The Worst Film Ever

Good movie but grossly overrated

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

Continuing to review "SNL"ers early work on film, we're now at 1980 with the television showing of the animated Animalympics. A 30-min. version of the Winter Games segment had originally been shown on NBC during the actual Winter Olympics on ABC but when the Summer Games (held in Moscow, Russia at that time) were boycotted by our country, that effectively cancelled the airing of the Summer Games ep of this movie. HBO eventually showed the whole thing a year later for multiple airings. Anyway, then-current members of the "SNL" cast Gilda Radner and Harry Shearer as well as future member Billy Crystal were among the voices that contributed here and what a treat to hear Radner as her Baba Wawa character as well as Crystal as Howard Cosell and Muhammad Ali ones. Aided greatly by the musical songs of Graham Gouldman of 10cc with the whole thing put together by Steven Lisberger who would later helm TRON. Many quite funny visual gags abound and there's a feel good vibe throughout especially concerning a couple of opposite sex runners that permeates the whole thing. So on that note, I very much enjoyed Animalympics.

When I was younger this video was in the local grocery store's limited children's section (way before Blockbuster was on the scene), I probably had my parents rent Animalympics at least once a month. With the usual childhood fervor, I was obsessed with the characters/music. It does have a lot of adult topical humor along side the kiddie fare...it goes to prove Shrek, although a good movie, isn't as "revolutionary" as some claim it to be...Animalypmics does it with with out relying on sexual double ententes or mocking the easy target of Disney.The soundtrack is also all original and highly creative.

ANIMALYMPICS is definitely one of those films that pretty much defines its time and place - it's got a soft-rock score by 10CC's Graham Gouldman, some shiny chrome-effect logos and bumpers (the titles that pop up at the start of each segment), references to late seventies pop culture including disco fever and surf bums, and it's pre-political correctness so there are plenty of stereotypes (if you're offended by the joke early on about all Asian people looking the same, represented by a herd of puffins, you'd better tune out or get a sense of humour) and, believe it or not, a lot of none-too-thinly-veiled sexuality from our anthropomorphic heroes - the animators do have a habit of going slightly over the top with any movement that involves breasts or rear ends! Whilst the animation isn't the best you'll ever see (I wasn't impressed with the high quantity of 'static' shots where there is literally NO animation at all) and there's not enough action or excitement for the little ones, ANIMALYMPICS does have a nice, dry sense of humour, several bright moments and a welcome lack of cynicism. If you want to revisit your youth or want to give your kids something different from the usual CGI mayhem, this may be worth a look.

I was one of the lucky Kids to have HBO in the late 70s and this movie was really big at our home. Even my father loved the film! This film is like a spoof on the Olympics and it really showcases the voice talents of Billy Crystal and the late Gilda Radner.This film really focuses on detail as with Dean Wilson driving a van! I find this film to be for mun then the real thing. The real stand out though is the music...Graham Gouldman really outdid himself with some real slamming tunes. I have a Mint copy of the LP and a copy on cassette and it really fits the film nicely.There are also spoofs of some famous people of the time as well, but the film is a real fun treat that the little ones can enjoy again and again. I hope that there is a DVD release in the future... This film should have gotten better treatment when it was first released...