Kidco

While I was in first grade at Thornydale Elementary, in Tucson, AZ., the crew from Kidco did a presentation at our school's assembly hall asking for extras. I took the "permission slip" home to my parents and begged them to let me be in the movie. They signed the forms, and we went to a large casting call. I call it a casting call because I don't know what else to call it. I didn't get in the movie, but some of my friends were in the courthouse scene. We all received Kidco t-shirts and felt like we were movie stars (even though most of us were not in the picture.)Looking back, nearly twenty-five years later, this was a fun and interesting event in my life. I saw the film again in the mid-nineties, and enjoyed it. It has some of the same moral thematics as "The Goonies," but presents them in a less fantastic way--or does it?

A real life drama concerning a brother, his three sisters, and their hugely successful manure business. Perfect fare for the early 80's as the kids rake in the dough and show where a little entrepeneurship can take you. However the movie moves slowly and becomes very complicated when KIDCO runs afoul of the IRS. It's here most likely where the target audience of children will find themselves lost as tax codes, etc are reviewed ad nauseum. This movie was filmed in 1982, but was shelved until being released in 1984.

When this first came out on premium movie channels - our whole family watched it every time it was on. Then we taped it on a VHS tape. Took a couple of trips to Callifornia from Illinois (driving the whole way) had a VHS player and small color TV that would run off car battery and selected movies for kids to watch in transit to keep them occupied and also for us 2 grownups to watch and relax when we'd stop and have our meals/breaks. That was one of the movies taken on those trips and we eventually wore it out because we watched it so much! I wish that Kidco would come out on DVD so I can get a copy for myself and for each of my kids (4) so they can sit and enjoy it with their families like we did.

While the acting may not be up to some peoples standards, the message that the movie gets across is great for kids, parents (even parents-to-be!) - the whole family unit. IF you can find it - enjoy and be prepared to laugh!

Believe it or not, this film was inspired by true circumstances. Four minor children, heirs to Cessna Aircraft's family owners, incorporated and purchased public land in 1979. After selling the rights to their story, it was heavily fictionalized and made into this movie.

I would classify this as family entertainment but with the disclaimer the children use mild profanity occasionally. Nothing that a 6th grader couldn't handle, especially taking into consideration the filth children are exposed to these days. It is both a light-hearted fantasy and a glimpse into the nature of entrepreneurship and owning/running a business. (There are some glaring errors, such as no one under 18 can enter into a contract without the signature of a parent or legal guardian. Also, you must be 18 in most states to form a corporation.)

The children give really good performances. I did laugh out loud here and there, although there are plenty of moments the dialogue falls flat, or at least feels forced. The last half takes a more complicated tone, but the ending rounds it out.

Don't take it too seriously. This isn't Chekhov or Shaw. Let it be what it mostly is--good fun.

KIDCO is a very watchable movie about children creating a Fertilizer Distribution Business, resulting in these children being sued by a rival Fertilizer Salesman (the character of Orville Peterjohn) who once held local dominance in town. Orville Peterjohn, angry at losing his monopoly on his Fertilizer Sales business decides to sue KIDCO under a variety of corporate regulations, state requirements for submitting documentation to the variety of agencies as well as failure to pay sales tax. The courtroom drama being precisely a strong Conservative message (without dipping into hysterical rants) about how there are too many forms to submit for approval in the basic creation of a new business entity. The movie plays out with some tiny "twist surprises" in the courtroom scene, but at no time drives off into insultingly stupid territory or insults the children as human beings or insults the legal system (as it is) despite having the courts becoming "the tool of oppression" working on the behest of the character of Orville Peterjohn.

The children here are wonderfully sane, rational, logical, emotionally normal, and very human. The courts, family, and townspeople all remain believable human beings and not grotesque insane idiotic parodies of human beings as is so common in "children's entertainment" these days. The movie moves through the story at an enjoyable energetic pace and did not bore me as a viewer. There are no explosions or cartoon characters or "zany sound effects" or digital animation, just regular human people of a normal intelligence level sanely seeking to better themselves and their families with creative wit and enduring the challenges of a short realistic courtroom drama about defending their interests from the tyranny of a business rival.

My summation is that this movie is wonderfully not insulting to the intelligence of the children or the adults viewing this movie.

If your children are vapid overstimulated psychotic idiots, then you should take them to go see "The Bee Movie". If you want better for your children and your children want a better life for themselves, then get them a copy of this movie.

======== KIDCO did have a few minor audio editing problems (no audible audio distortion or distracting unnatural audio noises, just a bit more editing was needed to lessen standard human audio of feet shuffling bodies as they flump into a sitting position on chairs and so on). The movie was professionally lit and framed to best set the proper mood for the movie in a natural manner. The acting was exceptional for a movie for children and the script, although only simplistic at points to not drag the movie into tedium.

Ron Rifkin provides a very comprehensive (and handsomely bearded) performance as the lawyer for the plaintiff.