So My Kids Can Watch: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

{{quote|''"A lot of the voice actors in this one have said things to me like, 'Finally, a show I can show my family!'"''

 

Andy Bigstar stars in dozens of films, but all of them are R-rated, and with good reason. So when Andy's kids get to be of moviegoing age, Andy understandably doesn't want them to watch daddy [[Torture Porn|ripping out the lungs]] of hordes of [[Mook]]s and having [[Good People Have Good Sex|steamy sex scenes]] with the [[Love Interest]] (who is also not their mother). However, he does want them to be able to see Daddy on the big screen, so what's he to do? Simple. He proceeds to make one or more G- and PG-rated family films of varying quality so he can share at least some of his oeuvre with them.

 

== Film ==

** Considering Alec Baldwin is known for having a sardonic sense of humor, he might have been joking. His role in ''[[Thomas the Tank Engine]]'' is likely an example of this too.

* [[Johnny Depp]], in numerous roles. He still manages to remain incredibly bizarre (even [[Charlie and the Chocolate Factory|creepy]]) in these roles.

** In an interview, he confessed that it wasn't fully motivated by this trope, but didn't want "the DVDs for his movies all at the back of the shelf".

* ''[[Wild Wild West (film)|Wild Wild West]]'' is reported to be this.

* [[Robert Rodriguez]]. Do you know him as the director of ''[[Sin City]]'' or of ''[[Spy Kids]]''? ''[[The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl]]'' was even "cowritten" by his kids.

* [[Robin Williams]]. He didn't start doing it right after his first son, Zachary, was born (1982), though. But after his other two children, Zelda (1989) and Cody (1991) were born, he did stuff like ''[[Hook]]'', ''[[Aladdin (Disney film)|Aladdin]]'', ''[[Fern Gully]]''... (''[[Mrs. Doubtfire]]'' might also count as a family film, albeit one that [[Getting Crap Past the Radar|got a lotta crap past the radar]]). Williams has gone back to the more adult roles recently, but he still does a few kiddie flicks here and there.

** In an interview Thornton later admitted that this move had backfired, calling Mononoke one of the "most violent things I'd ever seen."

* [[Eddie Murphy]]. Watch ''[[Daddy Day Care]]''. Now watch ''[[Trading Places]]''. In fact, just watch ''Trading Places''.

** [[Gary Oldman]]'s own words were something along the lines of "Wanting to do something I could finally take my kids to see."

* [[Tim Burton]] doing ''[[Big Fish]]'' and ''[[Charlie and the Chocolate Factory]]'' can be justified by the birth of his son and the death of his father.

* [[Gary Oldman]] took the role of Doctor Smith in [[The Film of the Series]] of ''[[Lost in Space]]'' so his kids could watch it. Oh dear... Of course, he's [[Ham and Cheese|probably the best thing in the movie]].

* [[Raul Julia]] took the role of M. Bison from the ''[[Street Fighter (film)|Street Fighter]]'' film as a gift to his children. He already knew he was dying and wanted to earn a decent final salary to leave behind. He let his sons choose his last role from the ones he was currently being offered, and they, fans of the series, chose that one. [[Ham and Cheese|And did he give himself a send-off.]] Fans of Raul Julia weren't pleased that he was sent off with such a horrible movie... but those that could slog through the crap he had to deal with were treated to one of the most [[Memetic Mutation|DELICIOUS]] [[Super Villain|supervillains]] ''ever''.

* [[Liam Neeson]] signed on for 2010's ''[[Clash of the Titans]]'' remake solely because his children were really into [[Classical Mythology]] and thought it would be cool for him to play Zeus.

* There are a number of examples connected to ''[[Twilight (novel)|Twilight]]'':

** [[Michael Sheen]] took a part as one of the Volturi vampires partially because his daughter is a fan.

 

== Literature ==

** As was ''[[Thomas the Tank Engine]]'' for the Rev. W. Awdry's son, also named Christopher. He grew up to become his father's literary executor, as well as writing new material.

* [[Lewis Carroll]] made up ''[[Alice in Wonderland]]'' off the top of his head because an 11-year-old girl asked him to. Carroll was well known for his children friends and wrote a ton of stuff for them. His second-most famous work, ''The Hunting of the Snark'', was dedicated to Gertrude Chataway.

* Richard Adams made up the original vision of [[Watership Down]] to entertain his two daughters, Juliet and Rosamond, on a long car journey, and only wrote the published vision because they kept asking him to after they liked it so much.

* [[Neil Gaiman]] notes that despite his much-lauded work, the thing that earned him the most cred with his son was having the planet [http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Neelgaimon Neelgaimon] [[Tuckerization|named after him]] in the ''[[Star Wars]]'' universe.

* Rick Riordan made up [[Percy Jackson and The Olympians]] after he ran out of existing Greek myths to tell his sons at bedtime.

 

* [[John Simm]], whilst noted and having achieved critical acclaim for his serious dramatic work, accepted his role as ''[[Doctor Who]]'' baddie the Master in order to impress his son. There's also a suspicion that he rather enjoyed the chance to [[Large Ham|ham it up]] in the process. This is a recurring theme for many British thespians who have appeared on the show, many (almost ruefully) noting that whilst they may be up there with the great [[Hamlet]]s of the age, their appearance on ''Doctor Who'' is the only role their kids are interested in.

** Simm's episodes were so filled with [[Nightmare Fuel]] that he (reputedly) [[Irony|ended up forbidding his son from watching.]] His son likely got some idea of what happened in the episodes, given he got a ''lot'' of attention from his schoolmates because his dad was the Master.

** In a non-acting variant, Emmy-winning writer Richard Curtis admitted that he wrote the episode "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S31/E10 Vincent and The Doctor|Vincent and the Doctor]]" for this exact reason.

** Example with a less famous actor in the classic series: Mary Peach appeared in "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S5/E04 The Enemy of the World|The Enemy of the World]]" because her kids wouldn't believe she was a real actress until she'd been on ''Doctor Who''. Another actor in a Hartnell/Troughton-era story said pretty much the same thing.

* [[Larry David]] guest-starred in an episode of ''[[Hannah Montana]]'' along with his daughters, because they're fans of the show.

* Jackie Earle Haley—whose recent roles have included a pedophile in ''Little Children'', Rorschach in ''[[Watchmen (film)|Watchmen]]'', and Freddy Krueger in the rebooted ''[[A Nightmare on Elm Street]]''—has said that he enjoys his role on ''[[Human Target]]'' because it's something [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuC4nTSx00Y his daughter can watch].

* Real headline: "Cindy Crawford: ‘''[[Wizards of Waverly Place]]'' Made Me Famous With My Kids’".

** He also played Skeletor in the live-action He-Man film for this reason. Of course, that was for more than just his kids. Langella has often identified Skeletor as his favorite role he's ever played, relishing the [[Large Ham|unique opportunities]] it offered.

* [[Jon Stewart]] laments on ''[[The Daily Show]]'' about trying to get on his kids' favorite tv show. Because the negotiations often take months, the kids aren't interested in the show anymore by the time he makes a guest appearance.

* [[Otto Preminger]] played Mr. Freeze in ''[[Batman (TV series)|Batman]]'' for the sake of his six-year-old twins.

* Inverted with Sota Fukushi, lead actor of ''[[Kamen Rider Fourze]]'': He got the role to please family members who are fans of the ''[[Kamen Rider]]'' franchise... those family members [http://www.jefusion.com/2011/07/my-son-is-now-kamen-rider-sota-fukushis.html being in fact] his '''[[Periphery Demographic|parents]]'''.

 

== Music ==

* [[They Might Be Giants]] released four albums of children's music (three of which are educational) after becoming known for their adult-focused work. Not surprisingly, their adult fans enjoy them too, to the point where kid song "No!" ended up on their "Best Of"-style Dial-A-Song compliations.

* Akon [http://www.billboard.com/news/akon-on-michael-jackson-he-was-completely-1003988428.story#/news/akon-on-michael-jackson-he-was-completely-1003988428.story stated] [[Michael Jackson]]'s [[Author Existence Failure|cancelled]] "This Is It" tour was partially made for his kids to finally see dad performing on stage.

 

== Video Games ==

* Apparently, [[James Earl Jones]] acted in both ''[[Tex Murphy|Under a Killing Moon]]'' and ''[[Command & Conquer]]: Tiberian Sun'' because his grand-kids were video game fans.

* This is apparently one of the reasons why [[Hideo Kojima]] decided to include the ''[[Ape Escape]]'' crossover minigame ''Snake VS Monkey'' in ''[[Metal Gear Solid]] 3: Snake Eater'', the other being a chance to sneak in some good [[Self-Parody]].

* Inverted in one case for Temuera Morrison; he voiced the player character in ''[[Republic Commando]]'', likely the most mature ''[[Star Wars]]'' game ever, but in his interview unlocked at the end of the game, he expressed hope that his son would take an interest in the game because of his role in it.

* Double Fine added profanity and gore filters to ''[[Brutal Legend]]'' because of a letter they received from a Tim Schafer fan asking them to make their awesome games appropriate enough fir his kid.

 

== Web Original ==

* In [[Tobuscus]]' earlier [[YouTube]] videos, he was unkempt, frequently unshaven, and inclined to profanity; clearly going for a "bad boy" vibe. Since 2010, however, he has become almost entirely comedic, ''never'' swears, and is otherwise [[Lighter and Softer|squeaky clean]], save for his habitually tousled hair. Not coincidentally, this is about the time when his teenage niece, Ciara, started appearing in his videos.

 

== Western Animation ==

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Trivia Trope]]

[[Category:Show Business]]

[[Category:Characters and Casting]]