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A service to parents and grandparents MAR20060 The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle (2000), (PG) CAP Score: 75 CAP Influence Density: 0.45 |
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SUMMARY / COMMENTARY: *The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle* (PG) -- just not the same as 36 years ago. Canceled thirty-six years ago. Wow. And I remember some reruns of Rocket J. Squirrel and Bullwinkle J. Moose. Almost always accompanied by *Fractured Fairytales*, *Sherman and Mr. Peabody*, and *Aesop's Fables*. And I enjoyed them. But this movie was just not the same. What can we expect with such exponential decay of moral standards over those 36 years. Roger Ebert For thirty-six (the show says thirty-five) years of no performing arts work, Rocky and Bullwinkle (and even the narrator) live lives of idleness and poverty due to living off the proceeds from reruns. Now *there* is an example of true adult humor. Most kids do not even know what rerun proceeds are let alone be able to draw humor from its use. The big 3.5 cent proceeds check in the movie will be meaningless to most of the target audience. But as you will soon see, there is plenty of the 'other kind' of "adult humor" in this kid's show (I have yet to figure out what makes it "adult" -- being able to watch it does not make you adult). Five of the original Rocky and Bullwinkle characters are dragged out of cartoon land into "real life": Rocky (June Foray -- the original voice of Rocky and "Granny" in the *Sylvester & Tweety* episodes); Bullwinkle and Narrator (Keith Scott); Boris Badenov (Jason Alexander); Natasha Fatale (Rene Russo); and Fearless Leader (Robert De Niro). Fearless Leader and company find a way to kill cartoon characters and launch a campaign to kill Rocky and Bullwinkle since they are the only "force" standing in Fearless's way of world domination by zombization of the world's population through the hypnotic power of RBTV (Really Bad TV). There is one item of irony--I wonder if the writers knew how accurate they were with portraying the hypnotic power (or values modification by "mind control" through weakening resistance to suggestion) of real really bad television (or really bad movies). Wise to the plans of Fearless Leader to dominate the world with RBTV, FBI honcho Cappy Von Trapment (Randy Quaid) dispatches agent Karen Sympathy (Piper Perabo) to assist Rocky and Bullwinkle in their quest to foil the plans of Fearless Leader. Through a barrage of puns and slapstick comedy, Rocky and Bullwinkle travel the back roads of America to petition the President to replant the hewn trees of Pottsylvania. Little does Bullwinkle know, the duo are drawn into the foray of combating the plans of Fearless Leader. Several attempts to kill Rocky and Bullwinkle make the wholesomeness of this movie questionable. Indeed, the entire movie revolves about a special device that kills previously invulnerable cartoon characters and sends them out on the Internet (figure that one out). One is splattered but is seen again later in the movie. Mimicking executioner style murder, Rocky and Bullwinkle are even run down by a bus while standing in the middle of the road trying to get the bus to stop. But of course, after they reinflate their flattened forms, they get up and walk away. While this might be relatively non-influential of cartoons, the use of a real bus on a real road tends to make faint the crossover between cartoon and live action. There are several cameo appearances by notables throughout this movie making the variety strong and appealing: Jonathan Winters in several appearances, one as a helicopter pilot taking a potty break at a Powder Room helipad; Billy Crystal plays a mattress salesman who saves Rocky and Bullwinkle from a great fall; Whoopie Goldberg plays the part of the judge who hears Bullwinkle's self-incriminating case; John Goodman plays a state trooper; and James Rebhorn plays the milquetoast President. This is every bit a PG movie and parents are to be cautioned. There are two car thefts [Matt. 19:18], firearms to control, and several great falls by and several attempts to kill speaking, feeling characters [Deut. 27:24, 25]. Even a non-human cinematic character, when portrayed with human qualities, causes the observer--especially children--to feel a human bond with that character. And when these speaking, feeling characters are abused onscreen, it is inevitable that the young observer is influenced by it. There are two uses of the three/four letter word vocabulary and several lies [Rev. 21:27]. One of the opening scenes is of a young woman opening her long coat to reveal herself in a brief swimsuit [1Cor. 6:18-20]. Bullwinkle says he is "just getting jiggy" [Deut. 22:21] There is smoking, chewing and drinking [2 Cor. 7:1]. And God's name in vain appears without the four letter expletive [Deut. 5:11]. And at least one more item of irony comes in the [conveniently?] ambiguous statement "What you believe in when you're young can still be true when you grow up." At the risk of sounding uninformed, isn't that they way values modification works? Beliefs modification? Moral standards? Would anyone care to comment on where I am pointing with this? Please see the Findings/Scoring section below for a full accounting of this movie: for the best representation of the CAP Entertainment Media Analysis Model applied to this movie. FINDINGS / SCORING: NOTE: Multiple occurrences of each item described below may be likely. Wanton Violence/Crime (W): the wall behind the character Impudence/Hate (I)(1): vocabulary Sex/Homosexuality (S): swimsuit Drugs/Alcohol (D): Offense to God (O)(2): Murder/Suicide (M)(3): |