Bebe's Kids

Because so many children's animated films are actually only thinly disguised morality lessons and/or merchandising gimmicks, it's refreshing to find an acerbic, often tasteless cartoon feature willing to promote a little healthy skepticism instead. The basic premise, suggested by what had been a familiar routine by the late stand-up comedian Robin Harris, might resemble typical Saturday morning TV fodder: the gruff but (almost) lovable Harris (a kindred spirit to W.C. Fields) is conned into chaperoning a trio of pint-sized troublemakers to Fun World, a local amusement park. But underneath the rap soundtrack padding and heartfelt, homeopathic preaching about the virtues of self-esteem is a good deal of subversive, post-Rodney King cynicism. Fun World itself is analogous to White America in the 1990s, complete with secret police, remote surveillance, and a robot Richard Nixon (sounding not unlike Jimmy Stewart). The film was originally planned as a live-action comedy, but it probably works better as animation, where the cartoon exaggeration can be an advantage. Favorite character: little Baby Pee-Wee, with a voice "like a hundred packs of cigarettes" and a constant cloud of flies around his sagging diaper.