The Adventures Of The American Rabbit (Animation/Pan & Scan)

 

Picture: C+     Sound: C+     Extras: D     Film: C

 

 

Atlantic Releasing was a small company that released some odd features and did not survive for long.  This included a barely-released animated feature called The Adventures Of The American Rabbit back in 1986.  It was completed in 1985.  The story involves the title hero fighting evil animals so the happy, cuddly ones can be happy together.  Too bad it is not as interesting as it sounds.

 

It turns out that only a teenaged rabbit can become the hero since only they have the energy, though it seems like all rabbits have endless energy in real life.  With that said, some mean animals show up on motorcycles, one wearing a cooking pot as a helmet (is this a WWI German reference?) and it is time for that American Rabbit to jump into action.

 

Though I liked the choices of color, the style is dated on arrival and could not compete with the bad Disney features even then, while Disney’s underrated Oliver & Company (1988) was only a few years away.  The funny thing is that it looks like a Warner Bros. Superman spoof in the beginning playing it straight.  The cast of voices includes Barry Gordon, Ken Mars, Hal Smith, and Lorenzo Music, the original voice of Garfield and Carlton The Doorman, so there was no problem there, just everywhere else.  Too bad, because this looks like a straight-to-video production and Atlantic eventually went under.

 

The film was issued 1.85 X 1 in theaters, but MGM decided to only issue it in a narrow-vision pan and scan edition that probably hurts it even more.  This would have looked better wide.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono is surprising in an era of Dolby and Ultra Stereo analog presentation, making one wonder if this was meant for TV to begin with.  Either way, there are no extras and is one rabbit not worth worrying about.  At least it is issued cheaply, so skip it unless your child(ren) are looking for some kind of hare-raising DVD in the face of absolutely nothing else available.  It is at least harmless.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo