The Garbage Pail Kids Movie

Last updated
The Garbage Pail Kids Movie
GarbagePailKidsMoviecover.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Rod Amateau
Written by
  • Rod Amateau
  • Melinda Palmer
Based on Garbage Pail Kids
by John Pound (uncredited)
Produced byRod Amateau
Starring
CinematographyHarvey Genkins
Edited by
  • Leon Carrere
  • M. Edward Salier
Music by Michael Lloyd
Production
companies
Distributed by Atlantic Releasing Corporation
Release date
  • August 21, 1987 (1987-08-21)
Running time
97 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1 million
Box office$1.6 million [1]

The Garbage Pail Kids Movie is a 1987 film adaptation of the children's trading-cards series of the same name produced, directed and co-written by Rod Amateau. It was the last film to be directed by Amateau before his retirement in 1989.

Contents

The cards, which began as a parody of the popular Cabbage Patch Kids dolls, featured characters with gross habits or abnormalities, or who suffer a terrible fate. The film depicts seven of the Garbage Pail Kids (played by dwarf actors in animatronic costumes) interacting with society and befriending a regular boy.

The film was lambasted by critics and is widely considered to be one of the worst films ever made. The Garbage Pail Kids Movie was nominated for the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst New Star but lost to David Mendenhall for Sylvester Stallone's Over the Top , and the song "You Can Be a Garbage Pail Kid" was nominated for the Worst Original Song but lost to George Michael's controversial hit "I Want Your Sex" from Eddie Murphy's Beverly Hills Cop II .

Plot

A garbage-can spaceship is seen flying near Earth, which is then shown inside an antique shop owned by Captain Manzini. A boy named Dodger is being assaulted by four older teenage bullies in a park. Juice, the leader, steals Dodger's money and drops him in a puddle. Dodger goes to Manzini's antique shop, where he works. Manzini takes Dodger's clothes and cleans them while warning him to stay away from the garbage can.

Later, Dodger sees Tangerine, Juice's girlfriend, and he tries to persuade her to buy something from the shop. Dodger is attracted to Tangerine and covertly smells her hair while she is distracted. The other bullies enter the shop and attempt to bully Dodger again, but he manages to outwit them. However, during the tussle, the garbage can is knocked over and a green ooze spills out. The bullies then bring Dodger into a sewer, handcuff him to a rail and open a pipe, pouring sewage onto him. Dodger is then saved by little mysterious people named the Garbage Pail Kids.

Manzini returns and is upset that the Garbage Pail Kids have been released from their can, but he introduces Dodger to each of them: Greaser Greg, a leather jacket-wearing greaser with a violent attitude; Messy Tessie, a girl with a constantly runny nose; Windy Winston, a boy who wears a Hawaiian shirt and often farts violently; Valerie Vomit, a girl who throws up on command; Foul Phil, a whining hungry baby with halitosis who constantly asks characters if they are his "mommy" or "daddy"; Nat Nerd, an obese acne-riddled boy who dresses up like a superhero and wets his pants frequently; and Ali Gator, the group's leader, an anthropomorphic half-person/half-alligator with an appetite for human toes. Manzini explains that the kids are forbidden from appearing in public because they will be attacked by the "normies" (normal people), and that he cannot force the kids to return to the garbage can without magic.

The next day, Dodger accompanies Tangerine to a nightclub where she sells clothes that she has designed. Dodger behaves awkwardly when Tangerine removes her shirt to sell it. Dodger then hides when Juice appears. Meanwhile, the kids steal a Pepsi truck, flatten Juice's car with it and then start a campfire in an alley with stolen food. The next morning, the Garbage Pail Kids recover from food-induced hangovers and present Dodger with a jacket that they sewed. The jacket impresses Tangerine, and she asks Dodger to acquire more clothes so that she can sell them. Upon Dodger's request, the kids increase their output after stealing a sewing machine from a non-union sweatshop, but then become bored and venture out in public in disguise. They visit a theater playing Three Stooges shorts and behave obnoxiously. Ali and Winston go to a bar and become embroiled in a fight with bikers, who are soon won over by the kids' heroics, and they all celebrate with beer. Meanwhile, Tangerine sells the clothes and begins to prepare for a fashion show based on them. She meets the kids and, although repulsed by them, realizes that she can take advantage of their designs.

On the night of the fashion show, Tangerine locks the kids in the basement of the antique shop to prevent their 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. Manzini, Dodger and the bikers help the kids and the other prisoners escape and head to the fashion show. The kids trash the fashion show and tear the clothes from the models while Dodger defeats Juice. Later that night, Tangerine apologizes to Dodger and asks to be his friend, but Dodger rejects her, saying that he does not think that she is pretty any more. Captain Manzini tries to play the Garbage Pail Kids' song in reverse in order to coax them back into the garbage can, but the kids sneak out and ride away on stolen ATVs to cause more havoc.

Cast

The Garbage Pail Kids

Production

In April 1987, it was announced that Atlantic Entertainment Group had acquired the license for the Garbage Pail Kids from Topps to be adapted as a feature film. The trading-card series had been a great success, selling more than a billion cards and launching themed merchandise. [2] Shooting began in April of that year and was completed by June, with the quick turnaround time credited to the film's use of the Ediflex electronic editing system, which had been more commonly utilized for television shows and allowed the production to operate with a smaller crew and almost no film-lab services. [3] [2]

Reception

The film's depiction of the Garbage Pail Kids in costumes received criticism. GPKmovie.jpg
The film's depiction of the Garbage Pail Kids in costumes received criticism.

The film was lambasted by critics upon its release and is widely considered to be one of the worst films ever made.[ citation needed ] The film holds a 0% approval rating and an average score of 2.2/10 on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 14 reviews. [5] Metacritic gives the film a score of 1 out of 100, the lowest on the website, based on reviews from seven critics, indicating "overwhelming dislike." [6] Critics disliked the film's rude humor, acting, puppetry, inappropriate moments, the appearance and voice acting of the Garbage Pail Kids, nonsensical plot and hypocritical message.[ citation needed ] Juan Carlos Coto, writing for the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel , called the film "one of the worst ever made." [7] Caryn James of The New York Times called the film "too repulsive for children or adults of any age." [8] Akron Beacon Journal film critic Bill O'Connor criticized the costumes in the film as well as its message, writing that it merely pays "lip service" to the message that "our insistence on physical beauty, and a narrowly defined 'beauty' at that, limits our understanding, cuts us off from real human beauty." [4]

Atlantic Releasing Corporation’s head of marketing Martin Rabinovich attributed the negative reviews and poor box-office performance to marketing difficulties, saying that while the film was targeted toward children, it was not necessarily a family film. [2]

DateAwardCategoryRecipientsResultRef.
1988 Stinkers Bad Movie Awards Worst PictureThe Garbage Pail Kids MovieNominated [9]
April 10, 1988 Golden Raspberry Awards Worst New Star The Garbage Pail Kids (Ali Gator, Greaser Greg, Nat Nerd, Foul Phil, Messy Tessie, Valerie Vomit and Windy Winston)Nominated [10]
Worst Original Song "You Can Be a Garbage Pail Kid", by Michael Lloyd Nominated
Worst Visual EffectsThe Garbage Pail Kids MovieNominated

Canceled reboot

In 2012, it was reported that Michael Eisner's Tornante Company had plans to finance and produce the development of a feature film based on Garbage Pail Kids, as Eisner had recently purchased the Topps trading-card company in 2007. [11] [12] On July 18, 2013, it was reported that the film was canceled because of negative reception.[ citation needed ]

See also

Related Research Articles

A nerd is a person seen as overly intellectual, obsessive, introverted, or lacking social skills. Such a person may spend inordinate amounts of time on unpopular, little known, or non-mainstream activities, which are generally either highly technical, abstract, or relating to niche topics such as science fiction or fantasy, to the exclusion of more mainstream activities. Additionally, many so-called nerds are described as being shy, quirky, pedantic, and unattractive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Comic Book Guy</span> Fictional character from The Simpsons franchise

Jeff Albertson, commonly known as the Comic Book Guy (CBG), is a recurring fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons and Eisner-nominated spin-off comic book series Comic Book Guy. He is voiced by Hank Azaria and first appeared in the second-season episode "Three Men and a Comic Book", which originally aired on May 9, 1991. Comic Book Guy is the proprietor of a comic book store, The Android's Dungeon & Baseball Card Shop. He is based on "every comic book store guy in America" and represents a stereotypical middle-aged comic-book collector. He is well known for his distinctive accent, disagreeable personality and his catchphrase, "Worst [-] ever!" As of "The Dad-Feelings Limited", he and his wife Kumiko are trying for a baby.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Garbage Pail Kids</span> Sticker trading cards

Garbage Pail Kids is a series of sticker trading cards produced by the Topps Company, originally released in 1985 and designed to parody the Cabbage Patch Kids dolls, which were popular at the time.

<i>Grease 2</i> 1982 film by Patricia Birch

Grease 2 is a 1982 American musical romantic comedy film, and a standalone sequel to the 1978 film Grease, adapted from the 1971 musical of the same name by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. Originally titled More Grease, the film was produced by Allan Carr and Robert Stigwood, and directed and choreographed by Patricia Birch, who choreographed the original stage production and prior film. The plot returns to Rydell High School two years after the original film's graduation, with a largely new cast, led by Maxwell Caulfield and Michelle Pfeiffer in her first starring role.

<i>My Mother the Car</i> American fantasy sitcom

My Mother the Car is an American fantasy comedy that aired for a single season on NBC between September 14, 1965, and April 5, 1966. Thirty episodes were produced by United Artists Television. The premise features a man whose deceased mother is reincarnated as an antique car, who communicates with him through the car radio.

<i>Recess</i> (TV series) American animated television series

Recess is an American animated television series created by Paul Germain and Joe Ansolabehere and produced by Walt Disney Television Animation, with animation done by Grimsaem, Anivision, Plus One Animation, Sunwoo Animation, and Toon City. The series focuses on six elementary school students and their interaction with other classmates and teachers. The title refers to the recess period during the daily schedule, in the North American tradition of educational schooling, when students are not in lessons and are outside in the schoolyard. During recess, the children form their own society, complete with government and a class structure, set against the backdrop of a regular school.

Adam Pesapane, known by the pseudonym PES, is an American director and animator. He has created several stop motion films and commercials, which has earned him nominations for an Oscar and an Emmy Award.

"Bye Bye Nerdie" is the sixteenth episode of the twelfth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 11, 2001. In the episode, after Lisa becomes the target of a female bully named Francine, she discovers a scientific reason as to why bullies pick on nerds and demonstrates her findings at a science conference. Meanwhile, Homer goes into the childproofing business, causing baby-injury-related businesses to go in decline.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katie Barberi</span> Mexican actress

Katie Barberi is a Mexican actress known for her work in telenovelas, her portrayal of Ursula de Román in Grachi and for her portrayal of Ursula Van Pelt on Every Witch Way, the American adaptation of Grachi.

<i>The Lords of Flatbush</i> 1974 film directed by Martin Davidson

The Lords of Flatbush is a 1974 American comedy directed by Martin Davidson and Stephen F. Verona. The film stars Sylvester Stallone, Perry King, Paul Mace, Henry Winkler, and Susan Blakely. Stallone was also credited with writing additional dialogue. The plot is about street teenagers in leather jackets from the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. The movie, along with American Graffiti, the television hit Happy Days, the musical Grease and its like-named film version, and novelty rock act “Sha Na Na’’, was part of a resurgence in popular interest in the '50s greaser culture in the 1970s.

<i>The Benchwarmers</i> 2006 American film

The Benchwarmers is a 2006 American sports-comedy film directed by Dennis Dugan, written by Allen Covert and Nick Swardson, and produced by Adam Sandler and Jack Giarraputo. The film stars Rob Schneider, David Spade, Jon Heder, Jon Lovitz, Craig Kilborn, Molly Sims, and Tim Meadows, with Swardson, Erinn Bartlett, Amaury Nolasco, Bill Romanowski, Sean Salisbury, Matt Weinberg, John Farley, Reggie Jackson, and Joe Gnoffo in supporting roles. It tells the story of three nerds and a billionaire forming a titular baseball team to take on Little League teams.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jock (stereotype)</span> Stereotype of an athlete

In the United States and Canada, a jock is a stereotype of an athlete, or someone who is consumed by sports and sports culture, and does not take much interest in intellectual pursuits or other activities. It is generally applied mostly to high school and college athletics participants who form a distinct youth subculture. As a blanket term, jock can be considered synonymous with athlete. Jocks are usually presented as male practitioners of team sports such as American football, basketball, baseball, lacrosse, soccer, swimming and ice hockey.

<i>How to Eat Fried Worms</i> (film) 2006 American film

How to Eat Fried Worms is a 2006 American children's comedy film written and directed by Bob Dolman. It was produced by Mark Johnson and Philip Steuer, with music by Mark and Bob Mothersbaugh of Devo. The movie is loosely based on Thomas Rockwell's 1973 children's book of the same name. It was co-produced by Walden Media, and distributed by New Line Cinema.

<i>The Stupids</i> (film) 1996 Canadian film

The Stupids is a 1996 adventure comedy film starring Tom Arnold and directed by John Landis. It is based on The Stupids, characters from a series of books written by Harry Allard and illustrated by James Marshall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phil Fondacaro</span> American actor and stuntman

Phil Fondacaro is an American actor and stuntman. Standing 106 cm, Fondacaro is best known for his performance in the horror comedy Bordello of Blood, as well as his roles in the fantasy films The Black Cauldron, Troll, Double, Double, Toil and Trouble, and Willow. He also had several prominent television roles, such as a recurring role as Roland on the television series Sabrina the Teenage Witch.

Rodney Amateau was an American film and television screenwriter, director, and producer.

<i>Phoebe in Wonderland</i> 2008 American film

Phoebe in Wonderland is a 2008 American drama film written and directed by Daniel Barnz. It stars Felicity Huffman, Patricia Clarkson, Elle Fanning, Campbell Scott, and Bill Pullman.

<i>The Karate Kid</i> (2010 film) 2010 film directed by Harald Zwart

The Karate Kid is a 2010 American and Chinese martial arts drama film directed by Harald Zwart and produced by Jerry Weintraub, Will Smith, Jada Pinkett Smith, James Lassiter, and Ken Stovitz, from a screenplay written by Christopher Murphey, based on a story conceived by Robert Mark Kamen, the writer of the first three Karate Kid films. It serves as the fifth film in The Karate Kid franchise, and stars Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan in the lead roles, with Taraji P. Henson, Wenwen Han, Zhenwei Wang, Luke Carberry, Zhensu Wu, Zhiheng Wang, and Yu Rongguang in supporting roles.

<i>10 Rules for Sleeping Around</i> 2013 film by Leslie Greif

10 Rules for Sleeping Around is a 2013 American screwball romantic sex comedy film written, produced, and directed by Leslie Greif and starring Jesse Bradford, Chris Marquette, Tammin Sursok, Virginia Williams and Reid Ewing.

<i>Tangerine</i> (film) 2015 film

Tangerine is a 2015 American comedy-drama film directed by Sean Baker, and written by Baker and Chris Bergoch, starring Kitana Kiki Rodriguez, Mya Taylor, and James Ransone. Set on Christmas Eve, the story follows a transgender sex worker who discovers her boyfriend and pimp has been cheating on her. The film was shot with three iPhone 5S smartphones.

References

  1. "The Garbage Pail Kids Movie Review". Movies.tvguide.com. Retrieved 2013-12-19.
  2. 1 2 3 "The Garbage Pail Kids Movie (1987)". AFI . Retrieved April 29, 2023.
  3. "The Garbage Pail Kids Movie (1987)". TCM . Retrieved June 1, 2023.
  4. 1 2 O'Connor, Bill (August 17, 1987). "Lacking in clear message, 'Garbage Pail Kids' is trash". The Akron Beacon Journal .
  5. The Garbage Pail Kids Movie at Rotten Tomatoes
  6. "The Garbage Pail Kids Movie (1987)". Metacritic . Retrieved November 18, 2018.
  7. "Trashy 'Garbage Pail Kids' Has No Value". Sun-Sentinel. 1987-09-05. Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved 29 Sep 2010.
  8. "Movie Review - The Garbage Pail Kids Movie". The New York Times . 1987-08-28. Retrieved 6 Jun 2010.
  9. "Past Winners Database". The Los Angeles Times. August 15, 2007. Archived from the original on August 15, 2007. Retrieved July 18, 2024.
  10. "1987 RAZZIE® Nominees & "Winners" - the Official RAZZIE® Forum". www.razzies.com. Archived from the original on 19 February 2010. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  11. Fleming, Mike (12 March 2012). "Michael Eisner's Tornante Company Behind Feature Adaptation Of 'Garbage Pail Kids'". Deadline.com. Retrieved 2013-12-19.
  12. "Michael Eisner and Tornante Plan New 'Garbage Pail Kids' Feature". The Film Stage. 2012-03-12. Retrieved 2019-03-04.