Mooney and co-writer Kevin Costello poke fun at cheesy children's programs like "Barney & Friends" or "Teletubbies" that drill moral lessons into simplistic everyday conundrums. First time screenwriters Costello and Mooney offer a new perspective on the captivity film. Namely, they take what could be a three-minute "SNL" parody, remove the condescending tone and add sympathy. McCary interweaves stop-animation drawings into the live-action film which adds to the theme of legitimacy in childhood interests. The fourth and final member Beck Bennett plays Deputy Bander, a cop investigating James' abduction. The castings feel more like Mooney pleasing his friends with film roles rather than marrying dynamic actors to developed characters. A heartbreaking scene between the newly jailed Ted and James cements Hamill as a legendary actor outside of an iconic franchise which often fails to indulge his emotional range. Brigsby Bear," a Sony Pictures Classics release, is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of America for "thematic elements, brief sexuality, drug material and teen partying.