Slappy - Occhio alla pinna

Slappy and the Stinkers is one of my 10 favorite all-time movies. My grandchildren and I have watched it over and over. In these days of sex, violence and objectionable language, it is so refreshing to find a movie that one can feel comfortable sharing with others, especially children. Slappy is a delightful and funny seal, being hidden (and disguised) by a group of youngsters, trying to protect him from those who would do him harm. A strict and unfeeling school master, along with gardener (Branson Pinchot) add to the enjoyment. Watch as once again good triumphs over evil! Clean, wholesome and upbeat comedy, a good addition to one's video library.

I cannot understand the critics of this film. It clearly has an unbelievable plot and all the characters are caricatures of goodies or baddies, inept adults and triumphant kids - but that is where the humour lies. From start to finish it stands in the old fashioned slap stick and manic situation comedy movie genre. The fact that you can see some of the jokes coming does not stop them being funny at the moment of delivery. There are some superb slap stick movie moments. Mayhem abounds. It is not meant to be taken seriously. It does not pretend to be great cinema. It is not cool or sophisticated comedy. Woody Allen would and could not have made it. It should be seen for what it is, a wonderful, old-fashioned, family comedy which makes us laugh again and again and which can be enjoyed by all ages. I grew up on Jerry Lee Lewis and St. Trinians. I loved it.

Man. This movie has got it all. Cute kids. Fart jokes. A sea lion. What more do you need? I used to wonder if B.D. Wong had the chops to pull of a subtle comedy like this, and this movie proves he's got what it takes. Jennifer Coolidge shows she's more than just the dramatic actress so beloved in those Christopher Guest pseudo-documentaries and knocks this one out of the ballpark. That accent? Hilarious. Bronson Pinchot proves that he's more than just a one-trick pony with his portrayal of Roy. You can barely even detect his Meposian accent. Wow! And without going into too much detail, I'll just say that these kids worked great as a team. Move over, Li'l Rascals. There's a new group of youngsters in Cute City. Why these kids didn't get a series (Hello! "Slappy & the Stinkers: the Weekly Show") or at least a few MacDonald's ads is beyond me. Whatever. Sometimes I don't know what goes on in Hollywood to let talent like this slide. See this movie!

After watching only 10 minutes of this movie with my 5 year old son, all I need to know is that he was laughing out loud almost continually, not to mention his mother. The child acting is not Oscar worthy. The adult acting is child like but for a kids movie it is perfect but none of that matters. The seal is a scene stealer. If you have a child who likes to see bad people do bad things stupidly and good triumph over ineptitude along with fart jokes and so on, then this is the movie for you! The script is packed jokes and situation comedy. I was apprehensive about watching it but I'm glad I did. Overall, I think this is worth a watch when you have over watched Up, Cars, How to train your Dragon and so on. PS, the dog deserves his own movie.

I watched this movie four times already and counting when I babysit a little guy and I actually thought this was quite good, it was not perfect but it did have a lot of good scenes. However, the only good actors in that movie were B.D. Wong and Scarlett Pommers.