Studio execs jumping on the PG bandwagon claim they’re not just watching the bottom line-they’re doing it for their own kids. Canton has two preteens, as do Tom Jacobson (Fox) and Jeffrey Katzenberg (Disney). Katzenberg has said he had an epiphany when he took his twins to see “Batman Returns” and was taken aback by the movie’s exceedingly dark heart.
So get ready for the summer children’s crusade. Sony and Warner Bros. have created family labels, and this Friday, Warners releases the “Home Alone” clone “Dennis the Menace,” in which the famous towhead (Mason Gamble) thwarts a thief and messes around with Mr. Wilson’s false teeth (Mr. Wilson is played by Walter Matthau). The studio will deliver three other kids’ features, including “Free Willy.” And Disney will re-release a certain classic from 1937, when “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” didn’t sound like a skinflick.
A few caveats: Disney has made less than $10 million from its endearing new release “Life With Mikey,” and struck out with “Super Mario Bros.” And eventually the demographic tide will go out. Says Universal’s Tom Pollock, “As the baby boomlet grows into its teens, they will become more interested in ‘Porky’s’.” A painful rite of passage for all of us.
