Bebe’s Kids

PLOT:

The plot of the film features an animated version of Robin Harris (voiced by Love) recounting his disastrous first date with the beautiful Jamika (voiced by Calloway). Tagging along for the date are Jamika’s mild-mannered son Leon (voiced by William Collins, Jr.) and her best friend Bébé’s three (in the words of Harris) “bad kids”: Kahlil (voiced by Houston), LaShawn (voiced by Jonell Green), and Pee-Wee (voiced by Tone-Loc). The kids, Harris remarks, are so bad that “even a circus can’t train those kids! I thought the devil was through when he made Rosemary’s Baby, but ohhhhhhh no! Oh no! Now we got…Bébé’s Kids!” His claims are backed up by the fact that whenever a person spots them, they point at them, shout “Run! It’s Bébé’s Kids!”, causing everyone to flee the area.

The group decides to take a trip to the Disneyland-esque Fun World, where they find more trouble than fun. Harris attempts more than once to get rid of the kids so that he and Jamika can be alone, but there is no escaping or besting the kids. “We don’t die,” says Pee-Wee, “we multiply.” Also causing trouble are Harris’ alimony-demanding ex-wife Dorthea (voiced by Myra J) and her best friend Vivian (voiced by Carter).

After causing havoc, the kids are taken back to their apartment, where Harris drops them off. While he is initially grateful, he sees the empty apartment they have to go home to, and the unseen Bébé has left the kids with a note that suggests the loveless existence that created them. In the end, while back at the bar where he is telling the story, he realizes what he will become if he only cares about himself. He then returns and finds that Jamika has gotten the kids. They then reconcile and soon they, and BeBe’s kids arrive in Las Vegas, which is blacked out when Peewee pulls apart a plug that lights the entire city.

REVIEW:

I remember being in junior high when this film came out (yes, i said junior high…that’s what it was and is still called). I had just seen the first  House Partywhich starred Robin Harris, who created these characters in his stand up. Sadly, he passed away before this film was released. It’s such a shame, I think he would have loved this film.

The animation style is similar to other hip hop style cartoons of the time, such as various commercials, and to a lesser extent, the show Hammerman.

I was not really impressed with the beginning of this film. well, let me take that back, I like that they paid homage to Robin Harris, by showing clips of him doing the stand up routine that spawned this film, but as far as the actual movie goes, it just seemed to be a bit slow and serious getting going.

I love the character of Jamika, though. I know that this was early 90s and the idea of female beauty was totally different back then, but it is still good to see a “thick” female character as opposed to the sticks we usually see (animated or live).

Faizon Love does an excellent job voicing the character of Robin. At times I even thought it was really him.

This isn’t the best animated film, but it does have its moments. I wouldn’t go so far as to call this a family film due to some language here and there, but that’s up to your discretion. Robin Harris left a great legacy with these characters. It really is a shame that he died just as they were starting to gain popularity. Why not honor his memory and check this out?

3 out of 5 stars