The Adventures of the American Rabbit

source: The Adventures of the American Rabbit

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.

When you were nine years old, it was perfectly believable that a rabbit Wizard would assist a young rabbit to be a patriotic hero who will save other rabbits and animals. Yep, totally legit! However, revisiting this film as an adult induces frequent groans at the dialogue and the silliness of the story- not to mention our hero is called American Rabbit which suggests patriotism is important for the rabbit population. Okay, I remember 'The Adventures of American Rabbit' being released at the cinemas back in the 80s, and it disappeared during the 90s. Admittedly, I had fonder memories of this forgotten flick, but I guess I was so enamoured by the trailers at the time, that I may have forgotten my disappointment. This is not a great animated film by any standard- especially upon a re-watch! It is worth noting that voice-great in Lorenzo Music (Garfield) was the voice of Ping the Gorilla, and other than that, this film is pretty lame. When the bad guy kidnaps the Chocolate Moose to control New York, this film had good from bad to worse. Hard to find a good quality version of this movie, and that is probably for the best. ** out of *****!

This movie is so bad, I registered at this site to review it. "The Adventures of the American Rabbit" is a film so devoid of any sort of human qualities, it is impossible to conclude that it was made by our species. The film contains no intelligence whatsoever. There is not a shred of anything that resembles an actual movie in this film. It's unspeakably awful. The film starts with Rob the rabbit being raised in some weird European place, even though he's the American rabbit. These first few scenes play like something like I wrote when I was ten, having very little exposition, awkward and jarring pacing, and making almost no sense. Then, suddenly, out of nowhere, Rob turns into the American Rabbit during a picnic. An old rabbit shows up and tells him that he is part of a "legacy" and then Rob walks away and does something to go to San Francisco, where he meets these Jackals who shout nonsense and ride motorcycles. This first act of the film made me want to turn it off immediately. But I kept watching. And it just got stupider and stupider. Like when the villain kidnaps a chocolate making moose and claims that he now controls all chocolate. Or how Rob the Rabbit stops the water at Niagara Falls with lightening, shutting off the power grid for the entire country. The whole thing was just awful. While the plot was nonsensical, the dialogue was something else. It made no sense what so ever. Not one shred of sense. And yes, the film was made in Japan, but it was written by Americans, which nulls that excuse. In addition to the nonsense that the characters said, there was the fact that the voice actors were just bad. They spoke in monotonous dull voices that sapped away any sense of emotion. The only possible scenario I can imagine where one would pull enjoyment from this film is from a purely nostalgic perspective. Other than that, there is not one shred of entertainment to be found.

Basically a Superman rip-off for the cutesy animal crowd, this movie goes everywhere and nowhere at the same time. The "nerd as secret hero" motif is essentially the plot as it rambles from scene to scene. It begins in a mountain village with the young title character excelling at everything he tries and receiving limitless support from his bland, Cleaveresque parents. A creepy old stalker wanders the village asking personal questions about the boy and the villagers answer them without hesitation. During a picnic nearby his parents are nearly crushed by a falling boulder only to be saved as his powers manifest for the first time. Then the creepy stalker shows up - in a wizard robe - to tell him he is a hero and must leave his family immediately, which he does. I'm not saying the stalker dropped the boulder but the circumstances are awfully fishy. This sounds like the first act of a film but is only about the opening ten minutes. From there we head to San Francisco where our hero stands idly in Golden Gate Park only to be conveniently accosted by a gang of biker wolves. This transitions to a scene in what can only be described as a strip bar where the wolves harass a barely-clothed pig. No need to say more - the whole film is safe and saccharine kiddy stuff jarringly punctuated by uncomfortably inappropriate situations. Not suitable for children or adults. Other minor things: The score was done by Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan (The Turtles, Mothers of Invention) who should know better. Seeing their names in the opening credits intrigued me but nothing in the music reflects what they are capable of. Also, the road shown leading up to Golden Gate Park does not exist. Finally, why does a rabbit that can fly need roller skates as part of their costume?

This was definitely one of my favorite Saturday morning cartoon movies when I was a child. The characters were extremely fun, the storyline was relatively complex, and the tone was not that of most condescending animated movies that caused me, even as a very young child, to feel as if the movies were talking down to me. I haven't seen the movie in quite a few years, but I do remember watching it in late middle school or early high school and noting some of the political ideas that it seemed to be expressing. (By this time, I had realized how the media had affected my mind and opinion about political issues. For example, my once inexplicable cautious attitude towards Eastern Europeans [which have since been eradicated] could probably be trace to such propaganda films as Rocky IV.) However, I do think this film is pretty harmless and actually delivers some good lessons that a child of any age needs to learn. It's definitely still on my favorites list.

This is a movie from my childhood that I still enjoy. It is shocking how nowadays, this movie is basically bashed on for many reasons, be it because of propaganda or some other silly reason. Yes, it's not something to write home to, but you have to remember, this was made for kids, a target audience that can basically watch any cartoon without question. And yes, he does seem like a rip-off of Superman since he has his superpowers, but you know who else ripped off Superman? Mighty Mouse and Underdog, and I don't see anyone batting an eye at how cheesy those two cartoons can be nowadays. So, the movie is basically your typical superhero origin story: Robbie, a normal rabbit, lives a normal life until he sees his family in danger of a rockslide and transforms into a star-spangled bunny on roller skates to save them. An old wizard tells him of his destiny, and he goes to the city to get a job, only to go cross country with his friends when the club he works at gets demolished, using his newfound powers to save his friends from the weasel bikers that are working for Vultor. Yeah, the plot does seem like it can be weak, but it works. And while it does have flaws, you have to remember even classic superhero films like the first Superman movie had its flaws as well (especially the time travel scene where he reversed time to save Lois, which basically left the question of the second missile unanswered). The movie has some good voice acting, especially from Barry Gordon (who would voice Donatello and Bebop in TMNT the following year) and the late Lorenzo Music (best known as the voice of Garfield and the first voice of Peter Venkman in The Real Ghostbusters), and the music is also good. And while the ending is a letdown, you have to realize Robbie needed the pep talk because he lost since Vultor threatened New York City if he interfered, and losing is something every young kid has to go through and they need a pep talk to help them do better next time. As a movie from my childhood, I think the old saying "Don't judge a book by its cover" applies to Adventures of the American Rabbit as well as many other animated films that have gotten a lot of hate. While it may not be a masterpiece as some Disney films, it's still a charming cartoon movie that should at least be given a chance before passing judgment.

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

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?)

This was a reminder how most 80's cartoons that weren't by Disney or Don Bluth were just hilariously awful. A lot of things don't get resolved in this movie. Why do we never see or hear from Rob's parents after he leaves? Why didn't Rob turn into the American Rabbit so he could save Panda-Monium when he had the chance? Do the protagonists ever rebuild Panda-Monium? What happened to the Jackals? Why does the Statue of Liberty look human in a world full of talking animals? Maybe it's the Animal-pocalypse, I don't know. Rob Rabbit is a real wimpy character which is understandable because he's basically Clark Kent in rabbit form, but he's just as pathetic as a superhero. There's racism (species-ism?)in the movie in the movie as well because although it's said several times that not all jackals are bad, we never see any good ones at all. I guess 5-year-old kids might enjoy seeing Rob's flashy transformations into the American Rabbit. But then again this movie must have been written by 5-year-old kids.