Director: Joel Zwick
Genre: Family/ Comedy
Since everyone else in Hollywood has been bringing cartoons to life on the big screen, why couldn’t Bill Cosby. In fact, why couldn’t Bill Cosby just leave the life-action cartoon character movies to the “worthless movie” professionals? –The people who know how to make money splashing retro junk on movie screens and enticing audiences to get excited about it.
Live action cartoon movies are annoyingly repetitive. Anybody who spends the $9.50 ticket cost to see the same non-sensical live action dramatization of all the old favorite cartoon characters, computerized or acted out, dance around on screen spewing their famous on-liners or catch phrases should understand it’s nothing more than the product of movie makers indulging themselves in the pleasurable act of money making. Creativity and thought fly out the window when cartoons come to life. Whether it’s Scooby-Doo, Garfield, Underdog, The Flintstones or Dan Aykroyd’s latest film Yogi Bear, it’s all the same. Audiences want to see the same shenanigans of their cartoon favorites in a new light. It may have been fun the first time, but enough is enough.
Bill Cosby certainly jumped in the fad with his attempt to revive his old cartoon creation, Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids. The cartoon was based on Cosby’s childhood memories. In regards to this movie, I'm sure "Fat" Albert himself would say, “Hey, hey, hey- who cares about acting and story line anyway?”
The movie opens with a new stylized "Fat" Albert cartoon which completely lacks the charm and detail of the original cartoon series popular in the early 70’s to early 80’s. In the movie, Doris (Kyla Pratt), a high school student, is depressed about how unpopular she is. After one of the more popular girls make it a point not to invite her to a party, which stereotypical movie teens tend to do all the time, Doris sits in her house alone with no one to comfort her except the warmth of her afternoon cartoons. As she reflects over her out-of-the-way rejection, she begins to cry during an episode of, you guessed it, "Fat" Albert.
In a badly done cliché, her tear lands on her remote control which opens up a portal in the Fat Albert cartoon, distracting "Fat" Albert from the plot of the cartoon. He decides that Doris’s problems of loneliness and low self esteem are more important than the plot of the show. "Fat" Albert jumps through the portal and into reality through the television screen along with the other Cosby kids.
They immediately begin to follow her around, acting upon each scenario she faces, despite her objections that they get lost. That much, I’ll say, made sense. Still, "Fat" Albert and the gang insist on helping her in every way they can. Why? Because that’s what "Fat" Albert does… evidently! The only way they can get back to their world is by jumping through her T.V. screen when the show airs again. As they’re forced to stay in the real world of inner-city Philadelphia, they all find that their flamboyant colors are fading quickly.
To add to the ridiculousness of the plot, "Fat" Albert realizes he’s falling in love with Doris’s cousin, Laurie (Dania Ramirez), who despite her gorgeous looks has had trouble finding someone to love her for who she is. This movie apparently loves clichés.
The acting is incredibly terrible and completely haphazard. In the scene where "Fat" Albert jumps through the screen, Doris’s fear is completely unconvincing. I wonder if that was the only take they shot.
Also, the Fat Albert cartoon is largely advertised in the story yet no body in the movie, except for Doris, seems to realize or make any mention that there’s a group of kids walking around dressed like and acting like Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids. Nobody so much as teases them for it or questions the fact. They just automatically fit in, even to the point of sitting in Doris’s classes without anyone questioning their presence. A cartoon based film is allowed just a little realism- isn’t it?
Even Cosby, who makes a cameo in the movie as himself, has a terrible performance. "Fat" Albert heads over to Cosby’s house to ask him why he and his friends are fading. Cosby faints when the stranger at the door tells him right away that he is "Fat" Albert. Gee, I guess obsessed fans don’t exist in live action cartoon world!
What’s even stranger than Cosby’s faint is that "Fat" Albert’s scenario of coming through the screen makes perfect sense to Cosby. Also, Cosby has perfect knowledge as to why the gang is fading and what will happen to them if they don’t jump back into the TV screen right away- they’ll turn into celluloid! If this was an attempt at comedy, I totally missed it.
As it turns out, Doris happens to be the granddaughter of Cosby’s childhood friend, Albert Robertson, whom he based "Fat" Albert off of. That’s certainly an interesting factoid but it does absolutely nothing to save this movie.
This rendition of "Fat" Albert certainly personified the money gluttons of Hollywood who are fat off of greed. It was a terrible movie and just one more to add to the junk heap of live action cartoon films, hopefully, to be buried deep within its recesses as more movies continue to be made and fall on top of it.
Even for a movie of this genre, the performances were poor and the story line was just bland. Like most other live action cartoons, it was just a twist of nostalgic television to give audiences a chance to see the old gags in a new way. For "Fat" Albert, the story line was just thrown in like all the rest of them, because the writers had to.
The end shows Cosby and his actual old buddies gathered around the grave of Albert Robertson. It was neat, but strange, how we see which of the cartoon characters where based off of Cosby’s friends, in a homage fashion. It was out of place and I don’t see how it would have mattered to anyone except Cosby and his friends. It turned the movie into a piece more for Cosby and co., rather than for audiences.
The jokes were dull and the movie all together was tiresome appearing to be much more for profit than entertainment. I’ll just stick to the original cartoons I enjoyed as a kid. Those were far more entertaining, even to this day! Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids original cartoon intro...
