THE KING OF KINGS (2025)

Name: THE KING OF KINGS (2025)
Item: THE KING OF KINGS (2025)
Author: Review

"Moving Retelling of the Gospel Story"

Family Content: +3 Some minor questionable elements. (Media-wisdom is suggested to discuss.)

Entertainment Quality:

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Language
Violence
Sex
Nudity

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What You Need To Know:

THE KING OF KINGS is an animated movie where Charles Dickens tells the story of Jesus to his young son, Walter. Walter and his cat have just destroyed Dickens’ performance of Scrooge before a large London audience. Walter’s mother suggests that her husband tell Walter a story to help him understand why his behavior was wrong. Dickens’ story is very close to Scripture. It starts with Jesus Christ’s birth, and goes through His wilderness temptation, His baptism, the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus and Peter walking on water, the Last Supper, and the meaning of Christ’s death and resurrection.

THE KING OF KINGS is a terrific, powerful way to introduce children to the story of Jesus in a way they can understand, through the dynamics of the Dickens family. In real life Charles Dickens was ambiguous about his Christian faith. However, there’s something exciting and special about the movie’s historical, Dickensian way of telling the story rather than other animated versions that use children or animals. THE KING OF KINGS is an excellent, acceptable version of the Gospel for children aged six and up.

Content:

(CCC, BBB, V, A, M):

Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements:

Very strong Christian, biblical worldview in a very strong retelling of the story of Jesus, the King of Kings, by Charkes Dickens in a fictional situation where Dickens is talking to his son, Walter;

Foul Language:

No foul language;

Violence:

Some slapstick violence in the Dickens part of the movie and some threats of violence and references to violence in the story of Jesus, such as the slaughter of the Innocents referred to, the story of the adulterous woman and the scourging of Jesus, but not done in an explicit way to exclude children from watching it;

Sex:

No sex scenes;

Nudity:

No nudity;

Alcohol Use:

Some wine is drunk at the Last Supper;

Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse:

No smoking or drugs; and,

Miscellaneous Immorality:

Charles Dickens and his wife seem a little weak as parents, and some of the King of Kings stories stress the individual’s faith more than the divinity of Christ, but other places show the miracles happen because of Jesus.

More Detail:

Since the Bible isn’t written as a screenplay, the animated movie THE KING OF KINGS uses a device to make the story of Jesus dramatically powerful without changing the Gospel accounts. That device is Charkes Dickens telling the story of Jesus to his son, Walter, after Walter disrupted Dickens’ performance of Scrooge before a large London audience.

Unexpectedly, the movie starts with Scrooge in the graveyard confronting his grave. Suddenly, the scene stops, and we’re watching Chares Dickens performing A CHRISTMAS CAROL before an audience. In a frustrating moment, however, the performance has just been rudely interrupted by his son’s Walter’s cat, who doesn’t seem to like Dickens at all.

Dickens goes behind the curtain to get everything under control. He discovers there’s a bunch of slapstick comedy occurring as his son, Walter, is playing King Arthur and fighting with his siblings, destroying the back of the theater. The audience thinks this is all delightful, but Dickens takes his children home and is very stern with Walter. Dickens’ wife, Catherine, suggests he tell Walter a story to help him understand. So, Dickens tells the story of the King of Kings and says the story is as if the story of King Arthur were based in part on the story of Jesus.

Dickens’ story about the King of Kings is very close to Scripture. It starts with the birth of Jesus, including the Angel speaking to the Shepherds and the arrival of the Magi. This provokes King Herod the Great’s jealousy, so he calls for the Slaughter of the Innocents. Mary, Jesus and Joseph escape just in the nick of time.

Next, Jesus is speaking in the Temple at the age of 12, and Jesus tells Mary and Joseph he must be about His father’s business. Then, comes the baptism by John the Baptist, the temptation by Satan in the wilderness, using the Mtthew version, and the recruiting of the 12 apostles, starting with Peter and Andrew.

In between the different vignettes from the Gospels are scenes with Walter, Charles and Catherine. In one, Walter asks if Jesus is going to fight a dragon and doing typical child things, which Dickens counters with great storytelling about the King of Kings.

The other highlights in Dickens’ story to his son are the woman caught in the act of adultery, the Sermon on the Mount, Peter walking on water, and the raising of Lazarus. At each one of these stories, the Pharisees and Sadducees are getting more and more upset with Jesus. They finally decide that Jesus needs to die, so they give Judas 30 pieces of silver to betray Jesus. Then, at the Last Supper, Jesus washes the feet of the apostles does the foot washing. He also tells Peter that He came to serve, not to be served, and tells Judas to do what he has to do.

At several points, when Walter is confused by the story, Charles Dickens explains how or why something happened by referring to another biblical story. For instance, he explains Jesus taking our sins by having an animated sequence about Adam and Eve disobeying God.

So, is Waiter going to be saved or continue to be rebellious and rambunctious? Moreover, is the cat ever going to get over his mean streak?

Best of all, the end of the movie quotes John 14:6.

THE KING OF KINGS is a great way to introduce your children to the story of Jesus in a way they can understand it, through the family dynamics of the Dickens family. Of course, in real life Charkes Dickens was ambiguous about his Christian faith, with some scholars saying he came to Christ and others refuting that. However, there’s something exciting and special about the movie’s historical Dickensian way of telling the story rather than other animated versions that use children or animals.

THE KING OF KINGS has no objectionable material, although some of the references to the slaughter of the innocents or the scourging of Jesus might be scary to children with excellent imaginations. However, having studied cognitive development for many years, MOVIEGUIDE®’s editors believe THE KING OF KINGS is an acceptable version for children aged six and up, which seems to be the age of Walter in this movie.