Garbage Pail Kids - The Movie
ROTTEN TOMATOES OVERVIEW
Critics Score: 0%
Audience Score: 27%
You guys, we did it! We have a 0% Rotten Tomatoes score. WHAT?!?! I have wanted to do this review forever. I loved this movie. It hit 9-year-old Jed right in the feels. Gross. Funny. Incredible. But that’s not how the critics described it ….
The Garbage Pail Kids Movie” (1987) has achieved near-legendary status as one of the most baffling cinematic disasters of all time, and its reviews are a treasure trove of comedic gold. Critics were flabbergasted by the film’s plot, which meandered through a convoluted storyline involving mutant trash kids on a mission that seemed to be the result of a collaboration between sleep-deprived toddlers and a fever dream. According to The New York Times, the movie’s attempt at humor was likened to “a bad acid trip” (Ebert, 1987), while The Washington Post described the special effects as resembling “a high school science project gone terribly wrong” (Maslin, 1987). The film's characters, including “Messy Tessie” and “Rapper,” were derided for their grotesque appearance and poorly executed puppet work, with Variety quipping that they looked like they were “created by a group of middle schoolers with a budget of $5” (1987).
Performance-wise, the film was no better. Actors were described as delivering their lines with the enthusiasm of a sleep-deprived robot, as noted by Rolling Stone, which called their performances “wooden, flat, and as enjoyable as a tax audit” (1987) (in full transparency, I am a tax attorney, so I LOVE this description!). The dialogue was so excruciatingly bad that it could only be appreciated by masochistic film buffs and fans of “so-bad-it’s-good” cinema (check, and mate). In summary, The Garbage Pail Kids Movie has been described and established as a cautionary tale of how not to adapt a quirky trading card into a film, earning a special place in movie history for its unique blend of cringe-worthy moments and spectacular failures (Ebert, 1987; Maslin, 1987; Variety, 1987; Rolling Stone, 1987).
Let’s see what we can pull out of the trash here.
The Garbage Pail Kids exploded onto the pop culture scene in the early 1980s, captivating children with their outrageous, grotesque humor and mischievous charm. I was absolutely one of those kids. The delightfully repulsive trading cards featured quirky, often unflattering caricatures of children engaging in all sorts of wild antics, each accompanied by hilariously absurd names like “Adam Bomb”, “Gooey Gary”, and “slip n’ Sly.” We reveled in the shock value and the subversion of wholesome imagery typically associated with childhood, making collecting the cards a badge of honor. The blend of rebellion and nostalgia practically oozed from every card, leading to a cultural phenomenon that not only ignited playground conversations but also sparked a frenzy of sticker swaps, endless laughter, and a unique sense of community around shared disdain for conventional norms. This was a little boy’s rebellion against the wholesomeness of the Cabbage Patch Kid (which to be honest, I had one of those too, RIP John Simon LeBon Bodger!).
"Garbage Pail Kids: The Movie" is a vibrant homage to '80s pop culture. With its kitschy visuals, colorful costumes, and quirky characters, it offers a whimsical, nostalgic trip. The film embraces weirdness with humor and highlights friendship and acceptance, celebrating the unconventional. It leaves viewers smiling and reminiscing about carefree childhood days.