What to watch with your kids: ‘Inside Out 2,’ ‘Camp Snoopy’ and more The NY Journals

Growing up is emotional in thoughtful sequel with some peril.

“Inside Out 2,” the follow-up to Pixar’s beloved 2015 film about the emotions of a girl named Riley, deals with the complicated, important life changes that come with being a teenager. With the onset of puberty, Riley’s five original emotions — Joy, Sadness, Fear, Disgust and Anger — are joined by Anxiety, Envy, Embarrassment and Ennui. Things get messy fast, and Joy (Amy Poehler) and company embark on another adventure through Riley’s mind featuring scenes of suspense and peril (storms, falls from heights, dynamite blasts, chases, etc.). Now that Anxiety (Maya Hawke) is in control, Riley’s fears as a teen are more about saying or doing the wrong thing. Which she does, often. But learning from your mistakes is one of the movie’s key messages, along with the idea that loving someone means loving all of them — including their imperfections — and that you can’t always prevent hard times. Language is limited to a couple of uses of words like “jerk” and “moron” (plus Joy’s frustrated exclamation of “Jiminy mother-loving toaster strudel”). Most of the content is appropriate for elementary-schoolers and up, but younger kids may need a bit more explanation. (96 minutes)

Beloved animated character learns life lessons, faces danger.

“Ultraman: Rising” is a Tokyo-set animated movie about a Japanese American baseball star and reluctant superhero named Ken Sato (voiced by Christopher Sean), who learns humility, teamwork and gratitude while caring for a creature. Other — mostly male — characters display similar traits while caring for their families. Ken regularly does battle as Ultraman in scenes involving falls, crashes, weapons, fire, broken bones and destruction. Characters (including a baby and an elderly man) end up in harm’s way, a mother goes missing, a child is bullied for being different, and at least one character is killed. The film includes some of the local customs, sights and cultural products of Tokyo. Mild language includes “hell,” “crap,” “suck,” “heck,” “fart” and “poopy.” (117 minutes)

School of Magical Animals 2 (PG)

Magic school sequel adds tween romance and bullying.

“School of Magical Animals 2” is a German fantasy adventure film based on a book series. The sequel is skewed toward a slightly older audience, with a focus on the romance of tween protagonists Ida (Emilia Maier) and Jo (Loris Sichrovsky). Jo’s talking penguin has a macho attitude and calls girls “chicks” and “hot.” A key storyline focuses on the bully Helene (Emilia Pieske) and her gang of “Mean Girls”-like characters (the 2004 movie is directly referenced). But most of the characters are kind, encouraging and fair. A mystery with a cloaked figure digging up the street at night adds some adventure, with very mild peril. The movie was filmed in German, and an English-dubbed version is available. (103 minutes)

Peanuts gang has summer fun and some Lucy and Snoopy snark.

“Camp Snoopy” is a series that follows the Peanuts gang to summer camp. As in other Peanuts tales, expect some meanness from Lucy (voiced by Isabella Leo), anger from Snoopy (Terry McGurrin) and lack of self-esteem from Charlie Brown (Etienne Kellici). There are also slapstick bumps and bruises, plus arguments and mild insults (“ridiculous,” etc.). Some storylines touch on slightly more mature topics, such as a crush between characters and a camper’s homesickness. (10 episodes)

Available on Apple TV Plus.

Common Sense Media helps families make smart media choices. Go to commonsense.org for age-based and educational ratings and reviews for movies, games, apps, TV shows, websites and books.

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