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Videos a Go-Go
Get uncool, boy.
By Jesse Fox Mayshark
NOVEMBER 24, 1997:
Kids' movies didn't used to be hip. Heck, kids didn't used to be hip. There
was a time young sprats were happy to sniffle when Bambi's mom died and when
Old Yeller died and when Snow White died and...man, there was a lot of dyin'
in kids' movies, wasn't there?
Well, not anymore (unless you count Pet Sematary as a kids' movie,
which some twisted creepos apparently did when I went to see it; they carried
their 7-year-old daughter out of the theater dazed and shaking). Not only
is there no dying in films aimed at the brat set these days, there's also
no anythingno passion, no sweeping drama, not much at all except hip
quips and cynical winks. (Yes, this is an overstatement; indulge meI'm
trying to build a theme here.) Kids raised on Nickelodeon and Nike are too
cool and too bored to take anythingeven comedyseriously.
So what we get are big smashes like the soon-to-be video hit George
of the Jungle (PG, 1997), a movie so self-consciously
self-consciousa live-action film based on a cartoon, and an obscure
one at thatthat it renders the whole idea of criticism useless. It's
a morass of repetitive physical humor (mostly involving jungle boy George,
played by Brendan Fraser, smashing into things), knowing asides ("Meanwhile,
over at the expensive waterfall set..."), and cheeky send-ups of other hip
films. Some of the gags are clever, especially ones involving Ape the talking
ape, with voice by John Cleese (and hey, when was the last time he
was funny?). But the final scene sent chills down my spinein a
mind-bogglingly self-referential moment, this Disney film parodies the coronation
scene from The Lion King. I don't know what's more frighteningthe
smug assurance of the filmmakers that every kid in the audience has seen
that bit of concocted product, or the fact that they're probably right.
A number of films in recent years have resisted the urge to cater to their
young audience's cathode-ray minds. Among them: The Indian in the
Cupboard (1995, PG), a good old-fashioned tale of wonder; Toy
Story (1996, G), which balances its computer-animated trendiness
with a compelling, imaginative narrative; Babe (1996, G), quite
simply the best kids' animal movie ever (and a real find for vegetarians);
and, going back a ways, The Secret of NIMH (1982, G), still
the best animated feature anyone's made since the Disney heyday (their artistic
heyday, that is; not their world-domineering, ABC-owning, Michael Ovitz-firing,
shut-up-and-wear-your-mouse-ears heyday).
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