Themes: Fish Out of Water, Finding a Way Back Home, Mischievous Children
Main Cast: Raven Symone, Kenan Thompson, Kyla Pratt, Shedrack Anderson III, Jermaine Williams, Keith Robinson, Aaron Andre Frazier, Marques Houston
Release Year: 2004
Country: US
Run Time: 93 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
Bill Cosby's gang of childhood pals evolve from standup comedy to an animated cartoon series to real life in this family-friendly comedy. Doris (Kyla Pratt) is a teenager who doesn't fit in with most of her classmates at school, has been depressed since the death of her grandfather, and is disturbed by her foster sister's willingness to remake herself in order to be popular. One of Doris' few solaces comes from watching reruns of the animated television series Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, and one day while watching the show she starts to cry, with a tear dropping into her remote. The tear draws big-hearted (and just plain big) Fat Albert (Kenan Thompson) from the animated universe into Doris' real world in hopes of cheering her up and helping her deal with her problems. As Fat Albert and his pals -- Rudy (Shedrack Anderson III), Bucky (Alphonso McAuley), Mushmouth (Jermaine Williams), Weird Harold (Aaron A. Frazier), Dumb Donald (Marques B. Houston), and Bill (Keith D. Robinson) -- adapt to the three-dimensional world and try to teach Doris to believe in herself, they learn that traveling back to the animated world is harder than they thought, which becomes alarming when they start to fade away. The real world also poses some new dilemmas for Fat Albert when he falls in love with Doris' foster sister, Lauri (Dania Ramirez). Bill Cosby co-authored the screenplay for Fat Albert, using his full name, William H. Cosby Jr., and collaborating with Charles Kipps; the project was begun with Forest Whitaker as director, who left midway through shooting, with Joel Zwick taking over in his place. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
Upon first inspection, Fat Albert is just the latest film to dust off an old TV show and nakedly capitalize on its status as a known commodity, regardless of whether there's a timeliness or public hunger for it. Many things about Fat Albert can be dismissed on this superficial level, and probably should be. But as it becomes clear that the film is a eulogy for Albert Robertson, Bill Cosby's childhood friend and source of inspiration for the character, it achieves more poignancy than your typical vanilla family comedy. Borrowing the basic fish-out-of-water structure from The Brady Bunch Movie, the film proceeds through a series of G-rated episodes in which the characters learn essential truths about themselves and spread good vibes. Fat Albert walks that fine line between embracing the old character stereotypes, quite backward by today's standards, and exploding them. Especially with the character of Mushmouth, who shrugs off his pre-Ebonics babble in favor of proper English, the film sends the message that cartoon characters are caricatures, while real people should never be subjected to the same prejudices. To call Fat Albert a "message movie" is obviously too generous, but to harp on its shortcomings would seem too particular. It's sweet, but it's not nearly hip enough to hold any value for fans of the original show. The actors, led by Kenan Thompson, don't stand out beyond looking remarkably like the real-world people they're playing, who make a guest appearance near the end. Having also directed My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Joel Zwick seems to be drawn to projects with the word "fat" in the title. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide
Alphonso McAuley - Bucky; Dania Ramirez - Lauri; Omarion Grandberry - Reggie (as Omari Grandberry); Aaron Carter - Teen; Bill Cosby - Himself; Earl Billings - Mr. Mudfoot (Voice); Catero Colbert - Lead Teen (Voice); Ben Diskin - Teen #2 (Voice); Rick Overton - Coach Gillespi; Jeff Harlan - Dad; Annie Abbott - Mrs. Forchick; Raven Symone - Danielle; Keri Lynn Pratt - Heather; Jeremy Suarez - Russell; Josh Uhler - Teen #3 (Voice); Bill Ratner - Announcer (Voice); Jeanne Chinn - Woman #1; Derek J. Watkins - Salesman; Alyssa Shafer - Little Girl; J Mack Slaughter; Damon Elliot - DJ; Jeff Leaf - Basketball Player; Cody Fleetwood - Kid; Jenifer Kinglsey - Woman #2; Dylan Cash - Emmitt; Charles Duckworth - Teen #1 (Voice)
Credit
Scott Meehan - Art Director, Alexander H. Gayner - Associate Producer, Chemin Sylvia Bernard - Casting, Monica Swann - Casting, Jeffrey Stott - Co-producer, Francine Jamison-Tanchuck - Costume Designer, Alexander H. Gayner - First Assistant Director, Joel Zwick - Director, Tony Lombardo - Editor, Bill Cosby - Executive Producer, Camille O. Cosby - Executive Producer, Richard Gibbs - Composer (Music Score), Dave Jordan - Musical Direction/Supervision, Nina Ruscio - Production Designer, Paul Elliott - Cinematographer, John Davis - Producer, Stacy Brownrigg - Sound/Sound Designer, Bill Cosby - Screenwriter, Charles Kipps - Screenwriter, K.C. Fox - Set Decorator
The plot surrounds Fat Albert and the gang leaving the cartoon world and entering the real world in order to help a teenage adolescent deal with the challenges of being unpopular, and not having any friends except her foster sister. Her unpopularity stemmed from her tendency to withdraw into a world of her own as a consequence of the death of her grandfather, Albert Robertson, who was actually the inspiration for the Fat Albert character. It is up to Fat Albert and the gang to show her that she is special and can make friends.
Unlike some movies that meld the cartoon world with the real world while at the same time keeping the cartoon characters two dimensional, e.g. Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Fat Albert takes a twist and transforms the cartoon characters into three dimensional humans, who have to come to grips with the differences that exist between their world and the real world (like Enchanted).
The film opens with an animated sequence featuring Fat Albert (Kenan Thompson) performing the classic theme song "Gonna Have A Good Time" .
In real life, Doris (Kyla Pratt) is a sad teenager still recovering from the death of her grandfather, ignoring her foster sister, Lauri's (Dania Ramirez), efforts to bring her a social life. Upon learning that her parents will be away for the weekend, Doris sadly lets a tear hit her TV remote, as the Fat Albert Show is on. The tear opens up the TV world to the real world and Fat Albert and the gang (Keith Robinson, Shedrack Anderson III, Jermaine Williams, Alphonso McAuley, Aaron Frazier and Marques Houston) (minus Bill's little brother Russell (Jeremy Suarez) go to help her. Doris insists that she is fine, but the gang can't leave yet - their show is over and they have to wait until the next day's show to go back. They follow Doris to school the next day and are amazed by the new technology like laptops and the internet.
Fat Albert also notices Lauri and falls in love with her. In another attempt to help Doris, the gang persuades some cheerleaders to invite them all to an outdoors party. With some reluctance, Doris agrees to attend. While they're there, Lauri dances with Fat Albert. An annoying pest named Reggie (Omarion), who has a desperate crush on Lauri, attempts to make her jealous by dancing with Doris. When Lauri doesn't notice him, he tries to kiss Doris. Doris runs from the party and Fat Albert warns the boy to stay away from Doris. The next day, Doris goes to school, but asks the gang to go to the park instead of following her. Weird Harold, normally very clumsy, joins in a basketball game and is able to play perfectly. Mushmouth, who can't talk normally, is taught how to speak by a little girl. Dumb Donald goes to the library and is able to read and remove his pink face-covering hat.
When Doris gets them and takes them back to her TV, Bucky, Dumb Donald(who's eyes float in the TV without the hat on), and Weird Harold jump into the TV but the show ends before the others can enter. Fat Albert and Bill have an argument in private about going back (Fat Albert wants to stay in the real world with Lauri). Searching for guidance, Fat Albert literally meets his maker, Mr. Cosby (Bill Cosby as himself) and tells him of the dilemma. Mr. Cosby tells him that his character is based on Doris's grandfather, which explains Doris's confusion over why Albert seems so familiar to her. Mr. Cosby then tells Fat Albert that he has to return to the TV, or he will turn into celluloid dust. Devastated, Fat Albert tries to tell Lauri that he has to leave, but she doesn't believe he's from the TV and thinks that he is just being insensitive.
The next day, Bill, Mushmouth, and Rudy jump back into the TV. Fat Albert waits and goes to a track meet that Doris and Lauri have, then takes them home and jumps into the TV (this convinces Lauri that Fat Albert wasn't lying to her).
At the end of the movie, Mr. Cosby and his old friends (who the characters in the show were based on) stand in front of their old friend Albert Robertson's grave. Doris is also there. Then the group of men have a little race, showing no matter how old they are, they are still kids at heart, the same kids from the TV show that they helped Bill Cosby inspire.
Before the end credits start, Fat Albert is trying to leap out of the movie screen but his pals are pulling him back. He points out that people in the audience need help and he even tells someone in the back of the theater that he/she needs to come back and finish watching the credits. The boys pull Fat Albert back inside and the end credits resume beginning with the a blend of both the animated characters and the live-action characters singing the Fat Albert Theme Song.
Critics were not impressed with the film, whose characters may not have been familiar to a generation raised on other recent franchises, though the film did modest business at the box office, making $48 million.[1]
Joel Madden also makes a cameo in this movie. He is in the scene where Kyla Pratt's character brings the boys to her school. He has a mohawk and a made shirt with a sweater probably to cover his tattoos.
