We Watched Rock-a-Doodle!

Brad joins the podcast this week for the long promised review of the 1991 Don Bluth animated movie, Rock-a-Doodle! This movie was a staple of our childhood and it was about time to revisit it! You can watch the full movie for free on YouTube Movies & TV, Prime Video, Roku, Pluto TV, or Tubi.

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Time Codes:
00:00 - Opening Act: Brad's Hadestown Proshot Thoughts
03:40 - Revisiting Rock-a-Doodle
19:00 - The Busty Chicken Saga
20:35 - What Did Modern Children Think?
22:05 - Final Thoughts
26:06 - Curtain Call

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#movie #review #nostalgia #classic #music #downoncemorepod

Transcript

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SPEAKER_02 0:00

Right, what's up, everyone? Welcome back to another episode of Down Once More. I'm your host, Matt, and this week I am joined by Brad. I think it has been a few months or more since you've been on the podcast. It's been a hot minute.

SPEAKER_00 0:14

Um I think I was still wearing my winter coat last time I did this.

SPEAKER_02 0:18

I think so. Uh no, you were wearing a bro tank, but um maybe outside wearing a winter coat. But we are finally going to be reviewing Rockadoodle, which I've been talking about us reviewing on here for months, but then your life was crazy, times didn't really line up, and now we're finally doing it. So um, before we get into Rockadoodle, though, we saw a few weeks ago, now in this layer, uh, we saw Hades Town, the pro shot together. I'm doing the full review with Sage because that was promised ahead of time. Uh Brad tried to guilt me into that. So, Brad, you get to give your mini review of Hades Town here because this was your first experience with the show and the music in general. Um, you hadn't even listened to the album, correct?

SPEAKER_00 1:05

Correct. That was the first time I had heard any of those songs um or seen anything about what the story was about, uh, who was in the cast. I my biggest takeaway is that Patrick Page is an absolute legend. Patrick Page played Hades and he was unbelievable. Um I really love the like Greek myth adaptation, you know, reenvisioning it in a different context, serving a different purpose. And it was it, you know, the myth of Orpheus, and it was just very, very well done. I do think that you need that, you know, the combination of music, set, choreography to get the full experience. So I'm glad I waited. I didn't just listen to the album, even though the album is set up a lot like Hamilton, where you know it's it straight through, you'd be able to track the story just through the music. Having the the choreography and the set um and the visuals just in general was just the perfect kind of first experience with it. I'm sure it's going to be streaming in the not too distant future.

SPEAKER_02 2:11

Yeah, I think eventually. I don't know if they'll go to a streamer. So, like merely we roll along that pro shot went to Netflix um for distribution. Like Next to Normal went to PBS Great Performances and then Broadway HD, um, but it's also available to get digitally. So I think there will be a way for more people to see it. And they did extend the run past the initial five days because I saw conflicting reports. It either in its opening weekend surpassed what Hamilton did in theaters, or um was just under it. So they were like neck and neck from what I was seeing. So I think people love musicals. Give us more musicals, and I think it helps when it's a pro shot that's very well done. I thought that was the best pro shot that I've ever seen from a direction standpoint, from the cinematography, how they framed the shots. It was great. And they were working with some different things, like Patrick Page. He had a ruptured Achilles, and so that's why he had the boot on and the canes. They had to adapt some of the staging and choreography for him and those limit limitations. Even Obozada apparently had kind of lost her voice prior to the recording. You couldn't even tell. She sounded amazing. Definitely not. Fun fact her and Reeve Carney married in real life. There you go. So he didn't turn around. No, that's enough about that. Let's get into Rockadoodle talking about this. So the reason I wanted to review this with you is because this was a staple in our childhood, I feel like. Like I think next to like a goofy movie, this is the animated movie that sticks out to me the most from growing up.

SPEAKER_00 4:03

I don't know what yours is, but I I mean we watched a lot of Aladdin. Robin Williams' genie is just another core memory. But if you're talking about non-Disney movies and especially musicals, right? We've already done The Emperor's New Groove. Not The Emperor's New Groove, I'm sorry. The Emperor's New Clothes. Uh this is, yeah, this is core memory, very just like deep in my subconscious of classic childhood movie.

SPEAKER_02 4:37

Yeah. And uh for those of you who aren't familiar with Rock Adoodle, you can watch it on YouTube. And I don't know that I've talked to a single. Wow, I don't know that I've talked to a single other person who has seen this movie. Like every time I mention it to someone, no one knows what I'm talking about. So you can watch it for free on YouTube. But it is a Don Bluth film, which Don Blut, if you grew up in the 90s, you're probably familiar with a lot of his films. He did All Dogs Go to Heaven, A Troll in Central Park, which was one that we watched a lot of time at our grandparents. Mm-hmm. Uh, Thumbelina, which I don't remember if we ever watched Thumbelina. Um, and he did not write these, but he did direct The Land Before Time and Anastasia. So fun fact there.

SPEAKER_00 5:28

Or as my youngest says, the time before life. I like that. I like that. My so you wouldn't believe this, but our parents are total iPad grandparents. They're in the car. Austin's just like, can I watch Time Before Life? And mom pulls it up on her phone. She just lets him watch TV in the backseat of the car. Even though you didn't have to do tours and get away. Cross country road trips. Nope. We did cross-country road trips.

SPEAKER_02 6:02

And they'd like sometimes bring that little TV. Yeah, we had the console TV that would go in like the center console.

SPEAKER_00 6:09

Like one or two trips.

SPEAKER_02 6:12

I remember that. But mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_00 6:15

Mm-hmm. That's fine. That's fine. It's not hypocrisy. They're just grandparents.

SPEAKER_02 6:20

That's right. Grandparents are supposed to be more fun. You learn from your time as a parent, and there's the stuff you're like, I'm not ultimately responsible for how this child turns out. So I just need to love me while they're here.

SPEAKER_00 6:35

Turns out he's an awesome kid, so exactly.

SPEAKER_02 6:41

So the premise around this movie, because you probably haven't seen it, and we will be talking spoilers, is it is a I struggle to say it's a blend between live action and animation because it's 90% animated. Uh it starts out where we're introduced to Chanticlair, the rooster who sings on the farm and raises the sun every day. There's an evil owl that tries to fight him so he can't sing to raise the sun. It comes up ever anyway. All the farm animals start shaming him. He leaves. And then it brings on this time of no sun and storms. And then it switches to live action. Uh little boy gang read a story about Chanticlair and there being a big storm, and his family's having to go to protect their farm. And then the evil owl comes and turns him into a cat, the Duke. Christopher Plummer. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Which what else was Christopher Plummer in? He was in Knives Out.

SPEAKER_00 7:47

That's right. He was the he was the author, grandpa that dies in the first Knives Out. What else was he in? That's the Uncle Doogie that like stands out in Uncle Doogie, Uncle Doogie. Uh I mean, he's just kind of an iconic. He was oh yeah, he was in The Beautiful Mind. He's a psychiatrist in a beautiful mind. He's Mike Wallace in The Insider. Um and he's the bad guy in The Silent Partner. Ah, okay.

SPEAKER_02 8:19

Not familiar with that one. But then after Edmund gets turned into a cat, he goes on a mission to find Chantaclair to bring back the son so he can save his parents and their farm. Uh, he is joined by a litany of the other farm animals, led primarily by Patou, who is the dog who wears shoes because he has bunions, uh, and he's trying to learn to tie his dad gum shoes. And Patou is also the narrator of the show. There is also a mouse that I don't remember the mouse's name, and there is a bird, which I don't remember the bird's name.

unknown 8:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:57

So and like we should we should point out that Patou is played by Phil Harris, who is probably the most recognizable for people that grew up with children's movies of the you know second half of the 20th century. We're talking Baloo from the jungle book, uh um Little John from Robin Hood. That's right, it's just like the second you hear his voice, you're like, I this is my childhood. He's in the Aristocats. Um I mean, he's just he was in everything um in the nine 1900s, well, late 1900s. So uh he was a great kind of uh leader of a driver of, he's the narrator, so he's he's the kind of the main voice you hear, and it's uh a star power that the movie otherwise generally lacks.

SPEAKER_02 9:50

Yeah. But while we're talking about star power, Chanticlair is played by Glenn Campbell. Absolutely. Rhinestone cowboy fame.

SPEAKER_00 10:01

I look, I love me some Glenn Campbell, and I know he did some movies. Um hence him being the Rhinestone Cowboy. Yeah, oh, I didn't know he was in, I just looked this up. He was in the original True Grit. And if you think back to that, I bet he was the pretty boy Marshall and the John Wayne True Grit. Probably that Matt Damone plays in the new one. Matt Damone.

SPEAKER_01 10:34

Is Matt Damon in the new one?

SPEAKER_00 10:36

I don't remember.

SPEAKER_01 10:37

Yeah, Matt Damon's in the new one.

SPEAKER_00 10:38

Oh my goodness. I remember talking about but I am I am generally against remakes, but the Cohen Brothers True Grit is one of the greatest westerns ever made. Um, and even though True Grit is the only Oscar that John Wynne ever won, the Cohen Brothers remake surpasses it. He plays LeBouffe, so yes, it is that. LeBouff, the the uh the Texas Ranger. Mm-hmm. Um, Danny Campbell's voice is iconic. When you hear Santa Clare sing, it's just like that is the perfect, the perfect voice for that character.

SPEAKER_02 11:19

Yes, and Chantlair is very clearly modeled after Elvis. Like when he's big in the city, he's being called the king. So it's clearly an Elvis kind of not parody, what would you say? Homage, ode, reflection, archetype, whatever. Um parody. And other kind of notable name is Goldie, who is the pheasant, is played by Ellen Green, who was Audrey in Little Shop of Wars, the movie. So alongside Rick Moranis. And she has a very recognizable voice, too. I love that song. That's the only song I know well from Little Shop of Fours. I've only watched it once.

SPEAKER_00 12:13

The um the opening song. Like the the whole opening sequence I could probably sing along with, but not just on the fly. Yeah. And like the Steve Martin's dentist song stands out in my head as like memory. But not enough that you can like recognize it right now.

SPEAKER_02 12:34

Off the top of your head. But yeah, but if I heard it, I'd be like, that's what that is. Yeah, yeah. Agreed. Agreed. Um, but rocket doodle. So it is a little bit insane, a little bit ridiculous. This owl is giant, playing a giant pipe organ that's feeding the storms. He's a magical owl. His breath turns people into different things, like it turned Edmund into a kitten. Um, he turns his nephew Hunch, who is kind of the fuck up of the family, into weird alien creature animals. Um, but hunch is maybe my favorite character in the oh, he's so funny.

SPEAKER_00 13:13

Uh that's what I have. That's one of my few notes is he's hysterical. Yeah. The slack comedy that they pull off with him is like there's certain parts of this movie that I feel like they drag, honestly. Like, uh overall, I I think the movie stands up and I I really enjoyed it. But the a lot of the city, if Hunch wasn't there to bring in some comic relief, it wouldn't be very funny throughout. He has a big he brings the laughs.

SPEAKER_02 13:45

He does. Um, I'm always calling the Duke Uncle Dookie, Uncle Dookie, Uncle Dookie, Uncle Dookie. And then, because he's sent to kill the kitten, the dog, all of them who are going after Chanticlair, and they chase them into an adequate pipe, is what he calls it. Ah, adequate pipe. And he says he killed him adequately. And then uh, and then it turns out it was an aqueduct pipe that leads right into the city. So just the opposite of his intent. But kind of similar to you, I don't have a ton of notes on this because it is just like a fun kids' movie. Like it's an I think less than an hour and a half. It is short, it has a number of catchy songs. Like, I really do like the soundtrack of this.

SPEAKER_00 14:38

So I it musically it starts with the opening song absolutely slaps. Um, and you know, and it's reprised with the closing song. Both of those are absolute killer tracks. I did want to say about this being a kid's movie, in that opening number, when all the other like the hens are coming out to just like fawn over Chantlair, there is one with like an inappropriate amount of cleavage for a children's movie. And when you think is it can this is the age of the animation, I'm pretty sure. What's that?

SPEAKER_02 15:17

Can a hen have cleavage?

SPEAKER_00 15:18

No, they do have chicken breasts normally, so they do, but like in this movie, they that one of them did, and it was just like someone had to draw that frame by frame and think nah, bigger. Well, I think this chicken needs bigger tits.

SPEAKER_02 15:37

A lot of the old school animators wildly horny, wildly horny from the old school animators. Um, I think my favorite songs on here are honestly the ones the owls sing. Um, the owls picnic one when they're running out of batteries, dude.

SPEAKER_01 15:55

Like the running out of battery. No battery.

SPEAKER_02 16:02

You didn't do enough. Shame on you.

SPEAKER_00 16:05

Oh, I'm so sorry. It's okay. I will forgive you. We'll add it that out.

SPEAKER_02 16:09

Um, but yeah, like I I really don't have a ton of notes. It was just I had a lot of fun re-watching it, and I always worry re-watching the movies from childhood that they're not going to hold up. Like you said, you were pretty confident the Emperor's New Clothes wasn't gonna hold up, and then we watched it, held up for us. Now, it's one of those things I try to give the caveat that if it's one you didn't grow up on, maybe it won't hit the same for you. I think it's just ridiculous and fun. Like Emperor's New Clothes, you watched it with the in-laws in the life, they all enjoyed it and had a fun time with it. And this one I watched solo, but I still think it's fun.

SPEAKER_00 16:48

Yeah, I think these are old enough that you're already entering with kind of adjusted expectations. You're like, Yeah, this is gonna be fun for what it is. I'm looking for, you know, I'm not looking for like a modern production animation style. And let's be honest, like, attention spans have so ero eroded um now that they have too much going on. And like stuff moves too fast in modern movies. Who was it? Was it uh Ben Affleck that was and and I think it was Matt Damone as well, who they were talking about trying to pitch an action movie to Netflix, and uh Netflix said that they had to explain the plot in the first like five minutes and then like every 10 minutes after that, because people are gonna be on their phones while watching, you know, and you instead of having one big action scene, you needed to have like three or four just for people to stay interested, and that's that's really changed the way stories are told. So if you're not expecting that, if you're you understand what comes with these, you know, not that old, right? 30, 35 years old. Um Rockadoodle came out in '91. If you're expecting that pace of a movie and you're expecting it to seem cheesy based on modern standards, I think you're gonna have a great time. Um, I did because I thought, okay, it's one thing for me, who could probably quote that movie front like forwards and backwards, to be like, yeah, I think this is still good. So I had my kids watch it. Perfect.

SPEAKER_02 18:25

And tell the people how old your children are so that they know what we're watching.

SPEAKER_00 18:29

Yeah, my oldest is 10, and my youngest is five. So, really the perfect demo. Let's see. So, uh I asked, first of all, what are your general thoughts? The five-year-old said, I really like Sean Declair. That was a really good movie. The oldest said, Goldie and the mouse. Both both really fun characters. Um, I'm getting a phone call. Pause. Yeah, I'm gonna I'm gonna come protect, I'm gonna go protect my home.

SPEAKER_02 19:01

So I have to share my screen. I wasn't going to, but uh while you were gone, uh protecting your house, I decided to try to find the chicken from the opening of Rockadoodle.

SPEAKER_01 19:14

Yep. And so instead of what would have made sense going to YouTube and scrubbing to that part, I I decided that I was going to no, I Googled uh first I Googled Rockadoodle chicken, didn't get anything. Then I googled uh rockadoodle busty chicken and um I am going to share my screen. I'll be out here. And this is in here. Oh my I'm like, what the hell? That's so funny.

SPEAKER_00 19:56

That's like the uh uh the ham Usy, uh the the ham vagina thing. Oh, is it this chicken? Yes.

SPEAKER_02 20:10

Okay, yeah, that's uh oh of course I zoom in, it gets smaller, that makes sense. Um yes, okay, that is the busty chicken.

SPEAKER_01 20:25

But yeah, I just I had to share that because that was That's funny. So ridiculous.

SPEAKER_00 20:34

So your children, should I start over with the kids or should I just pick up? Pick up. Okay, so then I asked them, Well, what was your favorite part? And my youngest, my five-year-old, said, I really like Sean Declair. I really liked the ending song. The oldest said that uh she liked when the mouse took out the camera and said cheese, the flash and the flashlight part. When I said, So what was your favorite song? The five-year-old said, I already said it. The ending song. I was wondering. The ten-year-old said, Goldie and Chanticlair's song and the no batteries song. Okay. I said, Well, what were the funny parts that you liked? They both said the owls. I agree. And what did they not like? The five-year-old said Pinky, and the ten-year-old said the Duke. Which one's Pinky? I I think Pinky is the uh the bird. No, that's not the it's not the bird.

SPEAKER_02 21:43

No, it's the film director, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00 21:44

Yes, yes, it's a film director.

SPEAKER_02 21:46

I think it's like the manager. Or whatever, the actor Fox. He was Pinky. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:54

So that's that's uh a modern child's take on Rockadoodle. They are laconic.

SPEAKER_03 22:00

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 22:01

But I think pretty much pretty well sums up my feelings as well.

SPEAKER_02 22:05

I think that's fair. That's similar to mine. It was fun. Like you said, you go into it with realistic expectations for what it is. And I kind of have what you were saying about how um Ben Affleck was talking about Netflix saying you need to kind of explain the plot in the first five minutes. And I do think that's something, and you said like the movies now are are faster paced and like there's more things going on. I feel like it is it can seem like there's more going on, but just the level of hand holding that they do in movies nowadays. Like back in the day, you very rarely had a movie over an hour and a half, and they weren't worried about telling you like the character's backstory. Like you watch the original, like Friday the 13th, or like some of those, it's very snappy, and what's going on? You don't get all these. Well, you need to know that their parents are going through a divorce and they're in a really tough place, and blah blah blah blah blah. All of that. I think now more movies there. It seems like we've gotten to where everyone needs to make a point, kind of, and give you characters to connect with, which I get that that can be important. But I kind of miss the day sometimes when you just have movies that were fun. It doesn't necessarily need to make sense. It doesn't need to have a big moral message, but even like some of these do. Like Rockadoodle has ones about like friendship and believing in others and being there, and and like the building up Chanticlair when they're chanting for him because he believes he can't do it and he doesn't have the power to raise the sun, and they all band together to encourage him and lift him up. Like you can have a little bit of that without it being too hand-holdy or hitting you over the head with it. So I don't know. I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 23:55

Yeah, and obviously there were plenty long movies in previous eras of filmmaking, but especially that's right. Especially children's movies, though. Uh these two-hour long kids movies have to stop. Yeah. I just the a compressed, a good compressed story. There's still a lot to be desired there. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:23

Well, and that's what did you go see Toy Story 5?

SPEAKER_00 24:26

No, we're gonna wait until it's streaming. Okay. I like they should have ended after three. Three was great.

SPEAKER_02 24:33

I just be done. Those were ones I kind of felt with like with three, and honestly, I feel like it with most Pixar movies. Like, I don't know. I feel like half the time I'm watching a Pixar movie, and I'm like, is this actually for kids? Like, I they get very like serious themes and like some heavy themes in there, which can be good, but I'm like, I miss like just the fun one sometimes. And like you said, kids have shorter attention spans, especially now, I feel like. And so why are we giving two hour kids movies? It's okay to just have a silly movie. Yeah, that's true. That's true.

SPEAKER_00 25:15

But um, I don't really have any other thoughts on rock. No, I don't even honestly, it's fun. I like this is not going to give you this, like you know, metaphorical take of the deep philosophical issues of our age. This is just going to be a good, enjoyable movie that you may have missed and is fun to go back to.

SPEAKER_02 25:38

Yeah. And I think um the owls could be a little scary for some kids, mainly the Duke, other owls. Yeah, when he goes like Mega uh Duke is kind of creepy, yeah, and is like breathing the magic out of his mouth, his eyes look different, and he's growing monstrous.

SPEAKER_00 25:56

Yeah, but like there is so much like that's pretty it's not any scarier than your average kid's movie these days.

SPEAKER_02 26:04

Either. Yeah. Well, do you have any last thoughts either about Rockadoodle or anything else that you want to mention before we we close out? Um, not about Rockadoodle. Any general ones?

SPEAKER_00 26:18

Yeah, I was thinking about a growing divide between left and right in this political climate.

SPEAKER_01 26:25

Hmm.

SPEAKER_02 26:27

Um let's table that. I think we'll need a full episode for that. Yeah, we'll come back and um drop it in the comments. But we are this is about as political as I get on here because I don't like bringing that place for fun, and even though our country is weird and scary right now, because half the time I will get promoted on my feed posts from the White House official page on like Facebook. And I have to do a double take because I think it's a parody account half the time, because we had um the day we're recording this morning, the White House. I don't know if you saw this, they did an animated video parody from Rick and Morty, and with the music and everything, and this is from the actual White House account. I'm like, what? We are not a serious country. The thoughts that that's gonna be in like history books or the presidential archive one day is just insane that we have like on May the 4th, they had a Photoshop picture of Trump as the Mandalorian with baby Yoda, like it's just the stuff that is coming out of official government like social media accounts is wild. Like, I don't need or want any elected official at that level to be making memes, and to think like there has to be like someone's paying for those. The fact that our tax dollars are going towards memes and half the time AI generated things um of Trump as a doctor, but is is wild, is wild.

SPEAKER_00 28:06

Not you know, it's hard to expect AI regulation to come from the person who regularly uses it to Photoshop him as Jesus and fighter pilots. No, and that kind of it was a doctor, it was a doctor, Dr.

SPEAKER_02 28:25

Jesus. The fact that anyone would think Jesus was insane. Insane. That's right. It was, but yeah, uh, I don't know, and I think that regardless of where you stand politically, I think we can all get behind not wanting our country to become a joke and known as the un like our country's social media accounts are unserious right now. It is it is insane. But um, what a fun bunny trail to finish this episode out on.

SPEAKER_00 29:00

Uh, wouldn't we use AI to produce stupid memes from his government account? Sean Declare.

SPEAKER_02 29:07

That's right. Way to bring it back home, Brad. I appreciate it. But uh thank you for coming on. Uh be thinking about we haven't done a draft or anything like that on the pod in a while. So be thinking if there's a topic that you want to come back on and do, if you listeners have ideas for topics, drop them in the comments.

SPEAKER_00 29:30

We should come up with a list of top five books we think should be made into musicals. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 29:36

I'm down. I'm down. Um, you will be better at that than me because I am no longer a reader. Um, bad, short attention span. It's easier if you like movies that should be musicals. No. All right. Well, thank you for joining. Thank you all for listening, watching, however, you choose to consume the podcast. You can watch on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. You can listen anywhere you listen to podcasts. Like, comment, share, subscribe, follow. All those fun plugs I have to hit on here. Brad, thank you again for joining. And all of you, I don't know what'll be coming the next week. I'm pre-recording this. I'm trying to bank some episodes because I got work trips and stuff coming up. So thank you all. We'll see you next time. Another episode of Downloads More. Later.