OK, so you love a good film. But you’re also a discerning sort that just can’t abide exposing yourself or your family to all the unnecessary garbage that sometimes comes along with today’s pics. So what do you do? Sure, you can stick to the rated-PG-and-lower fare, but that doesn’t always offer much more than Pixar flicks to enjoy.
There are companies such as ClearPlay, CleanFilms, CleanFlicks, and others that have aimed to provide a family friendly way to navigate those rocky content patches. But those services haven’t always had the easiest row to hoe either. The edited movie companies had to change direction thanks to lawsuits from studios and directors unions. And though the ClearPlay route works pretty well (Focus on the Family partners with the company), it does require that consumers make extra equipment purchases and pay monthly fees for special filter downloads.
Lately, some of the big production houses have been mulling over the idea of releasing their films with a family friendly edited edition onboard. And just yesterday, 20th Century Fox released their DVD of We Bought a Zoo, announcing that it included a Dove Foundation-approved version of the flick.
Now, that sounded intriguing to me. When I reviewed the movie, I thought it had a number of very positive things to say about the strength and importance of family and the struggle of healing after a painful loss. But it just had a lot of unnecessary language and boozing layered on top.
When we received a copy of the new release, however, I found that there really wasn’t an actual re-edited version of the movie on the disc. Instead, with a little digging, you can locate an “English Family Friendly Audio Track” in the setup menu that replaces some sections of the dialogue with dubbed over replacement words. “Shoot” and “rascal” replace uses of the s-word and “a–hole,” for instance. But, oops, exclamations of “h—,” “d–mit,” and an unfinished “holy s—,” still remain in the dialogue. And you still have all that flowing alcohol.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not shaking my fist from the rooftop over any of this. I think it’s a positive step that somebody’s at least trying to help out families who long for a little less flotsam in their entertainment. But, well, there’s still plenty to navigate.
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