A bad boy that likes to break windows with smiling rocks, a little girl who tortures bugs and a young boy who plays with fire, bad kids. I wasn’t sure what to expect from these three short animated films. What I did know was that The RockThrower had won Best Animated film at the Santa Cruz Film Festival along with Best of Fest at The East Lansing Children’s Film Festival. I also knew that creating an animated film is incredibly difficult and to create a truly original film is almost impossible.
I grew up loving the poetry and stories of Roald Dahl. I ate up anything by Shel Silverstein, (He wrote, Where the Sidewalk Ends, go check it out) and looking back I see a theme that both those amazing writers carried quietly to their stories and poems that is lacking in many children’s tales; a little touch of darkness. These writers, who wrote almost exclusively for children, always allowed for the touch of evil to pervade the plotlines and characters. There was nothing so dark as to be inappropriate, but just dark enough to be deliciously fun. George M. Dondero has allowed his odd, quirky, dark sense of humor into these three films and it took me back easily to my youth and those wonderful stories I grew up with.
George M. Dondero who is the Creator of ‘The Bad Kids’ along with the Director, Animator, Writer and Publisher, has done an amazing job with these short films. He has taken a theme and given it a twist of originality. I loved the fact that he presents his characters as “bad”, no apologies here. He doesn’t ask us to sympathize. They are what they are and they get what they deserve. I giggled…you heard me right! I said giggled! I laughed and was completely entertained by these three short films.
Due to the fact that these are short films, I really want to avoid telling you too much and spoiling the fun. So instead here is a very short synopsis of the tale The RockThrower: While breaking windows with big rocks, RockBoy accidentally knocks himself out. He wakes up to find he is at the entrance to a zoo, but this is not your average zoo, instead of animals on exhibit there are bad kids. The Rock Thrower is a modern day fable made to entertain and warn children of any age of the ills of being mischievous.
The animation in this film is not to par with lets say Toy Story, but it has a very consistent feel and it flows easily. I watched Hoodwinked a couple weeks ago and I’ll tell you right now that George’s animation puts that big budget film to shame. The only bummer about this collection is that it’s not long enough, it leaves you wanting more. So George I hope you are working on The Bad Kids Volume 2 because I’m hooked.
You can’t get hold of this film at your local blockbuster I’m sad to say, but for $12.00 you can pick up a copy of The Bad Kids Volume 1 at George’s website, I hope you go buy a copy, It’s worth it, I promise.
Purchase DVD: The Bad Kids Volume 1
Visit the Website: Mornik movies
Shop for other Moronik stuff: Moronik store
I am a big fan of the Bad Kids stories and also am a very good friend of George’s. I am so glad that you enjoyed his stories and I am looking forward to more just as you are.