Best & Worst: Movies Based On Cartoons

[Mitch Henessey]

I'm sure a lot of us have favorite cartoon shows. Some of these famous cartoons have been made into movies. These movies can be very fun to watch, or they could be terrible. Here are my picks for the best and worst movies based on cartoons:

Best

South Park: Bigger, Longer, & Uncut

I usually hate musicals, but I can't deny how much I love this film.

Bigger, Longer, and Uncut is packed with tons of hilarious scenes. I never get tired of seeing Cartman use the V-chip to help save the world, the formation of La Resistance, the capturing of Terrance and Phillip, and the epic battle at the end always manages to crack me up.

This South Park movie really does push the envelope, and when it comes to vulgarity and shocking moments, this movie goes far beyond any regular episode of South Park. We also get to see Kenny's face in this film. Bigger, Longer, and Uncut can be a real treat for any South Park fan.

The Flintstones

I loved watching The Flintstones re-runs as a kid. The first Flintstones film really delivered.

The casting for this film was done so well. John Goodman was a perfect choice for Fred. He had the size, and he did a great job portraying one of the most popular cartoon characters ever. Rosie O'Donnell did look kind of chubby, but she was a nice fit for Betty. Kyle MacLachlan played the perfect villain. He was slimy, sneaky, and he was really convincing as a scum bag. I wish we could've seen more of Mr. Slate, but I do think Dann Florek did a nice job with the character. Also, having Halle Berry play Flintstone's personal secretary was a nice touch.

This Flintstones film was very funny, and there never was a dull moment in this movie. This film was also able to capture the lifestyle and culture in Bedrock perfectly. Everything just felt so authentic. The Flintstones is worth watching if you were a fan of the cartoon show, and I always try to take a look at this film when it's on TV.

Worst

The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas

The first Flintstones film was funny and entertaining, but the prequel was shit.

This film just wasn't funny. The humor here was very corny, and the acting was terrible. Mark Addy as a younger Fred Flintstone did work, and Stephen Baldwin wasn't right for the Barney Rubble character. Viva Rock Vegas comes off as being very strange. I'm not sure what they were going for here, but it's hard to tell if this movie is aimed at adults or children, because there are some adult themes in this film.

When I first saw this film years ago, I was excited to see the story of how The Flintstone clan came to be. I wanted to see how everything began. I don't know what this film was trying to accomplish, but if you ask me, they failed miserably.

Alvin and the Chipmunks

You know something, as a kid, I really enjoyed the cartoons. They were funny, and Alvin was one of those cool rebels who you could get behind, but I really hated the movie.

The dull jokes weren't funny, and the singing drove me nuts after a while. I guess the people who made this movie thought the squeaky voices would get some cheap laughs, but it just annoyed the hell out of me.

The cartoon would always take me on an adventure, but I thought the film was just trying to capitalize off of the popularity of the cartoon. This film didn't take me on a trip down memory lame. Maybe some people the younger crowd thought the chipmunks were cute. Maybe they enjoyed the goofy singing, but I couldn't get into it. This movie just felt like lousy and cheesy comedy blockbuster, and I haven't bothered to watch the second one, because this managed to truly piss me off.

Well, those were my picks. What are yours?

 

[INDYjon22]

I really enjoyed the first Scooby Doo movie. I am a huge fan of Scooby Doo and loved seeing it turned into a live action movie. It was just as cliche and cartoonish as the old cartoon. It may not have been the greatest movie ever made but I sure as hell loved it. I also thought they did a pretty good job casting for it, most of the people really looked the parts, especially Matthew Lillard as Shaggy. I am biased though, I fucking love Matthew Lillard.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

I thought the South Park movie was great, just a bigger and ruder version of the show, which worked well. Hilarious music too! Uncle Fucker was the greatest thing ever when I first heard it!

The Simpsons Movie was pretty good too, not as good as the TV show but still entertaining, but that was only to be expected.

Making a cartoon into a live action movie is always hard, and as the earlier poster stated, the first Flintstones was a success...but the 2nd one wasnt the best. Also, the Pokemon films were pretty poor, but the cartoon itself was shitty.

They are the ones that spring to mind first.

 

[UltimateHitman]

I don't know, I've been kind of impressed with the way they've done cartoon movies lately. Marmaduke, the Chipmunks, Underdog, they've all been done pretty well and I'm usually skeptical at the beginning. I haven't seen Yogi Bear yet, but it looks even more "kiddy" than some.
If I had to pick a bad one, I'd have to go with that clusterfuck Rocky and Bullwinkle movie. That was just terrible. The 2nd Flinstones I have to agree with too. Ugh.
I don't remember much about it, but there was the Popeye movie with Robin Williams back in 1980. If I remember right, I think it was a bit over the top corny and could've been done better.
I did like Williams in the role of Popeye, but didn't like Shelley Duvall as Olive Oyl. Don't get me wrong, her build was perfect for it, I've just always thought she was annoying.

 

[SorgFamily]

I thought the first Casper was pretty good. Bill Pullman is reliable enough and the effects were great so no complaints here. Even the second one wasn't bad, to a kid at least. I'll admit I haven't seen it in probably ten years. And who can forget Space Jam? Michael Jordan AND Bugs Bunny? That was great shit to a 12 year old.

Dudley Do-Right was horrible imo and I didn't even bother seeing Garfield.

 

[FunKay the Inevitable]

I'll say for best:

Space Jam:

I'm a fan of Looney Tunes and it was incredibly awesome to see Bugs, Daffy and all the rest teaming up in a movie. It was about basketball, which I know very little about, but one of the things that I do know about basketball is that Michael Jordan was a true legend of the sport and it was cool top see this icon teaming up with others icons. Plus you throw in some great comic foils like Bill Murray (as himself) and Wayne Knight as well as Danny DeVito as a villain and you had one entertaining flick. A childhood favourite.

And for worse:

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

What a piece of trash this movie was. I mean this wasn't just bad, it was insulting and pretty tasteless. It's biggest selling point was 'Giant Robots Battle' and yet it was difficult to actually see any of that because of the blurry CGI. The other major selling point was Megan Fox and she couldn't act her way out of a paper bag (And I don't find her that attractive). The storyline was bad, the acting was terrible and as a Transformers fan, I was pretty insulted. Plus you had racist stereotypes and robot testicles. Michael Bay just confirmed (once again) that he is an idiot with lots of money and a camera. Only plus point? Frank Welker as Soundwave. That was cool.

 

[The Mark of Zur-En-Arrh]

Best

I remember thinking Space Jam was an awesome movie when it first came out. All our favourite WB characters were in there along with all the classic humour they're famous for, PLUS Michael Jordan and hell, even Bill Murray is in it. Perfect movie.

The Tom and Jerry movie wasn't too bad either i felt. Of course i was like 8 when it first came out, but i wasn't annoyed that they were finally speaking and even singing, and was even able to see past the fact that they weren't trying to kill each other.

Of course my favourite would have to be Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker. Man this film is dark. Joker tortures and kills more than one teenager in this movie and the destruction he reigns down on Gotham is unparalleled in any other Batman episode/movie. If i'm correct, this is the one and only animated Batman movie that was released as a 12, only one age rating away from what Dark Knight got!

Seriously, if you've never seen it, or simply hated Batman Beyond, just give it a watch. It's only 80 minutes with classic Hamill Joker in abundance. Awesome watch.

As for worst, man there's been a LOT of garbage ones. Too many to remember. Thankfully i can't actually think of one that i've actually seen, and if i could i probably couldn't tell you why i hated it so much.

I did refuse to watch DB Evolution though despite other DBZ fans telling me it was good.

 

[shattered dreams]

TMNT FTW. I consider that more based on the cartoon than the comics and the movie is great. Where many have failed in bringing a larger than life action series to the big screen, be it based on comics on cartoons, they succeeded. It was faithful to the spirit of the prior works and that is usually what makes all the difference.

A personal favorite is A Goofy Movie. Pretty good storyline and it is quite entertaining in that Goof Troop universe. Being a coming of age story in a different mold than they are usually presented makes it interesting. Song at the end is a good jam.

Honorable mention to the Simpsons movie for not sucking.

Worst? Too many to count. Inspector gadget was pretty terrible.

 

[The Holy One]

For me, it's a tie b/w A Goofy Movie 1 & 2 and Tarzan. Both Goofy movies are just flat out funny and they really tell a great story in the relationship b/w Goofy and Max. The crazy adventures they had brought me so much laughter that I had tears in my eyes from watching the movies. I used to love Bobby Z and his love for Cheese Whiz.

Tarzan is just epic from the birth of the man ape to the battle with Clayton. Then to add with the great soundtrack provide by Phil Collins, it's truly one of the best Disney movies I've ever seen. I still watch it when it comes on even now.

As for worst, I'll probably go with the 2nd Scooby Doo movie. I really liked the first one but the second one didn't provide any enjoyment at all for me.

 

[Kenny Powers]

I loved the South Park movie: Bigger, Longer, & Uncut. How that movie didn't win an Oscar for it's musical score is beyond me. In the worst category I think it would be easy to say Yogi Bear or Garfield is probably the worst of the cartoon movies. Although Garfield is based on the comic strip, but it was a cartoon too so I guess it falls in that category. I really couldn't get into Alvin and the Chipmunks, but then again if I was 20 years younger I probably would have loved it.

I would probably also put GI Joe and the Transformers movies in the worst category also. Both were just completely off base with the original shows. The smurfs are coming out this year. I can't say I have high hopes for that one because usually CGI movies are shit nowadays.

 

[victornov]

I dont think any cartoon movie is worst even every movie take a great appreciation from people especially from the children.. and i like too all the cartoon movies time by time..