The question every moviegoer dreads: "...and how old are you?" I'm well over 18. So what am I doing, queuing - alone - for something with a PG certificate?

Perhaps it's just a mercenary attempt to boost box office takings, but kids' films are increasingly appealing to both young and old, with puerile humour and sophisticated adult elements side-by-side (the adults, obviously, are there for the poo jokes; youngsters appreciate the deeper social satire).

"Batman" set a precendent, slapping a 15 certificate on a cartoon superhero. But not until the era of "Jurassic Park" and "Toy Story" did adults finally brave the cinema without having bribed or borrowed some unsuspecting infant to accompany them. A de-stigmatisation almost as radical as that allowing grown men to cry in movies without being laughed out of the auditorium.

Another critically-acclaimed production blended pathos, ironic humour, and a sinister antihero in an Oscar-winning formula. Its stars? Two lumps of plasticine. Not another product of the cosmetic surgeon's art, but "Wallace and Gromit". Like future Aardman animation "Tortoise vs Hare" (intriguingly described by Nick Park as a cross between "Spinal Tap" and "Rocky", and suffering production problems), the claymation pair's feature-length debut has plenty of over-12s eagerly awaiting the 2004 release date.

Giving "Scooby Doo" the Hollywood treatment (starring Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze Jr) might look like an attempt to squarely target the kids market. But who will be heading the 'Doo queue? 30something fans of the original series.

With "Shrek" wowing Cannes, "Jurassic Park III" just around the corner, and "Harry Potter" still to come, possibly the only genuine kids' movies are brain-numbing animations of the "Powerpuff Girls" and "Pokémon" variety. Which - frankly - today's movie-literate teenagers are far too mature for.

Read our article on Comic Book Heroes.

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