Movies - Rock & Rule

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	Movies - Rock & Rule

Rock & Rule is a 1983 animated film from the Canadian animation studio Nelvana. The film centers around rock and roll music and includes songs by Cheap Trick, Debbie Harry of the group Blondie, Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, and Earth, Wind & Fire. The story takes place in a post-apocalyptic United States populated by mutated humanoid animals. Protagonists and antagonist alike are rock musicians in this movie.

Production and Release

Rock & Rule was Nelvana's first animated feature film. The film spent several years in production and underwent many changes from the original concept, which was titled Drats! and aimed for children. The cost of production nearly put Nelvana out of business.

Surprisingly, the animation was of high quality for the era (it began production in 1978), and the special effects were mostly inventive photographic techniques, as computer graphics were in their infancy. Computers were used to generate only a few images in the film.

Because of scenes involving drug use, implied devil worship, and mild sexuality (despite its PG rating), the film could only be marketed to an adult audience. It performed poorly at the box office, and no soundtrack album was ever released. A VHS video and laserdisc release of Rock & Rule occurred in 1984 but soon went out of print.

Two versions of the film exist. Distributor MGM disliked the original actor who voiced Omar and insisted that he be re-dubbed and several edits be made to the film. The film languished at the box office, and this chopped version quickly found its way to video. A few years later, Canada's CBC began airing the alternate cut, which featured extra footage, a different, clearer audio mix, and the original voice of Omar.

Original home video release copies of the film are extremely difficult to find. While Rock & Rule was out of print on video, copies could only be acquired by writing to Nelvana. The studio charged a fee of $80 to create and send a video copy of the film.However, on June 7, 2005, a DVD and a 2-disc Special Edition DVD set were released by Unearthed Films and are available on Amazon.com. The 2-disc set includes the CBC video version of the film (though the original print was destroyed in a fire) and The Devil and Daniel Mouse, the TV special that was the inspiration for Rock & Rule.

Plot

Omar, Angel, Dizzy, and Stretch perform in a small-time rock band in their home city of Ohmtown. The aging but still popular rock star Mok, in search of the "one voice" needed to summon a demon from another dimension, hears Angel sing while the band performs in a club and realizes that she is the voice he needs. Although initially unaware of Mok's true intentions, she refuses to abandon her band at his insistance. Not willing to take no for an answer, Mok kidnaps her and flies away with her in his blimp to Nuke York (the post-apocalyptic version of New York City) to perform the concert that will summon his demon.

Omar, Dizzy, and Stretch follow in a stolen police car to rescue their friend (and Omar's love interest). Meanwhile, Angel attempts to escape and in the process, learns of Mok's horrific goal and his confidence in his success considering that there apparently is there "no one" capable of stopping his summoning. Unfortunately, Mok soon recaptures Angel and uses an impersonator to fool Omar in thinking that she is spurning him willingly. To sway Angel, Mok then captures the band and tortures them in order to compel her to agree to his demands for their release, but not before brainwashing them into an addled state to ensure they would not interfere further.

When Mok's first attempt at "Carnage Hall" proves a destructive fiasco due to insufficient power, he is advised to move the summoning to Ohmtown, where the power plant has access to unlimited energy. In that second concert, there is a power surge that has to be drained into the town causing overloads which both darken the city and shock Omar and his friends out of their stupor.

Dizzy and Stretch decide to try to stop the concert, but Omar initially refuses on account of Mok's deception. Although all three make their way to the event, they are unable to stop the summoning beyond freeing Angel from her restrains after it was too late. The demon starts consuming the audience and attempts to attack Omar who is saved by one of Mok's simple-minded minions who sacrifces himself. Desperately, Angel attempts to sing to force the demon to leave, but her voice has no effect as the demon advances to consume her. However, the situation dramatically changes when Omar begins to sing in harmony with Angel and the Demon is driven back through the portal. Mok realizes too late that his computer's reference to "no one" did not mean an effective individual did not exist, but that the counterspell involved more than one person. As he ineffectually tries to stop the duo, the brother of the self sacrificing minon turns on Mok and throws him down the portal.

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