|
A 'Recess' for former rugrats
[Walt Disney Pictures]
On the last day of school, Miss Grotke’s fourth-grade class can’t contain their enthusiasm at the prospect of summer vacation. |
By PHILIP BOOTH
© St. Petersburg Times, published February 15, 2001
Six pals must save summer vacation from being permanently canceled in this animated tale from the creators of Rugrats.
|
 |
Young moviegoers too sophisticated for the Rugrats movies might pester their parents to take them to Recess: School's Out, yet another in a series of big-screen spinoffs of popular animated television shows (Doug, Pokemon, the forthcoming Powerpuff Girls). As kid-culture trends go, it's infinitely less annoying than the rise and rise of teeny pop.
Recess, created and produced by Rugrats veterans Paul Germain and Joe Ansolabehere, is centered on the slightly naughty but well-intentioned sextet of pals led by T.J. (the voice of Andy Lawrence). He's the freckle-faced one with the backward baseball cap and a Tom Sawyerlike ability to get his multicultural, coed gang to go along with his schemes.
From left, Miss Grotke, principal Prickly and playground monitor Miss Finster survey their domain.
|
Their first and funniest stunt, on the last day of the academic year at Third Street School, is to raid a truck full of crates of ice cream, squirreled away by the grumpy, aging Miss Finster (April Winchell) and intended to be returned to the board of education in exchange for a new supply of erasers. The kids manage to catapult the frozen treats into the sky, and their dauntless ringleader uses a high-tech gadget to masquerade as the voice of curmudgeonly Principal Prickly (Dabney Coleman).
T.J., as luck would have it, may be forced to spend lazy, hazy days on his own: His friends are variously going off to study outer space, military discipline, baseball and, in the case of opera-loving Mikey (Jason Davis; singing voice by Robert Goulet), the vocal arts.
Alas, an evil plot, masterminded by renegade ex-principal Dr. Philliam Benedict (James Woods, in full apoplectic mode), gives the gang a reason to reunite. It's their duty to thwart Benedict's plans to permanently wipe out summer vacation.
Recess, boasting attractive, competent animation and a fanciful plot, saves its two biggest surprises for the end: A psychedelic, swirly music video of the '60s hit Green Tambourine is followed by a long list of the animators, employed by Sunwoo in Seoul, Korea. That's the story I'm itching to learn more about, the one about Disney and the economic advantage it gains by relying on overseas labor.
| View a clip |
 |
Recess: School's Out
- Grade: C+
- Director: Chuck Sheetz
- Cast: Voices of Rickey D'Shon Collins, Jason Davis, Ashley Johnson, Andy Lawrence, Courtland Mead, Pam Segall, Dabney Coleman, Robert Goulet, Melissa Joan Hart, Peter MacNicol, April Winchell and James Woods
- Screenplay: Jonathan Greenberg
- Rating: G; nothing objectionable
- Running time: 84 min.
Back to Weekend
© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111
|
