Recess: All Growed Down

It's like about 3/5 of this movie is compilation of the episodes from the series (lazily shown in flashbacks): "The Legend of Big Kid", "Wild Child", and "The Kindergarten Derby". Then comes the finale: the movie shows the whole Recess gang as kindergarteners, including, in "Wild Child", Gus Griswald. This retrons Gus' earlier introduction as a new student at school, by showing that when new kindergartener Gus wreaks havoc and causing the other Recess gang kindergarteners to rebel against Miss Finster and kindergartener Randall. Gus is later sent to another, out of sate school and soon forgets his Recess friends, and they in turn, forget Gus, viewing him as a new student when he appears in second episode: "The New Kid". This is some plot hole.

I would have preferred it if the entire DVD was all new material instead of showing flashbacks Recess episode focusing on the kindergarteners that I'm sure we've all seen already on TV more than once; when it does finally get to the never-before-seen part it's basically Gus making up this big far-fetched and fabricated lie about how he was actually in the same kindergarten class as his friends when they were all 5 years old at Third Street School, but then had to be taken out the same day he came and did not return until the age of 9 when the gang were in the 4th grade. He also claimed that he had completely different personality as a little kid and so did all his friends plus classmates until he changed their behavior and made them who they are as bigger kids; I frankly don't believe any word that came out of Gus's mouth during his story since it would make handful of plot holes in the Recess show so there's no way I could ever be convinced that any of it could ever be true, Gus saying that he was at a certain place at some point in time when he was not and saying that he acted a certain way when he never did. But if I had to say something nice about the DVD it would be that even Gus's story was obliviously made up on the spot it's still was interesting for the most part and very original to say the least;also the animation is very colorful and vibrant and the characters are all very cute a little kids, especially T.J. and most especially Spinelli who is my # 1 favorite.

Well that's all folks and thanks reading if you did.

A tedious watch. Non-fans of the show won't like this.

'Recess: All Growed Down' is another compilation film, though at least this one has a firmer overall theme to it unlike 'Recess Christmas: Miracle On Third Street'. The story features the kindergarten kids, which is mildly interesting but it's dumbed-down a little - this feels aimed solely at children, way more than the preceding two productions anyway.

Andrew Lawrence's absence as T.J. is surprisingly noticeable, his replacement's voice probably adds to what I mentioned earlier in terms of sounding more kiddy. None of the rest of the cast are noteworthy.

Evidently people seem to like this film, fair enough I guess. It isn't one I enjoyed though.

I love Recess, for me it is one of the last "good" Disney shows. And generally I liked All Growed Down, it is not as good as the show or School's Out but it is better and closer in spirit to the show than Taking the Fifth Grade. What was it that I didn't like very much? I personally do think that the film could have been 10 minutes longer, it all seemed too brief and short to me. I am also not a fan of TJ's voice, I can kind of forgive Taking the Fifth Grade because he was meant to be older(but only by a year) but not so much here. It lacks spunk and seems too adolescent for a 9-year old schoolboy. But my biggest problem was with Gus, his story is very inconsistent with what we know about him in the show and to me he seemed very out of character as well. However, the animation is bright and colourful, in keeping in style to the show's actually, and the music still manages to be catchy. The writing is smart and funny, not only that but also manages to be true in spirit too, while the story apart from the thing with Gus is cute and charming. All the characters are recognisable and on the most part consistent with the show, Gus in fact I think is the one exception. Apart from TJ, the voices are very good, Principal Prickley, Miss Finster and Spinelli are spot-on. All in all, I found All Growed Down good on the whole, though lacking those extra things to make it great. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Like all famous Disney series, this is an all-new Playtime. Peering into your favorite characters' pasts, you'll follow the gang's memories when they first arrived at the Third Street school. They are invited by the teacher to spend a day taking care of the terrible Kindergarten. Little ones are impossible: they don't write, they don't play, they're stuck on the playground and they're totally undisciplined. The little ones revolt and, led by Chief Fedorento, "kidnap" TJ. The whole gang panics - TJ is missing. After much confusion, TJ and his friends realize that big boys and little kids can be good friends. After all, one day they were also from Kindergarten. Join in the joy and laughter of THE BEGINNING OF EVERYTHING. A sweet adventure full of important lessons about new friends, self-esteem and the exciting task of growing up.

I thought this one was even cuter than the first one, the mixture of high school children and kindergarten children, brought me nostalgia, a nostalgia for the time when I worked in a daycare center, something more realistic and cute impossible...