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The Fairly OddParents: Channel Chasers (2003)
An awesome movie, highly worthy of a theatrical release and the likes of "Shrek"
I have to warn you, this review has a mighty spoiler. Proceed if you dare.
I don't know why, but out of the two movies based on 'The Fairly Oddparents' I prefer this one. I mean I love the show itself. It's bright, witty, and smart. Also, it has extremely likable characters, particularly little Timmy Turner, the boy of ten with fairy godparents Cosmo and Wanda. But I only thought that the first movie, 'Abra-Catastrophie', which was a huge hit with whoever saw it, and that's probably the millions of TV viewers who tune into the Nickelodeon hit. I really don't blame those people. It's perfectly charming, but I think I was expecting more from a movie based on this truly awesome show. And, I think I derived it from this movie. Indeed, the parodies seem to entwine with the plot better here than in 'Abra-Catastrophie'. In that movie, we got spoofs of three hit movies in the opening sequence, but this one involves young Timmy imitating stunts from a TV show he loves (and no, it's not 'Jackass'). Like all the other kids his age, Timmy is addicted to an anime show called 'Mahu Mushi', which has a 'Dragonball Z'-like atmosphere and the same trading card game that made 'Pokemon' and 'Yu-Gi-Oh!' such humongous hits. And because they are immature, they gallivant around, believing that they can fly or be super-strong and imitate the stunts that the cartoons make. Timmy, of course, uses his fairy magic to imitate stunts that his peers are unable to, including zapping the streets below with the 'Kid Crusher' ship, feeling like one of the Imperial weapons of 'Star Wars'. But his antics grow out of control when they affect his parents at work. They punish Timmy at home with 'No TV'. So, he goes to his fairies again and wishes for a remote control to go INTO TV. That's where the plot takes off. He goes inside, explores spoofs of shows like 'The Jetsons', 'Fat Albert' (with a more diverse band) and 'Johnny Quest', the show Timmy appreciates next to 'Mahu Mushi' and some superhero shows (it's nice to know some kids appreciate the classics). As soon as he gets out, he is pumped up and ecstatic, at least until he realizes that Vicki, the evil babysitter, has told his parents on him screwing over their punishment. They give Timmy his magic remote and refuse to believe that Vicky is evil and is making him look bad. So, Timmy is fed up with being forced to 'grow up' and dealing with parents who don't believe him. He responds by running away from home, into the TV world with another remote, where adults have little say in the matter and kids don't have to grow up. But, some stranger is chasing them through TV and won't allow Timmy to live peacefully. They run through spoofs of shows like 'Speed Racer' (where they make fun of the terrible animation and audio effects), 'The Flintstones' and 'Scooby-Doo' (where the dog bears a striking resemblance to rapper Snoop Dogg). Finally, the stranger reveals himself to be Timmy's future self! This man is played by Alec Baldwin, in his best performance since the likes of 'The Cooler' or 'The Last Shot', acting with such dignity and grace. Anyway, he says in his time, Vicky has taken over the world and made it into a wasteland. He has come to take Timmy's remote and try to stop the dark future, until he sees Vicky has her own remote and found her way into TV land. They team up to try and stop her, with Timmy learning to grow up along the way. Anyway, I thought that this story had more dynamic, particularly in the way that the obvious references to 'The Terminator' (Grown-Up Timmy coming from the dark future to change the past for the better), 'Stay Tuned' (the idea of going into TV) and 'Peter Pan' (Cosmo and Wanda are like the title character in a way, along with Timmy learning to grow up) are actually significant to the set-up. The characters did more, including Tootie, Vicky's sister, in the subplot with Timmy's parents discovering the truth about Vicky. The whole idea of Timmy not being able to remember his godparents when he gets older, simply because he won't believe in fairies as a grown-up, really works here. Another movie may have an atmosphere like the holiday hits 'Elf' and 'The Santa Clause' outside the Christmas season, where Timmy has just lost his fairies and now feels empty without them. And finally, I liked how Vicky was the principal villain here, as just about any magic story can have some lunatic try to expose the powers. The idea of an evil babysitter is truly nothing you see everyday, and she was against Timmy longer than Crocker, who took over the world in 'Abra-Catastrophie'. The same movie I mentioned before can have more depth to the Vicky character, and maybe bigger parts to Timmy's friends (who make a funny cameo in the middle and show just as much potential as Vicky). And maybe 'Abra-Catastrophie' has more depth to Cosmo and Wanda, but this more has a lot of their characters too, as Timmy worries about getting old and losing them.
To Overview: With bright main characters, a significant theme and moral and 'Shrek'-like atmosphere, this is certainly gem of a family film and great for fans of the show, what with the older Timmy and Vicky being the bad guy
err, girl. It certainly was a shame that this movie wasn't made for theaters and I sincerely hope that it does get a feature film after the 'Spongebob Squarepants Movie' comes to DVD. Perhaps with my suggestions
Rating: Ba-ba-ba, ba-ba
I'm Lovin' It!/8.5 out of 10/3.5 out of 4/A-
Shark Tale (2004)
It was cute, but not necessarily a $100 Million movie
I saw this movie one my Columbus Day off with my interested mother. She thought that it was cute, but not worth six bucks.
I thought it was a cute little movie and had some charms, but these really felt like silly, mass-produced, generic charms. I think I could have come up with the same jokes or even better ones, and I'm not even graduated from high school yet. However, I like the pop-cultural fizz in the story about Oscar lying about killing a shark and becoming a "somebody". I guess it makes fun of being famous to a certain point, but they could have done more.
The story itself doesn't really clunk too much. The "Godfather" gags fit in well and it essentially moved along smoothly. I liked the jellyfish who spoke like Jamaicans, as well as Marty Scorsece as Sykes, Oscar's boss, and Academy Award-Winner Renee Zellwegger is perfectly cast as Angie, the ditzy yet lovable angelfish who loves Oscar.
To overview: Yeah, it works as a nice little family film, but the only reason it made $100 Million as of October 23, 2004 is an awesome marketing campaign doubled over with the enmourously effective outcome of "Shrek 2" (it was hilarious, people loved it and the "Shark Tale" previews made them want more). You may be better off waiting until it comes to DVD.
Rating: Meh.../5 out of 10/2 out of 4/C+
Birdz (1998)
It should return...
In 1998, when I was in the fifth grade, I loved to watch this show on CBS. Unfortunately, it only lasted a single season. I feel bad for switching to a dumb fad at midseason. I am desperate to see it again. Nick, please hear me.
ProStars (1991)
This should have had new episodes made, like WishKid.
It's interesting, this was from DIC and aired on NBC during their last year with Saturday Morning. And still, "WishKid," which was similar to this show, had new episodes made by the Family channel US (later Fox Family) while ProStars just was left in the dust of only reruns.
Anyway CURSE NBC FOR GETTING RID OF THEIR SATURDAY MORNING LINEUP!!!!!!!!