| Raggedy Ann and Andy: A Musical Adventure |
| Directed by |
Richard Williams |
| Produced by |
Richard Horner & Stanley Sills |
| Written by |
Johnny Gruelle, Joe Raposo, Patricia Thackray, Max Wilk |
| Starring |
Didi Conn, Mark Baker, Fred Stuthman, Marty Brill, Niki Flacks, George S. Irving, Joe Silver |
| Music by |
Joe Raposo |
| Cinematography |
Dick Mingalone & Al Rezek |
| Editing by |
Harry Chang, Lee Kent, Ken McIlwaine, Maxwell Seligman |
| Studio |
Bobbs-Merrill Company |
| Distributed by |
20th Century Fox |
| Release date(s) |
April 1, 1977 |
| Running time |
84 min. |
| Country |
 USA |
| Language |
English |
| Budget |
$4,000,000 [1] |
Raggedy Ann and Andy: A Musical Adventure is a 1977 animated film produced by the Bobbs-Merrill Company, and released by 20th Century Fox. It is the only film to feature the Raggedy Ann and Andy characters created by Johnny Gruelle.
The film was rated G by the MPAA.
Background
Originally Abe Levitow was to direct the film and Williams was only an animation supervisor. However, when Levitow got sick and eventually died, Williams reluctantly became director. He clashed with the producers over many aspects of the film, including the multitude of musical numbers and weak character development. Despite his misgivings the producers forbade him to cut a single scene. Eventually, like many of his other projects, the movie went over time and budget, and Williams was removed at the end so the film could be released on time. His name remained on the finished product.
Besides Richard Williams, who by this time had already received a BAFTA award, an Emmy Award, and an Oscar for his work in animation, other talented animators also were enlisted. Hal Ambro and Art Babbitt from Disney, and Looney Tunes animator Gerry Chiniquy also worked on the film. The music was done by Joe Raposo, the long time musical director of Sesame Street and The Electric Company. Despite this considerable amount of talent, Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure was a critical and box office failure. Many critics found the movie hard to watch for the following reasons: they complained the plot moved too slowly and was burdened by musical numbers. Many of the characters were considered too disturbing for children. There is also a lot of subtextual adult humor, mainly in the Captain Contagious character whose moustache erected and pelvicly thrusted the air when aroused by the Babette character. Raggedy Ann and Andy are said to have very little characterization, moving from place to place meeting strange characters, but the focus is always on the new character and not them, serving little purpose other than to move the plot forward.
After its short initial box office run, the movie saw little to no distribution. It did receive a considerable amount of play on the Disney Channel during the late 1980s and early 1990s. The "Blue" song was featured on an episode of The Muppet Show and the song sequence from the movie was also featured on an episode of The Big Blue Marble and the special, Sing! Sesame Street Remembers the Music of Joe Raposo. Furthermore the song "Home" was featured on an episode of Shining Time Station. Nevertheless, the film has not been shown on television in many years. It was released on video by Fox Video in 1992. It was hoped that 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment has plans to release Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure on DVD in the future.
Plot summary
Raggedy Ann is the beloved doll of Marcella, along with her brother Raggedy Andy and a whole nursery full of colorful toys. Whenever Marcella leaves the room, the dolls come to life. On Marcella's birthday, a new doll, Babette, arrives from Paris, France to the United States of America. Babette is a spoiled creature who is unaware she is a doll, but the friendly Raggedy Ann does everything she can to make Babette feel at home.
Soon, however, the pirate Captain Contagious, who lives in Marcella's snow globe, becomes enamored of Babette and kidnaps her. Raggedy Ann and Andy set off to try to rescue her before Marcella discovers Babette is gone. Out in the world outside the nursery, the two meet the Camel with the Wrinkled Knees, a blue toy camel who has been cast off by past owners and is now heartbroken and lonely. Raggedy Ann assures him a home with Marcella, and he joins their rescue party.
After Raggedy Ann and Andy hitch a ride on the Camel, he begins to follow his hallucinations and without looking, runs over the edge of a cliff, into a deep pit. In this pit they encounter the Greedy, a gluttonous, blob-like monster presumably made of sticky candy, who eats constantly and is never full. While singing about the plight of never being happy despite his unending consumption, he reveals that the only thing that could satisfy him is a sweetheart, presumably a romantic partner, but he decides that the candy heart Raggedy Ann has sewn up inside her would do just as well. The Raggedys and the Camel narrowly escape being consumed by the Greedy and continue their journey to find Babette.
While travelling through the woods, they encounter Sir Leonard Looney, a purple knight with a penchant for humiliating gags. He tricks the trio and kidnaps them to Looney Land, where all the practical gags are. They are then introduced to the court of King Koo Koo, a near microscopic king who has a part of him expand every time he laughs at someone else. He finds that the curious little trio that has been brought to him do a good job of making him expand overall when they subjected to Sir Leonard Looney's gags.
Before he can find a better use for them, the Raggedys and the Camel escape out an exit, leaving King Koo Koo to shrink back down to his regular size. King Koo Koo then decides that the Raggedies are perfect and will be just what he needs to accomplish what he has been waiting for his entire life - his "Last Laugh" He calls up his cohort Gadzooks, a giant green sea creature with a massive array of arms and discusses his plans.
Meanwhile, the Raggedys and the Camel have found a getaway boat, and are making posthaste to get away from Looney Land. Using a telescope aboard the bizarre little ship, they are able to spot the Captain's pirate vessel, and are able to zoom in toward the ship and haul themselves on board.
When Babette is finally found, the Raggedys discover that she is no longer in need of rescue. She has in fact charmed the pirate crew, raised a mutiny against Captain Contagious, and has now assumed command of the ship, in the ultimate hope of taking the ship back to Paris. Just then, King Koo Koo, with assistance from Gadzooks, arrives on the scene, and begins to snatch passengers and crew alike off of the boat, notably most of the male pirate crew, Raggedy Andy, the Camel and Captain Contagious. Gadzooks begins his "tickle torture" causing King Koo Koo to expand completely, achieving his goal of being "the biggest king in the world." Raggedy Ann and Babette are hiding underneath the canopy of one of the escape boats, with Queasy, the Captain's faithful parrot, trying to figure out what to do when they (with the help of Raggedy Andy) that King Koo Koo should "blow - up!"
King Koo Koo discovers Raggedy Ann and Babette hiding- and quickly has them subjected to the same tickle-torture, while Queasy, unseen, rockets towards the massive balloon that King Koo Koo has become. King Koo Koo, who now dominates the horizon, celebrates his enormous size and finally getting his last laugh while Queasy collides into King KooKoo beak-first, like a pin into a balloon, causing him to explode.
Raggedy Ann and Andy are seen spinning around in a wormhole, along with the Camel, before the screen goes dark. They are then discovered the next day, along with Babbette, the Captain and the remains of his ship, in a small pond outside. Marcella brings her toys back in, missing the Camel in pile of leaves. Later that evening the Camel crawls up to the window, where Raggedy Ann and her friends let him in, and he realizes he has finally found home.
Marcella finds the Camel among her dear toy friends, and while she is at first puzzled by his appearance in her room, she embraces him and accepts him as her own.
See also
References
- ^ Canemaker (1977), p. 285.
Sources
External links
