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Parents need to know that My Sweet Monster is an animated musical with some scary scenes and moments of peril, including robotic animals chasing after characters and characters turning to stone and appearing to die. An evil character kicks forest animals and tries to force a 16-year-old princess into marriage. Mild language includes “pathetic wimp.” 

The story includes some positive role models, such as the main character, who’s a smart, strong-willed princess. There’s a subtle underlying message about Mother Nature and the need to take care of the environment, and a more prominent message about loyalty and friendship.

In the musical adventure MY SWEET MONSTER, an evil mail carrier named Bundy (Pauly Shore) discovers a king’s magical spark and blackmails the king to marry his 16-year-old daughter. When Princess Barbara (Haylie Duff) escapes her wedding, she runs to the forest and meets Bunny the rabbit and a semi-human beast named Bogey, who’s called to protect the wilderness. On their journey back home, Princess Barbara realizes that she doesn’t own the land as she once believed. 

Meanwhile, back at her castle, Bundy plots to steal the throne and rob the forest’s supply of a magical life-giving spark for his own selfish purposes. When Princess Barbara, Bogey, and Bunny become aware of his plans, they must team up to stop him.

My Sweet Monster is an unusual fairy tale with catchy songs and a plot that might be overly complicated for young kids. 

The main story of an evil postman trying to conquer the kingdom and steal magic seems simple enough, but then there are subplots of a princess mooning over a mysterious Prince Edward, whom she’s never met but spends a lot of time daydreaming about. Then there are mythical creatures assigned to protect the forest, some of whom are powered by the magical forces. Furthermore, Mother Nature appears to be a living magical force that viewers begin to learn more about, but we never really get an explanation of how she’s tied to the magic.

The English film is also dubbed from another language, which may confuse some kids as the characters’ mouths don’t match their voices.

On the positive side, there are a couple of funny moments, and the characters — especially Bogey and Bunny — are interesting enough to keep a child’s attention.

The songs are fine. Though the story is a little complex, it eventually comes together for a decent yet abrupt fairy tale ending. Overall, it’s standard stuff that most kids have seen before.

Cast: Pauly Shore, Haylie Duff, Jon Heder

Directors: Viktor Glukhushin, Maksim Volkov

Studio: Lionsgate

Genre: Family and Kids

Topics: Magic and Fantasy, Princesses, Fairies, Mermaids, and More, Adventures, Fairy Tales, Friendship

Run time: 98 minutes

MPAA rating: PG

MPAA explanation: for action, peril and some thematic elements

Last updated: April 27, 2022