Lil' Pimp
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| Lil' Pimp | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Mark Brooks Peter Gilstrap |
| Produced by | Amy Pell |
| Written by | Mark Brooks Peter Gilstrap |
| Starring | Mark Brooks Lil' Kim Bernie Mac Jill Talley William Shatner |
| Distributed by | Lions Gate Entertainment Sony Pictures Television International |
| Release date(s) | January 11, 2005 (USA) |
| Running time | 80 min (US) |
| Country |  United States |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
| Ratings | |
|---|---|
| Australia: | MA |
| Canada (BC/SK): | 18A |
| Canada (Ontario): | 18A |
| Canada (Quebec): | 13+ |
| United Kingdom: | 15 |
| United States: | R |
Lil' Pimp is a 2005 feature length, black comedy animated film. It was the first feature length movie to be created entirely with Macromedia Flash animation. The movie was directed and written by Mark Brooks and Peter Gilstrap. The film was released straight to DVD, and was immediately criticised due to stereotypical depictions of certain groups.[1]
Contents |
[edit] Plot synopsis
The movie begins with a little redhead freckled 9-year-old boy (whose name is not mentioned during the movie, but is revealed in the credits to be Lil' Pimp) unable to adapt to suburban life, as his only friend is a foul mouthed gerbil and faces constant rejection by his peers. Afterwards, he accidentally meets a prostitute under the name of Sweet Chiffon, who takes him to her working place, a bar named "the Playground", where he befriends the pimp "Fruit Juice", who gives him a small amount of "pimp glitter", and decides he wants to become a pimp. The following day at school, during show and tell he is scorned by his classmates for not having a living male relative and decides to use the pimp glitter to summon Fruit Juice, who consequently impresses the whole class. When he visits the Playground again, Fruit Juice alters the boy's style and dresses him as a pimp, too. Meanwhile, mayor Tony Gold threatens to close Fruit Juice's bar, unless he is given 90% of the profits. After this incident the boy's mother goes in search of him, first directed to a gay bar and informed by Sweet Chiffon of a "nasty midget" closely resembling her son and then to the Playground. The boy refuses to return home to his pressing mother, of which mayor Tony is informed directly and takes advantage, accusing Fruit Juice of keeping the boy against his will. He is promptly arrested and his bar is closed down. Afterwards, mayor Tony Gold kidnaps Fruit Juice's prostitutes, in order to exploit them, while assigning two policemen to plant a bomb in the closed Playground. Meanwhile, Fruit Juice believes that the boy betrayed him, but upon being visited and helped to escape by the boy, he changes his attitude towards him. After the narrow escape, the boy's friends meet secretly in his room in order to concoct a plan to foil the Mayor's scheme. Upon knocking on his door and receiving an unconvincing answer to her question ("Who's in there?" "Just me and my friends, mum." "Oh, that's ridiculous, son. We both know you don't have any friends."), his mother discovers them and agrees to disguise herself as a prostitute in order to lure the two policemen into giving her the keys to the Town Hall. The boy and his friends enter the Town Hall secretly and unveil mayor Tony's wide range of crimes, while the boy sets the prostitutes free. Then, after the gang moves the explosives, mayor Tony, unaware of the situation, presses the button on the remote controlling the bomb, devouring the Town Hall. In the end, Fruit Juice turns his bar into a theme park also named "the Playground" but less sexually explicit. Mayor Tony and the two policemen are then shown to be working at the park as costumed mascots.[2][3][4]
[edit] Cast
| Actor | Character Voice |
|---|---|
| Mark Brooks | Lil' Pimp |
| Bernie Mac | Fruit Juice |
| Lil' Kim | Sweet Chiffon |
| Ludacris | Wheathers |
| William Shatner | Tony Gold |
| Danny Bonaduce | Nasty Midget |
| Kevin Michael Richardson | Smokey |
| Jill Talley | Mom/Old lady/Mary |
| David Spade | Principal Nixon |
| Peter Gilstrap | Skinny Peeps/Kevin/Bonny |
| Big Boy | Nag Champa |
| John C. McGinley | Man Cub Master |
| Mystikal | Geoffrey |
| Jack Shih | Cabbie |
| Jennifer Tilly | Miss De La Croix |
| Carmen Electra | Honeysack |
| Tom Kenny | Hans Dribbler Announcer/Billy/Clancey/Adam 12 Cop |
[edit] Production
The film was the first one to be created entirely in Macromedia Flash animation. The film was officially to be released on March 14, 2003, but was eventually postponed to July 11, 2003, due to an early screening which the audience greatly disliked. It was postponed again to October 24, 2003, after which it was removed entirely from Sony's theatrical schedule and was released straight to DVD.[5]
[edit] Criticism
The film was heavily criticised for its stereotypical depiction of black people as pimps and sexual objects.[3]
[edit] History
Lil' Pimp was an episodic webcomic on MediaTrip.com until 2000.[6][7]
[edit] References
- ^ DVD review at IMDb
- ^ http://www.lilkimzone.com/filmography.html
- ^ a b Let Lil Pimp Pimp Us
- ^ Lil' Pimp [DVD]. Gifted Men Productions.
- ^ Lil' Pimp (2005) (V) - Trivia
- ^ AWN's Web Animation Guide
- ^ A Ride Worth Taking: MediaTrip On The Move
