sees her innocent and naïve daughter watching that and knows in a few years, she will have to have the inevitable talk), and now that I’m older, I find it quite amusing and brave to talk about those things in a family movie. The sequel even gives a couple more hints, like when Tom and Kate are looking at the family album and think about their happy times at their cottage, she mentions them having alone time, and they point at the picture, the photo isn’t seen but it’s safe to assume that it was quite naughty, plus, after that scene, when they tell the kids about the cottage, their youngest sons, the twins, Nigel and Kyle point out that the name of the cottage is Lake Winnetka, which happen to be their middle names, and when they question it, their father tells them that the reason is that they were conceived in that house, and when they ask that means, Jessica (she along with her fraternal twin sister Kim are like the brainiacs), is about to answer but her mother interrupts her saying that is a conversation they’ll have when everyone can understand, I can imagine the kids’ eyebrows raising but the parents were for sure chuckling, funny enough I remember rewatching this on Mother’s Day in 2011, a couple of days earlier I had become a “red panda” and had the talk with my mom, oh boy! This movie is a family film but did a fine job tackling adult subjects that strayed from being too inappropriate yet still was a good bonus for the parents.

Another movie I can think of is Paranorman, as Laika’s second movie, the company had a very nice story about a boy who has a gift of speaking to the dead and it’s the night of the witch’s ghost’s awakening, and the only way to get her to not haunt the town, is for someone to read a story to the witch to put her to sleep and not go on a rampage, only for viewers to be surprised to learn that the witch is actually a little girl who was executed for witchcraft and she took out all her pain and anger on the world, until Norman gives her the compassion she truly needed so she could rest in peace, this is quite a dark story for a family movie, not only that, but it also can be quite naughty too. Some of the jokes could also be quite naughty, like at the beginning when Norman’s mother asks him what he was watching on televison, his answer was sex and violence, wowie, plus when his great uncle Prenderghast hisses to Norman, this kid who wants to be his friend, Neil says, that the shadow just, “pssst” at them, when it sounded like a certain word that can mean angry, or this moment where Prenderghast tells Norman to swear, he asks if he means the F word, wow, takes a lot of guts to use that, just make sure the kids don’t ask what he meant or else it could be a DW bleep moment. However, the most famous joke in the movie would have to be near the ending, when Norman’s older sister asks Neil’s older brother Mitch if he wants to go to a movie with her, which he agrees to while getting her name wrong and then mentions that he has a boyfriend, disappointing Courtney, not only does it break the teenage boy and girl stereotype becoming a couple, but also showing how that gay people are not really weird, they’re just people like us and should not be treated like otherwise. Before I get to the next one, I can’t not mention this one joke from Paranorman, at the scene where Courtney orders the townsfolk not to hurt Norman, she, and the others hold hands to give a pep speech, Noman’s bully Alvin touches something much to her annoyance as she squeals, she tells Alvin to hold her hand, it seems that director Sam Fell has a thing for guys touching a woman’s butt, since his first movie Flushed Away has a similar gag, though that was a mistake in the scene it involves a pocket (thank goodness I didn’t ask my mom what happened, that would’ve been quite the conversation  between a mom and her second grade daughter).

One more I can think of is one of my favourite movies, School Of Rock! Now this is technically not a family movie, it’s rated PG-13, but there are folks that saw it as kids and quite enjoyed it, I saw it when I was 13 along with a few 9-year-old kids, but we all enjoyed the movie so much, and it grew as I got older. There is one joke in this movie that I didn’t get at the time but now I both wince and break into laughter at the same time. When Dewey finds out that Patty called the police to report him for impersonating Ned, Dewey admits to who he really is and tells the parents that he had been touched by their kids and he believes he’s touched them, this leads to an awkward silence, and the parents have horrified and disgusted expressions and Dewey realizes he screwed up big time and runs off! As kids or maybe teenagers we might’ve thought they were shocked he was an imposter but as we grew up, we realized they thought he was a creep, we know what Dewey really meant but those weren’t the right words to use, I’ll never forget seeing it in cinemas last year and hearing laughter once that line was said, pure comedy gold, you can always count on Jack Black to make a line funny!

It is good to have adult jokes but you must be careful, if they’re used wrongly, they can make the movie feel less like a kids movie and more for adults, which is confusing. The Cat In The Hat is the perfect example of that, there are way too many dirty jokes, like the Cat seeing a naked picture of the kids’ mom (thankfully not seen but still), calling the garden hoe dirty, the cat nearly swearing while it’s bleeped out, trying to explain sex and even using acronyms to make a curse word, which Madagascar did 100 times better, my goodness, this is too much like a Dr. Seuss parody that completely disrespects the source material, a book that might’ve helped children learn how to read, no wonder his now deceased widow forbade any more live action adaptations of her late husband’s work. If you want to add adult jokes to a family movie, do not use the Cat In The Hat as an example and use the movies I mentioned above as an example.

Whenever a family movie can be made just for kids, it can really drag because it can lead to the belief that children are stupid and don’t deserve great entertainment that is as good as anything we adults can enjoy, but a lot of filmmakers, at least for the most part know not to fall into this trap and are sure to add jokes to their films that are not exactly kid friendly, but still good enough to keep the adults entertained and truly make it a family movie, something kids and adults can enjoy together, it can live up to Walt Disney said about adults being kids grown up and being able to catch the jokes you missed as kids can make the viewing experience more rewarding. So if you ever revisit your childhood movie, be sure to look for jokes you probably didn’t get years ago but will give you a good laugh now!