“If a boy can adopt a dog, I see no reason why a dog can’t adopt a boy.” A judge makes this unprecedented ruling during Mr Peabody & Sherman, a 3-D animated film starring characters from the 1960s Rocky & Bullwinkle cartoons.

In cinemas this month, Mr Peabody & Sherman is a family flick about an unorthodox family. Despite Mr Peabody’s credentials – he’s super-smart and can talk – it’s still hilarious for Man’s Best Friend to be appointed Boy’s Legal Guardian. Guffaw.

The daffy idea of a doggy daddy in Mr Peabody & Sherman is deliberately OTT. Plenty applaud humans and animals receiving what they regard to be basic rights. But no-one’s lobbying for Lassie to raise lads.

Still, equality is a big deal in Australia. Be it ‘closing the gap’ between indigenous and non-indigenous living standards, or the demand for same-sex marital status, equality matters. This extends to other living creatures. Recent campaigns against live exporting, or whale hunting, demonstrate animals enjoy support for what many consider fair treatment.

Frequently fuelled by the concept of equality, radical changes to the traditional family unit continue. The father-son combination in Mr Peabody & Sherman, bizarrely, points to a communication crisis for anyone down with God’s way of relating.

As people experience family in various ways, their view of equality could differ wildly from how God sees it. Awareness of this growing divide is vital, to any meaningful contrast between, say, God and his children – and a dog and his child.

Mr Peabody & Sherman is in Australian cinemas from March 27.