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jekylljuice · 02-03-2009, 01:34 PM

Bebe's Kids

Yet another obscure animated film from the early 90s. This one was derived from a stand-up comedy routine by Robin Harris (who sadly died prior to the film's production - previously, this had been slated to be a live action picture), and was probably most notable for being the first animated flick to feature an all-black main cast. For those unfamiliar with the film or the original routine, it deals with Robin's attempts to impress his newly-acquired girlfriend by treating her and her young son to a day out at a theme park (in the routine, Disneyland, in the film, the all-round generic Fun Land, owing to obvious copyright restrictions) - the catch being that she also insists upon bringing the ghastly offspring of her mysterious friend Bebe, and general chaos ensues.

I can't speak for the original routine, which I imagine is pretty funny, but a definite problem with the film is that Bebe's kids, who should by all rights be the juiciest part of the story, are actually the most off-putting. They�re not particularly pleasant characters, and nor are they intended to be, though sadly they�re not all that interesting here either. I actually greatly preferred the segments of the film which centre more around Robin himself � indeed, the film starts out fairly promisingly with him as the primary focus, but pretty much the instant that Bebe�s kids show up on the scene and take the helm the story starts to trail off into a rather aimless plethora of anarchy, silliness and obnoxiousness (in which only the rather banal subplot involving Robin�s ex-wife adds any kind of ground or structure). It�s only in the final stages of the film, when we�ve retreated from the disarray of Fun Land and back into the more human drama of the outside world that things start to pick up again.

Basically, it�s an interesting concept which never really comes close to being half as fun as it could�ve been, though it is bookended nicely enough.

02-03-2009, 01:34 PM	#1784
jekylljuice Executive Weasel Ball jekylljuice was here. Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: the 44th floor (not counting the mezzanine) Posts: 1,568	Bebe's Kids Yet another obscure animated film from the early 90s. This one was derived from a stand-up comedy routine by Robin Harris (who sadly died prior to the film's production - previously, this had been slated to be a live action picture), and was probably most notable for being the first animated flick to feature an all-black main cast. For those unfamiliar with the film or the original routine, it deals with Robin's attempts to impress his newly-acquired girlfriend by treating her and her young son to a day out at a theme park (in the routine, Disneyland, in the film, the all-round generic Fun Land, owing to obvious copyright restrictions) - the catch being that she also insists upon bringing the ghastly offspring of her mysterious friend Bebe, and general chaos ensues. I can't speak for the original routine, which I imagine is pretty funny, but a definite problem with the film is that Bebe's kids, who should by all rights be the juiciest part of the story, are actually the most off-putting. They�re not particularly pleasant characters, and nor are they intended to be, though sadly they�re not all that interesting here either. I actually greatly preferred the segments of the film which centre more around Robin himself � indeed, the film starts out fairly promisingly with him as the primary focus, but pretty much the instant that Bebe�s kids show up on the scene and take the helm the story starts to trail off into a rather aimless plethora of anarchy, silliness and obnoxiousness (in which only the rather banal subplot involving Robin�s ex-wife adds any kind of ground or structure). It�s only in the final stages of the film, when we�ve retreated from the disarray of Fun Land and back into the more human drama of the outside world that things start to pick up again. Basically, it�s an interesting concept which never really comes close to being half as fun as it could�ve been, though it is bookended nicely enough. __________________ That's it, The End, But you'll get over it, My Friend. Last edited by jekylljuice; 02-03-2009 at 02:33 PM.