Rock & Rule

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Rock & Rule
DVD cover
Directed by	Clive A. Smith
Produced by	Michael Hirsh Patrick Loubert
Written by	John Halfpenny Patrick Loubert Peter Sauder
Starring	See below
Music by	Score: Patricia Cullen Songs performed by: Cheap Trick Debbie Harry Lou Reed Iggy Pop Earth, Wind & Fire
Cinematography	Lenora Hume (animation camera)
Distributed by	MGM/UA (original release), Unearthed Films (DVD)
Release date(s)	April 15, 1983 (Boston) August 5, 1985 (New York City)
Running time	77 min 81 min (CBC version)
Country	Canada
Language	English
Budget	$8 million
IMDb profile

Rock & Rule is a 1983 animated film from the Canadian animation studio Nelvana. It was produced and directed by the company's founders, Michael Hirsh, Patrick Loubert and Clive A. Smith. The film features the voices of Paul Le Mat, Susan Roman and Don Francks, with Catherine O'Hara and Maurice LaMarche as guests.

Centring on rock and roll music, the film includes songs by Cheap Trick, Debbie Harry of the pop group Blondie, Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, and Earth, Wind & Fire. The story takes place in a post-apocalyptic United States populated by mutated humanoid animals. Protagonists and antagonists alike are rock musicians in this movie.

With John Halfpenny, Patrick Loubert and Peter Sauder at the helm of its screenplay, Rock & Rule was a heavily-derived spinoff of Nelvana's earlier TV special from 1978, The Devil and Daniel Mouse, and took around five years to complete. Upon its release, it got little promotion in the United States, due to the then-recent string of box office failures from its distributor, MGM, and newly-acquired franchise United Artists.

Despite its grandiose financial underperformance in the mid-1980s, and a rare-to-find home video release at that time, the film built a cult following from its repeated airings on HBO and Showtime. In 2005, Unearthed Films released a special two-disc edition, much to the delight of animation lovers and long-time fans alike.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Production and Release 3 Critical reaction and box office 4 Alternate versions 4.1 US version 4.2 Canadian version 5 Home video and DVD 6 Merchandise 7 Aftermath 8 Characters 9 Cast 10 Trivia 11 See also 11.1 Similar in nature 11.2 Other Nelvana franchises 12 External links

[edit] Plot

Omar, Angel, Dizzy, and Stretch perform in a small-time rock band in their home city of Ohmtown. The aging but still popular rock star Mok, in search of the "one voice" needed to summon a demon from another dimension, hears Angel sing while the band performs in a club and realises that she is the voice he needs. Although initially unaware of Mok's true intentions, she refuses to abandon her band at his insistence. Not willing to take no for an answer, Mok kidnaps her and flies away with her in his blimp to Nuke York (the post-apocalyptic version of New York City) to perform the concert that will summon his demon.

Omar, Dizzy, and Stretch follow in a stolen police car to rescue their friend (and Omar's love interest). Meanwhile, Angel attempts to escape and in the process, learns of Mok's horrific goal and his confidence in his success considering that there apparently is there "no one" capable of stopping his summoning. Unfortunately, Mok soon recaptures Angel and uses an impersonator to fool Omar in thinking that she is spurning him willingly. To sway Angel, Mok then captures the band and tortures them in order to compel her to agree to his demands for their release, but not before brainwashing them into an addled state to ensure they would not interfere further.

When Mok's first attempt at "Carnage Hall" proves a destructive fiasco due to insufficient power, he is advised to move the summoning to Ohmtown, where the power plant has access to unlimited energy. In that second concert, there is a power surge that has to be drained into the town causing overloads, which both darken the city and shock Omar and his friends out of their stupor.

Dizzy and Stretch decide to try to stop the concert, but Omar initially refuses on account of Mok's deception. Although all three make their way to the event, they are unable to stop the summoning beyond freeing Angel from her restrains after it was too late. The demon starts consuming the audience and attempts to attack Omar who is saved by one of Mok's simple-minded minions who sacrifces himself. Desperately, Angel attempts to sing to force the demon to leave, but her voice has no effect as the demon advances to consume her. However, the situation dramatically changes when Omar begins to sing in harmony with Angel and the Demon is driven back through the portal. Mok realises too late that his computer's reference to "no one" did not mean an effective individual did not exist, but that the counterspell involved more than one person. As he ineffectually tries to stop the duo, the brother of the self sacrificing minion turns on Mok and throws him down the portal.

The concert ends with massive audience approval as the band is introduced as the newest superstar talent, with a wildly popular vocalist duo fronting it in the now sunny Ohmtown.

[edit] Production and Release

Rock & Rule was Nelvana's first animated feature film, as well as the first of its kind to be produced entirely in Canada. The film spent several years in production and underwent many changes from the original concept, which was titled Drats! and aimed for children. The cost of production, $8 million in studio resources, nearly put Nelvana out of business.

Surprisingly, the animation was of high quality for the era (it began production in 1978), and the special effects were mostly inventive photographic techniques, as computer graphics were in their infancy. Computers were used to generate only a few images in the film.

[edit] Critical reaction and box office

Because of scenes involving drug use, implied devil worship, and mild sexuality, the film could only be marketed to an adult audience. It performed poorly at the box office (with only $30,000 in ticket sales [1]), and no soundtrack album was ever released (though some of the songs appeared as B-sides on subsequent albums by the musicians involved with the film).

Critic Janet Maslin of The New York Times commented: "The animation [...] has an unfortunate way of endowing the male characters with doggy-looking muzzles. In any case, the mood is dopey and loud." [2]

In spite of its financial demise, the film soon received a cult following in the United States, although it was already popular in its native Canada. It occasionally received late-night airings on the cable channels HBO and Showtime, and these showings are well-remembered by many of its long time fans.

[edit] Alternate versions

[edit] US version

The American distributor, MGM, disliked the original actor who voiced Omar (Greg Salata) and insisted that he be re-dubbed and several edits be made to the film. Under the misnomer Ring of Power, this version failed to find an audience at the box office, and this chopped version quickly found its way to video and laserdisc.

[edit] Canadian version

The film was initially broadcast on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in 1984 (uncut, and including parental warnings). In 1988, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation began airing the alternate cut, which featured extra footage, a different, clearer audio mix, the original voice of Omar, and the shot of a still-alive Zip at the conclusion.

[edit] Home video and DVD

Original home video release copies of Rock & Rule are extremely difficult to find. MGM released the film on VHS video in 1984, and again on the Laserdisc format in 1986. Both of these editions soon went out of print.

Soon after its demise in the home entertainment market, copies of the film could only be acquired by writing to Nelvana. The studio charged a fee of $80 to create and send a video copy of the film.

On June 7, 2005, a DVD and a two-disc Special Edition DVD set were released by Unearthed Films, and are available at Amazon.com. The two-disc set includes the CBC video version of the film (though the original print was destroyed in a fire—this is taken from a VHS source); The Devil and Daniel Mouse, the TV special that was the inspiration for Rock & Rule; and a slightly different rough cut version of the ending. MGM's logo is removed from this version.

[edit] Merchandise

The only visible merchandise ever made for Rock and Rule was an official Marvel Comics adaptation, with authentic pictures from the film and its production.

[edit] Aftermath

The costly failure of Rock & Rule almost put Nelvana out of business, and many of the animators who worked on it never again came back to the studio. To recover, the company turned to more commercial fare with successful children's series like Mr. Microchip and DiC's Inspector Gadget, as well as Droids and Ewoks (based on the Star Wars franchise).

Also saving Nelvana from financial trouble was its success with the Care Bears, who would become the stars of its next feature film, along with a television series on the ABC network. Thus, Nelvana was on its way to becoming one of the most prolific and well-known animation companies in the world.

[edit] Characters

Omar is the hero of the movie, and the leader and guitarist of a punk-rock band. He is very tough and rude, but he does have a soft side, especially for his love interest Angel.

Angel is Omar's love interest, and the keyboardist in his band. She is also an excellent singer, which is why she is kidnapped by Mok and his goonies. Angel, though she gets into trouble at various scenes in the movie, is no damsel in distress. She is spunky, independent, and can hold her own.

Dizzy is one of Omar's friends, and the drummer in his band. He is very intelligent, and he tries to teach Omar a thing or two every now and then.

Stretch is another of Omar's friends. He plays the bass in Omar's band, and he apparently is the only one who drives a car. He is a very silly character and tends to say a bunch of goofy things.

Mok is the villain in the movie. Cold, calculating, and cocky, Mok kidnaps Angel to get her to bring a demon from another dimension so that he can take over the world.

[edit] Cast

(in alphabetical order)

• Greg Duffell - Stretch and Zip
• Don Francks - Mok (Speaking voice)
• Deborah Harry - Angel (Singing voice)
• Dan Hennessey - Dizzy
• Samantha Langevin - Mok's Computer
• Paul Le Mat - Omar (Speaking voice, Non-CBC Version)
• Catherine O'Hara - Aunt Edith
• Lou Reed - Mok (Singing voice)
• Susan Roman - Angel (Speaking voice)
• Gregory Salata - Omar (Speaking voice, CBC Version)
• Brent Titcomb - Sleazy
• Chris Wiggins - Toad
• Robin Zander - Omar (Singing voice)

[edit] Trivia

• The film's original title, Drats!, happens to be the name of Omar's group.
• Mok's full name is Mok Swagger. He is a parody of Mick Jagger, whose lawyers threatened to sue Nelvana.
• The effects for the demon in the movie's final sequence were produced by smearing cow brains over one plane of a multiplane camera.

[edit] See also

• List of animated feature films

[edit] Similar in nature

• Heavy Metal (another Canadian animated film made two years earlier)
• Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem, a feature-length anime told to the music of Daft Punk's Discovery.

[edit] Other Nelvana franchises

(all of them aimed at older audiences)

• Delta State
• 6teen
• Bob & Margaret

[edit] External links

• Rock & Rule at the Internet Movie Database
• Rock & Rule at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Rock & Rule Homepage - Unofficial website
• The Critical Eye: Rock & Rule - A review originally in fps magazine
• A 2-part interview with the creators or Rock & Rule by fps magazine
  • part 1
  • part 2
• Rock & Rule review at SolidSharkey.com
• The film's page at fast-rewind.com