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"Bebe's Kids" demonstrates how hard it really is to make an animated feature; I don't just mean in terms of drawing, etc, but in terms of concept. The Hudlin brothers had originally planned to do a live-action movie about the comedian Robin Harris's characters of Bebe's kids, but after his death they decided to go the animated route - but from the finished result you wonder why they even bothered.
Robin meets the lovely Jamika (at a funeral!) and makes a date with her and her son for the weekend, but finds the deal involves bringing along her friend's children - Bebe herself never appears - and the three kids are a lot rougher than Jamika's kid. In addition to having to go with them all to the extortionately-priced amusement park where most of the movie takes place, Robin also has to cope with his ex-wife and her friend (who's convinced that they'll get back together), and it must be said that the parts of the movie involving him are much better than when it involves the title characters.
Not only are Bebe's kids (in addition to lacking any personality) much less sympathetic and much less funny than Robin, but they have to shoulder the blame for the movie self-destructing when they break into a secret underground section of the park; cue battles against robots and messages delivered with all the subtlety of a Mack truck. The movie wants to appeal to both adults and children, but never comes off as anything - you can tell the Hudlins weren't too experienced with animation, and they've stayed away from it since then. Thank heaven.
score 5/10
Victor Field 24 December 2002
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw0304009/ |
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4-12-2019 00:17:13
