Stop me if you’ve heard this one before but I’m finding a lot of reviews of (mostly) films for children include the phrase “and there’s something for the adults here”. It’s a phrase I am finding increasingly troublesome.

On the back of the incredible stories brought to us by Pixar through Toy Story, Finding Nemo and the like there has a been a boom in animated stories which are markedly different to those found in the song-happy corridors of Disney. Pixar delivered films which were accessible to everyone. Suddenly adults were carried along with the quick-witted, fast-paced and smartly drawn characters, and were happy to sit alongside their children.

And then came Shrek and with it a whole load of beautifully animated stories. And with those came a more deliberate policy of targeting the adult. “Something for the adult”. Each time I read it (and see the film it describes) I expect to have a sly bit of humour thrown in above the head of the child. Usually, it’s sexual because that’s what seems to distinguish us from children. And usually it’s unnecessary because the marvellous thing about Toy Story wasn’t what distinguished the adults from the children in their storytelling, but what united them.

To me, this is what makes for a story – be it film or picture book or novel – which contains something for children and adults alike.

What do you think?