Riverdance: The Animated Adventure | 2021 | TV-G | – 1.3.2

Why is “Riverdance: The Animated Adventure” rated TV-G? The TV Parental Guidelines Monitoring Board rating indicates that “this program is suitable for all ages.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes a suggestive remark and some scatological humor, a man dying from natural causes, an elk being killed and its antlers removed, several dangerous situations involving children, and some mild language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.

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A young boy (voiced by Sam Hardy) mourns the death of his grandfather (voiced by Pierce Brosnan). He and his young friend (voiced by Hannah Herman) enter a mystical world where extinct Irish elk speak and teach them about preserving the rivers and honoring their families. Also with the voices of Aisling Bea, Brendan Gleeson, Pauline McLynn, John Kavanagh and Lilly Singh. Directed by David Rosenbaum & Eamonn Butler. [Running Time: 1:30]

Riverdance: The Animated Adventure SEX/NUDITY 1

 – Before a crowd, one elk’s antlers suddenly become extremely large and another elk asks if he just went through puberty late; no one answers.
► An elk facing away from the camera releases flatulence into the lens twice and we see the anal opening slightly expand each time. A clothed elderly man faces away from the camera, bends over while grabbing his own buttocks, and talks through his legs.

Riverdance: The Animated Adventure VIOLENCE/GORE 3

 – A herd of giant elk stampedes as step-dancing feet sound loudly off-screen accompanied by Irish music and a long net rises across their path and captures one elk, a man jumps onto the elk and begins to cut his antlers off until a boy and the largest elk run back to stop him, and the elk and the man kick, growl, and hit each other; the man then grabs the boy and the large elk surrenders himself to save the boy, steps into a lasso trap, falls, and we hear a gunshot off-screen (we do not see the victim, the man begins to cut off antlers, the boy falls and hits his head on a rock leaving him unconscious and we later see the large elk lying dead with his antlers cut to stumps and the boy hugs him).
► A boy pursues a man and argues with him, the man says the antlers he took from an elk were magic and used to make the town’s river disappear, and we see that it is gone as a laughing image of the man’s face appears briefly in red and black; the man runs to the shore and jumps on a raft, many fish smash into it twice and the boy hits a rock that hits the man in the head, felling him and the boy jumps onto the raft where the two struggle; an elk stirs the sea with a long staff and the boy grabs a knife to cut the taken antlers off the mast on the raft when a glowing image of an elk with huge antlers appears out of the sea, vanishes in a swarm of golden sparks, and the man is swept out of the frame (likely out to open water, and possibly dead).
► A boy slides to the edge of a cliff, but is pulled back by a girl, and then slips into a fast moving river; he is carried down rapids to a short waterfall as the girl pursues him on a tree-bark surfboard, they go over the falls and are unharmed. A girl slaps a boy in the face, but he is uninjured. A fish out of water slaps a boy in the face with its tail and dives back into the river, and no one is hurt.
► At night, a group of elk and deer hold fireballs in their front hooves and gather around the body of a dead elk; one deer dances slowly with a fireball, releases it into the night sky and all the fireballs rise up, glowing sparks rise from the body, and swirl and disappear into the sky.
► An elderly man tells his young grandson to keep their lighthouse lit at night, or an evil hunter will destroy all the rivers of the land; the man dances and we hear a crunch as he grunts and sits in a chair, complaining of back pain. An elderly man has two coughing fits for several seconds, moves to a chair outside, and seems to fall asleep, spilling his coffee on the ground; his grandson tries to wake him, finds the man dead, and looks sad. A boy sees an elderly man in a dream, dancing, and in a later scene, hears his voice and hugs the ghost of the man before the man disappears in a swirling cloud of golden sparks. During a funeral, men, women, and children dressed in black and gray sing a tribute and then step dance on the church patio tiles. A boy sees elk antlers on top of his grandfather’s headstone; his grandmother tells him that the giant elk was the grandfather’s spirit animal.
► A young girl walks on and dances on water; her young friend sinks, but is not hurt. A boy learns that caring for nature allows him to dance on water. A boy and a girl walk along a river, meet a talking elk and deer; we hear thundering footsteps off-screen and see dozens of giant elk with huge antlers and large deer standing upright and step dancing loudly in lines and patterns. In a dream sequence, we see elk and deer step-dancing and in a St. Patrick’s celebration, we see and hear step-dancing from lines of adults, children, a couple of toddlers, elk, deer, sheep and a lamb, birds, and large and small frogs as crowds of people cheer loudly. Two elk teams play hurling and fall a few times without injury; two elks get their antlers locked for several seconds. An elk with the largest antlers loses his balance and falls onto his head.
► Three seagulls fly into a town, one slams into a sign, another into a traffic light, and the third into an opening door; nobody is hurt. A boy in a dance studio falls and smashes his grimacing face into the front window; he is not hurt. A man accidentally uses a club to strike a hard ball that hits a police car, and the officer chases the man and his two friends out of the frame. Several men run on top of barrels (like logrolling) and an officer chases them out of the frame. An elk is caught between two rocks and groans, but gets out unharmed. A deer tries to step dance, falls, and rolls down a hill, but is uninjured. A deer faints twice but is caught in the arms of elks and is OK both times. A boy and a herd of sheep are blown away in a gust of wind; the sheep roll around in this scene and in one other scene, but are unhurt. A herd of sheep becomes one large round clump that rolls after a boy and finally falls apart, but no one is hurt. We hear that a purple lamb was dyed purple. A ram snaps at a boy and takes his iPod, eating it along with a set of headphones with a crunch.
► A woman sticks two gummy fish up her nose and takes them out with a loud pop (no mucous is seen). A boy buys gummy fish in a candy store, where candies come out of their jars and do step dancing; he takes his candy bag to a river where two frogs steal some candy and the frogs have a large dish of gummy fish underwater that they offer to tadpoles that scream in fright and swim away. A tadpole gets lost and his parents look sad and later a boy almost steps on it and it pops into a small frog; hundreds of tadpoles hop out of a river and snap into frogs while we hear fireworks sound. Dozens of tadpoles whip sticky tongues onto a deer’s face in a kiss. An elk noisily slurps raspberry syrup, while we see red and blue syrups painted onto elk sports teams’ antlers.
► An elk facing away from the camera releases flatulence into the lens twice and we see the anal opening slightly expand each time. A clothed elderly man faces away from the camera, bends over while grabbing his own buttocks, and talks through his legs. A round rock rolls into a frame and an elk says about another elk, “He farted a small mud rock” but picks it up and says, “It’s just a hurling rock.” An elk covers his mouth with a hoof and gags in fear, but does not vomit. An elk screams in fear when he sees a caterpillar.

Riverdance: The Animated Adventure LANGUAGE 2

 – 2 mild scatological terms, 2 mild anatomical terms, name-calling (Wussamus Maximus, Mr. Hotshot DJ, jerk, wrecking ball, cheeky, gross, stupid), exclamations (screw it, oh sheep, O-M-G, oh my gosh, oh my bananas, booyah, hoohoo, whoa, awww, hey, aaah, ooh, yeah, yay, wow, boo, no way), 2 religious exclamations (e.g. oh my God). | profanity glossary |

Riverdance: The Animated Adventure SUBSTANCE USE

 – None.

Riverdance: The Animated Adventure DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – Irish music and dance, legacies, traditions, prehistoric beasts, magic, fantasy, legends, dark forces, danger, hunting, talking animals, spirit animals, family, death, loss, feeling lost, facing one’s fears, honoring the dead, conservation.

Riverdance: The Animated Adventure MESSAGE

 – We can use the arts to advocate for conservation and to honor the memory of loved ones.