A Cheery Crew of Cartoons-Made-Flesh

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

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NY Sun
NEW YORK SUN CONTRIBUTOR

None of the current generation of youngsters who will see the big-budget movie adaptation of “Fat Albert” would be able to recognize the zaftig North Philly hero, chances are. Yet the children I saw it with were interested in the group of inner-city misfits.

Bill Cosby’s appeal is timeless, it seems, and even though this film is sometimes unbearably precious, and unforgivably corny, it has an earnest sweetness about it that is ultimately charming. One irony of Mr. Cosby’s vast and successful career is that he has never been able to translate his easy, world-weary style to the big screen. Perhaps he should try again.

“Fat Albert” alternates between two realities: the real Philadelphia and the animated one. In the animated one, Fat Albert and his crew of outcasts, including speech-challenged Mushmouth, buck-toothed Bucky, clumsy Old Weird Harold, wannabe hipster Rudy, and self-explanatory Dumb Donald, overcome economic disadvantage by outsmarting rival gangs while keeping an eye open for other kids in the neighborhood, and making their own fun in a junkyard.

In the real world, however, an angsty teen by the name of Doris is having problems, and there’s no one to console her. She needs a real Fat Albert to guide her. So she does what anyone would do – she watches television. Her tears fall on the remote control, summoning Fat Albert and Co., who fly through the screen and plop into her living room. (It’s a good thing she wasn’t watching a “CSI” rerun, or “South Park.”) Shocked and unsettled, she is almost instantly won over by the ridiculously upbeat cartoon-characters-made-flesh.

The posse goes through two simultaneous fish-out-of-water experiences. They were, after all, originally only two-dimensional, and also inspired by Cosby’s youth in the 1950s. They gawk at all the trappings of the modern world, share a comic montage in a mall, and “rap” the famous (and surprisingly catchy, after all these years) Fat Albert theme song at a party.

All the while, however, their bright cartoon colors begin to fade, and each begins to lose a little of his uniqueness. Old Weird Harold discovers he’s a basketball prodigy, Dumb Donald becomes smarter, and Mushmouth learns how to speak perfectly. Even Fat Albert learns something new – he’s flush with first love, and resists returning to television land because his heart is in the real world. But the clock is ticking: The gang has to return home or be reduced to “celluloid dust.”

The third act is livened up by an appearance by Mr. Cosby himself, who tells Fat Albert that Doris is the granddaughter of the man he based Fat Albert on. This clue helps wrap up the flick, which ends on a tidy, and predictable note – save for one scene, which, I’ll confess, left me a little choked up. When Cosby and the reallife Cosby Kids – all old men – pay homage to Fat Albert’s deceased original, it’s hard to keep a dry eye.

As Fat Albert, “Saturday Night Live” cast member Kenan Thompson does a spot-on impersonation of the title character, while still giving him new dimensions. As Doris, Kyla Pratt is a believable bratty teen. And the ensemble of actors who play Albert’s crew all juggle the task of breathing life into cartoon characters. Though they border (often) on being campy and annoying, they ultimately communicate a camaraderie that adds credibility to a concept that lacks it.

“Fat Albert” was groundbreaking for many reasons, but the main one was that it gave an unvarnished view of teens who weren’t being raised in the lap of suburban luxury. It was a show for children that tackled the very adult issues of growing up, and it gave its audience a roundtable of knights as their champions. While the movie isn’t as visionary as Cosby’s original show, it still retains a subversive edge, which rescues Fat Albert from being just another television-to-multiplex money grab.

That said, I hope this movie will inspire parents to buy the “Fat Albert” DVD set, and introduce a new generation to a bunch of geeky kids and their junkyard wonderland.

NY Sun
NEW YORK SUN CONTRIBUTOR

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.


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