Bebe's Kids

Bebe's kids is truly an imaginatively funny film. It made me laugh while having surprisingly interesting and funny characters. The movie didn't try to win our attention, it just won it on its own. Very fun film. I especially love the jive-talking in the women's restroom. I almost died laughing.

This is the first animated feature aimed at black audiences, and it actually works pretty well. The film is based loosely on a bit by comic Robin Harris (who can be seen in his routine in the beginning credits) where he looks back on a day where he goes on a date with a woman, and tagging along are her son and three brats that are her friend's kids. They go to a amusement park, and then the fun starts (coincidentally, the park is called Funworld). Filled with good humor, bright animation, and the intro (for me anyway) of the mama insults (ie- Your momma's so dumb, she heard it was chili outside, she went and got a bowl). Featuring Faizon Love as the voice of Robin Harris (Harris died before the movie was to be made) and Tone Loc as Pee-Wee. A-

Robin Harris is captivated by the beautiful Jamilka, and her son seems pleasant enough. But when he he invites them to the local amusement park, they bring along the three hellions of Jamilka's absent friend Bebe.

It's based on one of Harris' monologues -- he's shown giving it at the beginning -- and plans were made to do a live-action version. Then Harris died, and what was to be done? Cancel? Recast? Neither. Instead, they did the body of the story as a cartoon, with Faizon Love doing a good imitation of Harris, and Vanessa Bell Calloway voicing Jamilka.

I was not looking forward to this movie, because it violates one of my prime rules about animation: never do animated what you can do live. I needn't have worried; under the direction of Bruce Smith, characters and action are exaggerated cartoonishly, offering some real comedy and ending on a serious note that is well set up. The artwork is also good; it's not elaborately designed, but it is fully animated. There may have been no cartoon wabbits, but this is a fine feature-length cartoon.

Because so many children's animated films are actually only thinly disguised morality lessons and/or merchandising gimmicks, it's refreshing to find an acerbic, often tasteless cartoon feature willing to promote a little healthy skepticism instead. The basic premise, suggested by what had been a familiar routine by the late stand-up comedian Robin Harris, might resemble typical Saturday morning TV fodder: the gruff but (almost) lovable Harris (a kindred spirit to W.C. Fields) is conned into chaperoning a trio of pint-sized troublemakers to Fun World, a local amusement park. But underneath the rap soundtrack padding and heartfelt, homeopathic preaching about the virtues of self-esteem is a good deal of subversive, post-Rodney King cynicism. Fun World itself is analogous to White America in the 1990s, complete with secret police, remote surveillance, and a robot Richard Nixon (sounding not unlike Jimmy Stewart). The film was originally planned as a live-action comedy, but it probably works better as animation, where the cartoon exaggeration can be an advantage. Favorite character: little Baby Pee-Wee, with a voice "like a hundred packs of cigarettes" and a constant cloud of flies around his sagging diaper.

African-American comedian Robin Harris had a comedy routine about crazed youngsters only known as "Bebe's Kids". In spite of his death his idea developed into this ho-hum animated feature. Harris (in cartoon form and voiced by another actor) meets a beautiful woman at a mutual friend's funeral. Immediately they start to click, but trouble looms when the woman is supposed to watch a friend's children (the titled characters). Thus the group goes to a theme park and all hell breaks loose as the youngsters seem to be little more than hoods that unwittingly try to control everything everywhere they go. Starts out pretty well, but wears out its welcome as it progresses. The novelty disappears pretty quick and we are left with a silly and tiring cartoon. 2.5 out of 5 stars.