The Garbage Pail Kids Movie
| The Garbage Pail Kids Movie | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster |
|
| Directed by | Rod Amateau |
| Produced by | Rod Amateau |
| Written by | Rod Amateau |
| Based on | The trading cards by Topps |
| Starring | Mackenzie Astin Anthony Newley Katie Barberi |
| Music by | Michael Lloyd |
| Cinematography | Harvey Genkins |
| Editing by | Leon Carrere M. Edward Salier |
| Studio | Topps |
| Distributed by | Atlantic Releasing |
| Release date(s) | August 22, 1987 |
| Running time | 96 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $1,576,615[1] |
The Garbage Pail Kids Movie is a 1987 live action musical film adaptation of the popular series of children's trading cards produced, written, and directed by Rod Amateau. The cards were a parody of the popular Cabbage Patch Kids dolls and each card featured a character that typically had a gross habit or abnormality. The film depicted many of the Garbage Pail Kids (played by dwarf actors in costumes) interacting with society and befriending a regular boy. This is Amateau's final film. It has since become known as one of the worst films of all time.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
The film opens to a garbage can spaceship flying near Earth. The same garbage can is later shown inside an antique shop owned by Captain Manzini (Anthony Newley). This scene also features paintings with moving eyes, the purpose of which is never explained.
A boy named Dodger is being assaulted by four bullies in a park. The leader of the bullies, Juice, steals Dodger's money and drops him in a puddle. Dodger goes to Captain Manzini's antique shop where he works, where Captain Manzini takes Dodger's clothes and cleans them while warning him to stay away from the garbage can. Later, Dodger sees Tangerine, one of the bullies and Juice's girlfriend, who seems to be the most compassionate one towards Dodger, and tries to persuade her to buy something. Dodger is attracted to Tangerine and covertly smells her hair while she is distracted. The others bullies enter the shop and attempt to rough up Dodger again, but he manages to outwit them. However, amidst the tussle, the garbage can is knocked over. The bullies then bring Dodger into a sewer, handcuff him to a rail, and open a sewage pipe on him. Dodger is saved by little mysterious people named the Garbage Pail Kids.
Captain Manzini returns and is upset that the Garbage Pail Kids have been released from their can, but introduces Dodger to each of them. Greaser Greg is a leather jacket-clad greaser with an attitude, Messy Tessie is a girl with a constantly running nose, Windy Winston is a boy who wears a Hawaiian shirt and often farts violently, Valerie Vomit is a girl who throws up on command, Foul Phil is a whining baby with halitosis who constantly asks characters if they are his "mommy" or "daddy", Nat Nerd is an acne-riddled boy who dreses up like a superhero and wets his pants frequently and Ali Gator, the group's natural leader, is an anthropomorphic alligator who has an appetite for human toes. Captain Manzini explains that the kids are forbidden from going in public, because they'll be attacked by the "normies" (normal people), and that he can't get the kids to go back into the garbage can without magic.
The next day, Dodger goes with Tangerine to a night club where she sells clothes she designed herself. Dodger behaves awkwardly when Tangerine removes her shirt to sell it. A moment later, Dodger has to hide when Juice shows up. Meanwhile, the Garbage Pail Kids steal a Pepsi truck, flatten Juice's car with it, and then have a camp fire in an alley with stolen food. The next morning, the Garbage Pail Kids recover from hangovers and give Dodger a jacket they sewed. The jacket impresses Tangerine who asks Dodger to get more clothes so she can sell them. The Garbage Pail Kids get bored and decide to wear disguises to go out in public. Some of them go to a theater playing Three Stooges shorts and behave obnoxiously. Ali Gator and Windy Winston go to a bar where they start a fight with bikers, who are soon won over by the Kids' heroics, in which they celebrate with beers. The Kids make more clothes for Dodger after stealing a sewing machine and singing a song about working together. Tangerine sells the clothes and begins to prepare for a fashion show based on them. She meets the Kids and is repulsed by them, but realizes she can take advantage of their designs.
The night of the fashion show, Tangerine locks the Kids in the basement of the antique shop so that they don't escape, and soon, they are captured by Juice and his gang who bring them to the State Home for the Ugly, a prison where people too ugly for society are brought and executed. Captain Manzini and Dodger help them escape and head to the fashion show. The Garbage Pail Kids trash the fashion show and rip the clothes off the models, while Dodger gets in a fight with Juice. Later that night, Tangerine apologizes to Dodger and asks to be his friend, but Dodger doesn't accept her apology for her greed. Captain tries to sing the Garbage Pail Kids' song backwards to coax them back into the garbage can, but the Kids sneak out and ride ATVs away. The story ends with a cliff hanger ending (and some loose ends, unresolved subplots) which were originally meant to be solved in a proposed "Garbage Pail Kids" live-action TV series (not cartoon series), which never materialized beyond the proposal stage.
[edit] Cast
- Anthony Newley as Captain Manzini
- Mackenzie Astin as Dodger
- Katie Barberi as Tangerine
- Ron MacLachlan as Juice
- Kevin Thompson as Ali Gator
- Phil Fondacaro (Jim Cummings, voice) as Greaser Greg
- Bobby Bell as Foul Phil
- Larry Green (Jim Cummings, voice) as Nat Nerd
- Debbie Lee Carrington as Valerie Vomit
- Arturo Gil as Windy Winston
- Susan Rossitto (Teri Benaron, voice) as Messy Tessie
[edit] Reception
The Garbage Pail Kids Movie is considered one of the worst films ever made.[2] It has 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, meaning that no established critic gave the film a positive review.Criticism was for the films gross humor, acting, bad explanations, terrible puppetry, and the innapropriate moments even though it was a kids film. The film's badness made it kicked out of theaters due to parents complaints. [3] It has also ranked among Internet Movie Database's Bottom 100 Movies, suggesting that it is one of the worst films ever released.
Caryn James of The New York Times said the film is "too repulsive for children or adults of any age" and that "This crude live-action takeoff on the Cabbage Patch phenomenon ought to have had star Anthony Newley humming 'Stop the Movie, I Want to Get Off.' " [4] The movie has also been accused of being technically incompetent.[1]
[1] The film failed at the box office, grossing only $1,576,615.[1][5]
The film was mocked on an episode of the Web comedy series The Nostalgia Critic. The title character despises the film immensely and refers to it as "pure evil".
[edit] Accolades
- Worst New Star: The Garbage Pail Kids (nominated, lost to David Mendenhall in Over the Top)
- Worst Original Song: "You Can Be a Garbage Pail Kid" (nominated, lost to "I Want Your Sex" from Beverly Hills Cop II)
- Worst Visual Effects (nominated, lost to Jaws: The Revenge)
[edit] In popular culture
- In Family Guy's season 9 episode "Brian's Got a Brand New Bag", Mayor West pursues the local video store for a DVD copy of the film and is excited to be the one who finds it.
[edit] See also
- List of films considered the worst
- Garbage Pail Kids (TV series, 1987)
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d http://movies.tvguide.com/garbage-pail-kids-movie/review/124179
- ^ "Trashy `Garbage Pail Kids` Has No Value". Sun-Sentinel. 1987-09-05. http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1987-09-05/features/8703110946_1_garbage-pail-kids-cabbage-patch-kids-kids-show. Retrieved 29 Sep 2010.
- ^ "'The Garbage Pail Kids Movie'". Rotten Tomatoes. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/garbage_pail_kids_movie/. Retrieved 6 Jun 2010.
- ^ "'Movie Review - The Garbage Pail Kids Movie'". New York Times. 1987-08-28. http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9B0DE1D81030F931A1575BC0A961948260. Retrieved 6 Jun 2010.[dead link]
- ^ "'The Garbage Pail Kids Movie (1987)'". IMDb. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093072/business. Retrieved 6 Jun 2010.
