As Aventuras do Super Coelho

I remember watching this movie multiple times as a lass. I saw it again recently and found it to be just as charming now as then. The characters are very cute and I liked the fact that there were some very weird elements to this movie. For one thing, I have a vague memory that the Chocolate Moose and his son were trapped in the same kind of room that Louie's vampire "wife" was held in "Interview With a Vampire" (where the sun could vaporize her). Well, here, the moose were trapped in this room so they'd melt, as they're actual moose made of chocolate. Disturbing. And of course there's the little twist involving the villain and his pet vulture.

Definitely give this a look, especially if you'd like to see some cute anime characters.

Have you ever seen a movie that played out like a game of mad libs with its basic concept? That is exactly what The Adventures of the American Rabbit feels like. Based on the poster art character of the same name by Stewart Moskowitz, this 1986 kids flick about a rabbit with Americanized superpowers plays out about as well as a story with no sense of direction. What sounds like a fun story of Rob the rabbit being informed of his incredible abilities and using it against forces of evil is just not engaging in the slightest.

In his own review for the Los Angeles Times, animation historian Charles Solomon said, "Both the writing and the animation in The Adventures of the American Rabbit are so inept that the viewer expects the governor to interrupt the film and declare the theater a disaster area!" While I wouldn't go that far, there is so little to gain from this feature due to how all over the place it is. One minute, Rob will be needing a job as a pianist, then he and other animals will be making a peace rally against a motorcyclist gang of jackals, then Rob and the music group he's with will be on the road searching for the right gig, then the villain will come in and threaten destruction against New York City, blah blah blah. Nothing in this film makes a lick of sense and the film hardly gives us a reason to care for the characters. It's sad when the best character in the movie is a gorilla named Ping Pong due to being the most consistent in his good moral values and the fact that he is voiced by Lorenzo Music. Most of the voice acting is fine for what it is, but the voice of the villain is so generic it's not even funny.

I guess if there's anything to take away from this film, at least the soundtrack is kinda catchy. The occasional rock music courtesy of Mark Colman and Howard Kaplan of Leech and Eddie fame is lively enough to bob your head up and down to, and the occasional flashy animated effects are cool to watch. Even beyond that, the animation direction is too stale and stilted to engage much momentum in. The character designs are cute enough on their own and do showcase a lot of variety in Moskowitz's style. Perhaps something more stylized would have helped, but the actual art direction feels too stale and safe to get much interest out of. It's interesting that Toei Animation was behind this film given the character's then huge popularity in Japan, because their finest work will not be found here at all. That said, I do think it's cool that they simultaneously produced English and Japanese dubs for the film at the time of its production, hence the immense collaboration between two different countries.

So unless you're a little kid or a fan of Moksowitz's work, American Rabbit isn't really worth recommending. It's harmless as far as family adventure films go, but there's not much momentum to gain from it in the long run. I actually thought I was going to be in for a hilarious 4th of July treat, but then again this film originally released in February, so I was surely mistaken. Oh well, at least we now know what inspired Chris Chan before Sonic came around (no, I'm not making that up).

Crude, uninspired cartoon involving a superhero rabbit's adventures (named, appropriately enough, the American Rabbit) who is forced to confront a villainous jackal's framework. The American Rabbit's Adventures are strictly for the children, although it seems entirely possible that even here they will find little to embrace. The animation style is certainly subpar, which by contrast makes even the fastest straight-to-video release of Disney look amazing. The voice work is passable, but the dialog is atrocious; the action seems to pause every 15 minutes like clockwork, or so as an important message is doled out (i.e. winning is not all). And let's not even get into the parody of the outfit of the American Rabbit, which is basically an American flag sponsored by roller skates (maybe the getup be more than ' 80s?)

I've seen Bobsheaux (a reviewer on YouTube) do a riffing video and it was really funny.The Adventures of American Rabbit is kind of like a "so bad that it's good" movie. What I mean is that you should get all your friends, family, and their friends, sit down with some snacks, and just riff the heck out of it. But on a serious note, this movie is ripping off Superman's theme, Captain America's design (only a little), and even the Star Wars theme and I'm surprised that no one who watched it even noticed. It also doesn't help that this movie has basically every superhero's problem when they first get their powers. The villain threatens the lives of their friends/family and innocents alike if the hero doesn't do what the villain wants and needs a pep-talk to get back in the game. But other than the many jokes you can make out of this film, I recommend it because it has Peter Vankman's (Ghostbusters cartoon) and Garfield's 80's voice actor in it. And that's really it. The other problems are: the hero is lame, the villain is even lamer, the old rabbit in it just comes off as creepy like Herbert from Family Guy, the hero's friends are completely useless to the plot, and speaking of which, the plot twist, involving the villain, close to the end is just....dumb. But if there's three nice things that I have to say about the movie it's this: the jokes you'll make, some kids might like it, and...well, let's just say that all the jokes I made were because it took place in San Francisco. Hint Hint.

I remember seeing this as a kid in 1986 (at that time I didn't know what the cold war was.) But I liked it. what I remember most was the music, (especially when Rob the Bunny would transform into a bunny with roller skates and look like the American flag.) regardless of the message, it was a cute movie 3 stars